Victor I. Zuck Electronic Organ Collection
name: label: Donor
content: Zuck, Victor I. , 1908-2004
label: Donor
content: Zuck, Nathalie A. Peterson, d. 2013
topic: label: Topic
content: Electronic organ
label: Topic
content: Inventors -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Organ (Musical instrument) -- 1900-1960
label: Topic
content: Wurlitzer organ
label: Topic
content: advertising -- Periodicals
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Collection donated by Victor I. Zuck and Nathalie A. Zuck, January 1994.
creator: label: Donor
content: Zuck, Victor I. , 1908-2004
label: Donor
content: Zuck, Nathalie A. Peterson, d. 2013
setName: label: See more items in
content: Victor I. Zuck Electronic Organ Collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: Collection of material documenting the Wurlitzer and Everett electronic organ in the mid 20th century.
bioghist: label: Biographical
content: Victor I. Zuck was born in Hagerstown, Maryland on January 24, 1908 to Jacob and Ora Turner Zuck. David Zuck, an uncle, was an employee of M.P. Moller Company, builders of pipe organd. In the 1920s, introduced Victor to an apprenticeship with organs at Moeller. At Moller, Victor worked under Ted Clark, David Williams, and Richard Whitelegg. Zuck spent two years, 1930-1931, at the United States Military Academy where he collaborated with Frederick C. Mayers, the organist and choirmaster of the Harmonic Division. Zuck then returned to the Moller Company and assumed leadership of the Automatic Player Department, supervising the rebuilding of pipe organs and hand cutting for automatic rolls. 

At Moller, Zuck worked with Frederick A. Hoschke, the musical director. Hoschke developed the Orgatron, an electrostratic reed organ in 1934. It was manufactured by Everett Piano Company from 1935 to 1941. The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company secured the patents from Everett in 1945. Wurlitzer produced these instruments and retained the Everett names on some models from 1945 to 1947. Orgatrons continued to be produced into the early 1960s. After the ORgatron was purchased by Wurlitzer, Zuck joined the Wurlitzer Company and became superintendent of the organ division and a consultant in research. Zuck held 14 organ-related patents, all assigned to the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company of North Tonawanda, New York. In 1952, Zuck resigned from Wurlitzer and returned to the Moller Company as a sales representative. In 1975, Zuck was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church. 

Zuck married Nathalie Peterson, grandniece of Frederick A. Hoschke in 1937. Zuck died on January 6, 2004. 

Source

Automatic Musical Instruments Collectors Association, Honor Roll (https://www.amica.org/files/VICTOR_I_ZUCK.pdf (last accessed on November 15, 2021)
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2 Cubic feet (5 boxes, 2 map folders)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1935-1989, undated
label: Date
content: undated
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Collection transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Culture and the Arts in October 2021.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1489
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Sheet music
label: Type
content: Manuals
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Collection is arranged into four series. Series are arranged alphabetically.

Series 1: Sales Literature on Everett Orgatron, 1938-1944, undated.

Series 2: Sales Literature on Wurlitzer Orgatron, 1937-1964, undated.

Series 3: Anthology, 1935-1989, undated.

Series 4: Patents and Publications, undated.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Audrey Clancy, intern, July 2025, supervised by Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., archivist
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Sheet music
label: Genre/Form
content: Manuals
scopecontent: label: Content Description
content: Collection documents Victor Zuck's work on developing and selling electronic organs, first with the Everett Piano Company of South Haven, Michigan, and then with the Wurlitzer Organ Company of North Tonawanda, New York.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Wurlitzer Company Records, AC0469, https://sova.si.edu/record/nmah.ac.0469?s=0&n=10&t=C&q=wurlitzer&i=0
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: Materials in the Division of Culture and the Arts

An Everett/Wurlitzer Orgatron Model 4600, Serial #18421 made in 1952. See accession 1994.0035.01.