The Straube Piano Company (1895–1937) and its successor Straube Pianos Inc. (1937–1949) were American piano manufacturers of uprights, grands, players , and reproducing grands .
67-547: Straube was active during the golden age of piano making , roughly 1875 to 1932, when pianos had few competitors for home entertainment. The company's own golden era ran from about 1904 to 1935, when it flourished as an innovator in the player piano business and grew into a high-volume piano producer. Straube executives and plant superintendents, particularly E.R. Jacobson (president) and William G. Betz (superintendent and inventor/innovator), held leadership roles in industry organizations. The company produced its best pianos under
134-463: A New Jersey entity based in Englewood . Paul Anton Majeski (born 1960), has been publisher since 1985, and Brian T. Majeski (born 1956), editor since 1982. Paul holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Ohio Wesleyan University (1982) and Brian holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Lawrence University (1978). Articles and quotes Historic reviews The December 20, 1919, issue, as
201-485: A bookkeeper and stenographer. After initially purchasing a small interest in the company, Jacobson became secretary, and continued to acquire stock from time to time. In March 1911, Jacobson purchased the entire interest of the remaining partner and became president. He appointed his brothers as executives: Charles (Carl) Herman Jacobson Thorby (1875–1946), vice-president; and James Frithiof Jacobson (1885–1968), secretary, who all became owners and were actively involved with
268-466: A broad spectrum of music and music commerce, domestically and abroad. Founded in New York City in 1890, it has been based in Englewood, New Jersey , since the mid-1970s. The Music Trades is one of the oldest continuously published trade publications in the world. The December 2024 issue — Vol. 172, No. 11 — is about the three thousand one hundred and thirty-ninth issue. A controlling ownership over
335-1016: A complete line of Haddorff and Straube grands and spinets at the Palmer House in Chicago during the NAMM Convention . Production of Straube pianos ceased in 1949. C.G. Conn retained ownership of Straube Pianos Inc. until 1969, when C.G. Conn was acquired by the Crowell-Collier MacMillan Company . The assets of Straube Piano Inc. included those acquired from the March 1937 receivers sale of the former Straube Piano Company. The Indiana corporate charters of (i) Straube Pianos Inc. (incorporated March 25, 1937), (ii) Straube Piano Company Inc. (incorporated November 14, 1941), and (iii) Struabe Piano and Music Company (incorporated October 24, 1922) expired January 1, 1970. The Straube Piano & Music Company
402-599: A day, for an annual production worth about three-quarters of a million dollars a year (equivalent to $ 22,813,953 in 2023) and employed about 150 men for an annual payroll of about $ 125,000 (equivalent to $ 3,802,326 in 2023). Around 1916, the Straube Piano Company was manufacturing ten to twelve finished units a day. The company reached a peak monthly production volume in November 1922, surpassing its previous monthly high in March 1920. It has been estimated that, of
469-514: A degree, had first been a playwright and actor. He emigrated to New York in 1871. In 1875, he founded The Music Trade Review , a fortnightly publication that he later renamed The Musical and Dramatic Times and Music Trade Review . The publication ran for about two years. In 1878, Freund founded the Musical Times , soon renamed the Musical and Dramatic Times . On January 7, 1882, Freund launched
536-599: A factory together near Chicago at Downers Grove, Illinois , on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad , at the present intersection of Warren and Forest Avenues. Their original wareroom was at 24 Adams Street, Chicago. Straube's first piano was completed in June 1895 at that shared factory. (W.N. Van Matre & Co. was a music dealer at 105 State Street in Rockford, Illinois .) Around July 1896, Straube purchased Van Matre's share in
603-686: A flood of nearly 25 million Europeans after 1880. In commerce, 1875 to 1932 represented a golden age of piano making — nearly 364,545 were sold at the peak in 1909, according to the National Piano Manufacturers Association, notably in New York City and Chicago. Freund and Weil's publications gave them broad access in the field of music. They served as bridges between the art and the money, connecting artists, organizations, commerce, and public policy. The spectrum that both publications collectively chronicled gave Freund and Weil
