Retro Road Trip: Nickelodeon Museum, Revelstoke

Of all the stops on the Retro Road Trip, this is the most unexpected/bizarre/wonderful.

Yesterday, I described the Nickelodeon Museum in Revelstoke, B.C. as a case of Hoaders meets Hugo, and I stand by that.

From the street, it’s unassuming enough. A museum dedicated to mechanical instruments, okay. I was expecting some music boxes and one or two nightmare-inducing antique jack-in-the-boxes.

Lesley Evans, who co-owns the museum with husband David and son Michael, took our money ($12 each) and led us through a door. And that’s where things got amazing.

The museum – one long room with exceptionally high ceilings – is chock full of MASSIVE mechanical instruments dating from the 1790s to 1958. There are barrel organs from churches, full player pianos, colossal music boxes, a giant residential pipe organ and multiple vintage juke boxes. All in all, an awful lot of heavy wood.

What’s even more mind blowing is that Lesley and David shipped the collection from Hampshire, England five years ago. It required FOUR 45-foot containers.

(And I thought my move of 19 cardboard boxes was a big deal)

“It’s very easy, you just write a large cheque,” Lesley explained.

When asked the question that naturally springs to mind – why Revelstoke, British Columbia, WHY!!!??? – Lesley simply replied: “we fell in love with the mountain community.”

A visit to the Nickelodeon Museum consists of a one-hour guided tour by Lesley or David. Did I mention the best part of the whole thing? Almost all of the instruments are in working order! There’s not much joy in looking at a wooden box and being told that it used to make a noise. At the Nickelodeon Museum, you’re aurally transported back in time and it’s absolutely magical.

It all started when, as newlyweds, David bought Lesley a player piano that barely fit in their small flat. She became fascinated with the mechanics.

“That was the start of my undoing.”

Does that particular piano now reside in Revelstoke? Why, of course.

Again…the thought of shipping just one piano overseas is doing my head in right now. By the way, they have no idea how many pieces they own.

But the piano is nothing compared to their 1936 “dance organ” from a cafe in Belgium. It had to be sawed in half just to fit through the door.

Another highlight is a video jukebox from the ’3os. You’d pop a coin in and see an early music video on the screen.

Now, I said that staring at a wooden box and being told that it used to make a noise is absurd. So is reading a blog about the Nickelodeon Museum without hearing it. So here are a couple of videos to transport you to this whimsical stop:

This just in….reader Wayne Hiebert brought this fitting video to my attention:

Tagged as: british columbia, canada, Retro road trip, revelstoke