LB2007.1.109623

LB2007.1.109623

Belfast, Maine, Shop, Restaurant, Cafe The City Restaurant & Lobster House was located on High Street.It apparently offered a dining room as well as quick lunches. If the sign is to be believed, "good things to eat" were on offer. The restaurant is flanked on the left by L. S. Shiro's Confectionery, cigar and fruit store and by a millinery and gift shop to the right. The City Restaurant & Lobster house on High Street was purchased by Mr. B. A. Laxton in 1925 from Mr. O. G. Thompson. The restaurant features ten tables which will accommodate about forty patrons and there fourteen stools at the counter, as well. Day and night service prevailed there, a boon to the hungry traveler arriving in the city long after other eating places had closed for the night. The food was excellent, home cooking prepared in a clean manner and appetizingly served. When Mr. Laxton purchased the business, he, at once, proceeded to make extensive alterations. A large illuminated sign was installed over the entrance and a famous Mills Violano, which played both classical and popular music, was installed. The Violano was a coin operated mechanical device which played a violin The Violano-Virtuoso was all electric and all the moving parts were set in motion by electric motors or electromagnets. A company catalogue states that they ran on "any electric lighting current" and used "no more than one 16-candle power light." They were designed to operate on 110 volts direct current. In locations that had 110 volts alternating current (or other types of power supply) the instruments were used with a unique converter unit. The strings were played by small electric powered rollers, which were self-rosinating, and a chromatic set of metal 'fingers'. The violin had no finger board. A small metal "finger", activated by an electromagnet, rose from under the string lifting it in a "V" shaped slot thus stopping off the string. The strings were bowed by four small wheels made of discs of celluloid clamped together in a dish-shaped form. These applied just the right pressure to the strings and were driven by a variable-speed controlled motor. This and a mute allowed the volume of sound produced to be varied. The violin produced a full tone and was able to sound 1/2 note double stops at ragtime tempi. The staccato coil allowed the bows to leave the string a fraction of a second before the 'fingers'. The violin stayed in tune by a sophisticated array of tuning arms and weights. The vibrato was produced by using an electromagnet to shake the tail-piece of the violin.