Hello fellow MMD'ers.  Recently I came across some Ampico Jumbo Play-
Rite rolls with only two-digit numbers where the selections are normal-
ly printed at the beginning of the roll, but no titles.  They are also
in plain boxes with no labels.

I contacted John Malone of Play-Rite about them, and we had a nice long
chat, John filling me in on the history of Play-Rite, etc.  I asked him
about these particular rolls, which came from the roll collection of
Elwood Hansen, who I understand was a partner at Play-Rite with John
Malone back in the 1980's.

They are Jumbo rolls, with at least three or four selections on each
roll.  John did not have any old Play-Rite catalogs listing these
rolls.  They look to me to be classical, but I am not sure.  I have not
heard them yet, but will be able to do so next week, after my rebuilt
Mason & Hamlin Model RBB arrives.

Those rolls do have smaller holes.  I asked John about why he used
smaller holes, as I had heard that these smaller holes sometimes did
not play correctly on some Ampicos.  He explained to me that it was not
his intention to make the holes smaller; it was the paper that was the
problem.  Evidently when this paper went through the perforator, it
caused the perforator to make smaller holes.  Interesting bit of piano
roll history!

  [Early Play-Rite Wurlitzer rolls (on yellow paper) had small holes,
  [but that was because the dies then in use had smaller punches.  But
  [that may not account for your early Ampico rolls, which were doubt-
  [less run on a different perforator, possibly at the old Broadway
  [street plant that burned down February 2, 1997.  Then too, there is
  [a slight difference in hole size between the holes punched in the
  [top layer of paper and those in the bottom layer, when punching six-
  [teen or so copies at a time.
  [--Relief Editor.

In any case, I am hoping some fellow MMD'ers out there, who have some
of the old Play-Rite catalogs, can look up these three Jumbo rolls for
me.  They are as follows: #49, #72, and #21.

If you do find the titles of these rolls, I would appreciate it very
much if you would let me know what they are.  If there is enough inter-
est in them, we could possibly get them recut.

John Del Carlo