Mechanical Music Registry Project

Marquette Piano Company

Database Reports for Cremona Pianos and Orchestrions

Cremona Pianos and Orchestrions

The Marquette Piano Company, of Chicago, Illinois, began in 1905 by manufacturing Marquette player pianos and selling player piano actions to other piano companies that didn’t want to make their own. Under the guidance of J.P. Seeburg, one of Marquette’s founders, the firm introduced the Cremona coin operated piano in 1907. Starting in that year, Seeburg took Marquette’s entire output of Cremona coin pianos and operated them in commercial locations in the Chicago area. In 1909, when Seeburg left Marquette and introduced his own brand of coin pianos, Marquette continued on its own and remained in business, adding orchestrions and photoplayers to its line, until it faded away in the 1920s.

Using the Information on this Page

This page continues with detailed descriptions and photos of various technical and/or mechanical features, which are deemed important for a truly useful understanding of both the database reports and to effectively fill in the Survey Reporting Form. The actual database reports and survey form can be accessed in the Distribution of Database Information section and then clicking on the large Download button at the bottom of this page.

Common Mechanical Details

Cremona Serial Numbers

Since Marquette wasn’t a large enough company to manufacture its own pianos, it obtained many, if not all of its pianos, ready for installation of player components, from Smith, Barnes & Strohber, a successful Chicago maker of regular pianos. These pianos are characterized by a two piece piano plate, with the upper part covering the pinblock separate from the lower frame, with a large flowery casting in the upper plate between bass and treble sections, and an extra vertical frame member in the mid-treble of the lower plate resulting in four sections of hammers instead of the usual three. Similar pianos appear to have been used in early Operators (Coinola) instruments, and in 1920s Chicago Electric coin pianos made by Smith, Barnes & Strohber.

107000 to 139999 series (circa 1907-1913 Smith, Barnes & Strohber numbers)

Certain early Cremonas have Smith, Barnes & Strohber piano plates and six-digit serial numbers. Examples in this group that we have observed to date have numbers ranging from 107,000 to 139,999, made between 1907 and approximately 1913. (These numbers represent the total number of pianos made by Smith, Barnes & Strohber during these years, only a small percentage of which were used for Cremona pianos.) These dates don’t coincide exactly with the dates reported in the Pierce Piano Atlas, a situation which applies to a number of early piano companies that merged with other larger companies that didn’t keep old production records.

7800 to 12800 series (circa 1912-1918 Marquette numbers; possibly includes a wider range of numbers)

In the early ‘teens, Marquette began using its own numbers and piano plates of somewhat different design. Documented numbers range from 7896 (circa 1912) to 12790 (circa the late ‘teens). The authors believe these to be Marquette’s own production numbers, indicating a total of over 4,800 Marquette pianos in this series. According to pneumatic stack numbers and hand-written dates found inside the cases, it seems possible that Marquette used some pianos with its own serial numbers and others with Smith, Barnes and Strohber numbers concurrently for a year or two.

15000 to 25000 series (early ‘teens; need more information)

There are also a few Cremona pianos and Marquette home player pianos with numbers ranging from 15,000 to 25,000 that don’t fit into the other series. Although the numbers are higher than in the paragraph immediately above (7896 to 12790), pianos in the 15000 to 25000 series have the earlier belt-drive mechanism from the crankshaft (type 2). To date we have no stack numbers for pianos in this series, except for one player piano (25254) with stack 2353, the earliest stack noted to date. More information is needed before valid conclusions may be drawn.

Cremona Stack Numbers

Most Cremona pneumatic stacks are numbered, indicating the order in which instruments were produced regardless of whether the piano serial number was Marquette’s or Smith, Barnes & Strohber’s. The number is usually stamped on the front of the stack directly behind the fallboard, usually somewhere between the left end and the center. Stack numbers tell the total number of Marquette stacks made and to help pinpoint the introduction of important mechanical changes through the years. It will be helpful if readers who submit Cremona information will take the time to remove the upper front panel and music shelf from the piano to make note of the stack number.

