To Kurt Baxter,
Hello,
Attached are some photos of an Ahlstrom piano I have owned for 9 years. I
bought it from an elementary school in Hudson Ohio in 2001. At the time it was
painted yellow. It has since been stripped to it's natural mahogany with the
hammers re-felted and the action pulled and rebuilt. Keytops are ivory. The
third key from the left bass cleft is signed off on the bottom in
pencil: Reg.by J.W.Ahlstrom Dec. 16, '05. I discovered this when cleaning out
the key tray during refinishing. I also discovered a 1905 Indian head penny and
a 1909 Lincoln cent mixed in with the dust bunnies in the key tray. Serial # is
25100 and is stamped on plate and on various pieces of the cabinetry. I have
learned
that the Ahlstrom brand was the featured piano of record at the opening event of
the Chautauqua Institute in Jamestown NY in 1875. There is a library in
Jamestown, NY (James Prendergast Library Association, 509 Cherry St. Jamestown,
NY 14701 - 716.484.7135 (Extensions) Catherine A. Way - Director) that has some
info on the company but I haven't made it that far yet. Also attached is a 1924
news clipping mentioning the Ahlstrom brand.The company was in business from
1875 - 1925 and the advent of radio and television sadly replaced the piano as a
source of family entertainment for many of the privileged class of the roaring
twenties. Charles A. Ahlstrom and his brother emigrated from Sweden and started
a furniture company in the Jamestown area soon after the end of the Civil War.
The Ahlstrom piano holds a number of patents to this day for improvements made
in the mechanical workings of modern day pianos. I have checked out some of the
patent numbers stamped on the action and they are listed
for this manufacturer in the United States patent office.
My son currently takes lessons and practices on this piano. The gentleman who
tunes it is amazed that it still holds tune with no slippage of the pins,
no rattles or hums and the tone has stayed true with age. His comment" this
thing is built like a brick outhouse". He happens to be Swedish also and claims
to have only seen one other Ahlstrom in his 30 years as a piano tuner and it was
memorable for it's durability and sound quality.
I hope this information reaches
you and helps answer some of the mystery of this piano-it has become a sort of
quest /hobby for me as my son is teaching me to play for fifty cents a lesson.
If you find any other info on this brand, please feel free to email. Good luck
and thanks!
Sincerely,
Rick Ilcisko
ilciskor at neo.rr.com
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: DSC00074.JPG
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 70499 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100728/c4ac513a/attachment-0001.jpeg>
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC