Hello MMD readers,  Since 1952, when I began in the player roll field,
I have run into many rolls which were never sold, so they often re-
tained their factory seals.  Beyond Ampico ballads and ho-hum fox trots
(the usual fare one encountered on the West Coast in those days), the
sealed rolls included QRS (Melville Clark), Solo-Apollo, Aeolian Grand
(often a hymn medley), Duo-Art, SoloElle, QRS in the early 1920's, and
some lesser-known brands.

The idea of a seal, as if the old unwanted rolls were "fine wine",
seems silly to me.  If you collect and listen to rolls frequently, you
can "hear the arrangement" without ever opening the roll or playing it
upon the piano.

When encountering a seal, and I wanted to play the roll, I did.
Musically, I was often disappointed, but that was in the days when
I was still learning the "formulae" of old commercial rolls.  I did
the same with old Hollywood movies in the same period, and now can
'write the dialogue' a few frames before the actors utter their
predictable lines on a Vitaphone talkie.

Sealed rolls are usually just the 'junkers' that nobody wanted, so
they remained as-is with their factory labels on them.  (I see no
value here.)

Recently the eBay on-line auction had a series of Artcraft Duo-Art
rolls (14) for sale, which I shipped from my Studio between 1982-1987.
They are all available today (with higher serial numbers) and sold for
"almost 1999" prices, which are in the area of $20.00 per roll.  Mean-
while, a group of 8 mint condition 'original' Ampico ballad rolls went
for $3.00 per roll, about what the boxes and spools would be worth if
you threw away "A Perfect Day" and "Carry Me Back To Old Virginny".

Rolls don't have to be old, or sealed, to retain their value.

So much for my opinion of seals.  Artcraft rolls are numbered and dated
but feature no seals, because they are not -- in my estimation -- of
any value which relates to musical performance.

Regards from Maine,

Douglas Henderson, Artcraft Music Rolls
PO Box 295, Wiscasset, ME 04578 USA
Website - http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/