I may be one of the few lucky people who own a restored 65-note
Aeolian Metrostyle push-up player. About eighteen years ago, while
visiting in Cincinnati, Ohio, I stopped in at a large antique shop
(which a few years later, caught fire and burned to the ground).
They had an unrestored Aeolian Metrostyle push-up player for sale.
Resting on the top of the player, was an antique buyers guide
(I don't remember the name of the magazine), but it was opened to
the page that showed the exact same Metrostyle push-up player as the
one I also own. According to that buyers guide, it had placed a value
of $8,500 for a restored one. If memory serves me right, I think the
selling price for the unrestored one was around four hundred dollars.
Keep in mind that this information is from eighteen years ago, so
today's economy will have changed things.
I hope you are able to acquire the one you saw and good luck in its
restoration. They are a fascinating beast. The production of these
things only lasted a little under ten years I believe and since the
rolls are of the "pin-end type" they can sometimes be a little hard
to find and sometimes getting music that you can actually enjoy (by
today's standards) can be somewhat of a challenge too, but once you
have some music to play, they are a joy!
For the past few years, mine has been used at the Scott Joplin House
in St. Louis, Missouri, when they have their annual ragtime festival.
That event is roughly in about a month or so, I think, so if anyone in
the St. Louis area would like to see it in action, contact the Scott
Joplin House to find the exact dates.
Duane Adams
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