By way of introduction: my wife and I are the owners of a George
Steck/Duo-Art model NR reproducing piano that was assembled on or about
October 9th, 1928 (per a pencil notation made by one of the workers on one
of the hidden surfaces of the right-hand key block). The instrument has
been in my wife's family since Uncle Jim, a west-side Chicago pharmacist,
bootlegger and juice-loan artist (who died in 1937) presented it to his
daughter Rosalyn as a 1928 Christmas gift. Cousin Rosalyn is in a nursing
home; the piano is in ours. Thanks to decent maintainence over the years it
spent in a child-free, cat-free environment, it plays rather well. We hope
that a full, first-class restoration will begin shortly (additional info:
I'm a historian by training; a broadcast journalist by profession).
Rich Samuels
|