TOWNSHEND — Your article about the Estey Organ Factory [“First decade,” Arts and Entertainment, Nov. 2] was most interesting. It also brought back memories I have of working there, for a short time, in 1950.
Here is one of the stories told to me at that time.
Several years before I started work, a shabbily dressed man came to the factory and told a salesman that he would like to look over some of the organs.
The salesman, noting his obvious worn clothing, didn't give much of a sales pitch, since he had already decided that this guy could never afford any organ.
However, the salesman went through the motions of showing the instruments and quoting prices. To his surprise, the man pointed to one organ and said he would take it.
Still skeptical, the salesman asked how he wanted to pay for it.
At that, the man pulled out a wad of bills and paid on the spot in cash.
The story doesn't end there. The salesman later heard from the delivery truck driver that before the organ could be left in the man's home, the floor had to be reinforced to bear the weight.