Mechanical Music Registry Project

Melville Clark Piano Company

Database Project Apollo and Solo Apollo Player Pianos;
Solo-Art Apollo and Art-Apollo Expression Pianos

Melville Clark Piano Company—Apollo Pianos

Melville Clark, circa 1890.

In Greek mythology Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, and he was the god of music, playing a golden lyre.

Melville Clark was born in Oneida County, New York, in 1850. He apparently inherited a love for music and commenced its study at an early age. He was said to be an excellent singer and became prominently identified with musical art in the Eastern U.S. However, the music business was more amenable to his personality than was musical art, and so after serving an apprenticeship as a tuner he migrated to California where, under the firm name of Clark & Company, he made high-grade reed organs. In 1877 he sold the business and moved to Quincy, Illinois, where he manufactured the Clark & Baughman organ, but because the location was not desirable for a rapidly expanding business he moved to Chicago in 1880 and formed the firm of Clark & Rich. In 1883 he bought out his partner and made reed organs under the name of Melville Clark. Then in 1884 he formed a partnership with H. L. and E. H. Story for the manufacture of reed organs and later of pianos.

To expand his horizons and maintain personal control over his myriad inventions, the Melville Clark Piano Company was founded in 1900 for the manufacture of Apollo players, Melville Clark pianos, and the Orpheus self-playing organ, an instrument that before the advent of the Apollo player was in wide vogue throughout the country. The company was also to cut the music rolls used in their players. Their first piano was made in 1899, but was not put on the market until shortly after the incorporation of the new establishment. Thus it was, by the time the new company came into existence Melville had already enjoyed an illustrious career in manufacturing reed organs (under the Clark and Rich name), and both organs and pianos as a co-founder of the Story and Clark Organ Company. Melville Clark was the inventor and developer of the Apollo player piano line, became one of the major pioneers of the player piano industry, and being both an aggressive innovator and competent entrepreneur he became the holder of many important patents relating to player and expression pianos. The new company was first located in Chicago, but then moved its manufacturing operation to a large new factory building in DeKalb, Illinois, sometime about the end of 1904 or early 1905.

In The Presto trade journal of September 1, 1904, is the following statement, which seems to describe the energetic Mr. Clark very well: "Of course, in referring to the Melville Clark Piano Co., it is difficult to regard that progressive concern as other than an industry long established. Mr. Clark has been industriously winning fame for himself in the manufacture of musical instruments for so long, and he had attained so such prominence in the trade and industry before he established his present factory, that his own productive plant seemed but a continuation of his former energies without interruption. His capacity for work, and his genius as an inventor, made it seem a matter of course that whatever he undertook must prosper. And so the result has proved."

A New Company; a New Beginning

From the February 17, 1900, issue of The Music Trade Review is the following excerpt from page 15 regarding the formation of the new Melville Clark Piano Company:

So, with a good send-off the Melville Clark Piano Company was up and running. Between 1900 and 1919, when the piano manufacturing operation was purchased by the Apollo Piano Company, the company manufactured an extensive line of pianos, pushup piano players, Apollo player pianos, Art-Apollo and Solo Art-Apollo expression pianos and variations thereof. The bulleted items below highlight some of the major innovative and commercially successful accomplishments to come out of the Melville Clark Piano Company:

• The Melville Clark Piano Company developed some of the first player and expression pianos.
  • Push-up piano players.
  • The first 88-note player piano.
  • The first 88-note grand player piano.
  • Pianos that played several types of rolls, such as 58-note, 65-note, and 88-note music rolls.
  • Built-in phonographs, both spring- and electric motor-driven.
  • The Solo Apollo, with both a primary/accompaniment and melody/solo pneumatic action.
  • The Art-Apollo and Solo-Art Apollo expression pianos (with pneumatic expression mechanisms based on Amphion's Dynachord art expression action).
  • Remote expression player cabinets for grand pianos predating both Duo-Art and Ampico.
  • Later connection with Wurlitzer, i.e., the Apollo Piano Company, circa 1919.
• QRS, which became the largest piano roll maker.
  • Involvement in a major copyright suit that established the concept of the mandatory mechanical license.
• QRS Coin-Operated division, supplying the first rolls to Marquette, Seeburg, and many others.
  • Evolution into the Clark Orchestra Roll Co.

The first Apollo player pianos played 58-note rolls, then 65, 88, and other types. Some Melville Clark pianos could play 5 different kinds of music rolls, and the Solo Apollo had two pneumatic stacks and specially arranged rolls that allowed the human operator to accent any melody notes while leaving all other accompaniment notes subdued. Melville Clark Piano Company expression pianos included the Solo Art Apollo and the Art Apollo. The Apollo Recordo expression piano and Apollo Art-Echo full reproducing piano were made under Wurlitzer's direction sometime after 1919, when that company acquired the Melville Clark Piano Company. Various types of Apollo expression pianos were offered in both upright and grand pianos offered by Melville Clark and Wurlitzer. Other variations known to date include spring powered roll motor or vacuum motor; foot pump, electric pump or both; optional self-contained phonograph, and a progression of design improvements for the pneumatic stack including one or two that pushed down on the front of the keys. As an interesting side note, Ernest Clark, Melville’s brother, was an important pioneer designer of roll perforators and other production equipment, and was instrumental in producing rolls for coin-operated pianos through the coin-op era.

The DeKalb Era

On August 24, 1904, the papers were signed for a deal between the Melville Clark Piano Company and the City of DeKalb, Illinois. On September 1, 1904, it was officially announced, with the company expecting to inhabit the new brick and mortar facility no later than January 1, 1905. Thus, the DeKalb era began sometime around January 1, 1905. The following official announcement appeared in The Presto trade journal:

From the same The Presto trade journal dated September 1, 1904, comes the following brief notations regarding the Melville Clark Piano Company and its future move from Chicago to DeKalb, Illinois:

Melville Clark, circa 1912.

