2007 ARSC Conference

Jasper Sanfilippo & the Sanfilippo Collection

Conference attendees will be given a rare opportunity to spend all day Saturday at the estate of Jasper and Marian Sanfilippo in Barrington Hills, IL. Though most groups are allowed only a few hours in which to absorb the house, buildings, and collection, ARSC members will have an entire day to tour the facilities, eat lunch, hear presentations, view the collection and listen to the instruments. Additionally, we will enjoy our annual Awards Banquet in the Carousel Building, followed by a live concert in the Place de Musique on the largest theatre pipe organ in the world. And each person will receive a complimentary CD of the program!

Jasper Sanfilippo is a self-made man who has transformed the nut and snack food industry through his patents, engineering expertise and keen business acumen. Though Mr. Sanfilippo's interest in automatic musical instruments wasn't kindled until 1976, he has spent the last 30 years in assembling the premier collection of its type in the world.

There are automatic music machines and phonographs numbering inhou the hundreds. There are dozens of chandeliers, leaded-glass lamps, and Victorian antiques throughout the house. There are stationary steam engines in both the se and Carousel Building. There are fabulous street clocks and an original vintage electrical plant. There is a steam locomotive from the Henry Ford Museum, plus a caboose and handcrafted coach. And, of course, there is the unforgettable Eden Palais - the only complete European salon carousel in the world.

Though convention attendees are encouraged to bring cameras and recorders, fully illustrated brochures and comprehensive books on the collection will be available for purchase. CD recordings of the automatic music machines (orchestrions, nickelodeons, and photoplayers) and band organs will also be available, along with ten different CDs featuring the Mighty Wurlitzer, played by some of the finest musicians in the world.

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