670-517: A full sound with full overtones. National Music Museum No. 14434. Upright piano with player mechanism (Hammond Melo-Harp) by the Straube Co., Hammond, Indiana , manufactured 1916, serial no. 26494. AAA-c5 (7+ octaves). Three pedals: half blow, "Melo-Harp" (tabs with staples for a jarring, "honky-tonk" tone), dampers. Purchased by Perry Fulton Pinkerton (1873–1952) for his wife, Isadora Edna (née Rouff; 1876–1923), in 1918. Delivered by train and wagon to
737-650: A note and taking the barbiturate Veronal in their room of the Hotel Scribe in the Opera District of Paris. Henrietta died the next morning, May 23, 7:40 am at the American Hospital ; Milton died 23 hours and 25 minutes later, May 24, 7:05 am , at the same hospital. They are buried next to each other at the New Cemetery of Neuilly-sur-Seine . On August 22, 1929, some five weeks after Majeski acquired
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#1733093501233804-688: A public offering of ten-year 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 percent gold bonds of Trade Publications, that carried warrants to purchase common stock at a price that closely corresponded with the value of the stock. Trade Publication's officers included Walter Crawford Howey (1882–1954), president; Verne Hardin Porter (1888–1942), vice president and secretary; and Edwin John Rosencrans (1870–1935), treasurer. The board of directors included these three plus G. Murray Hulbert , John Zollikoffer Lowe, Jr. (1884–1951), and Joseph Urban . Howey and Porter had been executives of
871-426: A record player, the piano was a sign that a family had achieved middle-class respectability." Hundreds of piano manufacturers were founded between 1880 and 1910 to serve the burgeoning market. In 1892, for example, the country's total estimated production was 100,000 pianos, most made by manufacturers in and around New York City and Boston. The arrival of the phonograph in the early 1900s and commercial radio in
938-435: A standard character mark, is a US registered trademark . It was re-registered January 25, 2011, under Serial No. 85046105 and Registration no. 3910654. The registration officially reflects its (i) first use anywhere and (ii) first use in commerce on January 1, 1891. Volume notes During the 1890s, the executive office for The Music Trades was at 24 Union Square East, Manhattan, New York . From around 1897 to 1915, it
1005-645: A strong platform to serve as advocates, opinion leaders, conciliators, counselors, arbiters , and ambassadors for music and the music trades in America. As an example, Freund and Weil helped found the National Music Managers Association (for national managers) and the National Concert Managers' Association (for local managers), aimed at improving cooperation between the two for the benefit of musicians. In 1918, Freund and Weil helped found
1072-545: A subsidiary of Conn – had been the sales representative for Straube, with P. E. Mason as sales manager. Mason, in the mid-1920s, had been vice president of the Cable-Nelson Piano Company before it had merged with the Everett Piano Company in 1926. C.G. Conn extended the relationship with Continental and kept Bartholomee as the head of manufacturing. Mason, who for many years had been the sales manager for
1139-524: A traveling salesman for Steger & Company and the B. Shoninger Co. By 1901, William Straube had sold his interest and signed a 5-year non-compete agreement . But in 1901, Straube, his two brothers, Herman Charles Straube (1867–1921) and Martin Straube, Jr. (1869–1934), and an associate, Charles Jacobsen (no relation to the Jacobsons of Straube Piano Company), formed another piano manufacturing company and leased
1206-698: A traveling salesman for Steger & Company and the B. Shoninger Co. E.R. Jacobson was the son of Charles Frithiof Jacobson (1852–1906), and Helena (née Nicholson; 1845–1910). Ernfrid Jacobson, with his parents, immigrated to the United States in 1882 and settled in Chicago. Jacobson received his public school education in Chicago. He began his career as an office boy, then a bookkeeper and general office utility man for various concerns until August 1898. In addition to being president part owner with his brothers of Straube Piano Company and Straube Piano & Music Co., which operated several music stores; E.R. Jacobson also
1273-511: A uniform national pricing policy. In 1923, Straube also launched a national advertising campaign. Explanation of the term Studio Grand: A tall upright piano – 50 inches or taller, one that a person of average height can't see over when seated at the bench – is sometimes referred to as an "upright grand". Straube branded it as a "Cabinet Grand". Use of the word "grand" with uprights should not be confused with concert grands. Upright grands can be of high quality and – short of concert grands – are often
