The following two vintage catalog pages feature advertising for piano rolls. Piano rolls were made of paper with perforations of various sizes punched throughout. A special type of player piano was used to play the music from the perforated paper rolls.
The first page begins by stating, “Supertone Rolls are mechanically perfect and musically correct. They embody all the good features which enter into the making of the highest quality Music Rolls, such as selected paper, heavy hard rubber flanges, clean and accurately cut perforations and are put in heavy strawboard boxes covered with paper in imitation of leather.
Supertone Rolls are made in two styles. Supertone Player Word Rolls and Supertone Player Rolls. The Player Word Rolls have the words printed on the Roll; the Player Rolls are without words.”
The piano rolls included on these pages ranged in price from 33 cents to 77 cents each.
The pages are from the 1918 Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog. The catalog is not identified as being a fall and winter issue; however, it includes warm winter clothing, which leads me to believe it is a fall/winter catalog.
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New in my Etsy shop this week is a set of Printable Vintage Style French Flashcards:
And a set of Printable Collage Journal Cards with Stitching:
I posted a few photos on Instagram recently to show how I made a similar set of collaged and stitched tags. I used the same process to make the journal cards.
Preview images are link to my Etsy shop.
Carrie Aubie says
June 7, 2019 at 10:27 amOooh these are nice!
Julie J says
June 7, 2019 at 10:41 amI’m happy to know you like them, Carrie! 🙂
Robin says
June 7, 2019 at 10:28 amBeautiful! Thank you ♥
Julie J says
June 7, 2019 at 10:43 amYou’re welcome, Robin. So glad you like them! 🙂 ♥
Patty Van Fleet says
June 7, 2019 at 11:05 amI have only seen one player piano. In Silver Dollar City Branson MO. That was just for a hot minute. Yes I mean a hot minute! lol I didn’t know there was anything written up about the songs. Nice to have. Thanks for adding it to your collection.
Julie J says
June 7, 2019 at 11:14 amLOL Patty.
I wonder though if the player piano you saw was still being used to play piano rolls, or if it was for display purposes only. If I ever did see one (at some antique shop or show), I didn’t know what it was at the time. It’s my pleasure to share the pages. 🙂
Kathy M Asper says
June 7, 2019 at 12:49 pmMy dad repaired player pianos, so we had one in our home during my entire childhood. And we usually had a few in our garage when my dad was repairing them for sale. Sitting around the player piano, pumping our songs and bellowing the words with my siblings are some of my warmest memories. One of my older brothers learned from my dad, and later went on to become a certified piano repairman/technician with several of the major piano companies. He travels the country helping to keep the remaining players in service. Without his dedication I feel like they would be nearing extinction. [But then I’ve always admired my brothers skills and passion for his trade.] I plan to make a few greeting cards for Mike and his family using these great ads. Thanks so much for sharing them.
Julie J says
June 7, 2019 at 1:16 pmKathy, thank you for sharing your very special, very wonderful, personal memories of player pianos! Such great fun! It truly warms my heart to hear of your family’s dedication to keeping the players in service. ❤️ I would love to see pictures of the greeting cards you make for your brother and his family!
Kathy Asper says
June 7, 2019 at 7:45 pmI will be happy to do that. Will send my blog link as I’ll plan to post them before I send them on. Thanks so much for sharing. I love your images. Will try to remember to share any other cards I make with your digis. I do always direct people to your site when I have used any of your images.
Julie J says
June 8, 2019 at 9:57 amThank you, Kathy! 🙂
Mommyrox says
June 7, 2019 at 4:07 pmThese are GORGEOUS! Thank you so much for always being a generous “sharer”. 😉
Julie J says
June 7, 2019 at 7:02 pmHi Mommyrox! I’m happy to know you like these. 🙂 I love being a “sharer”. 😉
helen edwards says
June 7, 2019 at 9:44 pmthese are fantastic thanks Julie. Kind regards, Hellen
Julie J says
June 8, 2019 at 9:57 amYou’re welcome, Hellen. I’m happy to know you like them. 🙂
Ana Farias says
June 9, 2019 at 7:56 pmThanks again! The piano player rolls are great! xo
Julie J says
June 11, 2019 at 10:57 pmYou’re welcome, Ana. I’m happy to know you like them! 🙂 xo