There have been a couple of strands lately about Simplex and Carola
instruments.  They raise a couple of points about makers and
trade names.

One thread stated that Simplex were made by Wilcox and White (makers of
the Angelus player).  They weren't.  They were made by the Theodore
Brown Co., who (according to Ord-Hume's book) purchased the Angelus
patents when Wilcox and White went out of business and marketed an
Angelus-based 'Super-Simplex' model.  Is the Angelus Symphony really
related to the Simplex?  I doubt it.

The other thread stated that the Carola was made by Cable Co.  The
Carola instruments in the UK are in Bluthner pianos, and Ord-Hume
states the action was made for a short while by the UK arm of Bluthner
as a substitute for fitting Hupfeld actions.  Given the number of
Carolas in the Player Piano Group instrument list, I feel they are more
plentiful than that suggests.  Anyway, Cable or Bluthner?  Were there
TWO Carola products, or one made under license?  I'm confused!  Can any
rebuilders who encounter these instruments shed a little light on this
subject?

Does anyone have the urge to produce a dictionary of all the various
player actions (European and American) -- who made them, what they look
like, etc.?  Art Reblitz's Player Piano Rebuilding book makes a start
on the more obvious American models, but there must be a lot more!

Julian Dyer