43-Key Dussaux & Cie No. 3329

43-Key Dussaux & Cie No. 3329

43-key Dussaux & Cie 3329 playing: Sieriette Polka – Henri Dupuis

Dussaux & Cie of Lille is not remembered today as much as the more famous mechanical organ makers of Paris, Grammont and Antwerp, but they competed successfully in the early 1900s for a part of the home-market in France and the French-speaking region of Belgium, supplying both outdoor and indoor instruments. Their organs have a distinctive sound. The original factory repertoire is a window into a lost world of pre-1914 dance music; several tunes are original compositions by Dussaux staff arranger Henri Dupuis.

Alexandre Dussaux began in partnership with Albert Lemoine c1905 in St Andre-lez-Lille; their partnership was dissolved c1910 but they continued trading separately. Dussaux moved to a larger steam-powered factory at the corner of Rue Emile Desmet et Rue Chateaubriand in the city centre. In its heyday, before the First World War, the Dussaux company boasted financial backing of 450,000 francs and agencies in Paris, Bordeaux, Rouen, Le Mans, Toulouse, Lyon and Gand. Their organs and orchestrions were available in a range of sizes: 36, 40, 44, 45, 48, 56, 70 and 80 keys, the larger being advertised under the trade name ‘Excelsior-Orchestre’. The fate of Dussaux & Cie was sealed by its failure to keep up with the rapid changes in popular music, and the fact that the workforce was decimated in the First World War. The three main Lille mechanical music firms worked together trading as A. Lemoine & D. Drijvers-Dussaux for a time, but by 1922 this alliance had been bought out by an even bigger Parisian consolidation, the Société Limonaire Frères who had earlier acquired Gavioli & Cie and would later buy Foucher-Gasparini-Butel.

Sadly, nothing is known of the working history of no. 3329; the instrument is believed to have been manufactured c.1913. Dussaux instruments are rare: there may be only 12 others that survive in the world! Possessing as few as 92 pipes (including a wooden piston rank) and without percussion, it was suitable for a small juvenile roundabout or chairoplanes. Ink stamps in the old music books indicate these organs were also popular for ‘Salles de Danse’ (dance halls) and ‘Estaminet’ (small cafes) that were commonplace in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. The previous owner purchased it from a Belgian dealer in 2001; the organ was subsequently restored and presented at organ events throughout Europe. In 2024 the instrument was generously donated to the Amersham Fair Organ Museum, where it will continue to provide musical entertainment for the public.

Dussaux, Lemoine & Cie c.1908
Contemporary Dussaux, Lemoine & Cie c.1908
With special thanks to Jory Bennett for the supply of photographs and information.