I recently got a copy of Ampico roll NI-1, Cole Porter's "Nymph Errant"
medley played by Frank Milne, and have a few questions.  It's in the MMD
"Post-WW2 Reproducing Piano Rolls" list as having been made in 1941 by
Frank Milne but unissued at the time, found and issued later by Larry
Givens (hence NI for 'Not Issued').

  http://www.mmdigest.com/Gallery/MMMedia/PostWW2.html 

Firstly, where does the given creation date of 1941 come from?  This
was a Cole Porter show that opened in London on 1 October 1933, but
had to wait until 1985 for its American debut -- its subject was a bit
too racy for the time, which may explain why it was Porter's own
favourite.  Why, then, would Milne create a roll of this unknown show,
in 1941 or any other time?  Ampico's market was negligible in the UK
where the buyers might be.

The MMD Archives tell me a bit about the Givens roll operation.  He
obtained the surviving Ampico assets and started to issue recuts in May
1960, his last list being 1971 after which he sold the equipment to
Harold Powell (Klavier Rolls).  Both copies of Nymph Errant I've seen
are on plain white paper and carry no maker's name, which probably
makes them before April 1961.  See

  http://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/Digests/201312/2013.12.29.01.html 

A few friends have offered opinions on the roll, but nobody yet has any
facts; their speculation follows.  One suggestion is that perhaps it
was created in anticipation of the show's opening in the USA, in 1941
but maybe much earlier in 1933-1934.  Did Ampico create rolls before a
show's opening?  Another idea was that it may have been commissioned
privately for use in London, which would give a date of 1933, but this
feels unlikely because Ampico had negligible presence in the UK.

Incidentally, the roll label is wrong or at least incomplete.  It lists
three songs: 1, How could we be wrong; 2, Experiment; and 3, The
Physician.  There is, however, a fourth song on the roll, Solomon.

Julian Dyer

 [ Maybe it's simply that Milne admired Cole Porter's works so he made
 [ the Ampico roll for his own pleasure.  -- Robbie