Amphion Company dates, founding and purchase by American Piano Co.

In the MMD Archives there are some posts that show some confusion
about the Amphion Company. Ref.
https://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/KWIC/A/amphion.html 

Music Trade Review [MTR] is digitised and accessible online.
Its reports show how Lewis B. Doman in March 1905 reorganised
his 1890s Maestro Company into the Amphion Piano Player Company.
Frank E. Wade was its President, Doman the Vice-President.

"Reference was made recently in The Review to the new Amphion piano
player which has been placed on the market by the Amphion Co., of
Elbridge, N. Y. This instrument is the perfected result of years of
constant and painstaking experimental work on the part of L. B. Doman,
vice-president of the company, and inventor of this player."�
[MTR-1905-40-13, P18]

Amphion were a general supplier of player action parts. They were not
involved with the Ampico until some five years into its production,
when in mid-1917 the American Piano Company [APCo] switched from using
parts made by Auto Pneumatic Action Company, a part of the Kohler
empire.

The Amphion stack with its unit valves and single bolt to hold the
separate valve boards together was Doman's idea, and he'd fought a
couple of court cases to protect the invention. The Ampico system was
Charles Stoddard's brainchild.

There seem to have been no announcement when APCo purchased Amphion,
but the MTR reports first refer to Frank E. Wade as APCo Vice-President
in November 1922, so the purchase probably happened after mid-September
when Wade was referred to as Amphion President. This gives a date that
matches the 'by 1922' generally stated without supporting evidence.

American Piano Co. had retained Charles Stoddard as expert when
they purchased the right to his 'Artigraphic' (later Stoddard-Ampico,
finally just Ampico). It seems to have retained Doman, although clearly
he worked on many other things, too.

Julian Dyer
Wokingham, UK
julian@pianorolls.co.uk.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]