I gawked at the goodies over at Batterman's the other day with Patty. Wow, what an ingriguing variety of antiques and collectibles. Especially this music making machine for milady's parlor, circa the 1890s.
The Regina music box works off metal platters with holes -- just like the old key punch cards for earlier IBMs (or, if you really want to go back further in history, the punched cards used by Jacquard looms as of 1801.)
Since this was a quality piece of household furniture, it included storage room for a proper collection of platters.
Another, less prepossessing music box, this one driven by rolls of punched paper. A familiar sight if you've ever seen music rolls for a player piano. I was surprised at just how big the holes were in this music roll, however.
These automated predecessors to the iPod reminded me of a small corner of family history. My grandfather's brother founded the Mills Novelty Company in Chicago before the turn of the century (the 20th, that is). Tho Mortie didn't invent the slot machine, he managed to acquire the patents and become a major manufacturer of one-armed bandits. But that was in addition to his own inventions -- a splendid assortment of coin operated automatic music machines for the saloon business. I found this Mills machine tonight over at eBay, where it had just sold for $41,000, even though it was an as-is sale.
The Violano-Virtuoso, an automatic violin with a robotic piano for accompaniment. Many years ago in Chicago, a friend and I found a saloon out Milwaukee Avenue whose proprietor collected antique coin-op machines. The violin machine in that particular collection did not feature an actual instrument body, but merely a string plus playing mechanism. The tunes depended, again, upon punched paper rolls. Made by Mills.
Note the claim on that name plate. Today's marketing men don't have nearly the chutzpah of their early predecessors.
The grapevine has it that Babe's price has been cut in half; I have to admit that when I heard the news, I did not immediately rush down Gurley to Batterman's to check it out. Perhaps if I were planning a BBQ restaurant, this aluminum piggy might find a home.
Batterman's porker undoubtedly originated at a BBQ operation somewhere; it does seem to be a tradition that there be one or more pigs on display in such places. For instance, the popular restaurant where the Famous Niece from Memphis and her husband treated me. The outdoors animal is a favorite spot for sitting portraits, such as the FNFM (below).
Among the many collectibles inside were the painting of the pig family at their plates, as well as a very murderous looking boar's head.
This chef figure was in a private home. I mentioned plans for my pig post to friend Patty Monday night after an evening of Scrabble. She immediately produced her collection for me to photograph. One from Mexico, painted in the talavera style sat high on a cabinet (below).
There were also a pig with wings and another smothered in roses and piglets. It's difficult to pick my favorite of the lot, but the sow below reminds me of our amazement when we first moved to Florida long, long ago. Back then, almost all black top highways were only 2-lane affairs; the countryside was open range, which meant that domestic animals were free to mingle with the vehicles. More than once traffic was halted on a road while a mother and her many little ones made a leisurely crossing, one by one.
PS: I'm reassured that, thus far, neither the Three Little Pigs, Miss Piggy nor Winnie the Pooh's Piglet has succumbed to overwrought PC-ism as has occured in the UK.
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