Q:I have a pump organ with collapsible legs that has a label that reads "Peloubet, Pelton & Co." I've been told it is a melodeon and was probably made in the late 1800s. Can you tell me if this is correct?

A:Peloubet, Pelton & Co. was formed in 1873 by Louis Chabrier Peloubet and J.M. Pelton when they merged their two musical instrument manufacturing firms. Peloubet had been making wind instruments since 1836 and small reed organs, called melodeons, since 1849. Pelton's firm had been named Pelton Standard Organ Co. The partnership, based in New Jersey, dissolved in about 1882. Peloubet continued in business under other names.