In about 1930 a 101 key organ numbered 1033 was delivered by the Antwerp firm of Mortier to the organ renting firm of Teugels and Vloemans in Walem. Photo 1 shows the original proscenium in Art Deco style. Several small details show that the front was very modern in its time: the belly has a flat top instead of the former curved ones that left place for the largest Flute Harmonique pipes. A row of Vibraton pipes is placed there instead. and that was an invention of Mr. Bax of 1930, so this organ must have been among the first instruments with this register. The "Flute 8' register (which is, in fact, a 4' register in this type of instrument) is not in standing before the swell shutters anymore, but in the first side chests. The piston resonators are made of brass, a rarity in Mortier organs. The high top of the front shows that dance halls of the customers still were large and had high roofs at that time.
Not much is known about the instrument in the thirties and fourties, but in the fifties the organ was sold to Mr. Pierre Schakels in Brussels. He had it rebuilt by Decap Brs. who also fitted a new and modern facade. In the same period another organ, the 121 key Decap organ named "Brabo" received a new front too. Two identical prosceniums were made, with the names "Atomic" and "Splendid" respectively. They were designed by Henri de Wolf, a Decap employee. The original drawing still exists. Pipes were added behind the front saxophones, coupled to the Flute 8'-register and the Cello Grave register was changed to a Basson by adding a row of reeds. This, and the modern impression of the front lead to a succesful exploitation of the organ in the fifties and sixties.
Although the Atomic never played in the Netherlands a photograph of it caused some confusion here. On B&W pictures the only visible difference between the Atomic and the Splendid was the name in front of the drum kit. Thus it could happen that Louis Heinen, then the owner of the Splendid gave a photograph of the Atomic for publication in Het Pierement under the impression that it was the Splendid. The picture was even used for decorating ash-trays for use in a pub. The writer of this article once had a row with Janus van Beek, who in first instance refused to believe that the picture was not of the Splendid.
In the process of writing this article I acquired a lot of organ scales, probably from Mr. Marcel Bartier, a well-known music marker. One of these has the title "101 Schaekels" and this scale gives insight of rebuildings and changes made to the organ. The Mortier layout was retained, except for the percussion keys, that were layed out in the Decap way. Registers were added, such as a cornett, and changed, like the cello grave, to which bassoon pipes were added. Pipes were placed behind the saxophones in the front; these were coupled to the flute 8'-register. The center accordion got its own key. Around 1960 an electronic post was built in, so the original 101 key frame had to be replaced by a 105-key frame.
In the early seventies the Atonic was still rented out in the dance hall Bergola in Heist, and in a hall in Tienen (Belgium). After that it had to give up its place for modern Decap-instruments with built-in Hammond organs, that became increasingly popular in those days. The organ was sold to England, where it entered the collection of Turner's Merry-go-round Museum in Wooton-Northampton. In those days a LP was made of the organ, with rather bad music, unfortunately. In 1995 the organ finally arrived in the Netherlands to be added to a collection in Tilburg. Almost immediately the organ was rented out for a fair in Oosterhout, where many local enthousiasts could finally make acquaintance with the organ.
Looking back to this event it turned out that the owner had been lucky, for when the key frame was placed back into the organ (in the UK it was moved to one of the sides to play endless books) the pouch board leather proved to be in a very bad condition. The Teugels brs. from Walem, sons of the organ's first owner, fixed everything. The Atomic, now in good condition, adds to the image of the dance organ city of Tilburg. We like to tell more about that a next time.