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MMD > Archives > July 2010 > 2010.07.28 > 02Prev  Next


Tunes from "Show Boat" on APP Roll 30331
By Mark Reinhart

Ralph Tussing offered the same Caliola roll 6122 as APP roll 30331,
for long roll frame Wurlitzer nickelodeons  The titles were also split
between two different APP changer rolls: 0380 and 0381.  These were
first available about 1962 from Mr. Tussing at T.R.T. Manufacturing.
I have a copy of 30331/6122 cut by Doug Hershberger (thanks, Doug, for
cutting it!) and can assure readers that tune 3, "Dance Away the Night",
is arranged as a waltz.  Where Ralph Tussing got the sheet music or his
inspiration to combine these particular titles is anyone's guess.

Considering how very few copies of Caliola/APP rolls Mr. Tussing sold
in the lean years of the 1940s and 1950s, I find it commendable that he
continued punching new stencils for instruments for which there was so
little demand.  When looking from the perspective of how light sales
must have been during those years, I think we all owe a great debt to
Mr. Tussing for continuing a dying craft and saving the original
perforators and master stencils from what could have been the end.

I personally believe that so many Wurlitzer band organs survive today
because new music was available to the operators of these organs.
Before these organs became collectibles they needed to earn their keep
with operators that used them solely to provide music.  New rolls were
critical for these hard-used machines to have any value to the operators.
In light of this, we all owe Mr. Tussing a great deal of thanks for
making these organs viable at a time when more organs might have been
lost forever.

Mark Reinhart
Charles Town, West Virginia
(playing and enjoying my Wurlitzer APP rolls in this heat)


(Message sent Wed 28 Jul 2010, 23:32:27 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.)

Key Words in Subject:  30331, APP, Boat, Roll, Show, Tunes

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