[ Ref. Stacey A. Bowers in 250416 MMDigest ]

I do recall that, at about the same time as M. Welte & Sons, Inc.
offered Mason & Hamlin uprights in their products, they also offered
their own branded upright piano. These instruments may have been "loss
leader" entries into the market, as Welte at the time didn't have any
American-made grand pianos. European pianos were quite expensive in
comparison and probably unavailable by then. I also suspect that the
uprights were cheaper to make.

In the photos I recognize some of the components from my Mason & Hamlin
instrument, but a couple of parts need closer inspection. I'll report
back when I have more info. A photo of the bottom parts layout in
Stacey's piano would be the giveaway, I think.

I copied the following paragraph from the "Purple Welte Book"[1]:

"However, a brochure, thought to be from about 1914-1916, lists M. Welte
& Sons, Incorporated, at the 273 Fifth Avenue address. This was the old
address from Edwin's pre-war days, as well as the one most often cited
in ads for other Welte products: organs and orchestrions.

"The brochure named the action the Welte-Mignon Autograph Piano. It
pictured the Welte-Mignon without keyboard. This affirms that the
original Cabinet Piano that Edwin introduced in 1906 continued in
production until the last days of M. Welte & Sons, Incorporated.

"Also listed was a Welte-Piano, or the upright with keyboard, in what
was called the Style A and Style B. No further explanation was given,
but as pointed out earlier, these were probably small differences in
case styles. One page presented an upright by picture with caption,
the Mason & Hamlin Welte-Piano.

"In these war years, the Steinway Welte product from Hamburg is
noticeably absent from the brochure. Aeolian Company and Steinway &
Sons (U.S.) by now may well have come to a new understanding with
M. Welte & Sons, Incorporated, regarding the Aeolian Co's. exclusive
right to use the name Steinway with reproducing pianos in America."

John McClelland
redwelte901@gmail.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]

[1] Charles Davis Smith and Richard James Howe: The Welte-Mignon, its
music and musicians : complete catalog of Welte-Mignon reproducing piano
recordings, 1905-1932, historical overview of companies and individuals,
biographical esssays on the recording artists and composers / by Charles
Davis Smith and Richard James Howe. (c) 1994 by the Automatic Musical
Instrument Collectors' Association. Published for AMICA by the Vestal
Press, Ltd., Vestal, New York, ISBN-1-879511-17-17, page 35.

[ At https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433009966049&seq=10 
[ is "List of Artists Recorded Rolls for the Welte-Mignon Autograph Piano",
[ published by Welte-Mignon Corporation, New York (no date).
[ -- Robbie