As a new member of MMD I have arrived in the middle of the discussion
concerning Violano survival rates.  Art Reblitz was kind enough to
E-mail me with some of his observations perhaps to give me some
background as to what has been discussed up to this point.

Art commented about the ownership of operators playing a large roll
in the destruction of coin pianos.  This is a factor that I did not
consider.  I like a good piano story but here is a jukebox story that
has relevance to the topic.

I was visiting jukebox collector friends who live in western
Pennsylvania.  The husband of this collector couple is an operator
presently and also the son of an operator.  We stood in front of his
shop which housed some of his collection; he also used this building
to restore old jukeboxes and service jukes that were off-route.  He
pointed to a blackened area about fifteen feet from the entrance and
he said:

  "You see that?  That's where I burn jukeboxes.  I don't have room for
   them all, and when I can't sell them to people who want to use them
   for their recreation rooms, I strip parts out of them to save other
   machines and then I burn the cabinets over here".

Then he led me to the side of his home which was on a small hill.

  "You see this hill?  I can't tell you how many jukeboxes are under
   here.  I wish I could have them back again".

He then started to list the various models which were, at this point,
underground.  He explained that before jukeboxes became collectable his
father had to make a decision whether to allot valuable shop space for
the route machines.

After standing on that hill I gained some insight into the mind of the
coin piano route operator.  Which leads me to my next point.

As most of you know, the bigger the machine, the more likely it was
to survive.  Art Reblitz quoted a figure that between three and four
percent of all PianOrchestras in Wurlitzer-made cabinets are known
to exist.

One important factor on survival rate which would be most relevant to
reproducing pianos has to do with the wealth of the owner.  In speaking
with another dealer in reproducing pianos we had both come to the same
conclusion that the finest reproducing pianos, such as custom-built art
cases and Duo-Art Concertola's, have yet to surface.

There is little cause for an extremely wealthy family to dispose of
a piano.  As long as the home where the piano is located remains in
the family, or as long as their children have space in their homes,
some top-of-the-line reproducing grands will not enter the collector's
circle.

As you can see this is a subject that interests me very much.  I look
forward to hearing further comments.

Paul Manganaro