To all:  I have the answer to Larry Smith's suggestion:  the _last_
place you would want to donate your roll collection is indeed the
prestigious Smithsonian Institution.  Why?  Because they have a
separate building in their complex _filled_ with rolls of all kinds,
and not the slightest notion of what's there.

I know because several years ago when I had begun my cataloguing,
I was told they had a sizeable stash of Ampico rolls.  So I dutifully
sent a reprint of my catalog to the designated person, and after some
time she returned it with the information that they had exactly one
Ampico roll: the Rachmaninoff recording of "The Star-Spangled
Banner" (no. 5728).  This was part of the visible portion of their
holdings in the museum itself.

So I manfully girded my loins and suggested to the curator, who had
been most cordial to me, that I go there and prowl around in the
facility, to see if they had any rare or unusual rolls among the lot.
He point-blank refused, as, "I don't want anyone messing around there
in the many boxes in which the rolls are contained, for reasons of
insurance liability."

He was probably quite correct, as who knows how they were sequestered
and how much moving of boxes might be involved.  Only museum employees
had any access to it, and you can imagine how much interest there might
have been among this group of men.

Further, there was a distinct froideur in his discussion of the
classical group of rolls, some of which, he admitted, might be there.
As far as he was concerned, their thrust in matters musical has been,
and will remain, oriented toward the folk and pop arena.  Never mind
that I reminded him that both Ampico and Duo-Art had been anxious
to represent American artists, and certainly compositions by and
performances of our music was a sizeable part of the total catalog.

Finally, I got the distinct impression that they would do everything
in their power to discourage any donations of piano rolls to their
holdings, for all the reasons listed above.

So Larry, and everyone else, be warned.

Albert M. Petrak, Founder
The Reproducing Piano Roll Foundation