American Piano Co history.

[gordon stelter]

--- Robin Hufford <hufford1@airmail.net> wrote:
> Hello Gordon,
>      In 1907 Chickering and Knabe were merged, along
> with the interests
> of some investors, into a larger unit called the
> American Piano
> Company.  The two surviving Knabes who had sold
> their interest in Knabe
> & Sons then formed a new company called Knabe
> Brothers.  It failed the
> next year.
>      During the twenty years or so from 1907 to c.
> 1929, American the
> production of the Chickering remained at the factory
> in Boston and Knabe
> similiarly in Baltimore.  Certain design features in
> common were imposed
> progressively on the production of each unit.
>      American's marketing strategy consisted, if
> memory serves, of
> having three dealers per city.  Each dealer would
> chose a suite of three
> piano lines.  This seems to imply that nine were
> available and I know
> there were three price points available for the
> dealer to chose from.
> They would take a line from each price point and
> compete against other
> dealers, including the other American dealers to
> make the sale.
>      In 1927 American experienced some sort of
> financial difficulties
> and as a result of some kind of financial duress the
> President that had
> run it for the previous 20 years, and I can't
> remember his name at the
> moment, was forced out.  Somehow an interest in the
> company probably
> through a cash infusion allowed Banker's Trust to
> take control of the
> company.   They then named a new President who had
> no experience with
> the piano industry.
>      The subsequent demise of American is a
> well-studied example of poor
> marketing and business practices and is considered a
> classic case.
> Articles exist here and there on the course of these
> events.  If I
> remember correctly the new President then allowed a
> dealer chosen by the
> company in each city,  to take the three top piano
> lines rather than
> forcing each dealer to take one line from each of
> the three price point
> categories.  This had the effect of forcing the
> other, presumably, also
> well established dealers to take what was left and
> sell, what in essence
> that which they had competed against previously. 
> The end result,
> coupled with an overall decline in sales generally,
> was a sudden decline
> in cash flow and the company was forced into
> bankruptcy by, I believe,
> the end of 1928 or 1929.
>      At the end of bankruptcy proceedings in, I
> believe, 1929, or
> perhaps, 1930, a new entity appeared, cash in hand,
> ready to rescue the
> company.  This was Aeolian, probably still flush
> with cash from the
> player piano market.   I believe,  as part of the
> reorganization
> proceedings, or immediately thereafter,  the
> factories in Boston and
> Baltimore were closed and production was moved to
> Rochester.  The new
> company was the Aeolian-American which went into
> bankrupcty in 1985.
>      American redesigned during this period
> Chickering and Knabe, while
> maintaining a continuity of design features, and, as
> I said earlier,
> while imposing certain design features in common on
> these and other
> lines.   They produced some tremendous, great
> pianos.  For example the
> Chickering 135, the 123, the 235, and the 141
> concert grand.
>       Aeolian, which then acquired Mason & Hamlin,
> closing their factory
> and moving production to Rochester in 1934, 
> progressively lessened the
> quality on these pianos, and others, mainly after
> WWII,  leading to what
> we all have seen in their last gasp production of
> twenty years ago.
> They did come up with some interesting pianos in the
> thirties, for
> example the Chickering 147 ( a console) and the
> Knabe and M&H Butterfly
> and Symetrigrands.  I don't believe Aeolian ever
> made pianos in the
> original Chickering and Knabe factories as these
> factories were closed
> as a result of the bankruptcy.      Anyway, there is
> a building in New
> York called the American Piano Building, on 57th
> street.  At the top of
> the building one can seen inlaid on a large scale in
> tile, the plate
> decal we are all familiar with on the Chickering
> pianos of the period.
> Regards. Robin Hufford
> 
> 
> 
> gordon stelter wrote:
> 
> > Yes. Aeolian and American merged in 1930, after
> > Aeolian's factory burned. For many years
> operations
> > were moved to American Piano's massive factories
> in
> > East Rochester, New York, then spilled about the
> > country in the 70's and 80's, as the Japanese
> > onsluaght destroyed the American piano industry.
> >      American had Chickering in their line since
> 1909.
> >      Thump
> >
> > --- PatchWick@aol.com wrote:
> > > I just got back from tuning a 'Jonas Chickering'
> > > made in 1984. Was that also
> > > an Aeolian name plate?
> > >
> > > will
> > >
> >
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