But the wonderfully prosperous years and previously indefatigable innovative genius of Melville Clark were to eventually come to an unanticipated end. In October of 1918 it was reported that Thomas M. Pletcher bought controlling interest in the Melville Clark Piano Company and Q R S Company, and became Vice President and general manager. Not long thereafter, in November of 1918, Melville Clark, founder and president of Melville Clark Piano Company, and one of the most prominent men in the piano and player field, passed away in his Chicago home. In the December 28, 1918, edition of The Music Trade Review the following brief notice appeared under the general heading of The Important Trade Happenings of the Year: "The Grim Reaper has unfortunately taken a rather heavy toll from the ranks of the leaders of the industry. Melville Clark, J. A. LeCato, Ben F. Owen, Robert B. Gregory, and others of almost equal prominence in the trade have passed to the Great Beyond and left gaps in their several spheres in the industry."

Thus, in essence, the Melville Clark Piano Company was no more. Its outstanding legacy continued on for many more years, however, up through the WWII years, when the aging piano factory was converted over to wartime production, and then back to piano manufacturing when peacetime once again ensued.

The Wurlitzer Era

On August 2, 1919, it was announced in the Music Trade Review that the Apollo Piano Company had purchased the Melville Clark Piano Company, as follows.

According to press releases in various trade journals, one would surely think that it was the newly organized Apollo Piano Company, and none other, that purchased The Melville Clark Piano Company, with possession of the factory to begin on September 1, 1919. There is nothing said to suggest who might be behind the Apollo Piano Company, nor exactly when the new company took control. However, the following excerpt from an article in The Presto, Number 1727, Chicago, August 28, 1919, Page 21, and titled Activities of the Apollo Piano Company, provides a hint: "The new concern [Apollo Piano Company] will be in full operation at the big plant on the first of the coming month and already is giving evidences of the increase in production that is to come with the new management." This sentence suggests that the Apollo Piano Company was already in possession of the DeKalb facility before the official take-over date of September 1, 1919, and that it would be fully operational by September 1, 1919.

 Apparently the DeKalb townsfolk were quite enamored with and very appreciative and excited to be the home town for the big Melville Clark Piano Company plant. This appreciation was published via The Presto, Number 1728, Chicago, September 4, 1919, on page 21:

But whatever the trade publication were happily proclaiming, inspection of certain Wurlitzer Company records makes it clear that it was the Wurlitzer Company (jointly with the Amphion Piano Player Company) behind the acquisition of the Melville Clark Piano Company of deKalb, Illinois, but under the Apollo Piano Company name, and it quickly became an important part of Wurlitzer’s business. Wurlitzer pianos commenced being manufactured at the DeKalb facilities, but under a variety of names that included the Apollo Piano Company, the DeKalb Piano Company, and the Wurlitzer Grand Piano Company, with the differing legal entities retailing pianos of a different quality and price range. Wurlitzer's involvement is further confirmed by an article in The Presto of 1919:

By December of 1919, the Apollo Piano Company was taking steps to close out its Chicago offices and move its operation entirely to DeKalb. The official announcement of this move occurred on December 22, 1919, when the following notice appeared in The Presto:

Thus it came to be that the Wurlitzer Company replaced the ever inventive Melville Clark as the dominant piano manufacturing force in DeKalb. Circa 1904 Melville Clark was hailed as being the bright future of DeKalb with his grand plans for a magnificent new factory that was to churn out pianos of the highest quality, but by 1919 Melville was gone, and a new team, Wurlitzer, had taken over the factory and became the future and a prominent source of employment and economic activity in DeKalb. Sadly, Melville Clark and his innovative mechanical mechanisms were soon set aside for simplified and less costly designs and he was gradually forgotten over the years, and eventually no long a topic of conversation.

The End of Apollo Expression Pianos

With the decline of automatic musical instrument sales during the 1920s and early 1930s, coupled with the rising popularity of radio, production of mechanical musical instruments ceased, leaving only regular house pianos as the Wurlitzer company's mainstay product. The first juke box was manufactured in 1934, and for a brief time radios and refrigerators were made by the Wurlitzer controlled All-American Mohawk Corporation. Unfortunately, the manufacture of radios and refrigerators was not a successful venture and this activity ended by the mid 1930s. But the depression years brought about other problems. Apparently many of the old Wurlitzer retail outlets had fallen on hard times. Once prosperous locations were now suffering from demographic changes, whereby once high traffic locations had turned bad and the old showrooms needed significant repairs. Wurlitzer's solution to this confluence of mounting problems was to reorganize the company, which occurred in 1935. Many lagging retail stores were sold, while piano manufacturing was consolidated in DeKalb, and many subsidiaries were dissolved or absorbed into the Wurlitzer Company.

During World War II, Wurlitzer halted production of all musical instruments completely. The company’s defense production efforts were recognized in 1943 and 1944 when its North Tonawanda and DeKalb plants received the Army-Navy “E” Award. In 1946, peacetime piano production resumed and the Wurlitzer Company introduced two new instruments: the electric organ (1947) and the electric piano (1954).

In 1956, the Wurlitzer Company celebrated its centennial. That same year a new plant at Corinth, Mississippi, was completed. Later, plants were opened in Holly Springs, Mississippi (1961), Logan, Utah (1970) and Hullhorst, West Germany (1960). The new facilities replaced those at North Tonawanda and DeKalb. The North Tonawanda plant ceased production of juke boxes in 1974, becoming the company’s engineering and research center. In 1973, the DeKalb plant ended production of pianos, thereafter maintaining only marketing and administrative offices. In 1977, the Wurlitzer Company’s corporate headquarters moved to DeKalb, including the engineering and research center from North Tonawanda. Today it is all gone.

Now the once grand DeKalb manufacturing facility is nearly derelict, and some of the old buildings are literally falling apart, while some of the better condition buildings have been divided up into potential rental spaces. The old factory looks sad, forlorned, and nearly forgotten, as the photographs accessible by clicking on the thumbnail image at right clearly show.

Chronology of Major Milestones for the Apollo Piano

The following milestones were noted in advertisements and articles found in the Music Trade Review. The dates shown could easily precede that actual introduction of a particular model, or perhaps in many cases follow it. Consequently dates shown should be thought of as approximate.

