Hi Robbie,  I don't know whether you are besieged by postings about the
centenary of the Duo-Art today, but I've uploaded three of the original
ads from 1914, from the New York Sun.  They come from the Library of
Congress site, and I've cleaned them up a bit.  You'll find them at
http://www.pianolist.org/duo-art 

 [ http://www.pianolist.org/duo-art/nysun_1914.03.01_edit.tif 
 [ http://www.pianolist.org/duo-art/nysun_1914.03.15_edit.tif 
 [ http://www.pianolist.org/duo-art/nysun_1914.11.22_edit.tif 

I haven't uploaded the relevant Music Trade Review [MTR] pages, but the
first reference is in MTR-1914-58-10-42.pdf

The implication of the earliest Sun ad, published on March 1st,
1914, is that the Duo-Art was first presented to the world on Monday
2nd March, at 3 p.m.  That would mean everyone with a Duo-Art ought
to play it today at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and drink a toast!
Even if they haven't got a Duo-Art, they could still drink to it!

I note that the Duo-Art was first introduced in the Steinway, and that
the Steinway grand was first advertised in the Sun in November 1914.
Denis Hall's Steinway O grand is dated September 1914, according to
the serial number, 168475, and a two-month delay for installing the
Duo-Art and getting it into the showroom seems very reasonable.

Of course, no-one really knows who invented the Duo-Art.  People
often like to idolize named individuals, but presumably it was a team
that was responsible.  MTR does give one possible clue about the
leader of the team, in a report on a dinner for Aeolian employees,
after a baseball match that they played in the summer of 1914.  There
was a tradition to recite rhyming toasts on such occasions, so look at
MTR-1914-58-26-52.pdf, at the very bottom of the toast.  It also uses
the word "grand", which could be the first reference to a Duo-Art
grand, though it might just be an adjective, put in to scan!

The name "Duo-Art" is really silly, since the Aeolian Company
immediately talked about its threefold value, which would indicate
a "Trio-Art".  But they had been struggling unsuccessfully for some
years to produce a synchronised phonograph and player-piano, and the
name would make far more sense in that connection.  I imagine they
abandoned the combined phonograph, and rushed out the reproducing
piano, when they found themselves at risk of being overtaken by the
Ampico.

Best wishes,

Rex Lawson
London