Note from the Organ Database Builders editor Stephen Hall, July 7, 2017.

Barton Organs was one of two brand names used by Bartola Musical Instrument Co. for their line of theater organs. The other brand was the Maxcy-Barton which was used for some theater organs, but was primarily used for church organs.

Sources:

• David Junchen, Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, vol. 1 (Pasadena: Showcase Publications, 1985), 57.

From the OHS PC Database, derived from A Guide to North American Organbuilders, rev. ed. by David H. Fox (Organ Historical Society, 1997).

See Bartola Musical Instrument Co.

Sources:

• The Diapason, March 1929, 2.


• David Junchen, Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, vol. 1 (Pasadena: Showcase Publications, 1985), 57.


• Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Daily News, 26 April 1974.


• Elizabeth Towne Schmitt.

Updated through online information from Jayson Engquist [December 29, 2025]: Information from Wikipedia

The company was founded in 1918 by Dan Barton, who was from Amherst, Wisconsin. The sixth largest builder of theater instruments in the nation, Bartola focused almost exclusively on the Midwest market. Barton later recalled, "We decided to work only a limited territory so we could give prompt service to all our installations. [This territory included] Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana and Ohio. No installation was more than an overnight sleeper ride from Chicago." [1] For this reason, the instruments were almost unknown outside of this relatively small area until later years, long after manufacture had ceased, when many were moved from their original homes into venues around the United States. The company built about 250 theater organs from 1918 to 1931.[2]