As we continue to work our way through our archive of photos, we run across some that are a bit out of the ordinary.  They may be humorous or unique but they stand out from the other photos. We will post new photos here monthly with the previous photos in the slideshow.

This photo shows Howard Vollum at his home organ. Howard was known for his love of good music and had a studio built at his home for his pipe organ.  Howard's organ was built around the former San Francisco Granada (Paramount) 4/33 style 285 Wurlitzer. Jonas Nordwall, a well known Portland organist is attributed to saying "Howard was better than average at playing the theater pipe organ.  However, his reserved personality meant that he never performed publicly." After Howard's death the organ was sold to the Regent Theater in Melbourne, Australia.

Rodgers Organ Company was an early spin-out of Tektronix, being formed on April 30, 1958 by Rodgers Jenkins, Fred Tinker, and Bill Johnson. Howard provided a personal loan to help start Rodgers Organ and later provided space in building 74. You can hear Jonas Nordwall of Rodgers Organ playing Howard's organ on our Howard Vollum at Tektronix page.

Previous Photos of the Month