[ Ref. Jerry Wagner in 101025 MMDigest and
 [ http://www.libertyship.com/berrywood/berrywood.htm 

Dear Jerry,  I enjoyed your excellent commentary on the Berry-Wood
Peerless piano.  I am forwarding it herewith to Marty Persky, who is
working with Art Reblitz in Illinois at the moment.  Art does not have
his computer with him.

Art and I have been working on a book on American coin-op pianos, and
there will be a lot of hitherto unpublished information about Peerless.
Art is more knowledgeable on these matters than am I, but from your
pictures there will be these things to sort out:

-- Presumably, the piano was built by the Peerless Piano Player Co.
after 1907 (I see a 1907 Jamestown medal decal on the hammer rail;
can't decipher the two decals on the right, and you might advise what
the lettering is).  That point is moot, unless one of the other decals
is of a later date.  In any event, here is what I have for Berry-Wood
relative to the New York address:

  "Kansas City, Missouri, was distant from such centers of the music
  trade as Chicago and New York.  Frederich Wood sought to expand his
  horizons.  In the summer of 1909 an office was opened at 1924-1926
  Park Avenue in New York City, with J.C. Bridgewater as manager.
  In the spring of 1910 a factory was established at 137th Street and
  Southern Boulevard, a district with several other prominent makers,
  including Jacob Doll & Sons Manufacturing.  The sales office was
  relocated from Park Avenue to there."

It was Fred Wood's hope to have all Berry-Wood activities concentrated
in New York City, but only a partial move was made.  Your piano has
only a New York address on the fallboard.

-- The plain top wood front panel on your piano is most unusual, and
it would be interesting to know if it was a later replacement.  Some
things to check: On the back side of the front panel, are there any
signs of the plain panel being not-original?  What signs might there
be of mounting screws, etc., in the bottom of the piano?

-- Assuming this was made as an endless-roll piano, what holes or the
like are there in the sounding board (as, likely, the endless roll
mechanism would have been mounted on the back of the sounding board)?
Are there evidences on the back of the sounding board of something
having been attached there?

-- The Engelhardt decal and name on the hammer rail may not be
particularly unusual, as circa 1909 Engelhardt was a major contributor
of piano actions to the entire music industry.

I will see what I can find out by comparing case details (front legs,
etc.) with what I have in Berry-Wood and Peerless pictures.

-- By 1909, the earliest date for this piano, Berry-Wood was well
underway in its business.  It would be interesting to see what earlier
(Kansas City) pianos may be related to Berry-Wood.

Jerry, again -- most interesting!

Best wishes,
Dave Bowers
Wolfeboro Falls, New Hampshire