Chamberlain & Sons / David Woodhouse?

[03electra]

I did a search for info on this piano and found this forum. One post from 2004 Aug,20 from USbarnetts said they have the same piano and the same problem, that is they can't find any info! Can anyone help?

[Bill Kibby]

The vast majority of piano names are not listed on the internet, we have over twenty thousand on file at the Piano History Centre, but many are meaningless aliases.

Chamberlain & Sons do not appear in our lists until after 1894, and by 1899 were at 71a Standishgate, Wigan, Lancashire. They seem to have been retailers rather than makers. The firm's name remained unchanged for sixty years or more, so it doesn't give any further clue to the age of a piano, unless the exact address is shown anywhere.

I came across a David Woodhouse, London upright piano with wooden top bridge, 3 panels, sconces, trusses, over- dampers, three-quarter iron frame with separate headbar, single-bushed keys, vertical stringing, full trichord, underneath pedals. Probably made around 1910, but we have no record of a real maker with this name, so it may be an alias used on pianos bought in from anonymous wholesalers. Any further clues will be hidden inside, so have a look at pianogen.org

A century ago, many pianos were produced in great numbers by huge factories employing hundreds of workers, but it is important to understand that there were still tiny "cottage industries" - little workshops and sheds producing pianos more-or-less from scratch, buying in parts such as actions and keys from specialists. Some did not belong to trade organisations, or subscribe to trade directories, so unless we are lucky enough to find advertisements, there is no way of tracking them down by active research, although we probably have the best chance of something turning up at random.