MU

Missouri Folk Arts Program

University of Missouri

Donate
MENU
  • About Us
    • Our Staff
    • Our Partners
    • Donate
  • Programs
    • Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program
    • Folk Arts Grants
    • Community Scholars Network
    • Student Workers
    • Folk Arts in Education
    • Legends & Lore
  • Art Exhibits
    • Master Artists/Master Teachers
    • Work is Art and Art is Work
    • Folk Arts Focus
  • Publications
    • Museum Magazine
    • Essays
  • Show Me Folk
  • Contact

Arthur Treppler

b. 1918 d. 1994
Bridgeton, Missouri
Button-Box Accordion

Apprentices:
1985 Paul Knopf, John Winkler
1987 Joseph Seper, Louis Chaperlo
1989 Louis Chaperlo, Louis Gyaky
1990 Eric Noltkamper
1993 Alice Harfman

Arthur Treppler’s family immigrated to the United States from Austria and Hungary in the early 1900’s. He remembered of his youth that “every ‘fun occasion’ in his community in St. Louis included a button box band and dancing,” reported folklorist Donald Love, who observed Mr. Treppler’s work with his apprentice for the Missouri Folk Arts Program. He worked for 26 years as a quality assurance specialist in aviation for the U.S. Air Force and Navy; in his retirement, he devoted more of his time to playing, repairing and teaching the button box accordion.

Mr. Treppler learned to play the button box accordion in his teens from Louis Conrad, a friend of his parents and fellow immigrant. Mr. Treppler knew the old tunes by heart, and once he mastered the fingering, was able to play tunes by ear, though he also could read music. In his enjoyment of the instrument, Mr. Treppler co-founded the St. Louis Button Box Club and frequently played at St. Louis events like the Strassenfest and the Bevo Days festivals, celebrating the German heritage of the area. He performed music characteristic of the instrument—polkas, waltzes, and schottisches—traditional folk dances of his ancestors.

Mr. Treppler wrote about the button box with great fondness. In a 1988 publicity flier, Mr. Treppler stated, “Button accordions have the sweetest sound of any instrument; it is soothing to the central nervous system & pleasing to the ears.” He relied on the button box to cheer him when he felt down, and by teaching his art to apprentices he wanted to “retain the good sounds and happiness of this instrument.”

As a teacher, Mr. Treppler was characterized as kind, challenging, and praising, carefully keeping the techniques he was teaching just challenging enough to keep his apprentices engaged without frustrating the learner’s abilities. Mr. Treppler’s apprentice Erik Noltkamper wanted to learn from him because he was “the most knowledgeable in this area about the accordion itself, and he knows the old time songs. I want to learn the basics of the button box, and have a good foundation to keep learning.” A member of the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program’s review panel stated, “Every observer who has visited this master comments on his teaching ability. He is a leader in the Slovenian musical community as an entertainer and a teacher.”

Audio clip: Apprentice Alice Harfman and Art Treppler discuss the relative scarcity of button box players in the St. Louis area amidst the rising popularity of the instrument in the late 80’s-early 90’s. Interview with Dana Everts-Boehm in Bridgeton, Missouri.

Related

Share this page

Show Me Folk

A TRIBUTE TO BEVERLY STROHMEYER (1944-2023)

Saturday, September 2, we woke to the news on Facebook that our friend and colleague Beverly Strohmeyer had suffered and survived a major cardiac event. Over the next two weeks, we followed the stories of…

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Sep 20, 2023 Read More

Missouri quilters reflect on sharing their craft on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. by Kirk Kramer for the News Leader, August 13, 2023

At the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, we enjoyed meeting Ozarks’ own son Kirk Kramer who resides now in Cottage City, Maryland (originally of Greenfield, Missouri and Miami, Oklahoma). Kirk let us know he wrote the following…

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Aug 14, 2023 Read More

4 FAQs about the 2024 Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program Application Process

[Edited to add: The deadline for 2024 Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program applications ended on August 31, 2023.] Staff has fielded a few common questions. We want to share questions and answers below. Have questions you…

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Aug 10, 2023 Read More
Missouri Folk Arts Program

Contact Us

573-882-6296 higginsll@missouri.edu

Missouri Folk Arts
Museum of Art and Archaeology
520 South 9th Street
Room 1, Ellis Library
Columbia, MO 65211


© 2023 — Curators of the University of Missouri. All rights reserved. DMCA and other copyright information.
An equal opportunity/access/affirmative action/pro-disabled and veteran employer.
Published by the College of Arts & Science. Contact Web Group.

Contact Us

"*" indicates required fields

Name*

Our Partners

 

Loading Comments...