Music Trade Review

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tured the world-famous Lester Betsy
Ross Spinet and the Lester Grands.
The tones of these fine instruments
fall gently upon the ears of those own-
The Valley Forge Caravan, a one- ers not only in America, but through-
hour radio broadcast that salutes each out South America, the Philippines,
night an American industry under the Hawaii and many other parts of the
sponsorship of the Adam Scheidt Brew- world. And tonight we honor as well,
ing Co., of Norristown, Pa., over Sta- Jacob Brothers of Philadelphia.
Piano History
tion KYW, honored the piano industry
and also the Lester Piano Mfg. Co.,
"The instrument we call simply the
Philadelphia, who acted as hosts in a piano today was originally termed in
broadcast on March 21st.
the Italian . . . 'Pianoforte' , , , 'piano'
In part the script ran:
meaning 'soft' and 'forte' meaning
"If our brief words about this in- 'loud.' It was, in the days of its first
dustry could even begin to approach development and is essentially so to-
the lyrical melody of a single beauti- day with, of course, many refinements,
ful chord, that once struck . . . rever- a stringed musical instrument which
berates upon the air . . . we of the consists of stretched, graded, accurately
Caravan would indeed believe we were measured and tuned wires, which are
paying tribute to this outstanding struck by felt-covered hammers by the
American enterprise.
operation of a conveniently arranged
keyboard.
Name Executives
"At any rate, from earliest time . . .
"Since we cannot do this, we can
only say our hats are off to the men the advance of musicianship brought
and women employees, the officers and equal or greater advancement in the
executives of the firms which produce instruments upon which they played
the fine instruments which we salute . . . In some cases refinement of tone
tonight with this 1135th broadcast of has not been surpassed in certain in-
struments from a high point of devel-
the Caravan tour.
"We especially honor tonight our opment centuries ago. For instance, in
hosts of the Lester Piano Company, the Amati and Stradavari violins. But
those who aid us in compiling material not so in the case of the piano, which
for this broadcast. They are Mr. today is a finer instrument than any
George Laurence Miller, president and produced previously. Type of woods
son of the founder; Mr. Jacob Schiller, . . . sounding board . . . frame con-
vice-president and firm members, G. struction . . . metals used in strings
L. Miller, Jr., and Campbell Miller, have advanced tremendously . . . and
grandsons of the founder of the Lester the Piano Industry was quick to make
Piano Manufacturing Co., Inc., of Les- remarkable strides with developments.
"Even during the past five years. . .
ter, Pennsylvania. Here are manufac-
Lester Piano Co. Hosts
In Salute to Piano Industry
1945
1874
Famous For Over 70 Years.
progress in methods was made . . . for
as this paragraph from our host, Jacob
Schiller points out: 'The entire piano
industry was converted to war work. . .
and the majority of piano manufac-
turers built airplanes and gliders for
the Armed Forces. The Piano Indus-
try was particularly well-equipped to
do this delicate, painstaking- work be-
cause of its long experience in precision
production of pianos. With Victory. . .
the piano industry was reconverted to
the production of pianos . . . and the
skills, materials and machinery used
in war work are now being used to
produce even finer pianos!
Lester in War Work
"The Lester Piano Manufacturing
Co. built planes and gliders for the
Army Air Forces . . . and both the
management and personnel felt that
this selection was a tribute to the skill
of Lester craftsmen and a compliment
to the entire organization. Since Vic-
tory, the Piano Industry has been
building pianos . . . but the present
demand far exceeds the supply, since
no pianos were manufactured for more
than four years. The emphasis on home
life; the renewed interest in piano mus-
ic . . . and the prospect of millions
of new homes all over America . . .
makes the future brighter for the en-
tire industry than it has been in many
years.
"There are about 25 piano manu-
facturers in the United States . . . of
which ten are responsible for 98'Cr of
the pianos sold and the Lester Piano
Manufacturing Co. is a member of this
Big Ten in the Industry.
"The Lester Piano Manufacturing
Co. was founded in 1888 by the late
Mr. George Miller and since its found-
ing this company has never undergone
a reorganization or a change of owner-
ship.
For Over Fifty Years
am
The
WESSELL, NICKEL & GROSS
COMPACT DIRECT BLOW
PIANO
A C T I O N
ISow manufactured for the trade by
THE WESSELL, NICKEL & GROSS DIVISION
P I ANO
PLATES
Recognized as the Highest Stand-
ard of Piano Plate Excellence.
Produced in the largest
piano plate foundry in the
world.
Specified as STANDARD
equipment by manufac-
turers of quality pianos.
Utrkliam Piano JUatr CEn.
SPRINGFIELD
26
OHIO
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, APRIL. 1946