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Rolmonica "pocket player piano" from 1930s Johnson Smith Catalog (Video)

Mark Frauenfelder at 9:01 am Fri, Nov 23, 2012

Berjont says: "This 1928 Rolmonica is a Harmonica in a bakelite (plastic wasn't invented yet) case that works on the same principle as the old player pianos. It has a paper scroll inside the case that you manually crank as you blow (or suck air) through the mouthpiece."

Johnson Smith Catalog Item #27: Rolmonica (Thanks, Paul Di Filippo!)

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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GregS

At the risk of being pedantic, I’ll point out that bakelite is plastic – it was one of the first synthetic plastics invented
- http://lemoutan.blogspot.com/ Lemoutan
  
  That’s OK. Nobody wrong ever risked being pedantic.
http://www.lightning-rose.com/ LightningRose

Very cool! I want one!
http://www.millsworks.net/blog Robbo

I SO want one. This is the kind of thing that could be 3D printed – and think of the market for music scrolls – and scroll mashups – and Rolmonica music videos to match anything with a ukulele playing gal (although I love all of those too).

I want one!!!!!
- http://evilbobdayjob.blogspot.com/ Deidzoeb
  
  I assume reeds would be too difficult to 3d print at this point, so it might be cheaper & easier to design a 3d printed rolmonica case to fit over a traditionally constructed harmonica.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan_e_jones/ Stefan Jones

I wrote up the Rolmonica (and Chromatic Rolmonica) for the Dead Media list!

http://www.deadmedia.org/notes/4/049.html

The 1929 catalog reprint has a photograph of the Our Gang (“Little Rascals”) crowd posing with Rolmonicas!
http://evilbobdayjob.blogspot.com/ Deidzoeb

Johnson Smith–fuck yeah!