Regarding the discussion thread, "Age of My Steck Duo-Art Grand",
[herein is] a wider comment with a more generic title.

The numbers for Steck pianos (and other Aeolian brands) in piano
atlases are simply nonsense; poor research, really. Separate blocks of
production have been merged into a single sequence, with the numerous
incongruities glossed over by force-fitting imaginary dates. There are
(at least) three separate numbering blocks for Steck pianos, a result
of three separate factories united only by the underlying ownership.

The Aeolian organisation grew by purchasing its suppliers. The Pianola
was a technical evolution of roll-playing organ pneumatic technology.
When Aeolian purchased the rights to the Pianola (from the Votey Organ
Company) they didn't have any piano manufacturing capabilities.

As the Pianola was miniaturised it became possible to build it inside
an only-slightly-extended regular upright piano case, and the directors
made a momentous decision -- to buy some piano factories and launch the
Pianola-Piano. On 18 August 1903 the Aeolian Organ and Music Company was
reorganised into the Aeolian Weber Piano and Pianola Company (AWPPCo),
the name reflecting its purchase on the day of Albert Weber (New York).

This was followed In December 1904 by purchasing the George Steck
company, of New York. In 1905 AWPPCo purchased Ernst Munck (Gotha,
Germany), and by 1906 turned over that factory to manufacture of
Steck pianos (just 'Steck', not 'George Steck').

In 1910 AWPPCo built a new Weber factory in London. After WW1,
production of Stecks was transferred to the London factory, making
instruments that are identical in look, if not sound, to the Gotha
models. The management structure is that London factory was owned by
the American firm, with an American manager, and the Gotha factory
was owned by the London operation.

Having owned a Steck Pianola-piano for many years, when I joined the
Player Piano Group in the UK I was intrigued by the pattern of Steck
pianos I saw in meetings, so collected details of piano numbers and
other details such as the numbers of the Pianola actions in them.

It became quite obvious that there were, in the UK, two wholly
different sets of Steck piano numbers. The Gotha instruments start
in 1906 at 30000, and by 1913 had reached just under 56000. There
was no production after early 1914 (when the factory went on strike).
There are a very few pianos numbered 60000 that may have been finished
in London using Gotha parts. In 1921 the 'new Pianola models' were
launched in London with Steck numbers starting at 100000, reaching
about 105000 by 1931 when the factory closed.

So, there are three Steck number series. I know nothing of the New York
instruments. There's a similar issue with the two Weber factories, and
the production of secondary brands.

There was a wider pattern within Aeolian about keeping the numbering
of its products consistent globally, as roll catalogues illustrate.
Numbers were allocated in a very structured manner, and consistently
between New York and London. So it's easy to imagine that each piano
factory was guided to use distinct numbering blocks.

Julian Dyer
Wokingham, Berkshire, UK
http://pianorolls.co.uk/