1340-539: A unique view of the growth of classical music in America and its international rank, as an art form and in commerce. Both publications reached an international readership . Freund and Weil held sway as impresarios and movement leaders of American classical music. Their publications flourished during the early 1900s — on a new wave of American composers, including those of the Second New England School — joined by foreign composers who emigrated to America in
1407-412: A weekly magazine, Music: A Review , which contained an insert called The Music Trade . Sometime on or before July 8, 1882, Freund changed the magazine's name to Music and Drama , supplemented by Freund's Daily Music and Drama . Music and Drama evolved into The Music Trades . In 1884, Freund and John Travis Quigg (1839–1893) co-founded The American Musician , which during its seven-year run became
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#17330935012331474-452: A whole, bears some similarities to some of the special macro-economic issues of the 21st-century. Botsford's review covered the following articles by authors, nearly all of whom were trade publication editors: The Music Trades: current annual cover stories, analyses, and awards The Music Trades: quarterly reports and analysis Separate reports The Music Trades publishes current industry reports, data, and analyses — separate from
1541-592: A year. Straube Piano introduced its first player piano in November 1909. The year 1909 was the peak of piano sales in the United States; sales totaled nearly 364,545 pianos, according to the National Piano Manufacturers Association. (Just over a century later, in 2011, sales totaled about 41,000 pianos, 120,000 digital pianos, and 1.1 million keyboards, according to Music Trades magazine.) Ernfrid (Ernest) Reinholdt Jacobson (25 December 1877 Gothenburg, Sweden – 19 June 1976 Chicago) – had begun at Straube in August 1898 as
1608-516: Is also used to describe the decades in which the piano became ubiquitous in U.S. middle-class households and certain types of public spaces. "The end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century has often been called 'The Golden Age of the Piano ' ", Randy Rowoldt wrote in the Small Home Gazette in 2018. "In an age before radio and television, and in a time when only the wealthy could afford
1675-593: The American Musician . Around 1895, Freund's younger brother, Harry Edward Freund (1863–1950), was editor of Musical Weekly , which continued as a weekly with a new name, beginning January 1896, as The Musical Age . The publication was aimed at piano dealers. Freund and Weil were exponents of American classical music, although Freund had become a naturalized United States citizen on November 2, 1903. Their publications Musical America and The Music Trades complemented each other, and gave their editors
1742-660: The Hearst Corporation . Rosencrans, a civil engineer, was the managing editor of The American Architect; years earlier, he and architect John F. Jackson (1867–1948) had a partnership that designed more than 70 YMCAs . Lowe, a lawyer, had been a partner in a law firm with Samuel Seabury . Howey, who had been the founding managing editor of the New York Daily Mirror , left Trade Publications on August 1, 1928, to retake his old job. The following year, Trade Publications filed for bankruptcy. The Irving Trust Co.
1809-523: The Monon and the Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville railways, the 3-story facility, with a basement, had 3,159 square metres (34,000 sq ft) of factory space. The exterior of the building was Oehlmacher brick, a light gray brick made in Michigan City, Indiana . The factory was of mill construction. The main structure was 160 by 50 feet, two stories high. The engine house was 50 by 35 feet, detached, and
1876-615: The 1878 founding date, and at some point Straube Piano began casting the numerals "1878" into the iron frames of their instruments. Straube Piano in 1924 cited 1879 as their founding year. In 1996, another author provided 1859 as the founding year. William Straube (1857–1923), who was an investor rather than a piano expert, incorporated Straube Piano Company in 1897 as an Illinois entity. James (Jim) Francis Broderick (19 August 1854 Philadelphia – 17 November 1920 Chicago ) became president on January 1, 1898, and served in that role until March 1911. Before joining Straube Piano, Broderick had been
1943-494: The 1920s exerted steadily growing pressure on piano makers. Total U.S. sales for the industry peaked around 300,000 in 1924, representing roughly $ 100 million in revenue ($ 1,780,000,000 today ) and decreased steadily thereafter. In the final year of the Roaring Twenties , piano makers sold an estimated 115,000 instruments. The Music Trades The Music Trades is a 133-year-old American trade magazine that covers