• 1899: First Apollo player piano manufactured by Melville Clark, but none sold until after the formation of the Melville Clark Piano Company in 1900.
• 1900-02-14: Organization of the Melville Clark Piano Company with a capital stock of $100,000 all paid in, with Melville Clark as president and treasurer.
• 1901: The first 88-note player manufactured by Melville Clark (used early 88-note rolls with 6 to the inch spacing).
• 1903-01-17: The Apolloette, which was spindly looking device manufactured at a minimum of cost with every superfluous expense eliminated, and made in skeleton form that did not cover the power or lower part of the piano.
• 1904-03-03: Advertisement for what might be considered a conventional looking Apollo pushup piano player, possibly an Apollo Master Piano Player. The ad shows a child operating the Apollo pushup player.
• 1904-09-03: Melville Clark’s new plant will cost $60,000.
• 1906-02-10: New player grand piano plays 88-note rolls (these were early 88-note rolls with 6 to the inch spacing).
• 1906-03-22: First Apollo Grand piano with the self-playing 88-note attachment will be brought to Chicago from the DeKalb factory in 2-3 weeks.
• 1908-05-21: Historic claims that Melville Clark originated the 88-note player; first to put one on the market and sell in quantities. He was also the first to market a grand player piano, which had 88-notes right from the beginning.
• 1908-12-17: Beginning with January 1, 1909, only 88-note player pianos will be made.
• 1909-01-28: Advertisement stating that the Solo Apollo is now ready for inspection at our warerooms, 4th floor, 17 Van Buren St., Chicago, or at our factory at DeKalb, Illinois.
• 1909-01-29: New Solo Apollo accents the theme (manually). The tracker bar has two rows of duct holes, one over the other, to play (1) standard 65-note 6 per inch rolls, (2) 88-note 6 per inch (15¼” wide) rolls, and on the other set of tracker bar holes (3) standard 88-note player piano 9 per inch rolls, and (4) Solo Apollo 134-note 9 per inch (15¼” wide) rolls.
• 1909-09-23: The music cutting department – the Q.R.S. Company – has trebled its capacity with a new 150 x 150 square foot four-story building in DeKalb. By removing the music cutting department we have all the space it occupied in the old factory to add to the piano department.
• 1910-12-29: Mr. Clark still holds the opinion that the tracker board containing the six-apertures-to-the-inch would give better satisfaction, but he believes that it is wise to yield to existing conditions and to make the Apollo with the standard nine-to-the-inch tracker board.
• 1912-03-28: New recording device in use at QRS Chicago office. According to Art Reblitz this announces the recording piano that was still used for the QRS Celebrity Series in the 1970s.
• 1912-04-04: New Autographic hand-played music rolls being made on the recording piano.
• 1912-08-12: Remote cabinet for operating the Solo-Grand Apollo. Pumping and roll mechanisms are in the cabinet, so the piano could be accessed for tuning or repair without anything in the way.
• 1915-01-14: New “Automatic Electric Apollo” with foot and electric pumps, plays special roll that operates the soft and sustaining pedals. Solo and accompaniment levers and expression buttons are the same as in the regular Solo-Apollo. Plays the standard short roll and the wide roll in addition to the automatic roll. Art Reblitz suspects that this might be the immediate predecessor of the Solo Art Apollo.
• 1915-02-11: New “Artlectra” bench provides power to play any upright or grand player piano without interfering with foot pumping. Contains an electric pump and can be connected to the piano in a few hours. Includes automatic rewind for either spring or vacuum roll motors. A check valve works automatically for foot or electric use. 22” high x 30” wide x 11” deep.
• 1915-02-11: New “Artapollo” expression pianos.
• 1915-10-21: New talking machine in Apollo players — the "Apollophone."
• 1916-03-09: New long distance control for Artapollo, for manually introducing expression into music, even from the next room.
• 1917-07-05: New “Airapollo” includes the latest achievement of Melville Clark: the Melville Clark Twentieth Century Air Motor, one more triumph added to the honorable list to Mr. Clark’s credit. In this the trade can choose between a spring motor and an air motor…constructed on new principles and on original lines. …. Runs steadily from pianissimo to extreme double forte. Adjustable Pitman lever-operated plunger, double seated spiral spring actuated, self-acting valves which only move three-sixteenths of an inch, and cannot be affected by dust, frost, or climatic changes.
• 1918-02-21: Second factory for QRS to be built in New York.
• 1918-11-05: Death of Melville Clark.
• 1919...: The Apollo Recordo expression piano and Apollo Art-Echo full reproducing piano were made under the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company's direction sometime after 1919 when that company acquired the Melville Clark company.

Apollo Piano Styles

Melville Clark Piano Company Styles

Looking through Melville Clark Piano Company’s Apollo catalogues and advertising ephemera it is quickly evident that there were many furniture styles offered during the lifetime of the company, some cases used for several different player configurations. For instance, a particular case style could be a fitted out as a standard Apollo player piano, or as a Solo Apollo, or as an Apollophone, or as an Artapollo expression piano. As such, an instrument with a Style K case, for instance, is of little utility when it comes to describing or understanding the internal player mechanism. Styles that have been noted in various Melville Clark literature includes the following:

• Master Piano Player (push-up unit).
• Apolloette (push-up unit).
• Apollo Player Piano.
• Upright styles C, D (Modern Style), F (Boudoir Style), H, K, L, M, Mission (more correctly an Arts and Crafts style), N, O, Old Dutch, and W.
• Style G (Grand Piano).
• Solo Apollo (featuring two separate pneumatic stacks: a primary/accompaniment stack and a melody/solo stack).
• Artlectra (bench provides power to play any upright or grand player piano without interfering with foot pumping).
• Artapollo (with pneumatic expression mechanisms based on Amphion's Dynachord art expression action).
• Solo Artapollo (with both a primary/accompaniment stack and a separate melody/solo stack, plus two independent pneumatic expression mechanisms based on Amphion's Dynachord art expression action, one for each of the two stacks).
• Apollophone / Apollophone Style WP.
• Airapollo (with a wind-motor spool-box drive).

It is very likely that the style letters “A,” "B," and "E" were also used during the company’s earlier years, but what design these letters represented is currently in question. And then what about the missing letters “I” and “J,” as well as “P” and other yet unaccounted for letters of the alphabet? No documentation to date sheds light on these perhaps unused letters of the alphabet.

