{{Primary sources, date=December 2016 The Wicks Organ Company is an

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

where they build, repair, and restore organs.

History

The Wicks Organ Company was founded by Adolph Wick, John F. Wick, and Louis Wick in the early 1900s at their jewelry and watch making store in Highland, Illinois. A local priest asked John Wick to study organ; he studied organ at

St. Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

, St. Louis, Missouri, and then became the church organist. The church later decided to replace an old reed organ with a

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks' ...

. The brothers utilized their skills in watch making, cabinet making, and jewelry to construct a small, two manual and pedal, mechanical action pipe organ for the church. They incorporated as the Wicks Organ Company in 1906. The Wicks Organ Company invented, patented, and trademarked the Direct Electric chest action. This action was created in 1916 and it is still in use today. The Wicks opus list encompasses over 6,440 instruments installed mostly in the U.S. In January 2011, the company downsized, outsourcing some of its production to past employees. Third-generation family member Scott Wick is president.

References

Wicks Organ Company
Pipe organ building companies Companies based in Madison County, Illinois Manufacturing companies established in 1906 Musical instrument manufacturing companies of the United States 1906 establishments in Illinois

History

See also

References