Hanging slitted curtain-type mandolin attachments used several
different materials attached to the ends of the tabs.  All types
drop down from above:

1.  The usual "OK" paper fasteners -- folded around the tab, with a
rounded bump on the back side, and a stamped triangular point on the
front side stuck through the tab and into the hole in the rounded bump,
locking the clip in place (most Seeburgs and many home player pianos).

2.  Brass paper fasteners, the type with a round head, with two thin
flat legs stuck through a hole in the tab and spread apart (fairly
common).

3.  Half-round wooden dowels glued to the back of the tabs.

4.  Slotted brass tubes crimped across the ends of the tabs.

5.  Rectangular brass stampings with a slot for the tab to go through
and glue back on itself.  This type swings free and sounds great.
Intricately-shaped little rosewood pieces with a slotted upper edge
with the tab glued into the slot (Hupfeld).

6.  Thin flat wooden rectangles glued to the back of the tabs
(Nelson-Wiggen).


In each case, the attached clip hangs below the hammer striking point.
The hammer hits the cloth or leather tab, and the clip on the end of
the tab swings toward the strings and bounces away.  Successful tone
quality depends on the right stiffness/flexibility of the curtain tabs
and angle of the rail, so the clips neither bounce twice nor block
against the strings.  In all cases the hammer letoff must be adjusted
farther from the strings than usual: the normal letoff distance plus
the thickness of the tab.

Regardless of the material used, the clips don't seem to hurt plain
steel treble strings.  I've never seen an original mandolin attachment
with metal clips for the wound bass strings.  I've seen modern "honky-
tonk" attachments with metal clips for the bass strings, in which the
clips wore through the copper windings, ruining the strings.

One exception to this is the Hupfeld Pan mandolin (called "Harfe" by
Hupfeld), which uses wooden clips, as noted in the above list.  Pan
music rolls use the effect very sparingly, generally limiting it to
places in the music where a harp would be used, instead of using it
frequently as in American orchestrion rolls.  (The Harfe is not the
Hupfeld mechanical street piano-type reiterating "Mandoline" attach-
ment, described below.)

Any hanging curtain mandolin will eventually destroy the piano hammers
if used frequently, even if the clips hang low enough to miss the
hammer felt entirely.  The wear is caused by the rubbing action of the
tab over the striking surface of the hammer, not the hammer striking
the clip.

At Svoboda's Nickelodeon Tavern [in Chicago], the most popular pianos
(which played as frequently as 100 times per day on many weekends) had
their mandolins disconnected so the hammers wouldn't have to replaced
every few years.  In home use, the hammers will last a long time, even
with a mandolin attachment.

The Nelson-Wiggen Piano Company also patented a "banjo attachment."
As shown in the patent drawing, this looked like an ordinary curtain-
type mandolin attachment, but the clips were thin wedge-shaped pieces
of wood glued to the back of the tabs.  The patent specifies that the
letoff should be regulated close, causing the hammers to block the
clips against the strings, damping the tone immediately.  This was
supposed to sound like a staccato banjo tone instead of a sustained,
ringing mandolin tone.

It was very hard on the jack flanges and wippen flanges; I've never
seen an original Nelson-Wiggen piano regulated so the hammers would
block as specified in the patent.

Another popular mandolin attachment, which causes no wear on the hammer
heads, uses a tray with little spring-loaded wooden paddles, or wire
pushrods with little dowels on each end.  The tray rests horizontally
in the space between the hammer heads and dampers.

At rest, the stems of the paddles or pushrods lie between the hammer
shanks.  In use, a pneumatic pulls the tray sideways exactly half the
distance between two notes, aligning the stems with the hammer shanks.
The shank pushes the paddle toward the string.  The hammer lets off,
inertia causes the thin blade end of the paddle to bounce against the
string, and the spring returns the paddle to the rest position.

Again, there is no hammer blocking because the inertia of the paddle,
not continuous contact with the shank, does the job.  All Cremonas, and
very early Coinolas, used the wooden paddles.  Later Coinolas used the
little wire stems with dowel buttons on the ends.  Both are very
effective and do not decrease the loudness as a curtain mandolin does.

The Hupfeld "Mandoline" is a mechanism with its own reiterating
"hammers" that strike the strings, independent from the regular piano
action and hammers.  It was based on the reiterating mandoline
mechanism used in certain street pianos, patented by Grob, the
predecessor to the Ludwig Hupfeld company.

It is not easy to describe in words, but my new book includes a close-up
picture of the device in a large Hupfeld Helios.  (The manuscript of
"The Golden Age of Automatic Musical Instruments" has been submitted
to publishers and should finally be in print this year!)

In the Hupfeld Helios, the piano treble section has both a regular
piano action and the reiterating "Mandoline" device.  The Wurlitzer
Mandolin Quartette coin piano also used a similar device in the treble,
but with the ordinary piano action only in the bass & accompaniment
section.

Art Reblitz