A Vintage Player Piano Roll Dilemma

I could see a really neat vignette on top of your piano with an odd number of the boxes with the rolls Left inside. Another thought is to give as a Christmas memory gift tied with really pretty ribbon and greenery. One box as a memento might be a special treat for family members. I could also see the boxes stacked as a layered stand with a metronome, if you had one and a special picture of the home you remember. I guess I am just too sentimental and hate to give up family treasures. It will be interesting to hear what you decide! Good luck!

Hi Kim, It has to be very special to own those piano rolls. I love Lynn's ideas too. The metronome idea is great. I learned on an upright piano like yours. It wasn't a player. I can see you having lots of fun with that function. It is gorgeous in your home!! Have fun with the rolls. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
Have a great week.

Please save these rolls. I would love to display them as art in an open cabinet. I like the ideas of Lynn above.

My grandma had the same piano but hers had the player guts removed before it came to her. My cousin has it now. I did search on pinterest for player piano roll crafts and there are some ideas that people have used for displaying them and some were cut apart and crafted. I also see that people are selling them on Etsy and I would guess on ebay too. I googled player piano organizations there was a group called the mechanical music exchange that had ads for people that were selling or searching for music related items that might be a place to research http://www.mmdigest.com/Exchange/ Keep us posted on what you decide.

What a wonderful story of your grandparent's house. It sounds fabulous! And just the place for a child to roam around in. More stories about it, please!

My paternal grandparents lived with my aunt who also had a player piano that we grandchildren loved to hear and watch. I don't think we were allowed to operate it ourselves. And I remember one of the huge Edison players in the same room with the big metal thingamajig. It was a windup machine and there were metal things that made the music. Gosh I'd forgotten all about that until now.

I'm very glad your beautiful piano--gorgeous wood-- was kept in the family and actually used. I have no crafty ideas for you, that phase of my life seemed to end in the 70s with macrame plant holders, but I bet you'll get a ton of ideas from commenters.

I would try and ascertain whether or not there are people out there who, perhaps, have a player piano but have no rolls to go with it. I'm sure that some folks have one but not the other and would be delighted to find some rolls. Then keep those that hold the fondest memories and display them as folks above have suggested.

You could line the back of a hutch or cabinet with more of your treasures in it. Best of luck with finding a wonderful use. I am envious that you have such a personal momento of your grandparents.

Kim,
What a lovely family heirloom to have. It is a beautiful piece with lots of memories attached. I would have no idea what to do with the piano rolls but they sure are awesome to have. Maybe try pinterest for some ideas.
Kris

What a lovely story Kim! I can just see how all of you fooled your guests. And what a grand old piece you have! It looks beautiful! I love Lynn's idea. I have seen dealers use them as decorations in a booth. Another Etsy seller I know whose blog I follow, has done that in her booth. You can find them in some of her earlier booth posts. Her Etsy shop is "LittleVintageCottage." I'll go find her link & leave it here in another comment.

My first thought would be to sell them in my Etsy shop, but when I searched, there are 6 pages of them for sale! Lots of competition. If they were mine full of memories, I would do some of the things Lynn suggested. Love the idea of giving one or two to each person who grew up with them.

What a family treasure that piano is. I can't help but think that there is someone out there with a player piano and no rolls. There must be a way, through social media, to put them together!

Your piano is stunning! It's neat that so many people in the family have learned on and loved it. Could you put some of those little boxes in a bowl on top of the piano? I also like the idea of passing one or two on to everyone in the family. They can't all have the piano but they can have a little piece of it. Why not sell them right here on your blog. There might be someone interested.

I think I would take my favorite three, put them under a glass dome, and set them somewhere on display. The rest I would offer to family first. No taker, research via google how much to sell them for on ebay. :)

First of all, I loved reading how special this piano is to your family! And btw, we had a station wagon when I was little too...a buick "estate" wagon with faux wood grain all the way down the sides. #classy lol! I would check the prices of the rolls on Ebay and get an idea of what they're going for. Maybe sell a few and of course keep some for the sake of memories. I also think they'd look fantastic as a decor item in your home.

We have a brilliant piano tuner and everything that needs fixing he sends to a factory in Germany. Too much?
Amalia
xo

There must be a museum somewhere that would love to have your player piano rolls. Donate them, get a receipt, and take it off on your taxes. I'd hate to see your pieces of history cut up for decoration.

What great story of your grandparents. My family nor have ever had such a piano, but last year I purchased 4 from GW, there was over 100 of them.. I cut one and used as a table runner and the others I've been waiting all this time for idea on how to use them...I might use the roll cut up as a background for some flowers I dried.

Oh, my, all I can think is please find someone and have them fix that player! Keep the rolls and make music! It is a beautiful piece of furniture! We had one of those when the kids were growing up and our boys spent hours tormenting their very short sister with "Short People" song! Now, they all laugh about it, but not so much back then! We are a military family and when we were transferred we were overweight with household goods and I had to sell it. I often think about that piano and how much we all enjoyed it. So I vote keep those rolls with that piano and once again you will play like that virtuoso superstar!

