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<DIV>Hello Alan,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> August Gross & Son was built in their
own</DIV>
<DIV>factory. Their offices and factory was located</DIV>
<DIV>at 590---594 Wells St. in Chicago. They only</DIV>
<DIV>built pianos for their own retail stores. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Some indication is that they may have bought</DIV>
<DIV>case parts from The Tonk Co. and probably </DIV>
<DIV>bought most of their actions from Thayer and /or</DIV>
<DIV>the Arthur King Co. This was a common practice</DIV>
<DIV>at this time. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> As far as I can tell they built uprights and their </DIV>
<DIV>production was only about 250 to 300 a year.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Jack Greenfield,s book gives nothing on this brand. </=
DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Their pianos were of good quality ( as was the </DIV>
<DIV>vast majorty of this time.) and were very durable.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> It is quite posable that the Geo.Bent "Crown"</DIV>
<DIV>was an influence on building thier piano.</DIV>
<DIV>They could have done much worse.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> As far as the time line they started business at</DIV>
<DIV>some time between 1899 and 1909. So your </DIV>
<DIV>opinion as to when your piano was built is very </DIV>
<DIV>posable. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> If you can identify the action I would appreciate</DI=
V>
<DIV>knowing the brand. Some times there is a brand</DIV>
<DIV>name in various places on the action or on the</DIV>
<DIV>action brackets.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Regards,</DIV>
<DIV>Jack Wyatt </DIV>
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