Here are a few interesting pieces of Seeburg ephemera I just picked up
and would like to share with MMDers.  It's a letter with several
enclosures addressed to a Mr. Garrett E. Bacorn of the Royal Doane
Truss Company of NY.

Mr. Bacorn seemed to be concerned about the cost of electricity eating
into his profits with regards to the several Seeburg Automatics his
firm was operating in various locations.  (What I find fascinating is
why in the world would a truss company be featuring nickel pianos in
the first place.  Didn't men wear trusses back then for "ruptures"?)

The letter is dated November 1926, very late in the coin piano game,
but the Seeburg Company gives no indication that the coin piano era
is over, and encourages Mr. Bacorn to attend the upcoming "Annual
Convention of Piano Merchants" (and partake in their 'Stag Dinner')
in June of 1927 to see and compare for himself the advantages and
profitability of owning the Seeburg Line.

The letter explains that Seeburg Reliability has been validated by
"available government statistics" relating to manufacturers of
orchestrions and automatics.  (Are these statistics waiting to be
rediscovered in some Library Of Congress Archive, or are they already
common knowledge to die-hard piano buffs?)

It goes on to explain, with testimonial proof, that quite a few
Seeburgs have played for years with only a few negligible repairs.  It
urges Mr. Bacorn's firm to pick up a few more of the new KT Specials,
of which they already have previously purchased, and equip them with
ten-cent slots, because the "class of people" enjoying them wouldn't
mind paying extra.  I'm curious as to what class of people are dropping
their change into these machines, and where? Patrons of high-class
speakeasies or...?

Last, Seeburg has furnished Mr. Bacorn with a chart of their own
concoction, demonstrating their formula of profitability vs. electrical
consumption as pertaining to their various instruments, I'm sure both
math and electricity buffs will immediately try and figure out
Seeburg's formula to see if they were "on the level" with this
customer.  I know I didn't attempt to work-out their calculations.
Perhaps Mr. Bacorn was impressed enough to be flummoxed as well!

It seems that this late in the game, Seeburg didn't foresee the
handwriting on the wall (or wasn't letting on) as they appeared to
be selling every piano they could turn out at the time this letter was
written.  Perhaps a dramatic downturn in sales by mid-1927 made them
cease piano production and proceed to go full-speed ahead with
automatic record players.

Of interest also is the picture of a Seeburg G, on location in what
could be a trade fair pavilion.  Visible on each of the white columns
behind the orchestrion are American Flags, and pennants addressing the
event which are just too tiny to be read by a magnifying glass.  The
pavilion is roped off perhaps for listening demonstration and dancing
pleasure.  There are two art glass lamps flanking the piano atop
Stickley style oak tables.

A tall electric panel with a meter is visible just to the left of
the instrument.  Below it, next to the machine, is a sign which says:
"Mfg'd by J.P. Seeburg Piano Co. Chicago - Sold By C. A. Hohimer, 121
No. Wash St."  (Is anyone familiar with this locale?)  The decal on
the fallboard is very clearly of the late type.  While the piano holds
center stage, the photo is curiously devoid of people, making it a
rather static testimonial to a bygone era.  One wonders just exactly
what this photo was actually taken for.

Speaking of photos on location, there are many taken of instruments
of this era (1910-18) in use on location in saloons, restaurants etc.
But one rarely sees photos taken of keyboardless types which were so
"plentiful" during the so-called boom years of the mid-1920's when
these pianos were supposedly omnipresent at all types of
establishments, reputable and otherwise, where persons "of a higher
class" would be encouraged to drop a dime into the slots of their
pianos.

If anyone out there has some photos of automatics on location
(especially of the keyboardless types) I'd like to see them posted.
This era of automatic music, the so-called "Golden Era" seems to have
vanished without a photographic trace!

Regards,

Mark Forer

 [ See http://mmd.foxtail.com/Pictures/SeeburgLet/seeburgLet1.html
 [ -- Robbie