Crazy, part II

I ystarted this travelblog posing a question or maybe making a statement about being crazy. Now I want to elaborate a little before I resume the travel posts.

When I was as young as eight, I remember my dad had a good friend who shared his love of machining and manufacturing. Dad would take me over to Art’s house so they could collaborate on a project that often went late into the night. Art had an old Holland pumper player piano, and I would play that thing until my knees hurt, on a regular basis. That was my introduction to mechanical music–it was a pleasant diversion from boredom, and was really kind of fun.

Later in high school, I bought a player and spent most of my time trying to get it to work. I didn’t have much success with that one, but later found that I had bought a type that was difficult to restore properly, not a good first project.

Anyway, this became my hobby and something of a lifes interest. I enjoy the idea that I can preserve a piece of history, a part of our musical heritage. Since most of my interest is in coin pianos, these are the same instruments that our parents or grandparents listened to or danced to, even playing the songs of the day the same as they did in their short heyday.

Of course, few people have much more than a passing interest in these mechanical marvels today. Except for crazy people…

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