Yesterday Mr. Kehret mentioned "Universal" 65-note rolls.  I have one
of these which was sent to me by Mrs. Rettig of the Music Roll Shop,
who got a sale-lot of them, and didn't know what they were for.  I want
to present some more ideas about them, hoping other members will fill
us in about this curious product.

First of all, I know that they were an Aeolian Company (Universal Music
Company division) piano roll product. The maker's address, as well as
other features of the roll, give this away.

My 65-note push-up Pianola, a fairly late model, has adapters to play
them, and I had wondered for 30 years what they were for. The rolls are
wound on a very thin wall cardboard tube, unlike the wooden sticks used
on most 65-note pinned-end rolls.  The flanges are disks of red
vulcanized fiber, held on to the core by large, rolled-rim eyelets,
11/16" inside diameter.  These big eyelets are fixed to the core by
long 1/8" diam. eyelets used as rivets (the 'rods' mentioned by Mr.
Kehret) which pierce the tube and the shaft of the big eyelets
transversely.

The adapters in the Pianola consist of: at the left end; a large flange
surrounding the moving chuck, with a shallow round groove in the face
which matches the rolled rim of the roll's flange-fixing eyelet.  This
spring-loaded chuck has an unusually long throw, so that it can
properly press on the left end of this much shorter spool.

At the right end, the normal chuck with the slotted hole for the usual
drive pin, is surrounded by a sliding round device with a similar 3/4"
diam. groove in its face to fit the rim on the right end of the roll.
This adapter pulls out and turns, bayonet fashion, to lock it in place
at the proper position.

To drive the roll on rewind, the big eyelet on the right end of the
roll has a notch cut in its rim.  A pin in the groove of the right
adapter flange engages this notch.

These rolls are 11-1/8" wide, instead of the normal 11-1/4" width, but
they track properly, since this Pianola has adjustable sliding flanges
on the take-up spool, similar to the adjustable flange spools fitted to
Aeolian organs.


Now the rest of this note is pure speculation, based on circumstantial
evidence.

I assume that this roll was an attempt, late in the 65-note era,
to produce a 'discount price' line of music, rather than simply an
attempt to introduce a simpler and cheaper roll spool, compared to the
elaborate 3-piece wooden spools usual on 65-note music.  Here are the
points I have noted:

The label is annotated: "Price 50 Cents - Non-returnable".

With the thin, flat flanges, the whole roll is less than 11-1/2" inches
long overall, and fits in a much shorter box than normal 65-note pinned
end rolls.  The box is very thin 'folded craft paper', similar to late
Duo-Art or modern Play-Rite boxes, rather than the heavy wall 'wrapped
set-up boxes' usually used by Aeolian company at the time.

(By the way, roll trivia fans:  Is this the earliest use of a 'folded
craft paper' music roll box?  The latest Patent date on the stamp on
the roll leader is Aug. 16, 1904.)

The slightly narrower 11-1/8" width makes little sense, unless this was
done to produce an indelible differentiation between these rolls and
the normal, higher-priced 65-note rolls.  This might serve to prevent
unscrupulous dealers or rental libraries from re-spooling these rolls on
normal 11-1/4" spools, and charging more money for them.

Otherwise, the music itself is not inherently 'cheaper'.  The roll
has a decent musical arrangement of normal length, and has the usual
playing direction stamps along its length.  It is punched on the same
increment as normal 65-note music.  (Many 'discount' rolls were punched
with a long 'chained' increment, to reduce manufacturing time and
cost.)  I wonder if my tune, 'Oh Silvery Moon', number 11518 E, is the
same as the normal pinned-end arrangement, perhaps using a modified
numbering series.

Another curious feature of this roll is that there is a short plug of
turned wood, about 7/16" diam., by 3/4" long, inside the spool tube near
one end, fixed in place to prevent it from rattling around by a tack
driven through the cardboard tube.  It has no apparent function;
I assume it was used as a stiffener to prevent the thin tube and the
flange-eyelet from being crushed when the transverse hole for the
flange-fixing transverse eyelet was punched, and the eyelet was peened.

The assembler must have slipped this plug inside the tube, used it to
stiffen one end for eyeletting, then slid it to the other end for the
same purpose. Or perhaps there were two such plugs to start with, but
one would fall out after one cross eyelet were installed. After both
ends were riveted, at least one of these plugs would be trapped inside
the tube between the rivets, and had to be tacked to prevent it from
moving around.  Labor was cheaper than material in those days.

I have only seen one other such roll in my life; the series must have
been short-lived, not very popular, or put out too late in the 65-note
era to make much of a market impression.  Any other information about
this odd product would be appreciated.

Richard Vance