This is a good place to clear up a misconception that has for years been accepted as fact, but that, nonetheless, is inaccurate. The art expression system used in the Art Apollo, and adapted for the Solo Art Apollo, was neither invented nor designed by Melville Clark, but instead by Lewis B. Doman, chief inventor for the Amphion Piano Player Company of Syracuse, New York. Amphion marketed its expression actions to various piano manufacturers as the Dynachord art expression player. Price & Teeple sold their own adaptation as the Art Symphonola, while Seeburg, whose major activity was the manufacture of coin pianos, used the Amphion design in their coin operated Xpression piano. These aforementioned manufacturers made their own expression devices based on Lewis Doman's design, with Melville Clark and Price & Teeple introducing expression pianos using his design in 1915, with Seeburg following later in 1918 with the introduction of its Coin-Controlled “Xpression” Player-Piano. QRS produced the music rolls. Later, when the Apollo Piano Company (Wurlitzer) took ownership of the Melville Clark Piano Company in 1919, manufacturing of the earlier beautifully made but generally complex Melville Clark player mechanisms were quickly abandoned in favor of the “Amphion Accessible Player Action,” which was quick to install, thereinafter eliminating the need for making in-house player actions. For artistic piano performances, the Amphion manufactured Apollo/Artecho reproducing action was introduced, with QRS arranging and cutting all of the Apollo/Artecho music rolls.

Apollo Wood Types/Finishes

What follows are excerpts (the second of which has been condensed) from articles appearing in the Music Trade Review in 1908 (Louis XIV Apollo Player Piano) or The Music Trades magazine during the year 1921. Due to the 1921 date the wood finish comments for all but the first item may only apply to pianos manufactured by the Apollo Piano Company, who took over the Melville Clark Piano Company on September 1, 1919.

• The Louis XIV (Apollo Player Piano) is made on special order only in French burl walnut with the art finish.
• In the Senate Theatre, at Kedzie Avenue and Madison Street, Chicago, the Apollo Piano Company has installed an Apollo grand in a special white enamel finish to harmonize with the finish and furnishings of the handsome theatre.
• The English oak used in the Apollo grand pianos is the old Pollard oak of England. The tree from which these veneers came grew in Nottingham Forest, which, as every reader of "Robin Hood" will remember, was the headquarters of that famous character centuries ago.
• Coramandel wood is another special finish used in the Apollo. This wood grows on the Coramandel Coast of Africa. It is a species of ebony and is often called golden ribbed ebony. It is very hard and is the heaviest wood known.
• Some Apollo grand pianos have been made in the famous Teak wood which grows in the Burmese Peninsula in Asia and is shipped from the port of Rangoon. This wood is moved from the forest entirely by elephants and loaded on ships in the same way. It does not shrink, warp or split, and is used on ships because of its resistance to the sun and water.
• Another special wood in which the Apollo grand is furnished is Prima Vera. This grows on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. It is white mahogany; the same wood as the red but without color.
• There is also Hungarian ash. While this grows in West Virginia, it is called Hungarian ash because of its resemblance in grain to a wood growing in Hungary. It is however, much more beautiful.
• Some Apollo grand pianos have been made in a finish of East Indian mahogany. This grows in the Andaman Islands off the East Coast of India. It is the most expensive and rare variety of mahogany there is and is known in India under the name of "Padouk." This is the wood from which all Pullman cars have been made.
• The Apollo pianos are put out in mahogany, walnut, and ebony, and in special finishes-teakwood, English oak, vermillion wood, Hungarian ash, primavera and coromandel.

Wurlitzer-Apollo Piano Company Brands and Styles

For the most part the older styles currently in production when the Apollo Piano Company took over the operation of the DeKalb factory continued to be manufactured for some unknown amount of time, and they probably retained the same general appearance of their counterparts from earlier Melville Clark years. But soon new non-player styles and simpler yet more sophisticated player models began making their appearance, quickly displacing the older Melville Clark innovations. Moreover, the Apollo Piano Company was to offer a variety of special and sometimes elegant case styles for their pianos, and, in particular, some of the company’s Wurlitzer-Apollo Grand Pianos enjoyed beautifully period cases that were available in Louis XV, Louis XVI, Jacobean, and Queen Anne models, and probably others, too. These exquisite art case pianos were quite literally works of art.

In the probably very incomplete list that follows only the Apollo Piano Company and Wurlitzer-Apollo inspired player styles that have been observed in advertising, catalogues, and the Wurlitzer Disposition of Instruments Manufactured ledgers are mentioned. All of these styles were made at one time or another at the famous DeKalb factory:

• Apollo Player Piano (carryover from Melville Clark Piano Company).
• Apollophone (carryover from Melville Clark Piano Company).
• Art-Apollo Expression Player Piano (carryover from Melville Clark Piano Company).
• Apollo Grand Piano (carryover from Melville Clark Piano Company).
  - - - - -
  
• Bauer Bros. Piano (thought to have been bought-out by Wurlitzer circa 1930).
• Farny Player-Piano (foot treadle operation; brand named after Farny R. Wurlitzer).
• Kingston Player-Piano (foot treadle operation).
• Lyric Player Piano (The Lyric Piano Company was a subsidiary of the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company).
• Mayer Bros. Player Piano (Mayer Bros. & Bramley, Inc., New York City. Wurlitzer was probably one of many suppliers to this company).
• Milner Player Piano (Milner Musical Company / Milner Piano Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, subsidiary of Wurlitzer).
• Strad Player-Piano (foot treadle operation).
• Studio Player-Piano (foot treadle operation; smaller than a regular player piano).
• Wurlitzer Expression Upright (foot treadle or electric motor operation; roughly equivalent to the earlier Art-Apollo).
• Wurlitzer Expression Grand.
• Artecho (full reproducing piano system).
• Wurlitzer-Apollo Reproducing Upright (full reproducing piano system).
• Wurlitzer-Apollo Reproducing Grand (available in several styles; full reproducing piano system).

The Wurlitzer-Apollo Reproducing Pianos were fitted with what was basically a re-branded Artecho Reproducing Piano System that was manufactured by the Amphion Piano Player Company, of Syracuse, New York. Of the three main reproducing systems offered it can sometimes be confusing to a novice as to which system a piano uses. Fortunately, it is easy to identify the three principal systems used merely by examining and/or counting the holes in the tracker bar: Art Apollo has 96 tracker bar holes, Recordo has 98, and Artecho has 100 holes.

