Hi Jon, I read your advice on the '20 cent' tuner and couldn't agree more;
I have brought a few 60 year old-plus players up to standard pitch without
breaking any strings.  It just takes patience and two to three tunings to
get it there.  As for the manufacturing date of a piano, do you know of any
other source besides the Piano Atlas?  I have a player that was made by
Chas. T. Orth, S/N 136966. I suspect that this was not a big manufacturer
since the name is only painted on the surface of the plate rather than
cast-in.  Also painted on are "Milwaukee - New York" and "New Scale".  I
have looked this one up in the Atlas and only the name Charles T. Orth
appears with no further information.  Do you know why this might be?  One
other clue:  At the bottom left corner of the plate are some numbers
cast-in; one group looks suspiciously like a date: 1 08 19.  This seems to
fit the look of the piano which has a quarter sawn red oak finish (the wood
looks 'striped').