> As for "Hot Time in the Old Town", I read somewhere (in "They All
> Played Ragtime", perhaps) that the tune, along with others like
> "Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay" and "Frankie and Albert", were featured at Babe
> Connors' notorious but very popular spot, "The Castle", in St. Louis.

That makes sense.  The "Hot Time" lyrics are about an upcoming gospel
meeting -- probably the saloon version was sung to a different text!

Among my Diana or Intona organette discs are two versions of "Ta-ra-ra-
boom-de-ay"; one is the familiar "Howdy Doody" theme, the other is
totally different.  I'd guess only the first was played in the saloons.
Would "Frankie and Albert" have become "Frankie and Johnny?"

Back to the topic:  Maybe not as early as the 1880s, but pianos were
mass-produced in every large town it seems, and were not all that
expensive.  Only reed organs were cheaper, but I never heard of one
of those in a bar!

Mike Knudsen