Earlier this year, I purchased a Christmas G roll on eBay. As I have
enjoyed it over the last few weeks, I have become even more curious
about its history!
While the information I received from the seller was a bit sketchy,
I have been able to fill in some of the details using the internet.
I know the roll was copied from another roll that a man found. My
research indicates that his name was Dennis R. Atkinson and he owned
the Memory Lane Arcade in Frankenmuth, Michigan, from 1975 to 2004.
His wife thinks that the copies he possessed were produced by Ray Siou,
but her timeframe goes from the 1980's to 2000. The rolls, apparently,
never had any labels.
I have not been able to find Dennis R. Atkinson in searches of MMDigest
or AMICA bulletins, but I did find him on a website about collecting
vintage movie film.
My copy of this roll has the following songs:
1. Winter Wonderland
2. It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas
3. White Christmas
4. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
5. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
6. Jingle Bells
7. Santa Claus is Coming to Town
8. Auld Lang Syne
9. Silent Night
10. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Joy to the World, and O Little
Town of Bethlehem (I don't think this is a medley; there are gaps
between the songs, but no motor-stop holes.)
While some of these songs are on G-520, the arrangements are not the
same (not even close)! The only marking on this roll, other than the
song numbers, is a very small "3000 G" near the tab at the beginning.
(I had to add the tab; there was just a hole in the paper for this
purpose.)
I know there were and are more copies of this roll, as the seller has
another one for sale now and had more in the past. If anyone has any
more information about this roll, especially if it has been given a
number, I would love to know!
I can't find a roll in the database with all of these songs, so I'd
love to add this one to it properly,
Monica Jones
[ Notation on roll end
[ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/25/12/31/251231_220923_number_on_roll.jpg
[ G-520, "Christmas Songs", was arranged by Dave Junchen, ref.
[ https://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/Digests/202111/2021.11.06.01.html
[ -- Robbie
|