1914 Steinway Upright with Welte Changer
By William Frisk
A neighbor had a 1914 Steinway upright with a Welte Mignon "Ferris
wheel" roll changer that was added about 1920. He passed away
decades ago and the collection was dispersed to other collectors.
He also had a Mills Violano and numerous pipe organ items.
In researching my neighborhood, I found a couple pictures of the
Chesbrough house at 2308 Ashland Avenue, Toledo Ohio. There was
a letter from Mrs. Chesbrough to Welte with dozens of complaints
about the instrument. The changer just would not operate correctly
once delivered.
The house is long gone as Ashland became more commercial. I cannot
find the letter right now but had hoped to somehow find the piano owner
pre-Internet days. There can only be one piano that meets this
description. Hopefully it works far better than originally delivered.
Here is a historical website with the two pictures of 2308 Ashland:
http://www.oldwestendtoledo.com/index.php/oldwestend/other-streets/streets-abc/ashland-avenue/
Contact me if this is your piano, so I can try and get the letter to
you when it surfaces.
Bill Frisk
[ The Welte-Mignon changer might be built by Wurlitzer; see
[ http://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/Digests/201507/2015.07.06.06.html
[ -- Robbie
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(Message sent Wed 13 Jun 2018, 16:38:31 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.) |
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