In 1969 I lived in northern Kentucky, by Cincinnati and was invited to
a reception at the local country club.  At the time I had two Steinway
grand pianos in my home, which is a bit unusual, and at the reception
a dentist came up and asked me about my interest in grand pianos.  He
stated that he had a player grand piano and, even though I had sold
Hammond organs and pianos for six years, I had never heard of such an
instrument, so I was very interested.  He invited me over and as soon
as I saw it I knew I had to have it; he had inherited it and had no
interest so he did sell it to me.

I became extremely interested in player grand pianos and sought
information from every source that I could think of to find out who
had made these instruments.  It wasn't long after seeing my first one
when I moved to Indianapolis, and I actually located three of them
within 90 days and I purchased all three.  As a hobby I sought these
instruments out and had them refinished, the piano rebuilt and the
mechanism also restored.  It was the most interesting thing I have ever
done up to that point in my life.

In early 1978 I had a couple approach me and tell me that they wanted
a grand piano with a model B Ampico unit.  At this time I was well
aware of the contributions that Dr. Hickman and Mr. Stoddard had made
and the lady said that Dr. Hickman was her great uncle.  I was totally
amazed at the luck of meeting someone who was actually related to Dr.
Hickman.  I am sure we spent a number of hours discussing him and
immediately found out that he was actually born and raised about 40
miles from my house in Jamestown, Indiana.  I had an intense desire to
know everything about Dr. Hickman that I could find out about him.

I wrote Dr. Hickman a letter and I was not sure that he would take the
time to even answer it but, was surprised to find out that he was very
congenial, friendly and anxious to answer any questions that I had.  As
a way of getting to know him I must confess that I had manufactured at
the time a couple of minor problems with my Ampico B Knabe.  I asked him
if he would help me solve the problems.  Because of this I got to know
him very well, and I dug into his past and learned a great deal about
him.  I also quizzed him for all the information that I could get about
Mr. Stoddard.

I visited him twice in Jackson Heights, New York, and on one occasion
he introduced me Mr. Stoddard's secretary/housekeeper.  The more that
I learned about both of these two gentlemen the more I wanted to know.
I wanted to know what their accomplishments were, but more so I wanted
to know what kind of men they were.  You will be able to see from my
letters the character of both men.


Mr. Stoddard had a Rolls Royce with a body that he had designed
himself.  He also had his own chauffeur, and Dr. Hickman introduced me
by letter to Mr. Stoddard's chauffeur.  I will have to look up his name
in my files, but he gave me information on his relationship with Mr.
Stoddard.  He also sent me Mr. Stoddard's drafting table that was used
in the laboratory with American Piano Co.  He also gave me pictures
of the Rolls Royce and pictures of himself in his chauffeurs outfit.

Another item that he sent me was the large umbrella with a carved
wooden handle that belonged in the Rolls Royce.  One of the most
interesting things that I received that belonged to Mr. Stoddard
was the gutta-percha singing bird box that he had given his wife in,
I believe, 1924.  It still had the original love note that was put in
the secret compartment when he presented it to her.  Dr. Hickman was
also responsible for sending me letters and personal articles that
belonged to Mr. Stoddard.

Dr. Hickman was a very brilliant man.  He was quite, unassuming, polite,
and had a very active mind.  He was always willing to give credit for
his own accomplishments to someone else.  He was a true perfect gentle-
man.  Early on in our association I had asked him if he would attend
the AMICA meeting in 1979 in Philadelphia and he agreed and I will
publish his letters concerning this meeting.  I went to see him twice,
once to bring him to this meeting and then on one other occasion.

One of the reasons that I really wanted to go to his home was to see
the action that he developed for a grand piano and when I saw it I was
totally amazed at the improvements over the action that we use today.
Because of the huge decline in manufacturing of pianos this improved
action was never used.  When I was in New York to see him he said he
would sell me his instrument and that I should arrive at a cost that
I would pay him for the piano.

It was a 5 foot 4 Fisher Ampico B, and this was the Ampico B that was
made in the laboratory in developing this model and not made in the
factory.  At this time he had already removed the Ampico unit and
discarded it.  He had also given about 100 rolls away to someone who
wanted them.  At the time I determined that in Indianapolis a 5 foot 4
Fisher Grand would be worth several hundred dollars and I asked Dr.
Hickman if this would be satisfactory and he said yes.

Before I could get arrangements to have the piano moved to my home,
Dr.  Hickman contacted me and said that his great grandson wanted the
instrument and would I reconsider our verbal transaction.  I told him
it was perfectly okay with me and I thought it was really great that
his grandson wanted to keep the piano in the family.  I also asked him
to tell his grandson that if he ever wanted the piano restored I would
have my piano technician in Indianapolis to restore it for him.

Years later we did restore the piano and it was extremely interesting
to restore Dr. Hickman's improved action that he developed in 1928.
Let me say that I do not consider myself a technician on pianos but
I do have a great deal of knowledge concerning them and we do have one
of the finest technicians in the country right here in Indianapolis.

I think as a way of repaying me for encouraging his grandson to take
the piano Dr. Hickman sent me 3 volumes of personal letters that he
received and sent during his long career in many fields.  He sent me
books and literature that he autographed that were written by other
people concerning his accomplishments.

I do remember one thing, and I always tell this story to any member of
Ampico or the MBSI that comes into my shop.  I have a picture of a very
beautiful lady who is unclothed, and this I got from Dr. Hickman.  His
daughter had called me after his death and wanted to know if there was
some object that I would like to have as a keepsake.  My immediate
thought was "yes", I definitely wanted his pinup girl that was in the
basement workshop of his apartment.

She sent this to me and ever since it has been on display in my shop.
I have two young guys who work in the shop now and sometimes I feel
if I took that picture down I would get more work done.

Sincerely,

Jim Brady