Lettie Keyes: piano roller!

 

The other day, friend Robert was going to Ballina so, since I had never been there, I went along for the ride ...

And on the way into the sprawl that is the rather odd 'town', I noticed an antiques barn. You don't see many of those wonderful institutions these days. Ebay and delivery charges have wiped away those glorious Saturdays spent dabbling in all levels of 'old merchandise' shops. And 'antiques' now are things I grew up with! Ex-cuse me.

Anyway, on the way back from dropping Louis off at the airport we stopped in for a peek. Robert had been to Summerland Antiques before and, indeed, bought a delightful Victorian hall-stand which now graces their home on topmost Yamba Hill. So we visited. They had beautiful things ... one C18th century chest of drawers which aroused my lust like nothing since (censored) .. a row of grandfather clocks, including one from Chester with a painting of Kirkham Abbey, Leeds .. alas, not signed by Turner.  Sadly, I am selling furniture, at 75, not buying it ... and hopefully that beautiful chest of drawers is sold to someone else by now!

More practically, I searched for my usual old photos, old documents, old theatre programes .. with which to aliment my blog ... but no luck. A box of pianola reels ... oh, look! There's one of the Pirates of Penzance! What fun.

Adjunct/adjacent to the Antiques Barn there is a nursery. A large and glorious nursery. So, if we didn't buy anything at the Barn .. we came away with a 2-metre flame tree instead!!!!

We brought the flame tree back to Yamba, and ... I didn't sleep too well that night. That chest of drawers was preying on my wakeful mind. But also the piano roll. I went on a G&S website and asked and ... bingo! It hadn't come in a container from Britain, like the furniture. It was fair dinkum Aussie ...

So when Robert went to fetch Louis on his homeward flight, he popped in and bought it for me. $2. The chest was still there ... gnnnnnn ... 

I am told that a friend of a friend has a pianola ... so I hope to be able to listen to this soon! But in the meantime, the mighty Michael Magnusson of Melbourne came up with the story of the piano reel and its pianist. 'Lettie Keyes, piano'. I'd suspected one of those early recording pseudonyms, but no ..

And there's my Pirates! Obviously, by the numeration, one of her early recordings. Yes, same number ...

Awww. That's worth $2 of anyone's money.

Now. That chest of drawers ...

PS I finally weakend and wrote about the chest of drawers. Sold, the previous day. Just as well, I suppose ...