I'd like to second the good words about Richard Dutton.  Late
last year he sent me some cardboard tubes for storing rollers in
(it really matters how you store these, to avoid pin damage).
A couple Sundays ago he called me up to see if we could trade any
rolls.  We must have spent an hour playing rolls for each other
over the phone!  A friendly trading deal was cheerfully worked out.

As for reproducing the red end labels -- I have one roll, whose
name and number I forget, with a WHITE label and black printing.
It certainly looks original.  So, Richard and other roller
collectors, have you seen other than red labels too?

Anyone who reproduces the labels will get an order from me.
It could be done with a desktop publishing program like Page Maker
and feeding your printer with red paper.  The labels are really
pretty simple graphically, with several type fonts and sizes.
Hmmm, maybe I should give it a try...

Personally, the black-on-red labels are a pain to read even in
good condition.

I liked the posting about Irish tunes on rollers.  There are many
other tunes (though possibly not on rollers) whose titles aren't
explicitly Irish-American, but turn out to be so on reading the
lyrics, maybe the third verse or so.  Examples are "Casey/The
Band Played On" and "Sunshine of Paradise Alley."

I researched these tunes from my naked Mermod 13" cylinder box,
whose program could be called "Greatest Hits of 1994."  Seems
that Tin Pan Alley was dominated by Irish-Americans or "I-wish"
wannabees during that era.  Great tunesmiths they were.

--Mike Knudsen