I've been reading with interest the information about the Melographic
Roll Co. of Buffalo, New York, and I may have some information to add.

I have one roll in my collection from this company, roll number 01835,
"Silver Bell", by Percy Wenrich.  The label on the box is much like
the label contributed by J. B. Roth, except that the line under the
Melographic name at the top of the label says "Note 65 Roll", whereas
the label in the MMD archives reads "Note 150 Roll".  My roll is an
88 note roll.

The roll spool is the most interesting feature of my roll.  The left
hand spool has a metal "ring" which appears to be brass set into the
wooden spool.

The roll itself has four patents listed on it:

  U.S. May 17, 1910 - 958-214
  England, August 21, 1909 - 19,296
  Canada, July 26, 1910 - 121,084
  Australia, Dec. 30, 1909 - 16,707 (this number is rather light, and
may not be exact).

Dale Wilson sent a posting to MMD on 1 March, 2003 about a web site for
researching U.S. patents by number, and by going to this site, I've
found the following information:

U. S. patent number 958,214 was applied for on August 21, 1908, by
William F. Bayer, from Buffalo, NY, and issued May 17, 1910.  This was
for the Chase and Baker Company of Buffalo, and was for the music roll
spool that is on my roll.  The drawing on the patent shows that the
left end brass ring is spring-loaded to "compensate for variation in
the width of the music sheet due to atmospheric changes or other
causes".  I will look at my roll again to see if this spool end is
movable, but I suspect it is.

Interestingly, the original patent drawings show the spool flanges with
pinned ends, but this obviously changed by the time my roll was made.
The names of the witnesses of the patent application were C. F. Geyer
and E. M. Graham.  Witnesses listed on the drawing were Richard Sommer
and Emma M. Graham.  Attorneys are listed as Geyer and Popp.

The Chase and Baker Piano Company was located in Buffalo, New York, and
according to the Pierce Piano Atlas, "The Chase and Baker Piano Company
was established and began making pianos in the mid 1880's.  Production
lasted all the way into the mid 1960s.  The brand name was eventually
assumed by both the Settergren Piano Company and the Estey Piano
Company."  The Settergren Piano company and Estey Piano Corporation
were both eventually located in Bluffton, Indiana.

I hope this sheds some light on the history of the Melographic Roll
Company.

John Bartlett
Woodruff, SC