Well, I've just received my first Christmas Card.  I suppose I should
be lucky that they didn't send it in November!  Here in mid-England UK
we are looking forward to the usual grey, mild and drizzly festive
season.

Long gone are the Christmases depicted on most Christmas Cards with
heaps of snow, kids playing on sledges and robins perched on the holly
boughs.

The last Christmas we had in traditional weather was 1970.  It was a
fairy-tale Christmas never to be forgotten.  Now, all we have is the
holly boughs and robins, but that's it!!

 - - -

Duo-Art regulation.

I have restored enough of these machines to know that this is fraught
with difficulties of slop, slip, wear and tear, mis-alignments, warp,
woodworm, and rot!  There is no alternative but to meticulously address
all these faults and restore them to their former glory.  It can be a
hell of a lot of work, but a total waste of time unless its done
properly.  I dare suggest that many of us have never heard a properly
adjusted machine playing to its full abilities.  Its only when you do,
that you realise that, what you thought was a good response, is
mediocre in the extreme.

Even then, with a properly responsive machine, you have the various
makes of roll to contend with.  Even the original Duo-Art rolls can be
disappointing.  Some of the newer "other makes" of Duo-Art format are
very variable in quality and performance.

I am gathering a folder of the comments that have been expressed in the
recent weeks on the subject in MMD, which I find invaluable.  Also, I
have valued correspondence from other restorers with their comments and
experience.  I bet that some of you also have such a collection of
information.

Larry Givens is mentioned over and over again.  A trawl of all the
on-line book stores fails to turn up any Duo-Art treatise.  Presumably
such books are long out of date.  It would seem that he is regarded as
a considerable authority on the subject.  Are there no extracts or
re-prints available?

Best wishes to all

Nigel Perry