Mahwah Museum to Offer New Displays

Beginning Feb. 7, the Mahwah Museum will introduce some exciting new items to the Les Paul exhibit and will display the first piece from an exhibit scheduled to open in September 2015.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of Les Paul’s birth, the Museum’s permanent Les Paul Exhibit will be expanded to include the original Ampex “reel to reel” tape machine that Bing Crosby gave to Les in 1949, as well as some of Les Paul’s other original recording equipment.

The Ampex “reel to reel” machine allowed Les to create the first multi-track tape recordings using the concept of “sound on sound.” He and his wife, Mary Ford, used this equipment to record most of their top hits such as “How High the Moon,” “Mockingbird Hill,” and “Vaya Con Dios.” With this invention, Les and Mary had five Top Ten Hits in 9 months in 1951 and between 1950 and 1954, Les and Mary had a total of 16 Top Ten Hits.

Later, Les built the first 8 track recording machine, which is also on display in the Museum. New guitars from Les Paul’s personal collection and other memorabilia will be added to the display. The popular “Play a Les Paul Guitar” feature continues by appointment and, in June, the Museum will sponsor a 100th Birthday Concert.

Also starting Feb. 7, as a coming attraction for the exhibit “The Dater Family and the Ramsey Journal,” which will be opened in September, the Museum will feature “The California Job Case,” the equipment used in the printing of “The Ramsey Journal” beginning in 1892. This display is made possible by the support of the Dater Family which operated “The Ramsey Journal” since its start in 1892.

The Museum is open weekends and Wednesdays from 1-4 p.m. Admission is $5 for non-members; museum members and children are free.

Watch www.mahwahmuseum.org for details.