The Mandolin Attachment

All Cremona coin pianos and orchestrions originally had a mandolin attachment in the form of a slender wooden tray mounted behind the piano action and just above the dampers, under the hammers. The profile of the tray was shaped like a very shallow, square letter “U.” For each hammer in the treble range there is a small paddle-shaped piece of wood with the blade facing the strings with its shank or stem aligned with the hammer shank. The shank for each paddle has a square cross-section that rides in a square slot in the tray, keeping the paddles from rotating more than a few degrees. When a motor pneumatic on the right side of the case pulls the tray sideways, the little square paddle shanks align with the hammer shanks, which then push the wooden paddles against the piano strings. Hammer letoff is adjusted normally, and the inertia of the paddle carries it all the way to the strings. Each paddle has a small compression spring that assists the paddle’s rebound back to its rest position. When the motor pneumatic releases, another larger spring pushes the tray to the left, stopping with the paddle shanks halfway between the hammer shanks, thereby disengaging the mandolin attachment.

There are five observed shapes of Cremona mandolin paddles used in each mandolin: one with the shank or stem centered on the blade, one each with the blade off center a little to the left or right, and one each with the blade farther off center each way. This assortment provides enough horizontal spacing adjustment choices for each stem to be aligned with its hammer shank when its blade correctly aligns with the piano strings, for which the string spacing can vary slightly from piano to piano.

Coinola pianos have a mandolin attachment based on the same principle, but with a long slender rail that has holes in it, each hole fitted with small rod with a wooden button threaded onto each end. The hammer shank hits one button, and the other one hits the piano strings. With either type, the hammer and the mandolin blade or button hit the string at the same time, producing a louder, clearer metallic tone than that of a Seeburg curtain type mandolin. The Cremona mandolin attachment can be touchy to regulate, requiring precise adjustment of height, so that the hammers neither block the mandolin blade against the strings nor fail to throw it all the way to the strings. The mandolin tray is supported by little L-shaped brackets attached to the piano action. The vertical leg of each bracket is slotted to allow for height adjustment.

Other Extra Instruments

Cremona coin pianos and orchestrions with one rank of pipes had either stopped flutes, open flutes, or violins. Metal violin pipes or stopped wood flutes were used in a few early instruments, but the majority of later Cremona G pianos have open wood flutes. Style J orchestrions with two ranks usually had violins and open flutes, but the number of pipes per rank varied, with a few early examples having fewer pipes than later ones. Style K orchestrions had open flutes, wood violins and wood piccolos. When submitting information for an instrument with original pipework, please specify what type of pipes are used and how many there are in each rank.

Style J orchestrions either had a wooden xylophone or steel Deagan Una-Fon orchestra bells. Judging by the few remaining examples with Una-Fon bells, these occurred mainly in early examples of the style J orchestrion.

Art Glass

Most Cremona models were depicted in original advertisements and catalogs with standardized art glass designs. These have been reproduced in The Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments by Q. David Bowers, and in the forthcoming Reblitz/Bowers Guide to Coin Operated American Pianos and Orchestrions by Arthur A. Reblitz and Q. David Bowers.

Most style G coin pianos had the glass shown in company advertising, with predominantly light green (or less commonly, light blue) motif. All style K orchestrions had a combination of colored and beveled clear glass, permitting a partial view of the interior parts. Most style J orchestrions had colored glass, usually with a predominantly blue background, but a few early examples had a combination of colored and beveled clear glass.

Certain Cremona instruments also exist with art glass not shown in original literature and for which only one or a few examples are known. Some of this undocumented art glass is exquisite in design and detail, as in two known examples of Cremona Style G pianos—each somewhat different—showing ancient Pompeii depicted with Mt. Vesuvius erupting in the background.

Mechanical Design Changes

Cremona mechanisms, including roll drives, pneumatic stacks, coin accumulator mechanisms and vacuum regulators underwent several notable design changes over the years.