In the listing below are the piano brands and/or types (with prices) that Wurlitzer was boldly advertising as of March, 1925. There was no mention of the Apollo Piano Company in the ad; only the Wurlitzer name was prominently displayed. The Studio piano was the cheapest, or lowest price point piano, followed by the more expensive Strad, then the Farny, and finally the Kingston piano, which was at the top of the upright piano lineup. The usual sized grand pianos were even more expensive, as well as bulky and much less easy to handle.

• Studio — $295
• Studio Player — $445
• Studio Grand — $625
• Strad — $350
• Strad Player — $495
• Farny — $395
• Farny Player — $575
• Kingston — $495
• Kingston Player — $650
• Wurlitzer Grands — $750 to $3000

The ad goes on to say: "A Child can Play Perfectly on the Wurlitzer Strad Player-Piano. This beautiful Wurlitzer-built instrument has every up-to-date improved device for the artistic music roll playing. So simple are the control features and so easy to operate, a little child can quickly learn to play perfectly.
Choice of wood finishes is offered and a liberal allowance will be made for your present piano in part payment."

Wurlitzer Treasure Chest Pianos

Sometime during 1927 the Wurlitzer Grand Piano Company - DeKalb Illinois, introduced the "Treasure Chest" Piano, which was originally a low price point grand player piano for only $995. It was was fitted with a Recordo player action and was advertised as the "Wurlitzer Treasure Chest of Music; The Piano That Plays for You," and it used either Treasure Chest music rolls or Q. R. S. Recordo rolls. Not long after its introduction the Treasure Chest branding idea proved itself popular enough that a year later, in 1928, an upright model was added. The Treasure Chest upright pianos equipped with the Recordo action appear in the database reports for the 105,000 series ledger pages, while Treasure Chest grand pianos do not. Why is this? Curiously, the Apollo Piano Company (basically Wurlitzer in disguise) output shows up in the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company's Disposition of Instruments Manufactured ledger pages, and in seamlessly coordinated serial number sequence with instruments manufactured in Wurlitzer's North Tonawanda factory. However, the Wurlitzer grand pianos were advertised as a product of the Wurlitzer Grand Piano Company, which may have kept separate production records, in as much as they are not part of the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company disposition ledgers.

Technical Details

Self-Acting Metronome Motor

This powerful spring used in the self-acting metronome motor was wound up by means of linkages interconnected with the piano's pumping pedals, so that as the piano operator pedaled away the spring-motor was kept properly wound. This enabled it to fully rewind the music roll with potential energy still in reserve. Advertisements claimed that "the metronome motor prevented the jerky and inartistic effects caused by unconscious hard pedaling. The force is stored in this self-acting motor and is distributed so evenly that it effectually prevents any sudden changes in the tempo. This enables the operator to give his entire attention to the matter of expression."

It was further stated that the Metronome Motor of the Apollo was about ten times as fine as the spring motor in a talking machine and made on exactly the same principle as a good timepiece, only with fewer parts. Moreover, wet weather—dry weather—hot weather or cold—the Metronome Motor was said to have performed its functions steadily and without varying one iota from its functions. To emphasize this resistance to weather conditions an advertising gimmick showed the Metronome Motor in a large glass jar and fully submerged in water, but, no doubt, still running along perfectly (see picture inset at left).

After examining any surviving metronome motor it is easy to conclude that it was an exceeding well thought out and designed mechanism, and equally well crafted, as well as durable with only minor care and lubrication. Nevertheless, the metronome spring-motor finally gave way to the cheaper air-motor (commonly wind-motor) drive, when Melville Clark finally embraced it in 1917 with the new Airapollo. Now a customer could choose between a metronome motor or an air-motor driven spool-box, but how a customer might truly evaluate which option was better is unknown. The advantage of the air-motor over the metronome spring-motor could be argued, and probably were loudly debated at the time. The wind-motor was probably much less expensive to manufacture and it definitely enjoyed quick and steady tempo control capabilities, and it had long been a ubiquitous and highly successful solution to powering player and reproducing piano spool boxes.

The Solo Apollo Melody Stack

The solo melody chest (introduced in 1909) came about to solve the player piano problem of all notes having to play at the same intensity. Yes, it was possible to impart a degree of overall expression to the music, but, nevertheless, whether louder or softer, all notes played with identical loudness. In their simplest form, piano arrangements can be said to have two major components, accompaniment and melody, with the accompaniment generally being subdued in nature, so as to complement and enrich the melody without competing with or overriding it. The solo melody chest was an attempt to solve this problem in a heroic fashion, by adding a second and independent melody valve chest to the piano. Consequently the Solo Apollo player piano contained both a principal 88-note accompaniment valve chest and a solo 55 note melody valve chest (52 notes in the Solo Artapollo pianos, which sacrificed a few playing solo notes for expression controls). The disadvantage of the solo chest arrangement was the obvious complexity and vacuum overhead of adding a second chest, and the need for a special 128 duct tracker bar (134 duct tracker bar for the later Solo Art Apollo) and proprietary music rolls 15¼" wide, with 9 to the inch spacing, that could accommodate the two independent but related note playing systems. However, the advertised advantage was this: “The accenting device of our Solo-Apollo makes it easy for a novice to bring out the melody in strong relief just as the world's great players do.”

From the June 3, 1911, Music Trade Review: “This Solo-Apollo has the full range of 88 notes and the accenting device that brings out the melody clearly and symmetrically. It does not bring out the melody by simply subduing the accompaniment, but it leaves the accompaniment with its full force and beauty, at the same time giving accent to the melody. Both are in perfect proportion and in accordance with the intent of the composer.”

The challenge of building the Solo Apollo Player Piano with two separate but mechanically interconnected chests was a noteworthy manufacturing achievement, and it received many accolades in its day. Nevertheless, the complex two chest solution was to be short lived and quickly rendered commercially obsolete. Years earlier in 1904 the German firm of Welte had introduced the Welte Mignon, a full reproducing piano system that used a single but divided stack for separate bass and treble loudness control. The instrument featured music rolls hand-played by famous pianists and was a huge commercial success. In the U.S. full reproducing piano systems were introduced in 1913 by both Ampico and Duo Art, which employed newly devised and very sophisticated, nimble, and exceedingly quick acting expression regulators. About 1914 the Welte Licensee piano was introduced in the U.S. when imports from Germany were suspended due to WWI.

