The organs manufactured by the Hooghuys firm can generally be divided into three categories:

1. barrel organs
2. fair organs (with books)
3. dance organs (with books).

The barrel organs not only comprise small instruments used on the street, but also organs that could be found on fairgrounds or in dance halls. However, since little information is available on this last category of instruments, both types will be discussed on the same page.

Before reading on, you really should know that Hooghuys organs partly owe their good reputation to the fact that they are able to repeat small notes very quickly: by using a specific system (a combination of the French key-system with the German Tonstufen-system), Hooghuys organs are able to play very small holes in the cardboard (up to 3,5mm) very accurately. Another typical feature is a separate key in the key frame which causes all keys to go down at the end of a book; before you can play new book, you have to raise the keys manually with the lever.