I read Matthew Caulfield's posting on "Cost of Specialty Music
Rolls Today" and I couldn't agree with him more.  Ray Siou without
a doubt greatly contributed to the furtherance of mechanical music.

I first visited Ray's warehouse/residence in the mid-1970's.  I was so
impressed with the huge number of rolls he had on display; I was like
a "kid in a candy store."

My main interest at that time was in nickelodeon "A" rolls.  I had just
bought my Seeburg nickelodeon and needed to start up my collection.
Knowing that Ray Siou didn't want to deal with anyone who just bought
one or two rolls, I bought 20 rolls, that cost just $10 each.  Today
it's almost impossible to find an "A" selling for less than $65.

Living in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the fact that I flew back
from Oakland, California, presented a problem in transporting the rolls
up to Canada.  So I enlisted one of the members of MBSI who was going
to drive up to Vancouver for a mid-winter meeting and he graciously
consented to load all of my 20 rolls in the back of his pick-up truck.

Today I believe that I've got the largest collection of "A" rolls not
only in British Columbia, but perhaps in all of Canada.  I've got over
125 "A" rolls.  I'll always be grateful to Ray Siou for having made
available rolls at such low prices.  I wish him well, wherever he is
today.

George Karpel
Burnaby, British Columbia