I am in the process of transcribing my grandmother's memoirs.  I had
been aware of some of her jobs and just thought I might share some
information with you and ask for a few details that you perhaps
might know.  She worked for the United States Music Company when she
was about 16 or 17 years old and lived in Chicago.  According to
her memoirs she played the piano and/or the device that created the
originals that were used to make the paper rolls.  She identifies
them as "a master gage."

Grandmother was born in 1889 and lived to be 104 and share many stories
of her past life in Chicago.  Based on what I can glean it would appear
that she worked there about 1907-1909 or thereabout.  She has passed
some years ago, of course, and I am working with papers typed on
a manual typewriter.  While she was no doubt a skilled pianist, the
typewriter was not so nice to her.

Her memory was quite good up until her last couple of years.  Many
of the stories she has written were shared with us several times over
the years and they remained consistent.

I'm not sure of how much interest this information would be to
readers and visitors of your site but here is the pertinent part:
my grandmother's name was Lillian V. Bollow (nee Robinson).  Any
information you might have I would really appreciate.  If you are
interested I would be more than glad to share pertinent info on what
she wrote regarding her work [following].

 - - -

  "I then heard that I might be able to get a job in the U.S. Music
Company and through a family friend, Mister Dale, I was able to get
the job.  I had begun working the day shift at the phone company and
would leave the phone company after I was off and go straight over to
the music company and practice until 10:00 P.M. without any dinner
and then go home.

  "When I knew I had learned the position I quit the telephone company
and went to work at the U.S. Music Company.  My duties for them was to
transcribe the notes from sheet music onto a master gage in order that
the men in the factory could make 600 copies of the roll.  We changed
the music on some of the popular music adding trills, runs, grace notes
etc. but we never did this to the classical music.

  "The perforations on the roll were first written in, the length of
the note determined, the line on the paper which is what I did.  After
I was finished with the paper it was given to the person who hand
punched the holes; sometimes I would do it if it was necessary.  It
had to be done just right of course.  Then I would put it on the player
piano and correct any errors, wrong notes and rests, etc., by pasting
them over and then putting in the proper note or rest.  The work was
very interesting and I really enjoyed it.

  "There were just three of us in a sound proof room, all girls: Lila
Nelson, Lillian Anderson and myself.  At lunch time after we had eaten
we would have sort of a game between us.  One would select a roll, play
it, and at the first bar we would tell what the piece was and also the
composer.  I rarely lost!  Now I say, what happened to my memory?
I stayed in this position until I married -- two years to be exact."

 - - -

(She married my grandfather in November of 1909.)

Gary S. Hedges