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Folding-Keyboard Instruments for Schools & Yachts
By Douglas Henderson

Hi there.  Full-size uprights with folding keyboards were made, here
in the States, for getting in and out of apartment houses.  One company
which specialized in these designs (as well as being an agent for
Aeolian and sundry disc musical box companies) was located in
Philadelphia, Penna.

The later Orchestrelles by Aeolian in Garwood NJ ('Twenties models until
the closing of the factory) had tabs for the stops, and also folding
keyboards for getting them into school rooms on short order.

Aeolian produced some 65-Note scale upright pianos which had approxi-
mately that amount of keys for hand playing.  The narrow pianos were
designed for the yachting trade, and one of these instruments is on
Eagle Island today, in Casco Bay, Maine -- the property of Adm. Perry,
who went to the polar regions.  Naturally, a 65-key upright would be
easier to get into a private boat over a standard width instrument.

The Dolge books -- in reprint form today by Dover (Vol. I) and Vestal
Press (Vol. II) -- give insight into the many variations on piano
designs, from dual keyboards and the transposing keyboard to the Janko
models, offered just prior to the era of the Pianola industry.

Regards from Maine,

Douglas Henderson
Artcraft Music Rolls


(Message sent Sun 6 Dec 1998, 02:26:51 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.)

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