2010-738: The Club Block in Downers Grove. The Straube Piano Company challenged and won an injunction on December 16, 1901, in Cook County Circuit Court forbidding the Straubes and Jacobsen from using the Straube name in the manufacturing of pianos. In 1904, the Straube Piano Company moved its manufacturing and executive offices from Chicago to a custom-built factory in the city of Hammond in Indiana's Calumet Region . Sited on five acres served by both
2077-608: The Haddorff Piano Co., Rockford, Illinois, joined Continental when C.G. Conn acquired Haddorff in November 1940. Sometime before May 12, 1942, the U.S. War Production Board restricted piano production by C.G. Conn, Ltd., to 120 pianos a month. On May 12, 1942, C.G. Conn, Ltd., announced that it would consolidate its piano manufacturing by moving its Straube manufacturing from Chicago Heights to its Haddorff Piano manufacturing plant in Rockford, Illinois , at Railroad Avenue and 9th Street—a leased facility that Haddorff shared with
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2144-663: The Haddorff plant in Rockford – the War Production Board (WPB) ordered that manufacturing of pianos at the Rockford plant cease by July 31, 1942. Under a war contract between C.G. Conn, Ltd., and the U.S. War Department , the Rockford plant produced parts for gliders and trainer planes from 1942 to 1946. The last published reference to the sale of a Straube piano was in July 1946, when the Haddorff Piano Co. of Rockford, Illinois, exhibited
2211-414: The J.L. Metz Furniture Co. for $ 125,000 (equivalent to $ 2,504,376 in 2023) and leased back a large portion of the building. In May 1934, the Straube Piano Company went into a friendly receivership. Roy Francis McPharlin (1893–1980) was appointed as receiver. On January 4, 1935, McPharlin distributed a "first and final" dividend of 8/10 of 1 cent of one dollar (i.e., 86¢ for $ 100) to the creditors. During
2278-569: The Musical Alliance of the United States, an organization that endures today. Weil served as founding secretary-treasurer, while Freund, the founding president, called upon the group to organize "all workers in the field, from the man at the bench in a piano factory to the conductor of the great symphony." On June 13, 1927, three years after Freund died, Weil put The Music Trades and Musical America up for sale. One bid came from John Francis Majeski, Sr. (1892–1971), who in 1910 had joined
2345-679: The Piano refers to a " golden age " extending from the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century during which composing and performance on the piano achieved notable heights; or to the decades between roughly 1890 and 1920, in which pianos were manufactured and sold in great quantities, particularly in the United States. Among the artists associated with the Golden Age of the Piano are Vladimir Horowitz , Glenn Gould , Wanda Landowska , Myra Hess , Arthur Rubinstein , Alexander Brailowsky , Ignacy Jan Paderewski , Josef Hofmann , Percy Grainger , Alfred Cortot , and Van Cliburn . The term
2412-607: The Rockford Chair and Furniture Company. Haddorff had sold its original Rockford plant on Harrison Avenue in 1940. In December 1940, a month after C.G. Conn's acquisition of the Haddorff Piano Company, Conn moved the Haddorff's manufacturing operations into the Railroad Avenue plant, which it had modernized. On May 30, 1942 – a few weeks after C.G. Conn consolidated the manufacturing of Haddorff and Straube pianos at
2479-756: The Schaeffer Piano Company, which in 1896, had a sales room on the second floor of 236 Wabash Avenue, Chicago. After Straube sold his interest in the Straube Piano Company in 1901, he focused on his real estate development business in Downers Grove, Illinois. In 1902, Straube became a director of the Cerro Mojarra Plantation Company, a ranching and agricultural firm operating in Oaxaca, Mexico . The Schaeffer Piano Company, founded by William Schaeffer (1832–1888) in Württemberg, Germany , around 1872,
2546-539: The Straube Piano Company was adjudicated bankrupt in United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana , Hammond Division. In March 1937, the receiver for the Straube Piano Company sold all remaining assets for $ 4,655 (equivalent to $ 98,660 in 2023) to individuals who planned to continue the business. The dividend amount is not known. The assets consisted of the name and goodwill of
2613-705: The Straube name, and its lower-priced pianos under the Hammond, Gilmore, and Woodward brands. All of the models were distributed in the US, and the player models internationally as well, particularly in Australia. The Straube Piano Company was the outgrowth of Van Matre & Straube (aka Straube & Van Matre ), a partnership formalized in February 1895 by Williard Naramore Van Matre, Sr. (1851–1939), and William Straube (né Straub; 1857–1928). That same month, Van Matre and Straube leased
