Ordinarily I do not buy used piano rolls unless I have a chance to
play them first. However, I saw one roll on eBay that I had been
seeking since the late 1950's. At that time I had loaned my copy
of the roll for a recut project, but it was stolen by an employee
of Larry Givens. I had not seen a copy of it since that time.
The roll on eBay was put up for auction with another roll, which
meant I had to buy two rolls. I bid rather high to obtain the one
roll. When it arrived, I was happy to find that it was in very good
condition, but the second roll was shredded paper. I sent an Email
message to the seller. (No name, only his or her "handle" and a
P.O. box.) No response.
Three months later, a large package arrived in the mail. It was a
box of 15 Ampico very late rolls in excellent condition. Included
with the rolls was a note: "I had these rolls left over and thought
you might enjoy having them." The note was unsigned.
Bruce Clark
|