Hello MMD readers,  Microsoft's Listbot service was broken down for
the greater part of yesterday, but early this morning their system was
functioning again, so Issue #6 was transmitted to the growing list of
subscribers.

We have included two auxiliary web pages (URLs) with this particular
edition, both linked on our server to the earlier issues as well as
the text located at http://artcraftrolls.listbot.com and the link
"View The List Archive" for Newsletter #6.

The past couple of newsletters dealt with the musical-technical
approach to roll arranging, so we changed focus this time and decided
to examine what has to be the corniest advertising campaign that the
Aeolian company ever trotted out for magazine readers.  One of the extra
URLs has the complete advertising text and the other one features a
photograph of the layout, plus 2 others, by English Aeolian and Wilcox
& White, builders of the Angelus player actions.

What makes the Aeolian text so maudlin is that it's a complete story,
in the form of a letter, by a New York City debutante (or 'finishing
school' type) to her father, requesting a Duo-Art piano so that she
can keep up with her social rival.  The crowning part of the monologue
occurs when "Mumsie" (her dead mother) is brought into the conversation,
whose music could be revived through the medium of an electric player.
The tone of this "Mumsie" story immediately brought back thoughts of
"Auntie Mame", the Patrick Dennis novel and later a superlative film
with Rosalind Russell.

Another aspect of our latest issue is that the linked page of
photographs at http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/listbot6.htm features
some pictures where Aeolian and Angelus used sneaky methods to hide or
reduce the size of the player components.  Pedal units and Pianola
levers are blurred or hidden in the shadows, for example.  Every attempt
was made to suggest that a grand piano, elongated for the Aeolian or
Angelus action, looked exactly like a "plain piano", as the story about
"Mumsie" said, when mentioning a non-player instrument.

Again, we suggest that Ampico enthusiasts consider subscribing to the
Artcraft Newsletter, since all announcements about the new expression
rolls in progress will appear there first.  We managed to get many
copies of "Cleopatra Rag" (our 4-hand Ampico arrangement based on Hersh
& Montgomery) from Play-Rite just prior to their disassembly of the
production perforators.  My estimate will be that Ampico rolls, for us,
will resume about 1/4 to a 1/2 year from now, so staying tuned with the
Listbot mailings is the fastest method of learning about the latest
releases.

Our seaside trailer reopens on May 15th, in Searsport, Maine, as
before.  Lois Konvalinka and I will be dividing our time between
Wiscasset and that bucolic Penobscot Bay location until October 15th.
We'll have our cellular telephone connected to the laptops, when away
from Wiscasset, so you should be able to reach us rapidly by email at
the regular address, <artcraft@wiscasset.net>.  (I don't both with
WebMail or URLs when using a radiotelephone to send/receive data, for
it's too slow and costly regarding the air-time.  Standard e-mail text
is fine, however.)

Even if you don't subscribe to our newsletters, do check out the
illustrated page if old player advertising is of interest to you.
The photographic URL, http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/listbot6.htm
should give you a good idea about the content of newsletter #6.

Happy reading!

Regards,
Douglas Henderson - Artcraft Music Rolls
Wiscasset, ME 04578 USA
http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/