Like many others I routinely scour E-Bay for rolls for various
instruments I own.  Currently on E-Bay is a rare original roll,
Capitol A 2443.  Based on the song titles, this roll dates from 1933.
It features a great array of evergreens and outstanding hits such as
"I've Got The World on a String", "Night and Day", "Shanghai Lil",
"By a Waterfall", et cetera.

As most astute enthusiasts know, Capitol rolls feature some of the
best arrangements, even those with Capitol-adapted QRS [piano roll]
arrangements.  On E-bay several years ago appeared another Capitol roll
from this period -- this time it was a "G" roll with songs like "We're
In the Money", etc.  I was one of the bidders.  This roll broke a price
record, proving that such rolls are highly valued.

How late did Capitol make their style "A", "G", and "O" rolls?  Some
sources say 1934.  The 1930s were filled with great song hits, even into
1934.  It would be great if many of these made it onto Capitol rolls.
There is a tune list for Capitol A 2446 and 2447 in the "Encyclopedia
of Automatic Musical Instruments".  Again, these rolls are full of great
hits, from "The Carioca" to "Two Cigarettes in the Dark".

But what was on Capitol A 2444, A 2445, etc.?  With the Depression and
the waning years of the coin piano, it is understandable that this was
close to the end of the era with surviving rolls being few.  But then
each discovered Capitol roll from this period in my opinion would be
pure gold in terms of musical enjoyment!

Tim Trager
tim@timtrager.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]

 [ At http://www.mmdigest.com/Gallery/MMMedia/CoCap/supertone.html :
 [
 [ "The assets of Capitol Roll & Record Company were purchased in 1933
 [ by Imperial Industrial Company (Max Kortlander), and the final issues
 [ of Supertone rolls [beginning November, 1933] were produced for Sears
 [ by Imperial."  I guess we must conclude that coin piano rolls bearing
 [ the "Capitol" label after November 1933 must have been produced by QRS
 [ (or maybe J. Lawrence Cook for QRS).
 [
 [ "Shanghai Lil" was issued as Supertone 4901, "By a Waterfall" as
 [ Supertone 4907, both made by Capitol in 1933.
 [
 [ Visit the MMMedia site at http://www.mmdigest.com/Gallery/MMMedia/
 [ where we are offering lists of nickelodeon roll numbers in hopes that
 [ someday roll catalogs can be assembled for all the various formats.
 [
 [ -- Robbie