2680-404: The boiler house was 60 by 45 feet and detached. The Monon dry kiln was 35 by 65 feet and held 20,000 feet of lumber. Equipped with automatic fire doors and fire walls, it had standpipes throughout the structure with separate hose attachments and concrete floors in the basement engine and boiler rooms. At full capacity, the new factory required 200 employees and could produce 3,000 finished pianos
2747-465: The business, and the partnership was dissolved. Straube continued in business under his own name. Different founding years have been asserted for Straube's company. In 1907, Straube Piano Company executives publicly observed 1895 as their founding year. However, in 1911, Alfred Dolge published an influential reference book, Pianos and Their Makers , in which he gave 1878 as the founding year. The December 19, 1914, issue of Music Trade Review began using
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2814-494: The business, unfinished pianos – about twenty in process of construction – thirty piano cases unassembled, and various supplies of finished and unfinished materials and parts used in the construction of pianos, along with piano strings and wire and other parts for piano manufacturing. A new company was formed in Indiana on March 27, 1937, as Straube Pianos Inc. located at 5049 Columbia Avenue and production of Straube pianos resumed in
2881-421: The change from Manila Avenue to Wildwood Street. The architect was J.T. Hutton (Joseph T. Hutton; 1861–1932) and the contractor was Mahlon Abraham Dickover (1856–1932) In late 1914 or early 1915, the Straube Piano Company was incorporated in Indiana by the Jacobsons and Thorby with $ 150,000 (equivalent to $ 4,562,791 in 2023) capital stock . Around that time, the factory was producing about 12 finished pianos
2948-404: The choice of serious pianists, recording studios, and performance venues. A mid-high upright – one that one can barely see over – is often used in dance studios, where an accompanist can see the dancers. A short upright, one that rises less than a foot above the keyboard, is referred to as a spinet. Serious pianists typically regard spinets as inadequate because the soundboard is too short to produce
3015-642: The company. In the interim, after the departure of Betz and before the appointment of Charles Henry Bartolomee as plant superintendent, Alvin Detloff Meyer (1879–1970), a Straube purchasing agent and longtime employee, took charge of manufacturing. Around June 1936, Straube Piano Company moved its offices from the First Trust Building in Hammond to the Straube factory at 5049 Columbia Avenue in Hammond. And its board of directors elected Lemuel (Lem) Kline (1868–1945) as secretary-treasurer. On January 19, 1937,
3082-1018: The family farmhouse in Quimby, Iowa , where it remained until coming to the NMM, this player piano filled family events with music and provided accompaniment for dancing. Gift of Edward and James Pinkerton, grandsons, in memory of their parents, Ross Cavanaugh Pinkerton (1913–2009) and Arlene Jane (née Bugh; 1919–2009) late of Quimby, Iowa . Notes: In 1954, the Hammond Organ Co. acquired the Everett and Cable Nelson names and also started building Hammond pianos. These Hammond Pianos are of no relation to those once produced by Straube. Hammond pianos were discontinued around 1965. James (Jim) Francis Broderick (19 August 1854 Philadelphia – 17 November 1920 Chicago ) became president on January 1, 1898, and served in that role until March 1911. Before joining Straube Piano, Broderick had been
3149-529: The further development of the business. Presto-Times contributor Fred E. Cooper has written that Jacobson took the Straube Piano Company from ordinary piano manufacturer to one of the most successful contenders in the high-quality piano field. In 1913, construction began on the third addition to the original Straube factory erected in 1904 at 205 Manila Avenue. On January 30, 1930, the Hammond City Council enacted dozens of street name changes – including
3216-564: The last 95 years — seventy-one percent of the publication's total age — has been held by three generations of the Majeski family; few publications have been as long closely held by a single family. The Music Trades was founded in 1890 by John Christian Freund (1848–1924) and Milton Weil (1871–1935). Eight years later, they founded Musical America , the oldest American magazine on classical music. Freund, who matriculated in 1868 at Exeter College , Oxford , but left after three years without