Roll Drive Mechanisms

1. In the earliest roll drive observed by the author, a pulley is mounted on the front end of the crankshaft. A belt runs from this pulley to a shaft behind the motor. The right end of this shaft has several more pulleys and belts to drive the spoolbox. The music speed is adjusted by moving one of the belts to one of several positions on a stepped pulley behind the roll mechanism.
2. The second system observed is similar to the first, but has a larger stepped pulley under the roll mechanism for changing the speed of the music.
3. The early all-belt system was prone to slipping during rewind, when the spoolbox required the most input torque. In the next design, a shaft running left to right across the bottom replaces the long belt. A worm on the crankshaft drives the left end of the shaft. The right end has a large sprocket with a non-slipping chain for driving rewind and a round belt running to a stepped pulley for play. In this and later systems, the motor sits on a tall stand above the shaft.
4. Another intermediate design featured a friction wheel running between a pair of spring-loaded drive cones. The speed is regulated by moving the friction wheel left or right through a linkage connected to a knob located under the keyboard. The output shaft of the second drive cone has a sprocket with a chain running to the roll mechanism, eliminating the last roll drive belt. This system was apparently first made with the driving cone in the back, and later in the front, although the difference might have been due to the depth of the piano case or some other mechanical necessity rather than age. More information is needed.
5. The next design change was to replace the drive cones and play chain with a friction drive wheel on a vertical shaft, with a bevel gear on the top end of the shaft turning the takeup spool shaft. The rewind drive chain remains the same.
6. Later Cremona cabinet style 10 and keyboard styles 20 and 30 used a completely different roll mechanism incorporating a tune selector that enabled patrons to fast-forward or rewind to any song they wanted by selecting it on a numbered dial. In keyboard-style pianos, this was located above the keyboard behind a door rather than under the keyboard where all the earlier styles had been located. Cremona photoplayers used a similar roll mechanism with fast forward and rewind, enabling the operator in a theatre to select music appropriate for each scene on the screen by pressing buttons or turning dials.

Spoolboxes

In very early Cremona pianos, the spoolbox or music roll mechanism had wooden sides and a wooden tracker bar. After a short time, these were replaced with cast iron side frames and metal tracker bars.

Pneumatic Stacks

There are two main types of Cremona piano stacks.

1. Earlier stacks have the tracker bar tubing connections and adjustable bleed screws located on top near the back. While this type of stack works very well for a long time, when it was subjected to very heavy commercial use in a dusty location, dirt and paper lint sucked into the tracker bar was deposited under the pouches until they were packed full, impeding the operation of the valves.
2. In later stacks, the tubing connections and adjustable bleeds are in a rail on the front of the stack for easier access. These have less of a problem with dirt accumulating and becoming packed under the pouches.

Coin Accumulator Mechanisms

1. Very early Cremonas have a coin chute with a built-in electric switch. When the nickel reaches the bottom of the chute pictured here, it bridges across two contacts and completes the circuit to the motor. At the end of the tune, the shutoff pneumatic separates the contacts and drops the nickel into the lower chute to the cash box. Unfortunately, sparking tended to weld the coin to the contact points, making shutoff unreliable.
2. In the second type of accumulator, the nickel hits the end of a long lever, which rotates a pinned wheel, closing a separate set of points. Additional nickels deposited while the piano is already playing add credits by rotating the counting wheel. This system relies on the weight of each nickel to trip the lever and wheel.
3. For a short time, Marquette used an accumulator mechanism with two pneumatics. In this style, the first nickel turns the piano on mechanically, but if additional nickels are inserted while the piano is playing, a pallet valve connected to the trip lever actuates a credit pneumatic, something like in a later Seeburg accumulator.
4. Later Cremonas incorporate an accumulator similar to Wurlitzer, Nelson-Wiggen and Western Electric accumulators, in which each nickel releases a small trip lever, allowing a spring-loaded ratchet wheel to turn one notch, closing the points and counting any successive nickels. This design is more reliable than the earlier style in which the weight of the nickel must turn the wheel.

Cremona Orchestrion Vacuum Regulators

1. Early Cremona J and K orchestrions have a loud-soft vacuum regulator with two separate control pneumatics, set into operation by a lock and cancel mechanism which responds to the loud and soft expression holes in the music roll. The control pneumatics alternately push a spring-loaded vacuum regulator to a louder or softer position. In most other brands of vacuum regulators the soft setting is adjusted by regulating the spring tension that pulls against the regulator pneumatic. The spring rate is uniform enough through its range of motion that the regulator works regardless of how many notes are playing. In contrast, however, in the early Cremona system the soft pneumatic isn’t as effective as a spring because its applied force is unstable and constantly changing depending on how many notes are playing. It can, nonetheless, be made to work more effectively by removing the connection between the soft pneumatic and the regulator, adjusting the regulator with a spring, and then letting the loud pneumatic do all the work.
2. In later orchestrions, the vacuum regulator's soft pneumatic was eliminated, leaving a more conventional spring-loaded vacuum regulator with one pneumatic that pulls against it to make the piano louder. The expression lock and cancel perforations in the music roll still controlled a lock and cancel mechanism, but in the later style mechanism it only turns the loud control pneumatic on and off, rather than switching between loud and soft control pneumatics as in the earlier system.

