As Bob Taylor points out, there are Estey rolls of music not available
as Aeolian rolls.  So Estey probably recorded at least some of their
own rolls.  But did they do all their own recording or arranging?

I checked my rolls and found only one duplicate title: Kreisler, "Caprice
Viennois" - Estey 351, Aeolian 51835.  They are definitely not the same.

My single comparison does not prove that Estey rolls were never copied
from Aeolian.  I compared my early Estey catalog with the listing of
Aeolian 116-note rolls in Rollin Smith's book.  I was somewhat surprised
to find that of the approximately 220 rolls in the Estey catalog, 200
of them were also available as Aeolian rolls.  This seems a little high
for pure chance.  Of course most of them are "standards" that any organ
owner might want.

On the other hand there were some rather obscure pieces, which make me
suspicious.  Maybe they were standards in the 1920's, but here are some
of them.  Judge for yourself:  Harker "In the Twilight," Horsman "The
Curfew," Kinder "In Moonlight," Svendsen "Romanze in G," and Titt'l
"Serenade."  Has anyone heard of Titt'l?  If Estey did not copy Aeolian
rolls, it sure looks as if they tried to offer almost all the same
pieces as Aeolian did.

My Estey rolls of the first and second type (pin-end spools) each has
a date stamped on the reverse of the paper just past the leader.  They
all say "Rec'd AUG 13 1926" or some other date.  Does Rec'd mean
Recorded, Received, or something else?  If I put my rolls in order by
that date, the roll numbers are not sequential at all, with the earliest
roll number having the latest date, and others randomly spread between.
This would seem to indicate these are not recording dates.  Perhaps
they are punching dates?  I got my rolls from different sources, but it
is conceivable that they were all from one collection where the
collector dated them.  Does anyone else have Estey rolls with these
dates?

If anyone has Aeolian rolls matching my Estey rolls and would be
willing to compare them, I would like to send a scan of the first
couple of feet of the Estey roll for comparing with the Aeolian.

These are the Estey rolls I have.  If anyone has the appropriate
Aeolian roll and would be willing to compare the beginning punches
please get in touch with me.

Beethoven Prometheus Overture Estey 651 Aeolian 51118
Boellmann Minuet Gothique Estey 392 Aeolian 1216
Drigo Serenade Estey 736 Aeolian 907
Suppe Pique Dame Overture Estey 643 Aeolian 667
Tschaikowsky Symphony #6, Finale Estey 945 Aeolian 51632
Wagner Liebestod Estey 292 Aeolian 51510

I apologize if I have extended this Estey thread beyond the breaking
point.  I will not write again unless I find can report more
comparisons.

David Sharpe
Western Massachusetts

 [ When it appears on piano rolls, "Rec'd" means "Recorded".  The date
 [ that follows might be the date that the artist visited a recording
 [ studio, but that should be viewed with suspicion.  ;-)
 [
 [ When you study their catalogs it seems that some firms, such as Welte
 [ and Columbia/Capitol, assigned catalog numbers on the day the song
 [ was "recorded" or otherwise assigned to a staff arranger.  But at
 [ other firms it seems the catalog number wasn't assigned until the next
 [ catalog was compiled for the printer.
 [
 [ -- Robbie