[ Ref. 120707 MMDigest, Identity of Coin Piano "A" Roll from 1939 ]

All the tunes on Clark Roll 1518 from 1939 were arranged for QRS by
J. Lawrence Cook.

After about 1924, all Clark arrangements were adapted from QRS 88-note
piano rolls.  From 1927 to 1929, Cook did the bulk of QRS arrangements.
After 1929 until the early 1960s, all QRS rolls were arranged by Cook,
with the exception of a few years during World War II, when Frank Milne
joined QRS for a short time when the Ampico factory closed in 1941,
and a few others.  During these years, however, Cook used a number of
additional names to give the appearance that QRS still had several
arrangers.

Clark Orchestra Roll Co. went out of business in early 1941.  Thus,
the tunes on any Clark A roll made from 1929 until 1941 were arranged
by Cook.  Don't confuse these rolls, many of which from the early 1930s
were very fine, with either the sloppy Clark perforating of the late
1930s, the terribly sloppy A rolls made and sold by Cook in the 1950s
under the brand name "Collectors' Perforated Roll Specialist", nor with
his 1950s and 1960s "modernistic" and rather simple arranging that is
less desirable by many coin piano roll collectors.

Sales were so bad in the late 1930s that Clark dropped the use of red
ink for borders on roll and box labels.  Using only black ink saved
a little money.

Art Reblitz
http://www.reblitzrestorations.com/