L.H.H. Inc., New York?

[kc]

I have this small piano, that has about three octaves on it, and it's wooden. The information I have from it is "Sole Agents ; L. H. H. Inc, N.Y. ; Japan" There's a patent number on it, and a patent applied for number on it. I have no idea how old it is, and would like to find out. I'm thinking it might be from the 1940's. Maybe it's worth something?

[Bill Kibby]

The "Inc." suggests an american firm, presumably New York.

Where in the world are you?
And how small is "small"?
Three octaves means there are only 37 notes?
Is it an upright piano?

[kc]

Yes, it's an upright piano and has 24 keys (3 octaves). I found just moments ago that a magician named Eddy Leidtke (or maybe Liedtke) used this piano (I found out from my grandmother because that's who she got it from, although he and his wife passed away sometime in the 80's, and they have no children) But I still don't know much about this piano, and my grandmother has no other information on him. I still can't find any information on-line about small piano's, which is odd.

[kc]

By the way, I live in East Stroudsburg, PA which is in the poconos

[Bill Kibby]

Every day, I deal with enquiries about things which are NOT on the net, and I often feel tempted to say "try a library"! The internet is a wonderful and convenient resource, but a lot of the information is wrong, as it is in books, and no single source deals with everything. I have a hard enough time trying to deal with all british pianos. A small piano like this is likely to have been made as a "Child's Piano" for youngsters to learn on. The "Claviano" grand is one, "Bristol" is another, although the published dates are wrong! It is about 30" wide, and looks like a scaled-down upright piano, with tiny pedals, and a simple but substantial iron frame. If you have logged in, you can email me, perhaps photos would help, especially interior details.

[Bill Kibby]

It appears to be a Bristol miniature piano, sold in the states by LHH, but it's the KK mark that fascinates me, I wonder if anyone can put a name to it? With 7 exhibition medals, it must be a reasonable maker. Can you read any dates or other details on the medals?

[Bill Kibby]

The LHH piano has the same patent numbers as the Bristol miniature piano, namely 104957 & 171019, patents applied for 10512 10533 & 28770. It is also strikingly similar in design. The Bristol piano appears to be british, and since some were sold in Bristol, I had leapt to the conclusion that they were made there, but since LHH mentions N.Y., I thought it might be from New York. The KK mark on this one, and the reference to Japan, led me to suspect that the firm of Kabushiki Kaisha was involved. They are now part of Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha, and oddly, their US patent of 1979 for an electronic storage and retrieval system carries the same number as the old piano patent - 104957! This expired in 1997 becuase failure to pay maintenance fees. Confused? I am!