Damon Atchison yesterday asked a question I had mused over many times.
Why did mechanical music builders rely on all that air-sucking wood,
leather and rubber when electro-magnetic devices seem so much simpler?

A case in point might be the old Mills Violano.  Completely electrical,
the thing would be a sucking vacuum nightmare if built differently.  But
let's look at the era.

Electricity was something of a "black art".  Understood by few, it was
mysterious to all but the few innovators who had worked with it.
Materials were expensive with few suppliers manufacturing parts for this
new science.  Many considered electric to be unsafe and unreliable.
Voltages varied considerably, and this would greatly affect a musical
instrument.  After all, electrically lighted homes were still being built
with backup gas lighting well into the 1920's.  Of course, many areas had
no electric service.

On the other hand, wood, leather and rubber were common, tried and true
materials.  Don't forget that labor was an important issue in
manufacturing, and armies of immigrants to the US were well versed in
woodworking.  Wood and labor was cheaper than anyone today could imagine.

To conjure up a simple vacuum control would take not much more than a
block of wood, perhaps a strap of leather, sheet metal, screws and maybe
a leather nut -- something virtually anyone could do in a shed.  The same
can't be said for electric components, regardless of how simple the
little plastic and stamped metal things may appear to us today.

These are just some thoughts that I've realized in pondering this
question. ... Imagine yourself back in the 1920's and you'll probably see
how vacuum was clearly the most economical choice of the time.

Ed Gloeggler
Long Beach, New York