Hi Peter and group,
Well, I have the information about the closure from Barclay Wright in
person. He is the current proprietor of Mastertouch.
According to him, the running of the business was handed over last year
to the foundation which Peter Phillips mentioned. It has since become
apparent that they cannot turn the business around to run without a huge
loss.
Mr. Wright has further advised me that the perforators will go to the
Powerhouse museum. You are correct in saying that the machines should
be preserved, but what good are they in a museum's storeroom rotting
away? Powerhouse may well put one perforator on display, but the rest
will be put away. Once stored away in a museum, there is very little
chance that they will ever be in use again.
In my opinion, it would be much better to give them, or at least one of
them, to someone who will utilise them for making piano rolls and
cherish them for what they are. If the Mastertouch foundation can still
achieve this, great! It did not sound like it from my conversation with
Mr. Wright though. If you have any more details regarding the machines'
future, please fill us in.
What does this group think, should perforators be museumed or rather put
to the use they were intended for?
Bernt Damm
Sydney, Australia
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