Your piano is just gorgeous and I love all the treasured memories it holds for you. The piano rolls could be used for some amazing paper craft projects. Christmas is coming up!

Hi,
First, I love the story of your grandparents home. It sounds like a very special place and I enjoyed the trip down memory lane.
The first thought that came to me "find someone to fix that player!!" Make more memories.

Carla

I would save three . . .
One being that Stardust one . . .
And why three . . . just because I think you should save three.
And then I would check around to see if there is a vintage store, antique shop or maybe a music store who might enjoy receiving Player Piano Rolls . . . and donate, drop them off.
Wonderful post Kim!

I think I'd try to find if there are collectors anywhere that still have a working piano? Before I destroyed, donated or anything else I'd check that out...who knows they could be worth some small fortune.

what a wonderful story. beginning to end.
something in me wants to think there is someone out there who could fix the roller.
it might take awhile to find that person... but surely might be worth it?
such wonderful memories.
i know... that you shouldn't 'mess' with a true antique... but if it could bring you joy
again!
xo♥

Have you considered creating a shadow box with some of the oldest rolls (maybe even one of the old boxes) & a photo with someone sitting at the piano) & maybe hung above the piano? If you decide to sell some or all, I'd call Mike and Frank from The American Pickers (do you ever watch that show). They always seem to be very fair on their offers to buy things and have a wealth of ideas of what people use things for. Just a thought!

Happy Weekend!
Carol

You've gotten some wonderful ideas Kim, so I'll just say you're so lucky to have this treasure. I know how heavy these pianos are, and the fact that it's been from one home to another within your family is a testament to how precious it is.

I honestly would not know what to do with them kim. But they are so full of vintage specialness that I could easily see displaying them on a shelf just as they are. They certainly make a great conversation piece.

Kim, in Hollywood, CA is the Kodak theater. It contains a special museum for old piano rolls (players?), recordings of old radio shows, and I think some of the early TV shows.
All are donated to the museum for the public to enjoy. I only know about it because a cousin donated all her rolls & radio shows. Just a thought, 'cause I agree with you-it's a shame to cut them up. Sandy L.

I have a bunch of rolls from Mom's house if anybody wants them. I come from a family that would rather give something away than throw it away. Much better to pass it along and hopefully make someone happy than add to our trash woes. Located on Long Island New York pesimon@optonline.net

I've seen them listed on craiglist. I have a similar diliemma but I want the piano gone too. I'm thinking of listing the rolls for free but you must move the piano too!

Of course, I'm late to the party but still wonder what you did.

My in laws just passed away. We have the cabinet along with about 50 music rolls. We don't know what to do with all of it. The cabinet is quite nice. Can you use it?

Player piano actions are not a big deal to have rebuilt. They were designed to be rebuilt when the cloth wore out. All it needs is new cloth and it’ll work as original.

I own/cherish a Cable Nelson Player from 1926 that has been refurbished by Bill Kap Piano in Cleveland, Ohio. I would love any vintage rolls and/or a vintage roll storage cabinet anyone is looking to get rid of. It would be a shame to dispose of the original rolls from the 20s and 30s if they are in decent condition.

Hi Kim, We do have a player piano that was actually donated to us when our friends Mom passed. All we had to do was pay to have it moved. Now the interesting part. We have 21 grand children ages from 4 to 24 with most of them close by, and we actually have two great grand children. And yes everyone of them have loved the player piano. I have many videos of them pretending to play it, and the older ones pumping it. So if they are still playable and you would like to place them where they would truly be enjoyed we do have that place and I would be willing to pay a reasonable amount. I to, have looked on ebay and others but I must say most of those are not anything I would want. Thanks for your story and I hope someday I will have a grand child writing something very much like your story.

It's been awhile since your post, so you probably don't need this comment anymore, but we're a nonprofit charity that places public pianos all around the Atlanta area metro. We don't get many donations, but we get some. We backfill funds with our family's meager savings because we love the charity. Recently someone gave us a working player piano with a few rolls. We're going to start holding fundraisers where people pay to hear a piano roll played on the player piano. If you have any rolls leftover, we would love it if you donate them to us. We'd be happy to give you a receipt for your donation. If you're interested, reach out and I'll provide and address for you.

Best thing to do: take on the "craft" of rebuilding the player mechanism so you can have an excuse for keeping and using those rolls! When I was in junior high school, I did this for a neighbor and got his Story & Clark piano playing again. (There was one mechanism that keeps the roll centered that didn't work. It took me 2 years to realize that a piece of kite string needed to be tied between a tracking wheel and a lever.) I even made a machine to manually punch rolls! The first roll I punched was a test roll, hitting every note in sequence 10 times.

If you are unwilling, give the piano & rolls to someone wiling to keep this technology alive!

Hi Kelly Brett, I saw your post about wanting player piano rolls donated for the charity. I have nearly 200 piano rolls That I would consider donating, but I live in northwest Indiana. If you're ever up in my neck of the woods I would pass them on to you. Or, if you consider paying for the shipping we could do that,too. You can email me at lindakrasowski@gmail.com

Stanford University has not created a Player Piano Archive accepting donations to save history! https://library.stanford.edu/projects/player-piano-program