William Vanderhaak is credited as the artist on at least four of the very earliest rolls produced by the Anglo-American Player Roll Co. of Melbourne, Australia.

He arrived in the USA on August 19, 1912, and the 1920 census reveals he was resident in Philadelphia, PA but worked as an orchestra leader on cruise ships. I think it is most likely that Anglo-American founder Len Luscombe met him during his New York visits of the late 1910s (Luscombe was also an orchestra leader and musician) or possibly during a ship visit to Melbourne, and engaged him to make rolls.

His WWI draft registration card of 1917 shows him living in Brooklyn, NY and working as a musician for an illegible company at 525 5th Ave., and describes him of medium height, slender build, with brown hair and blue eyes.

In the 1919-1920 period, the initials "W. V." appear as an assistant on some Connorized rolls, two examples being:

#6660 I Am Longing For The Roses When The Leaves Begin To Fall - Ballad - Duet & Marimba Effects
Played by S. A. Perry, asssisted by W. V.

#6713  Slow and Easy - Fox-trot
Played by Joe Gold, assisted by W. V.

Given that Luscombe is known to have associated with the O'Connor family who were Connorized executives during his U.S. visit, this opens up another possibility for how they knew each other.

n 1925 Vanderhaak was living at 11868 Clifton Blvd, Lakewood, Ohio, when his US Naturalization Certificate was issued. Rudolph Ringwall, a prominent local violinist and conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, served as witness.

By 1930 Vanderhaak was resident in Queens, New York with his wife Abigail (a public school teacher) and children Marie and William Jr (who was born in Ohio in 1924, showing the family was more or less continuously on the move). His occupation shows as 'orchestra musician'.

As late as 1947 he was still plying the seas as a ship's musician, still living in Flushing, Queens, where he died in August 1968, aged 77.

His son, William E. Vanderhaak (died 2008), served in WW2 as a US Army Sergeant, and as tail gunner on the B17 Flying Fortress 'Classy Chassy', completing 26 missions over Germany in 1943-1944. He was honoured with the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, and Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, as well as a Presidential Citation. 


Rollography (All recorded for Anglo-American Player Roll Co., Melbourne, Australia)

DAHLMONT Brand:
504  Marcheta - Waltz  (Played by William Vanderhaak and Dan Rawlings)

BROADWAY Brand:
1080 Stumbling - Fox Trot                 Played by William Vanderhaak  (Earliest known 'Broadway' word roll)
1222 Wild Flower - Fox Trot             Played by William Vanderhaak and Dan Rawlings
1227 The West, A Nest, And You     Played by William Vanderhaak and Dan Rawlings

As the Broadway rollography is incomplete, with only around 20% of rolls listed including artist credits, there are probably more rolls recorded by Vanderhaak to be found.