Chickering & Sons

[JimBobinSC]

This is my first post to the UK Piano Page and Piano History forum. I am doing research on Chickering & Sons Grand Pianos built in the factory that still stands (no longer a piano factory) at 791 Tremont Street in Boston.
I am trying to locate Chickering & Sons Grand pianos that may be in the UK and in Europe to see how they have held up after all these years and also show the wide spread reach that Chickering & Sons had on the piano world. At this time I am just interested in serial numbers, sizes,finishes, model and general location as well as condition. Pictures would be great but even better would be a picture and small history of the piano if known. Because the Chickering log books exist in microfilm form it is possible to trace where the factory first sent the piano. In later years more detail appears in the logs about finishes and voicings. We may be able to help one another fill in a lot of blanks as well as locating parts. I spent the better part of a year locating parts for a Chickering Quarter Grand 121 Scale including brass whippen flanges and a full replacement lyre. I also helped a UK tech locate some flanges for the same model piano that was owned by a client in Scotland so the internet can be a great way to collaborate.

Thanks in Advance

Jim Kelly, Certified Piano Technician, Fur Elise Piano Service , Pawleys Island, SC U.S.A.

JIM ALSO POSTED THIS...

Good Day ... I am new to the UK Piano Page but I am sure it will be a valuable resource for me.
I am a professional piano technician in the US and have become fascinated with Chickering & Sons Grand Pianos.
I have been compiling all sorts of information on the company since it seems to be scattered all over the place. About a year ago I got involved in trying to get a quarter grand 121 Scale playable again. A search for parts lead to a lot of dead end alleys but eventually I located what I needed including a full replacement lyre. Previous work done on the piano was pretty shabby and at some point someone made a non functional pedal lyre that was purely ornamental. Anyway... I am interested in locating Chickering & Sons pianos that may be in the UK knowing their size, scale, model, general condition, serial number and broad location (no personnel identifiers wanted )information. Any pictures would also be valuable and any history of the piano the owner would have would be great. According to a source called the Hardwood Record volume 39-40 ; in 1913 the US shipped 7,608 pianos abroad with 1631 going to Europe. The largest purchaser was Italy followed by Finland, Germany and France. England received more than all of Europe.
Of course not all of these were Chickerings but there is a good chance that many were.

I am interested in any and all information from technicians, owners, instrument collectors, etc The Chickering Log Books are on microfilm at the Smithsonian here in the US and can be used to help find the location a piano was first shipped to but a serial number is the key. Links to web site to help in research would also be very valuable especially if data is online and viewable.

Jim Kelly , Certified Piano Technician, Fur Elise Piano Service, Pawleys Island, SC USA

[Bill Kibby]

It is interesting that in just one year they sent 1631 pianos to Britain. I can't ever recall having seen an old Chickering over here, not even in a museum, but I will check through my notes and see what I can find.

The forum already provides a button that allows people to email you, but having your email address visible like that lays you open to spam and junk mail, so let me know if you want me to remove it.

[JimBobinSC]

okay take out the email I was not sure how replies work

The numbers I had were just totals and not counts for Chickering. A publication called Hardwood Record vol 39-40 stated that 7,608 pianos had been shipped from the US in 1913. Given Chickerings reputation I am sure some ended up in England but how many, where and if they are still in use is the question ...

By the way ... any luck with housing your collection ?

[Bill Kibby]

Sorry I misunderstood. Is that source available on the net?

We are still going through buildings that fail to turn out right, as you can read on the main page at pianogen.org

It's really a funding problem, and in an ideal world, we need someone to sponsor us by supplying a building, or this unique collection will eventually disappear. People need it every day.

I can't find any references in my files to ANY Chickering pianos over here. Perhaps someone else will answer with some.

[JimBobinSC]

Bill...

I will dig some more on this end to find out what could have been exported although it is an intensice task.

The source of the information is on the web but you have to peel off layer by layer. I am finding a lot of information using Goggle Play Books. One problem I am finding is that a lot of references are in University Libraries and hard to get to unless you have library access to that particular library site. The other problem is things in paper collections that you have to pay someone an insane fee to do the research or visit and make appointments. I would like to get a good, high speed, portable scanner and just go on a one month picking trip...

I may have mentioned it before to you but have you been in touch with the US Piano Technicians Guild, NAMM or other organizations in the US about your collection ? Surely there has to be grants there. Maybe Goggle can help you out because they seem to be doing a lot of the scan work.