I think we all owe a debt of gratitude to Durrell Armstrong for his
lifetime contribution to the player piano world.  It always saddens
me to see the stuff at an estate auction where the hype on the auction
bill is that the person collected for 40 or 50 years.  I always hope
that the deceased truly enjoyed his or her collection because I guess
that is a big part of what life is all about.  Durrell lived and
breathed player pianos and he must have enjoyed his passion.  He had
to value the proud feeling of bringing an old useless instrument back
to life.

Looking at the small crowd at the auction, with the exception of the
two young and beautiful "absentee bidders" for the most part it looked
somewhat like a WW2 reunion.  I guess our younger generation is too
caught up with the electronic age and most have lost the value of saving
family heirlooms.  This factor along with the bad economy has "knocked
the hell" out of the player piano restoration business in my area.

So, I guess we all need to look into the future and find permanent homes
for our "collections" in museums or whatever so these unique instruments
survive and do not end up on the estate auction block to be given away
or converted to scrap metal and lost to future generations who may some
day wake up and value the true "good ol' days" music that these big music
boxes can bring back to life.  (That is, unless you plan to live forever!)

Larry Schuette - The Player Piano Man
Raymond, Nebraska