Ten years ago, Jerry Meservy, Centerville, gave his three children a strange musical instrument for Christmas as a joke. He told them the instrument was one anyone could play. When the children unwrapped their gifts, they thought they looked like cardboard inserts from toilet paper rolls.
They were, of course, and despite the simplicity of the instrument, the children had fun tooting them about the house and even got together a band.Recently, Meservy's son, Jeffrey, 22, a student at Ricks College, and Meservy's brother, Jay Meservy, Bountiful, started manufacturing and packaging the Doot-Te-Toot, which they call "the instrument anyone can play." The instrument is sold in plastic boxes of various colors and comes with a 10-page detailed owner's instruction manual, complete with pictures and specifications.
Meservy says he hopes to sell millions of Doot-Te-Doots, not only to help put his son, Jeffrey, through college, but to bring music to America - and enlightenment.
The latter can be obtained easily by reading the chapter on the history of the Doot-Te-Doot, which is contained in the detailed owner's manual and which details even the "sorophical spiralling lines carved in a descending and rotating manner around the exterior of the instrument . . .".
The Doot-Te-Doot is available at some stores, including Dick's Market and the Imagination Station in Centerville, Servus Drug, Bountiful or by contacting Meservy at 292-0639.