Coin Slot Magazine - #072 - 1981 - February [International Arcade Museum]
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The Mills Viol-Cello
Every collector has heard of the Mills Violano—in
fact, the general public is probably more familiar
with this fascinating instrument than with any
other coin operated music machine, because
there are so many of them in use in both private and public
displays. The Violano also turns up playing the
background of more 1940's movies than any other music
machine. But Mills also turned out other musical in
struments, some on a production basis, and others only
expermintally. One of these was the Viol-Cello.
Whereas the Violano-Virtuoso has a horizontally-
mounted violin behind glass-panelled doors, with the ac
companying piano located behind in the rear of the
cabinet, the Viol-Cello had the cello mounted beside the
violin, behind two curved glass doors like the door of a
of the inventor Henry K. Sandell, full-page illustrations, en
dorsements and testimonials from various musicians,
theatre managers, hotels and others, baloney about
"masterpieces of violin making" and "our splendid cellos,"
and a particularly interesting series of pages devoted to
promoting various uses of Mills music machines. For one
example, the page entitled "The Children's Party" begins
with the line "The reason why boys and girls leave home is
that so few homes are made interesting for young people.
The natural craving for amusement very often overcomes
personal attachments." This is followed with reasons why
owning a Mills violin-playing machine will keep the
children at home! The funniest example of all is "The
Sacred Concert," in which Mills tried to convince churches
that a good Violano or Viol-Cello would increase church
attendance. On various pages of the booklet, various in
struments are shown on location. Each time the Viol-Cello
makes its appearance, the same exact retouched picture
is fit into the surrounding drawing. (The quarter-sawn oak
wood grain is identical in each illustration).
What happened to the Viol-Cello? For one thing, it
probably didn't work as well as the Violano. According to
the late Ozzie Wurdeman, whose father operated the Min
neapolis Electric Violin Company, the Viol-Cello had dif
ficulty fingering the strings of the cello. Other rumors have
it that the
bowing
was
more
difficult,
because the
amplitude of string vibration is substantially greater with a
cello than with a violin.
Another cause for the early demise of the Viol-Cello was
round-front china cabinet. The violin is in its usual posi
tion, with the spoolbox and convertor probably located
below it. In Mills' beautiful advertising booklet, "The
Electrical Mastery of Music," (reprinted by the Vestal Press
and available from Coin Slot Books), a full-page, highly
retouched photo of one of these curiosities is included.
The cello appears to be full size, with a huge metal frame
mounted in front which holds the fingering and bowing
mechanisms. The bow wheel shafts come up out of the
bottom of the cabinet, and rows of magnet and finger
mechanisms are positioned over the place where the
fingerboard of a normal cello would be. At the top of the
cello, the scroll is replaced with oversize versions of the
usual violin tuning weights.
"The Electrical Mastery of Music" is a superb example
of Mills' best promotional efforts, containing a biography
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© The
International
14
— THE
COIN Arcade
SLOT Museum
the fact that it probably played only classical music.
Violano-Virtuoso music rolls were made of all sorts of
music, including ragtime, waltzes, and all the popular
music of the day, as well as a few classical rolls. Examina
tion of the many Violano roll catalogues issued over the
years shows that by far the greatest percentage of rolls
contained popular music, however. In "The Electrical
Mastery of Music," one page lists some of the music
available for various Mills instruments; the only pieces
listed for the Viol-Cello (which used its own special rolls)
are string quartets and trios by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven,
Schubert, Schumann, Grieg and Brahms. Since most
Violanos were sold to candy shops, ice cream parlors and
taverns, it is unlikely that the patrons of these establish
ments would be very interested in becoming educated in
the various string quartets and trios of the great masters.
This music is appreciated by classical musicians, but
despite Mills colorful advertising propaganda, few serious
musicians, if any, ever purchased a coin operated music
machine. Incidentally, Mills also made the claim that "not
only do our own musicians pass judgement upon these...
rolls, but also world famous artists, when giving recitals in
Chicago, are often called in to give suggestions."
A ccording to Dave Bowers in his Encyclopedia, a
y
/ I Mills violin and cello playing machine was once
f seen in the Los Angeles Hippodrome, and
another was seen in a hotel lobby in Opelika,
Alabama, but no photographs are known except the one
reprinted here. If an instrument is ever found, it might turn
out to be more of a mechanical curiosity than a musical
wonder, but a most interesting music machine none
theless.
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
FEBRUARY, 1981