Hi Vi,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.

The Packard Piano Company was founded in 1891 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, by Samuel E. Packard and his brothers. Although the company initially concentrated on pianos, it also produced reed organs during an era when pump organs remained popular, particularly in rural America. By the early 20th century, Packard had become one of the country's largest piano manufacturers, exporting instruments around the world and employing hundreds of workers.

The pump organ, also known as a reed organ or parlor organ, was appealing because it brought music into ordinary homes at a price far below that of a piano or pipe organ. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it became one of the most popular musical instruments in North America and Europe because it was practical, affordable, and well suited to family life.

Culturally, the pump organ represented the Victorian ideal of music as a moral and educational pursuit. Before radios, phonographs, and television, families often created their own entertainment, and the parlor organ became a centerpiece of domestic life. Playing hymns, folk songs, and popular tunes together was both recreation and social bonding.

For many rural communities, the pump organ also served as a democratizing instrument. It gave small congregations and households access to the rich, sustained sound associated with larger church organs without the enormous cost or space requirements of a pipe organ.

For all of this history, the collecting category for pump organs by any maker is comparatively small and there have been only a few that have come to auction. Historically, they bring less less than $1,000 when offered at auction and often for less than $500, largely because of their size and outdated technology. Given that yours has some missing elements, that will diminish its appeal to potential buyers.

Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:

An antique Packard walnut pump organ
1888-1897
Approximately 72 inches tall x 48 inches wide x 24 inches deep
CONDITION: with some minor losses but in otherwise good cosmetic condition
PROVENANCE: inherited
$ 200-400*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.

Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia