“A player piano (also known as pianola) is a self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via pre-programmed music recorded on perforated paper, or in rare instances, metallic rolls, with more modern implementations using MIDI encoded music stored on floppy disks or CDs. The rise of the player piano grew with the rise of the mass-produced piano for the home in the late 19th and early 20th century.”

I recall seeing, and listening to, player pianos when I was a child. The sample video I’ve included in the post, shows how the piano was pumped with a person’s feet. What is that tune? “Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” was the favorite song of my dear grandparents. Enjoy!