Bill Chapman's post in MMD05.05.25 said:

    > It's amazing when these rolls are still playing 100 years later.
    > But what I have noticed about Connorized rolls is they tend to
    > be in better condition than regular Aeolian rolls from the same
    > period.  By far the worst rolls I have seen are Aeolian 65-note
    > from around 1905.  The paper is worse than wrapping paper and
    > just falls apart when you touch it.

I have hundreds of Aeolian 65-note rolls from around 1905, and they are
all in amazing shape.  Such good shape, in fact, that recently I was
marveling that paper approaching 100 years old could be in such good
condition.

It would be interesting to have a chemist analyze several rolls (any
volunteers?) from the same period but from different batches (how such a
thing could be determined, I don't know) to see whether, and how, the
composition of the paper varies.

Perhaps a contributing factor, as important as the paper itself, may be
the environment in which it spent its life and whether the rolls were
stored loose in their boxes or wrapped with a rubber band.  Mine had
rubber bands around them, some for so long that the bands crumbled and
turned to dust when I attempted to remove them.  The first foot,
approximately, of a roll is quite brittle indeed.  After that, however,
the paper looks and feels like new.

Rob Buckingham
Penn, PA