3283-424: The leased portion of the Hammond factory that the former company once owned. The 1937 executives were: On May 1, 1940, Straube Pianos Inc. moved to Chicago Heights to occupy 48,000 sq. ft. of a warehouse owned by National Tea . The executives of the company were: In 1941, the executives were: In October 1941, C.G. Conn acquired Straube Pianos Inc. For the previous two years, Continental Music Co. of Chicago –
3350-511: The magazine — aimed at all constituents in the supply chain of music products. Sister publications Volume numbers Beginning with February 1929, when the magazine became a monthly publication, the volume numbers changed every year, initially at January, but eventually at February. For February through December 1929, the Vol. was 77. The publication currently, for 2024, is on Volume 172 (CLXXII) Copyrights Trademarks "The Music Trades," as
3417-439: The new plant. The new plant added 70,000 square feet of manufacturing space and provided a suite of new executive offices. The total floor-space, including the addition, was about a hundred and sixty thousand square feet. The new space was especially designed for a new unit that could produce 2,500 Straube grands a year to meet demand. William G. Betz – Straube's plant superintendent since 1917, piano design engineer, and inventor who
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#17330935012333484-632: The official publication of the National League of Musicians union, the forerunner of the American Federation of Musicians . Before founding the American Musician , Henry Cood Watson (1818–1875) began in 1864 the publication Watson's Art Journal , devoted to music criticism and trade. Watson died in 1875 and his Journal was taken over by his pupil, William M. Thoms, who improved it, renamed it American Art Journal , edited it until his retirement in 1906, then, upon his retirement, merged it with
3551-658: The profession in Canada, having been associated with many of the leading factories in the East. In 1929, Straube began producing radios. Sales of pianos and player pianos, industry-wide, began to slip in the early 1920s, due partly to the rising popularity of radio as an alternative for home entertainment and due partly to the rising popularity of automobiles, which cost about the same as premium Straube pianos ($ 325; equivalent to $ 7,223 in 2023). And, like pianos, automobiles were commonly purchased on installment. In 1925, 80% of pianos sold by
3618-547: The publications at bankruptcy auction, he formed three holding companies: The Music Trades Corporation, for The Music Trades ; The Musical America Corporation, for Musical America , and Beauty Culture Publishing Corporation, for Barbers Journal and Beauty Culture. In 1959, Majeski sold Musical America —which would merge with High Fidelity in 1964—but retained his interest in The Musical Trades , and served as its publisher until his death in 1971. The publisher's job
3685-599: The retail trade were done so on installment plans. After the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and into the Great Depression , sales declined further and Straube began to struggle financially. In 1930, Straube was using the advertising firm of Lamport, Fox & Co., Irvin Sylvester Dolk (1891–1981), ad executive of South Bend, Indiana . Struggling to survive, the Straube Piano Company sold its Hammond factory in 1931 to
3752-433: The some 360,000 pianos produced in America in 1909, 56% were players. In 1925, construction began on the fifth and largest addition to the original Straube factory. The architect was J.T. Hutton & Son, the son being William Sturgeon Hutton (1890–1975). The structure was four stories with a basement. The addition was devoted largely to the manufacture of grand and reproducing grand pianos. In June 1925, Straube moved into
3819-636: The staff of Musical America and become Weil's assistant. Majeski offered a quarter-million dollars for the pair, but was outbid by a new syndicate that also acquired four other publications ( The American Architect , The Barbers' Journal , Beauty Culture , and Perfumers' Journal ) and consolidated them all into a new company called Trade Publications, Inc. The deal was handled by investment bankers Schluter & Company and Shields & Company, which issued $ 1,100,000 (equivalent to $ 19,294,253 in 2023) in preferred and common stock . Shields & Company and Nixon & Company, of Philadelphia, also made
3886-813: The summer of 1935, the company reorganized. By then, it was still producing pianos, but occupied only a portion of the factory it once owned. The remainder of the plant was occupied by J.L. Metz Furniture Co. In 1935, the Straube Piano Company was being operated by the Fidelity Security Company, John Leonard Keilman (1867–1946), president. Fidelity Security was the finance arm of Straube Piano – dealing in piano paper and other securities. When Straube went into receivership, all of its officers departed, including president Jacobson, president; C.H.J. Thorby, vice-president; and Alfred Theodore Schuldes (1892–1981), secretary-treasurer. Also, in 1935, William G. Betz (1871–1957), longtime superintendent with over 50 patents, left
