A friend of my Dad's has told me this story several times and I am
curious whether anyone else has heard it, or can confirm/add any
information.

At about time the Great Depression was starting, the Gulbransen Company
of Chicago had just finished manufacturing some player pianos, and had
loaded them on a railroad boxcar, ready to be shipped.  Then the market
crashed, and no one wanted to buy player pianos any longer.  Gulbransen
couldn't sell the pianos, couldn't afford to pay for storing them, and
needed to get them unloaded from the boxcar or else they would be
charged penalties.  Not knowing what else to do, they dumped all of
these brand-new player pianos in Lake Michigan.

I wonder how other player piano manufacturers coped with their unsold
inventories at this time.  Does anyone know of similar stories?

Joyce Brite
brite@ksu.edu       http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~brite/