I have been scanning a number of Artrio-Angelus rolls of popular music
of the early 1920s recently, and I noticed a detail that is so far
unexplained.  Most of these rolls are word rolls, and they have a
4-digit number printed on the roll just before the rewind perforation,
to all appearances using the same stencil used for the words.

In some cases the number is identical to the roll number; for example,
2036 ("You," played by Nelson Waring) is marked 2036.  In other cases
the number is different; 2034 ("Isle of Paradise," played by Erlebach
and Milne) is marked 4239.  This suggests that some Artrio-Angelus rolls
shared a stencil with rolls intended for use on other instruments, and
bearing different roll numbers.

Some rolls in this series are marked "Melodee Music Co. License" on
both the box label and roll label.  This indicates a close relationship
between Melodee rolls and Artrio-Angelus rolls, so perhaps some
Artrio-Angelus rolls and Melodee rolls shared a stencil.  I have been
unable to make the connection because I do not have a catalog of
Melodee rolls.  To the best of my knowledge, no one has created such
a catalog.

This note is a request for help.  If you have a number of Melodee rolls
in your collection, I would be in your debt if you could provide me
with roll numbers and titles.  Perhaps then it would be possible to
determine if the Artrio-Angelus rolls in question are twins of Melodee
rolls.

Wayne Stahnke
Reno, Nevada
wayne@live-performance.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]