3953-732: The total went for Musical America and The Music Trades , the publications for which Majeski had offered a quarter-million dollars three years earlier. The acquisition included the publications' names, a collection of back issues, and a few months of office space in the Steinway Building . A few months before the bankruptcy auction, Weil was said to have sold his interest in Trade Publications for $ 200,000 (equivalent to $ 3,548,837 in 2023) in preferred stock . He and his wife—Henrietta Lander ( née Rich; 1874–1935) —then moved to Paris with $ 5,000. Weil's father, Jacob A. Weil (1835–1913),
4020-477: Was a Paris-born American and his mother, Dina ( née Lilienthal; born 1843), was a German-born American. The bankruptcy sale wiped out Weil's stake, built up over a lifetime. Distraught over the loss of their fortune during the pre- Crash of 1929 , then the Crash , and their subsequent inability to recover during the Great Depression , Milton and Henrietta Weil carried out a double suicide pact on May 22, 1935, leaving
4087-417: Was appointed receiver for the company, which had liabilities of $ 716,839 (equivalent to $ 12,719,725 in 2023) and assets of $ 59,511. On July 19, 1929, bankruptcy referee John Logan Lyttle (1879–1930) oversaw the auction of the magazines. Majeski, Weil's former assistant, bought four of the six for $ 45,200: Musical America , The Music Trades , The Barbers' Journal , and Beauty Culture . About $ 11,000 of
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#17330935012334154-459: Was at 135 Fifth Avenue at 20th Street — which, at the time, was at the heart of the wholesale music trade district in New York City. From around 1915 to 1937, it was on Fifth Avenue — 505 (1915), 501 (1919). From about 1930 until the mid-1970s, the executive offices for The Music Trades were in Steinway Hall , 113 West 57th Street, Manhattan, New York . From 1927 to 1929, when The Music Trades
4221-579: Was established in New York in 1877. Schaeffer had factories at 472 West 43rd Street, and 456 West 37th Street, Manhattan, New York. Then, in 1889, after Schaeffer's death, the company was established in Illinois and incorporated on December 31, 1891, in Illinois, by Charles M. Herman, Isaac Newton Rice (1847–1929), and Samuel Ringgold Huyett (1946–1911). Golden Age of the Piano The Golden Age of
4288-553: Was highly regarded by the industry – had spent several years perfecting the construction and design of the new Straube grands. Straube also hired William David McIlwrath (né McIlwraith; 1872–1931), a veteran piano factory superintendent and piano engineer with years of experience in the production of grands, to take charge a department in the new unit. McIlwrath had been the manufacturing superintendent of Jesse French & Sons Piano Co. of New Castle, Indiana , since February 16, 1920, and had been employed there since 1913. McIlwrath learned
4355-640: Was president of the Fidelity Security Co., dealers in piano paper and other securities, and treasurer of the Hammond Machine and Forge Works. Politically, E.R. Jacobson was a Republican. He was a member of the Bethlehem Swedish Lutheran Church of Englewood, Illinois , where he had been a trustee since 1898, and was also the treasurer of the church. He resided at 5754 Fifth avenue. William Straube, before 1894, had been president of
4422-581: Was taken over by his son, John Francis Majeski, Jr. (1921–2011), who was already the magazine's editor. The younger Majeski served as editor until 1982 and publisher until 1985. In 2005, he received the American Music Conference Lifetime Achievement Award for his achievements, contribution to music, and long tenure as editor of The Music Trades . As of 2022, the Majeski family continues its ninety-five year ownership of The Music Trades through its holding company,
4489-716: Was the retail division and subsidiary of the Straube Piano Company. It was launched around 1920. Also, in 1920, the retail division purchased a two-story building on S Hohman Street in Hammond, Indiana for $ 75,000. The building housed four stores and six office suites yielding rental income of about $ 9,000 a year. The building was made of brick and terra cotta and had frontage of 100 feet on South Hohman Street . The directors of Straube Piano Company incorporated its retail division in 1922. In 1924, Straube introduced individual names for its players rather than alpha letters in an effort to stimulate retail sales. A year earlier, Straube introduced
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