yes, but does it play any Dylan?

Subject: yes, but does it play any Dylan?
From: Jack Campin
Date: 02 Apr 12 - 07:50 PM

Introducing the Rolmonica.

An American harmonica from the 1940s with a player-piano-like roll system. Looks like the world's most complicated spliff machine.

I've seen an EBay auction for a much bigger version of this idea.

I would guess that rolls must be hard to come by. Given the period it was probably Glenn Miller or nothing.

Subject: RE: yes, but does it play any Dylan?
From: GUEST,Chongo Chimp
Date: 02 Apr 12 - 11:41 PM

There was a guy around here who useta complain all the time that he couldn't get any good rolls. Dice rolls, that is. He kept losin'.

"WHY CAN'T I GET ANY GOOD ROLLS?" was his constant complaint.

I asked him if he'd tried the Jewish bakery down the street. He didn't think that was funny. I can't help it the guy's got no sense of humor.

Anyway, he finally did get some luck and won about $500 bucks at poker one night at Elmo's...got drunk...and then a coupla Baboons rolled him in the back alley around 1:30 AM.

Some guys just can't win for losin'.

As for the rolmonica thing, I remember this guy, Blind Boy Luther Jones, who had one back in '39. He useta pretend he knew how to play that harp real good, but he was fakin' it. Eventually he ran afoul of the Capone organization for some reason, and after they shot him they ran him over with one of them big machines with the huge roller thing for flattenin' roads. They had to bury him in sections inside 28 large pizza boxes, cos he was too flat to go inside a coffin.

The Rolmonica got flattened too. Too bad. It would be worth a fair bit now if that had not happened.

- Chongo

Subject: RE: yes, but does it play any Dylan?
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Apr 12 - 01:21 AM

It's a bit older than they have dated it--Mfg in Baltimore between 1920-1930. It seems to have been one of the first commercial items to be made of Bakelite.

Here's a link to someone who offers rolls for it, copied from the original rolls, and, if you check the titles, you'll see that Glen Miller was not even in the picture, most of the songs date back to the 19th century!


Rolomonica Musical Rolls