Robot Dance Organ Price Soars Into the Hundreds of Thousands

Delightful robot dance organ hits a pricey note. The Decap “Robot” Dance Organ would fit right in the Jetson household. At Morphy’s recent sale of mechanical music machines and automata, the completely restored and operating organ sold for $350,550. Built by Belgium’s Decap brothers in 1963, the 105-key organ is 12 feet long, 5 feet high and 3 feet deep, a fine stage space for three talented robot musicians on horns and drums. They play captivating, toe-tapping tunes, even rising (somewhat stiffly) for their solos. The design of the robots reflected the 1950s–early 1960s idea of what “real” robots might look like—think the Jetsons’ maid Rosey or Robot in Lost in Space.

Photo: Morphy Auctions