William E. Haskell

William E. Haskell was an American organ-builder and inventor born on November 29, 1865, in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Charles S. Haskell, was also an organ-builder employed by the Roosevelt organ company, located in Philadelphia. At the age of 18, Haskell began working with his father, and around 1901, he established the William E. Haskell Co. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This organ-building firm was later acquired by Estey Organ Co., and Haskell became superintendent of the Estey pipe organ division, which was located in Vermont. He died there on May 13, 1927.

His most famous invention is an organ pipe manufacturing technique known as "Haskelling", where a thinner pipe is placed inside a thicker pipe to create a pipe with a deeper pitch than a normal pipe of the same length. It is used in spaces where it is too small for a full-length pipe to be feasible. It was invented for the Estey organ company, which manufactured many pipe organs, despite its focus on reed organs. He also invented several reedless orchestral imitation stops, such as the clarinet, oboe, and saxophone, whose advantage lay in the fact that they would stay in tune with the other flue stops. This was especially useful for instruments in more remote areas, where a tuner would not be as accessible.

Patents Patent #641,509; 16 Jan. 1900; toilet flush valve Patent #734,261; 21 Jul. 1903; organ Patent #734,262; 21 Jul. 1903; organ Patent #760,114; 17 May 1904; pneumatic valve Patent #760,115; 17 May 1904; pneumatic coupler Patent #795,608; 25 Jul. 1905; pneumatic Patent #871,272; 19 Nov. 1907; pipe Patent #923,263; 1 Jun. 1909; pneumatic Patent #965,897; 2 Aug. 1910; pipe Patent #967,911; 23 Aug. 1910; pipe Patent #971,502; 27 Sep. 1910; pipe Patent #1,078,851; 18 Nov. 1913; coupler Patent #1,078,852; 18 Nov. 1913; coupler Patent #1,173,507; 29 Feb. 1916; harp stop Patent #1,230,895; 26 Jun. 1917; selector for player mechanism Patent #1,236,430; 14 Aug. 1917; music player roll Patent #1,250,165; 18 Dec. 1917; roll player registration Patent #1,281,564; 15 Oct. 1918; swell regulation device Patent #1,297,687; 18 Mar. 1919; pneumatic switch Patent #1,304,971; 27 May 1919; player action control Patent #1,323,530; 2 Dec. 1919; organ Patent #1,327,996; 13 Jan. 1920; labial tuba mirabilis Patent #1,477,485; 11 Dec. 1923; bottling machine Patent #1,659,914; 21 Feb. 1928; stop action Patent #1,636,996; 26 Jul. 1927; bottle cap