Bob Conant said in 000331 MMDigest

> Most often they are between the ages of 5 and 10. ... Now, these
> kids are not generally going to run out and buy a fair organ but
> in 20 years they might!

Here's a real story from mechanical music enthusiast Benet Meakin.
(I've mentioned him here before -- when I once counted his collection,
he had 208 player pianos, only about six of them working.)

Benet once took a monkey organ to a Bygones fair and was playing it
when a boy of about 9 came up and started asking questions about it.
Benet invited him back to his place for a cup of tea and a look at
some of the other organs, and found he was from a very disadvantaged
background where no constructive hobby was allowed.

So Benet asked if he'd like to come round and help with restoration,
tidy up and so on, and after a short while the lad had learnt a lot
and became quite useful.  Then he got interested in tuning (as I
remember I did because of visiting Benet) and went to the London
School of Furniture where they teach piano restoration.

Now, after a spell as a local piano tech, he has his own firm and
makes harpsichords and fortepianos, to commission.  His name is
Paul Hardingham.

Dan Wilson