Back in 1990, I had the opportunity to photocopy the Mason & Hamlin
shipping registers spanning the years from 1920 to 1941.  At that time,
the registers were kept at the factory on Duncan Street in Haverhill,
Massachusetts, located 40 miles from my home in Concord, Mass.  That
21-year time range was of interest to me because it encompassed the
years (1924 to 1941) during which the Ampico reproducing piano
mechanism was available in the Mason & Hamlin piano.  According to
those original shipping records, all the Ampico-equipped pianos were
grand pianos, and no uprights.

However, prior to 1924, Mason & Hamlin (then located in Boston, Mass.)
manufactured some upright pianos in which T-100 'Red' Welte reproducing
piano mechanisms were installed.  Presumably these 'early' Red Welte
mechanisms were incorporated in Poughkeepsie, New York, where the Welte
factory (built in 1913) was located.

Recently, I re-examined my copy of the Mason & Hamlin registers
covering the years 1920 to 1924.  This was motivated by a telephone
request to 'explore' the provenance of one extant M&H Red Welte upright
piano.

Inspection of the relevant M&H register pages showed that between
1920 and 1924 each piano (grand or upright) was assigned a 5-digit
serial number and an associated in-house case number.  The case number
was used to identify the many parts of the piano during its various
stages of fabrication.  The serial number was sequentially determined
and affixed to the instrument when it was completed and shipped to the
owner, piano dealer, or player manufacturer.  Usually, these two
numbers were different.

The curious thing about this piano (and at least two others) is that
no 'conventional' M&H serial numbers, 5-digit or otherwise, have been
found.  Instead, one sees on the piano plate stenciled nomenclature
such as O p and W-XXX.  The O suggests that the piano is a Model O,
and the p suggests that the instrument was configured to be a player.
The W-XXX notation could be interpreted as identification of a Red
Welte player mechanism, with the 3-digit number corresponding to the
serialized installation of the player mechanism in any piano brand,
not just the Mason & Hamlin.

Some of these identification symbols do appear in the M&H shipping
registers from 1920 to 1924, but quite infrequently (just twice).
For example, "OpMah" shows up in the ledger column labeled Style,
with the corresponding piano having been shipped to 'Welte Mignon,
NY'.  One example was 29115, shipped on 8/24/1920, finished in
mahogany.  This strongly supports the idea that, in those years, the
M&H upright piano was designated as a Model O, sometimes with a player
mechanism to be installed by Welte.

Several M&H-designated OMah pianos (no p designation) are also listed.
They were shipped to various well known M&H dealers around the United
States.  Apparently, this OMah notation reflected the Model O M&H
upright piano without a player mechanism of any kind.

What else appears in the original shipping registers?  During the
'Ampico years', each Ampico-equipped Mason & Hamlin piano was
identified with the letter 'R' embedded somewhere in the serial number,
e.g., RA 41164.  Incidentally, this corresponds to a 1930 M&H Model A
grand (5'8" in length) with an Ampico B reproducing mechanism.  The
shipping registers did not distinguish whether the Ampico was A-type
or B-type.

Surprisingly, one also finds many entries (prior to 1924) with the
'DMahPl.' designation in the ledger column labeled Style.  Logically,
this should refer to a Mason & Hamlin Model D, with a mahogany finish.
"A Guide to Restringing", by John W. Travis, Middleburg Press, 1961,
delineates the Model D as a grand (see page 201), but its length is
not cited.

It was not clear what the Pl abbreviation referred to, although it
might have indicated a player of some kind other than a Welte.  There
are so many such entries in the shipping registers from 1920 to 1924
that it was unlikely to refer to a player because there are now so few
(if any) M&H player grands that do not contain an Ampico.  There are
a few DMah listings where the Pl is noticeably missing.

What does the Pl notation really mean?  I surmise that the notation
refers to the type of mahogany used to 'finish' the piano, i.e.,
Philippine mahogany.  This tentative interpretation was reached after
seeing another grand piano entry denoted with WalCir, which could
reasonably be the abbreviation for a Circassian walnut finish.  The
associated piano was AA30990 (6'2" length) shipped on 11/13/1922 to
M&H Retail, Boston, Mass.

I wish I had had the foresight 24 years ago to photocopy the pages
corresponding to the time before 1920, say back to 1904.  This
circumstance lends a more intense meaning to the word "research", which
means to search over again until you get it right!

Several questions come to mind regarding these observations.  Has
anyone ever found an M&H upright with an original Ampico mechanism
corresponding to the years 1924 to 1941?  What is the serial number
or case number for that instrument?

For any owners of M&H Red Welte upright pianos, have you found the
original M&H serial number anywhere on your piano?  Is the designation
of your Red Welte upright consistent with what has been outlined in
this document?

Why would M&H want to 'distinguish' a certain kind of mahogany finish
(Philippine) from other types (regular, Honduran, Cuban, African) with
a specific notation (Pl)?  Maybe the Pl notation has nothing to do with
the finish of the piano.  What else could it mean?

I have a hard time believing that M&H would let any of their esteemed
pianos out of the factory without affixing a serial number.  Possibly,
the serial number was deliberately 'hidden' by M&H at the request of
the Welte factory.  Can you suggest where one should look for the
original M&H serial number on a Red Welte upright?

Bill Koenigsberg
Concord, Massachusetts

 [ Bill also has bass string scales for late M&H Ampico pianos, see
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/Digests/201309/2013.09.24.01.html 
 [ -- Robbie