Monarch Piano London

[Tommy Cockles]

I wonder if anyone can help me with this one.

I recently inherited my grandfathers upright piano. It's a Monarch piano made in London. The only information I've found on the make is that Baldwin traded under this name.

When I emailed Baldwin with the serial number (64782), I mentioned that it was made in London, they replied and told me that it was made around 1911.

Here's their reply:

Dear Tom, thank you for contacting us here at Baldwin Piano, Inc. The
serial number 64782 shows a manufacture year of 1911.

The Monarch Piano Company was a subsidiary of Baldwin Piano and was
established in 1894. This plant was located in Chicago. Standard upright
pianos and player pianos were both offered bearing the Monarch name.
Instruments were built from 1895 until 1941. Best Regards, Gregory Cole.
Baldwin Customer Relations

I thought this rather strange since my piano is clearly marked 'Monarch Piano London' and not Chicago.

I've not been able to find out any information about Monarch pianos made in London and was wondering if I was barking up the wrong tree with the whole Chicago Baldwin thing.

The piano is plain jet black in apperance, much like a modern Yamaha i guess. The dampers are positioned above the hammers on the hammer board. The two bottom bass keys are eched 36510. The piano has 1 sustain and one damper brass pedals.

Can anyone help?

[Bill Kibby]

Brand names are not restricted to just one source. Until recently here, you could buy "Lemon Jif" to clean the sink, or squeeze "Lemon Jif" on your pancakes! Monarch is a prime target for piano aliases, because it implies royal connections. See
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/piano ... iases.html

The phrase "Monarch Model" appears on some, and yours is obviously not a Chicago piano. I'll see what I can find on card and paper files, but in the meantime, have a look at
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/datem ... ianos.html

[Tommy Cockles]

Thanks Bill,

The information is really useful. It's a minefield isn't it?

Looking foward to seeing what you can dig up and find out.

Tom

[Stride]

Ref; the Monarch Piano company.

In the Pierce Piano Atlas 2003 The Monarch Piano Co. Chicago;is the only firm of that name. If your serial number is correct it suggests that they were built by a big firm. Is there no reference on any other part of the piano like the frame which might have the Chicago address on. I wondered if the Monarch, London was the sellers name. Though I suppose it is on the lid over the keys.

I understand there were many small firms building pianos in Britain during the 20's 30s etc.

[Bill Kibby]

"Monarch London" is nothing to do with Baldwin or Chicago, and if you have logged in, you can read on...

[Tommy Cockles]

Hi Bill,

I have logged in but I haven't an option to read on on your post. Have you found anything interesting about Monarch?

[Bill Kibby]

You have to log in to see the standard message about photos, and my contact details in case you want a report based on them.

[Frank Renfrow Tuner]

As I live in Baldwin's home city, and worked for the Baldwin Piano Company for many years, I have tuned many Baldwin Monarchs in my day. Most are small upright pianos from the 1920s and 30s similar in size to today's 45" studio uprights. As with all "modern" American pianos the dampers are always located below the hammers, so your piano is most definitely not a Baldwin, and was most certainly made in London as the label indicates.

Frank Renfrow Tuner
Cincinnati, Ohio / Bellevue, Kentucky USA