The first paper roll mechanism that automatically played a piano was referred to as a "Player Piano."  These piano players which housed the player mechanism were pushed up to the keyboard of a piano and the mechanical fingers were adjusted to fit the keyboard.  These push-ups were popular from about 1880 until 1902, when Melville Clark offered the entire player inside the deepened case of the piano.  The term was reversed and it became a "player piano."

In 1902 the first pianos were sold with the mechanism inside, and that is when they became popular. In 1916, 60% of all pianos sold were player pianos and peak production was reached in 1920.  It is hard for us to understand how wonderful a player piano was in 1916. It was not easy to find something to do in leisure time.   You could read a book, sit on your front porch, or go visit with the neighbors. A lot of people played croquet or pitched horseshoes when outdoors, and they played games in the house. There was no Victrola, no radio, no TV, and no movies to go to. The only common music was singing, perhaps to an organ or piano in church. Some homes had a piano or reed organ before 1912 but after that everyone wanted a player piano...it became the outstanding medium of entertainment.  Parents wanted one for the children...there were classical music rolls like "William Tell Overture" but the youngsters preferred "Pretty Baby."   It probably made a lot of children want to play the piano. The best part is that it was the original karaoke. The words are printed on the roll and everybody could gather round and sing.   

New technology changes the way people live over the whole country like the computer revolution has done.  Before 1915 contemporary "popular music" did not exist because there was no medium to spread it.  People listened to classical music, marches and ragtime,; traveling vaudeville shows sang lyrics to waltzes, one-step and two-step but they were not being heard at the same time from coast to coast.  In 1916 player pianos changed that.  The first song with the words printed on the roll was "Pretty Baby."  Before that, songs that could have been popular were only sung by musicians, but now everybody who had a player piano could learn new songs.  Listening and dancing habits changed and the Fox trot and Charleston were born.  Tin Pan Alley began spreading popular music over the country.

The player piano's popularity lasted until the 1920's when several things were happening. There was a recession after the war and luxuries were out. Then the Gramophone and Victrola were becoming common. The final blow was radio, the kind that operated on batteries before electric power came to homes. The production of player pianos slowed considerably by 1925. We are fortunate that they were not easy to throw away and people saved them even when nobody was playing them. If the player piano action did not work it was still a piano and children taking piano lessons was very common until the World War in 1940.