I have been looking in detail at the labels of rollers (cobs) I have
for a Gem Roller Organ in preparation for reprinting some that are
missing, and was quite surprised at the variety of styles!

On the numbered end, there are 4 major variants:

1) Red, patent date, capital "O" in "NO.", thick outer circle
2) Red, patent date, small "o" in "No.", thin and thick circles
3) Red, patent number, small "o" in "No., no outer circle
4) White, same as above

Single variants include:

5) Like 3), but hyphen between "No." and number, roller name in center
    (the center hole is punched right through the name!)
6) Like 1), but italicized roller number

On the other end, 4 styles:

1) Red, no emblem, one sentence, thick outer circle
2) Red, no emblem, two sentences, thick outer circle
3) Red, 8-pointed emblem, one sentence, thin outer circle
4) White, 4-pointed emblem, one sentence, no outer circle

In addition, there are no certain pairings of labels. Although the
matching circles are often found together, many do not.  I even have
some rollers that mix red and white labels!

So, here's the punch line:

Does anybody know of any significance to the styles, such as different
production periods? Anyone have styles other than these?  Anybody care?

The purpose of my detailed inspection was to enable me to have replace-
ment labels printed.  I intend to use similar paper (I understand from
a friend who is into paper production that it was a cheap, relatively
unbleached paper, similar to newsprint), similar inks (the red labels
are actually red ink on plain paper), and at least one of the styles
(the thin and thick circled front and the 8-pointed emblem back are the
"prettiest"), so if you are interested in reproduction labels, please
let me know.

Thanks!

Todd Augsburger, Kenton, Ohio
allmax@bright.net