A dear friend of mine has a "late September" child -- a result of
sparking with his beloved while in Italy.  Little Jeff is now 2-1/2.
The last time he came over with dad I handed him a quarter, and pointed
at my "O" roll buildup nickelodeon (it resembles a Coinola CO).

At first, he acknowledged the gift by putting it in his pocket, but
then I again pointed out the slot.  (Kids love slots, especially when
a coin is burning a hole in their pocket, and the big people don't say
"No" and "Don't touch that.")

I put a chair in front of the instrument and invited him to climb up
and put the coin in the slot.  No further coaxing was necessary
(picture him straining to reach the opening, and the thrill of victory
as the coin went in).

There followed first the burst of light from inside the case, followed
by the whirring of the motors (suction and pressure) and then ... Magic!
The keys were going up and down, the drums were booming and tapping,
the wood block clacking, the tambourine tam-ming and bourin-ing, the
crash cymbal crashing ... *and it all made some kind of sense!*

He climbed up on dad's lap and I swear his foot was tapping in time
with the music, and the look of wonderment on his face was priceless.
Then the tune stopped, the lights went out, and silence filled the
room.

He leapt out of dad's lap and lunged for the cup full of coins and
rammed another one in the slot, climbed in dad's lap and resumed
tapping his foot.   He made it through all 10 tunes without a peep (so
did dad, and with a smile throughout all of them).

Folks, let the young'ens see and feel these machines and they will play
on and be loved and re-collected forever.  Lock them up in princely
warehouses and the machines and the music will die.

George Bogatko
http://www.inluxeditions.com/