The “big three” reproducing piano brands (Ampico, Duo-Art, and Welte) were marketed in a much higher price range than was the ordinary player piano, and all three avoided the two chest system by taking a single chest and dividing it into bass and treble sections, each controlled by its own set of independent vacuum regulating devices. Then by simply having the melody notes lead the accompaniment notes by a tiny but essentially unnoticeable amount the melody could be made to stand out as might be desired. Such innovative and highly accurate reproducing pianos became a huge commercial success. At the same time the market for expression pianos continued in parallel with the more expensive reproducing piano (with the Recordo possibly being the most widely sold in its many brands and variations), but priced lower than the reproducing piano for a different market.

Tracker Bar Configurations

Melville Clark had been fully engaged in the reed organ business before building pianos. Reed organs played 58-note rolls and almost always had couplers that could couple an octave or two above or below the note that was being played. Treble Coupler and Bass Coupler stops were practically standard on all reed organs. When Melville Clark began building the early player pianos he made them with an 88-note scale, and equipped them with 88-note pneumatic stacks. Moreover, the 88-note 15-¼” wide piano rolls, with 6 per inch hole spacing, were arranged and cut by Melville Clark’s Q.R.S. music roll company. These early player pianos utilized all of the 88 notes on the stack, as would be expected. But in those early days there were many 58 note music rolls that were specifically arranged for the player organs, as well as some very early 58-note Apollo “Piano Player” rolls with piano arrangements. And so, because of the massive library and diversity of 58-note music rolls available, Melville Clark used a tracker bar transposing system so that his pianos could play both 88 and 58-note rolls. And he included couplers in these early Apollo 88/58-note player pianos, which made it easy for the operator to enhance the limited scale 58-note rolls by coupling in additional bass and treble piano notes that otherwise went unused on the piano stack.

The coupler controls were conveniently located on the bottom floor of the spoolbox. In the earliest 88/58-note Apollo pianos these control switches were not labeled. Nonetheless, at far left was the control switch for the bass coupler, which when switched on coupled in 12 additional bass notes, thereby effectively extending the bass range and making 70 piano notes operable. Another control switch, at far right, likewise coupled in 12 additional notes, but in the treble range. With both the bass and treble couplers switched on, the lowest 12 notes of the 58-note roll would be coupled to play their own notes on the stack plus 12 notes one octave lower; ditto for the treble, coupled to 12 notes one octave higher, for a grand total of 82 piano notes playing from the 58 holes in the music roll. This ability to couple “extra” notes enhanced the music on the various 58-note rolls that were commonly available, and that people might already have from a previous instrument.

Later Apollo pianos, circa 1908 and later, incorporated a control switch that would shift the tracker bar from 88 note rolls to 65 notes to 58 notes, all on the 6 per inch scale. These pianos had tracker bars that had an upper and lower row of duct holes, the upper row being the 6 per inch 88-note scale, while the lower row was for the 9 per inch standardized 88-note player piano scale. Another control lever switched between the upper and lower row of duct holes. No Apollo pianos have been observed that have only a 6 per inch 88-note scale for playing 88, 65, and 58 notes. This suggests that Apollo pianos went directly from the first design (88/58 note with bass and treble couplers) to the dual tracker bar (which did not make use of any couplers).

Very few of the early wood tracker bars remain intact. This is probably because after only a few years they became obsolete, and unable to play the new 9 per inch player piano rolls that were standardized in 1908. Many Apollo pianos were updated with the new 9 per inch tracker bar (or a dual row tracker bar) to play the new standardized player piano rolls. Apollo piano number 5023 (made circa 1906) is an example of an instrument that may well have been altered at the factory, or perhaps by a dealer who had been sent an “upgrade” kit. The couplers on this piano were closed off and it has a dual tracker bar enabling it to play both 6 per inch rolls and 9 per inch rolls. And it has a control switch for 88-65-58 note rolls—in that order.

To the initiate not familiar with Apollo player pianos, the number of tracker bar configurations used can be not only confusing but a little overwhelming at first glance. Some of the Apollo pianos were advertised as playing five different types of music rolls, which included early 88, 65, and 58 note rolls cut at 6 holes per inch, and standardized 11¼ inch wide piano rolls cut at 9 holes per inch, all industry standards at one time or another. The list that follows describes the tracker bar configurations observed by various restoration experts, but it almost goes without saying that there is a chance that other tracker bar types might someday come to light. Here are the seven commonly observed tracker bar configurations:

• Wood tracker bar with a single row of 88 duct holes spaced at 6 per inch (plays early 88/58 note rolls—circa 1906, piano #4074).
• Wood tracker bar with two rows of duct holes, with 88 holes spaced at 6 per inch in the upper row and 88 holes spaced at 9 per inch in the lower row. (plays early 88/65/58 note rolls and/or standardized 11-¼” wide piano rolls—circa 1909, piano #8685).
• Wood tracker bar with a single row of 128 duct holes spaced at 9 per inch (for early Solo Apollo only—circa 1911, piano #11311).
• Brass tracker bar with 89 duct holes spaced at 9 per inch—hole #1 elongated for damper pedal (plays standardized 11-¼” wide piano rolls). Probably the most common tracker bar on Apollo pianos.
• Brass tracker bar with 96 duct holes spaced at 9 per inch—holes #2, #93, and #94 are elongated (Art Apollo expression system).
• Brass tracker bar with 132 duct holes, spaced at 9 per inch (plays Solo Apollo and standard 88-note player piano rolls—circa 1913, piano #13980, #14075, and #14101).
• Brass tracker bar with 134 duct holes, spaced at 9 per inch (plays Solo Art Apollo, Art Apollo, and standard 88-note player piano rolls—circa 1916, piano #18023).

