Ray was a consummate but very unusual gentleman. I met him first
in 1988 at a mechanical music meeting in San Francisco. He was
quite generous, yet, at the same time, with a strong pragmatic streak.
He took me with him to an auction of unopened crates of what turned
out to be gift packages for future passengers of a newly defunct
Chinese airline. Each gift pack had a comb, personal size toothpaste
and shampoo, a mechanical puzzle, hard candy, and a 40-page comic book
written with Chinese characters. Ray also won the bid on a case of
5,000 pairs of sock-like slippers intended for hospital patients.
I later bought from Ray six egg crates full of Wurlitzer Style 150 band
organ rolls. Each box had about 35 music rolls plus two pairs of
hospital socks and a flyer's gift pack. Ray threw in an odd assortment
of unique candy, rolls of foreign stamps, gift wrapping material, VHS
tapes of unidentified band organs, and a few strange kitchen utensils.
Ray was a unique, rare gem!
Bill Finch
|