Hi Barrie, Yes, there was a bonfire on the beach. The maufacturerers and dealers were trying to make a point of the trade in value of these old squares, less than 25, that I have read. They tried to make the point that these pianos were valueless as trade in on new pianos. The thing failed as it was interpreted by the public the wrong way, a big blunder. Not the first time or the last. The Chickering quarter grand was at 5'. It had the pin block in 4 separate pieces and was bolted into holes under the plate, not screwed. The damper wires screwed into the underlevers, not with set screws. The cheek blocks were almost non-existent. They had a double bead on the side of the case. The one I rebuilt in the 70's I still service every 6 months is still going although it has weak tone. It was quite a shock after I got it into the shop and THEN found out about the unique pin block and screw in dampers. It is still the only one I have come across. Oh yes, When I got it, it was painted white. I refinished it in a light walnut color and it was made in 1904 and had a working sostenuto James Grebe R.P.T. of the P.T.G pianoman@inlink.com Creator of Handsome Hardwood Caster Cups and Practical Piano Peripherals in St. Louis, MO -----Original Message----- From: Barrie Heaton <Piano@forte.airtime.co.uk> To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org> Date: Saturday, October 24, 1998 6:50 AM Subject: History Q >Dear all, > > >I was told this little bit of history today. I need to know if it did >happen and is there a book I can cross reference to > > > >In Atlantic City in 1903 the American Manufacturers decided to have done >with square pianos and at their congress they bought an enormous number >of squares at a cost of some hundreds of thousands of dollars, and built >a pyramid with them, 50 feet high and set fire to it. > >Plus this. > >1904 Chickening produced a quarter grand, said to be the smallest of its >kind. I have not come across the term quarter grand anywhere else is >this true. > >Barrie, > > > > >-- > >Barrie Heaton | Be Environmentally Friendly >URL: http://www.uk-piano.org/ | To Your Neighbour >The UK Piano Page | >pgp key on request | HAVE YOUR PIANO TUNED >
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