I am so thankful for player pianos.  They were and are an integral
part of recent U.S. history.  Without them, we may well have not had
even the acoustic piano anymore.  It appears to me that one of the
the biggest factors in the survival of the non-player still being
made, was the preservation and respect, for, and of, the intact player,
in the Depression years.  Were it not for the player piano, we might
not be familiar by now with the normal piano itself.

We must not forget that more than 50 percent of all pianos made in
the 1905-1925 period, were player pianos, and nearly all homes of
substance had one player piano in the house which was played over
and over again, "till Grandpa accidentally busted a foot pedal off
in enthusiastic pumping of a particularly exciting fox-trot."

I also believe that the pneumatic player piano was, and still is, one
of the best inventions ever.  America would not be the same without it.
Just think if Axel Gulbransen had never thought of making player
mechanisms available in his pianos, or if nobody had thought of the
self-playing piano in the first place.

Pneumatic player pianos are irreplaceable, and deserve a great
deal of respect, not only for the restoring of them, but also for
the persons who invested their lives in building them in those big
factories in New York, Illinois, Chicago, and other cities around the
States.  Without the player piano, our nation would have missed a
wonderful blessing.  There would be no Art Reblitzes or Don Teaches.
There would be none of the glad gatherings that we all have some sort
of recollections of.

Memories of my uncle's player piano that he sold, are among my fondest.
I seem to remember that it was a Kranich and Bach.

My favorite roll is "California, Here I Come", played by Sam Jones.

Luke Myers
ldmyers95@gmail.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]