Cremona Inspector's Initials and Date

Many Cremona pianos, especially early examples, have a date and inspector’s initials written in pencil on the inside of the left side of the case, usually near the top, in front of the piano plate or tuning pins. Where known, they are included in the database comments, such as HW 3/26/1913 TD, or K 5-15-12. Since these easily damaged and easily overlooked markings are often the only clue to when a Cremona instrument was made, please be careful not to remove any such markings when cleaning or restoring a piano.

Other Comments

The late Harvey Roehl (of Vestal Press fame) often mentioned the exceptional quality of materials used when he observed the beautiful birds-eye maple interior veneer and solid mahogany pneumatic actions. Unfortunately, Cremona orchestrions often have more stripped screws than any other brand thanks to the beautiful but relatively soft mahogany parts. This problem may be overcome during restoration by cross plugging the screw holes with harder wood. Marquette’s use of adjustable vents in the pneumatic stacks and xylophone actions necessitated occasional adjustment, unlike most of their competitors’ products, although with meticulous restoration and reasonably good humidity control, it is possible to achieve excellent repetition for years without further reregulation.

The expression in Cremona orchestrions is less effective than it otherwise might be, because the control valves for the large piano pedal pneumatics are located in the piano stack instead of being in a separate valve box. If the expression regulator is adjusted to play the piano very softly when the roll calls for soft expression, the stack vacuum isn’t high enough to reliably engage the piano soft pedal, losing the effectiveness of this important expression device. If the soft vacuum level is set high enough to operate the soft pedal pneumatic, it doesn’t lower the piano stack vacuum as much as it otherwise might. Certain restorers add a separate valve box operating on full pump suction to operate the large control pneumatics, which then allows the piano to be adjusted to have greater expression.

In all, well-restored and regulated Cremona coin pianos are beautiful looking and sounding instruments. Regrettably, the Marquette Piano Company was not as prolific a manufacturer as were Seeburg or Wurlitzer, and so Cremona instruments are much less common then those two brands.

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The Cremona Database

The primary information that went into building up the Cremona database has been meticulously gathered over a period of 45 years by Art Reblitz, a longtime expert in the restoration, history, and music of automatic pianos and organs. Whenever he has had access to, or enjoyed the opportunity to rebuild, a Cremona piano or orchestrion he has carefully recorded mechanical and historical details of interest. Many other people, listed under Acknowledgements in the Introduction to the Registry, also submitted information to Art. The result of his painstaking effort is presented in an orderly, easy to read format in the report offered below.

By default, current ownership information is not integral to the database project, but a provision exists whereby the current owner's name information can be accommodated and then shown in database reports. However, this will be done only if and when specific written permission is granted to the Mechanical Music Press specifically authorizing us to show and/or distribute individual ownership information. Furthermore, if and when such authorization is granted the Mechanical Music Press and/or its authors shall assume no liability or responsibility of any kind, nor to any extent, regarding any inferred, purported, or actual privacy intrusions, incidents, or claims.

Updating the Database and Reporting Errors

We cordially invite and solicit additional information for instruments currently not listed, and additional details for those already listed but that have little recorded information—every little bit more information helps.

To ADD ANOTHER ITEM TO THE DATABASE or to facilitate the reporting of errors please send an e-mail message to and include the following information:

1. Click here to download the Survey Form and then copy (press Ctrl + A to select all text) and paste the text into the body of an email. Then, at your leisure, you can answer the survey questions pasted into your e-mail message. You can also easily "Save As" the file to your computer or print the Survey Form and use it as a reference guide.
2. Attach a series of photographs showing the instrument's exterior and interior mechanisms to the e-mail message (for answering many technical questions often overlooked or misunderstood when answering questions on the Survey Form).

Thank you for any assistance you may provide. If we have any questions or need further information regarding your e-mail submittal someone will contact you.

Distribution of Database Information
Last Updated on October 15, 2021

The database PDF report files require Adobe Acrobat Reader (or its equivalent) to view, use, or print their contents. The free Acrobat Reader can be downloaded from Adobe by clicking on the icon at left.

Download the current database report as a PDF file by clicking on a button below.

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All database report information is offered "as is," without any guarantee or warranty whatsoever of any kind, neither stated, implied, nor inferred, as to the accuracy, correctness, exactness, suitability, or usefulness of any content.

Credits:

Compiled by Art Reblitz, and transferred into database format by Terry Hathaway.

Graphics:

Terry Hathaway.

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