Apollo Music Roll Types

According to Jere DeBacker, the early Apollos only made use of 58-note (10-3/8" wide) rolls and 88-note (15¼” wide) rolls, both with 6 per inch hole spacing. It was not until later that Apollo pianos were adapted to play 58, 65, and 88-note rolls, all 6 per inch hole spacing, and in addition the standardized 9 per inch 88-note (11¼" wide) player piano rolls. The 65-note (11¼" wide, 6 per inch) rolls were the only ones to use pin type spool ends.

The following lists all of the roll types used for the various Apollo piano players, and player pianos:

• 6 per inch, 10-3/8” wide paper on a wooden spool – 58-note (C through A) player piano rolls.
• 6 per inch, 11¼” wide paper on a wooden spool – 65-note (A through C#) player piano rolls. The 65-note music roll omits the 12 lowest and 11 highest notes of the 88-note piano keyboard.
• 6 per inch, 15¼” wide paper on a wooden spool – Apollo Concert Grand (A through C) 88-note player piano rolls.
• 9 per inch, 11¼” wide paper on a cardboard core with molded spool ends – 88 note (A through C) player piano, and Art Apollo rolls.
• 9 per inch, 15¼” wide paper on a cardboard core with a few early rolls observed with wooden spools and later rolls with molded spool ends – Solo Apollo with both a primary/accompaniment and melody/solo stack; and Solo Art Apollo also with two stacks and two independent pneumatic expression mechanisms based on Amphion's Dynachord art expression action, one expression device for each of the two stacks.

The early 58-note, 65-note, and 88-note rolls (with 6 per inch hole spacing) utilized an alphabetic tempo scale, namely using the letters "A" through "G." By the time the standardized 88-note player piano rolls (with 9 per inch hole spacing) were introduced in 1908 the Apollo tempo scale was also undergoing a fundamental change, transitioning from an alphabetic scale to a numeric scale, which ranged from 0 to 130. Here is an easy comparison table:

Tempo Scale Comparison
Early Tempo Scale—A to G	Late Tempo Scale—0 to 130
Off (at far left of scale) A – Adagio (Slowly) B – Andante (Moderately slow.) C – Andantino (Slightly faster than Andante.) D – Moderato (Moderate tempo.) E – Allegretto (A moderately quick tempo.) F – Allegro (Fast and bright.) G – Presto (Very fast.) Rewind (at far right of scale)	Off (at far left of scale) 30 – Adagio (Slowly) 50 – Andante (Moderately slow.) 70 – Moderato (Moderate tempo.) 90 – Allegretto (A moderately quick tempo.) 110 – Allegro (Fast and bright.) 125 – Presto (Very fast.) Rewind (at far right of scale)

But … where did the standardized music roll hole spacing shown above come from? Glenn Grabinsky has extensively studied the origin of hole spacing, and has written a detailed paper on the subject. It is from this writing that the following information on hole spacing is drawn.

The first player organ and piano rolls were hand-marked on master roll paper. It was easier to mark paper that had lines pre-printed lengthwise on it, showing the arranger exactly where to align the marks, than finding exactly the right place to draw each note on blank paper. Who was making lined paper in 1900? …The printing industry! Ledger paper had already been made on automatic ruling machines at least since the mid-1800s. One type of ruling machine had grooved spools carrying long loops of cotton thread dipped in ink, which continually inked tiny styluses that marked the paper as it passed underneath. Various threads could be inked with different colors for delineating columns or other divisions in ledger paper.

The printer’s unit of the height of a line is 1/72”, or one point. Since 72 is divisible by 12, it’s a versatile dimension. Using this basic increment, 8-point type is 1/9” or 9 lines per inch, 12 point is 1/6” or 6 lines per inch, etc. An old timer, the son-in-law of L.B. Doman who worked for Amphion, told Glenn that the roll spacing was originally based on existing printers’ scales, since graduated paper, scales, and rules already existed and made life easier when master rolls were all made on drawing boards. In turn, Amphion’s owners were from a printing background and owned a typewriter company!

Pre-printed master roll paper was easily made with 6 or 9 lines per inch, and that’s where the roll industry came up with these common hole spacings. 10 per inch was a little too close for accurate tracking on instruments of the day. Prior to the 1908 meeting on standardization of player piano rolls, there was a debate on whether 8 or 9 holes per inch should be the standard. Nine per inch was the winner, as all 88 notes plus the sustaining pedal control (and later, reproducing piano expression holes) fit within the already-existing 11¼” wide roll.

As an interesting sidenote: Rich Schommer, who has extensively studied the history and music roll output of Clark, QRS, and various other music roll manufacturers, noted that many of the early QRS made 65-note music rolls were cut on 11 ¼” wide paper using the old 58-note arrangements, albeit some possibly modified slightly to take advantage of the expanded note scale. Likewise, many of the company’s early 88-note music rolls were simply reissues of their old 65 note arrangements. This was a quick way to develop an extensive music library when new, expanded scale music rolls were introduced. Moreover, he has laid out music rolls of the same title, but with differing note scales, side-by-side, and found it obvious that they were derived from the same masters, noting that it was quite easy to cut a 65-note roll from a 58-note master, or a 88-note roll from a 65-note master, and it is almost a certainty that Aeolian and other manufacturers did the same thing.

The Apollo Dynaline Device

It is unknown exactly when the Dynaline device was first introduced to the Apollo player piano line, and it is probable that not all Apollo pianos were fitted with the device after its introduction. Moreover, even for those Apollo pianos fitted with the device only a relative few also had the Dynaline decal on the bottom shelf of the spool-box, and those observed with the decal were in the 15,000 serial number range. As such, pianos with an applied Dynaline decal had the device installed, but the absence of a Dynaline decal does nothing to indicate whether a piano had a Dynaline device or not. If no Dynaline device is evident the only way to know for certain if one had originally been installed is to look for the spool-box Dynaline on/off switch and/or the device’s mounting screw holes in the spool-box shelf to the left of the spool-box. It is fairly common to find an Apollo piano whereupon the Dynaline device has been long removed and/or lost. The device is of exceptionally simple construction and of little or no maintenance consequence, and so why it would be removed and thrown away remains puzzling.

The catalogue illustration at left depicts the Dynaline device in operation. This simple device consists of an upward looking pointer that is affixed at the right-hand end of a slim metal rod that slides back and forth slightly above the music roll. This rod is attached to a long vertical lever operated by a medium sized motor pneumatic mounted on the spool-box shelf near the left side of the spool-box assembly. This pneumatic is connected by rubber tubing to an adjustable choke and then in turn to the piano’s vacuum supply. The purpose of the choke is to meter the flow of air in and out of the device’s pneumatic, so that quick and/or jerky changes in the piano’s vacuum level are smoothed out. This ensures that the Dynaline pointer moves smoothly across the music roll. The motor pneumatic is also fitted with a coil spring that is arranged to keep the pneumatic fully open, while any applied vacuum tends to collapse or close the pneumatic proportionally to the piano’s averaged vacuum level. By varying the rate at which the piano pedals are pumped the Dynaline pointer can be made to more or less follow the blue Dynaline printed on the music roll, thus imparting a degree of volumetric expression to the music.

Long Distance Control

In 1916 the Melville Clark Piano Company decided to make available the Long Distance Control to its electrically operated pianos. From the Music Trade Review of March 11, 1916, is this interesting article.

The Airapollo Air Motor

Melville Clark has long denigrated the air motor in favor of the precision crafted all metal Metronome Spring Motor, denouncing the air motor as a "jerky" and unreliable contraption made of wood, rubber cloth and glue. Then in 1917, from the June 23, 1917 issue of Music Trade Review, came the following startling about face announcement, but for an air motor that was not just a regular air motor, but one that was supposedly outstandingly superior:

MELVILLE CLARK PIANO COMPANY BRINGS OUT THE AIRAP0LLO —

CHICAGO, Ill., June 19.—The new Melville Clark "Airapollo" player-piano has just been announced to the trade by the Melville Clark Piano Company.

This newest feature of the famous line represents the effort of the company to meet the demand of a number of Melville Clark dealers who wanted an Apollo equipped with air motors as well as with spring motors, the better to balance the line.

Mr. Clark hesitated for a long time before responding to this call, due principally to the fact that he could not find an air motor that satisfied him, but in the new Airapollo there is a motor that for steadiness and accurate running is said to be absolutely reliable. It is said to differ very widely from the type of air motors now in use in most players, and whether pianissimo or extreme double forte is demanded it provides an instantaneous and complete response.

From the formal announcement of the motor we take the following extracts that deal with the various principles of its mechanism: "The motor is constructed with adjustable Pitman lever operated plunger, double seated spiral spring actuated, self-acting valves, which only move three-sixteenths of an inch when in operation and cannot be affected by dust, dirt, or climatic changes.

 "A five-inch fly wheel has been attached to the crank shaft, which steadies the motor under all conditions and prevents hitching of the music sheet as it travels over the tracker range, and causes it to run smoothly and evenly. The fly wheel is the latest innovation in the construction of an air motor for controlling the travel of music sheets, of player-pianos and like instruments. The balance wheel is especially adapted for hand-played rolls, as the tempo is set at an even speed. It can be used with equal effect with a variable tempo for foot pedal playing. It starts and stops quickly, and the power of the motor pneumatics is more than ample to take care of the extra weight of the balance wheel.

"A screw operated adjusting valve is used to control the air passage from the motor to the governor and reservoir. This is indispensable on account of rubber tube air conductors being of different sizes, caused by faulty manufacture or unavoidable defects.

"The governor controlling the air from the air motor and channel tubes is actuated by an automatic regulating device which gives a constant and steady pressure at all stages of the governor bellows action whether partially or wholly opened or closed. The bellows cannot be operated with a variable spring successfully, which is evident and has been proven by long experience in spring pressure operated air motor governors. The air-motor reservoir is also controlled and operated by an increased pressure automatic regulating pressure device, which, as in the case of the governor bellows, gives steady pressure at all positions of the reservoir action. In this new bellows the tempo and expression are separated. The reservoir operating the player action has no connection with the bellows operating the air motor. They are as separate as two individual instruments, only that one set of pumpers draws the air from both reservoirs at the same time.

"The Pitman plunger lever operated valves used in the construction of the motor are so perfectly seated that not the least particle of air escapes in their operation. They improve with use instead of deteriorating."

The Amphion Action

It is unknown exactly when Apollo pianos began to be equipped with the standardized Amphion action, but it seems that the transition occurred within a year or so of the Apollo Piano Company (i.e., Wurlitzer, along with the joint owner Amphion) officially taking over the operation of the Melville Clark Piano Company on September 1, 1919. Making the switch to a new, comparatively simple, and unitized chest probably made very good business sense. Instead of devoting a major part of the DeKalb factory to the designing and making of a relatively complicated Melville Clark chest design, why not simply free up that part of the factory by buying a standardized chest of about half the current cost, and that was compact, and exceptionally easy to install and service? Possibly Amphion was included as a joint owner specifically because the intent was to have them supply all of the player mechanisms for pianos built at the DeKalb facility. This would allow the company to effectively enlarge the factory for piano making, while getting rid of the headache of manufacturing the pneumatic player piano actions. Moreover, with the old style chest if a single valve behaved badly the entire cumbersome chest assembly had to be carefully removed and disassembled so as to get to and repair any offending components. In contrast, with the Amphion action all that was needed to remove a faulty valve was to undo a single hex nut that held a metal retaining clip in place and the valve unit could be instantly replaced—without having to remove or otherwise juggle the stack. But whatever the actual motivation to change, the Apollo database lists several instruments in the April 1921 to March 1925 range that were originally fitted with the Amphion action. Thus we can be certain that Amphion actions were installed throughout most of 1921 and thereafter.

Because of the change of ownership in 1919 for the Melville Clark Piano Company it is easily possible for an Apollo Player Piano to be fitted with a stack made by one of three different manufacturers. For an Apollo piano made between 1899 (but not distributed until 1900) and August 31, 1919 the stack would have been manufactured by the Melville Clark Piano Company. Apollo pianos made September 1, 1919, although there is evidence to suggest that the Apollo Piano Company (Wurlitzer in disguise) had working possession of the premises prior to September, the official takeover date marks the point at which Apollo pianos would contain chests identical or similar to the Melville Clark chests, but made by the Apollo Piano Company. Then sometime later (prior to April of 1921) the Amphion action replaced the Melville Clark design completely, but the exact date the changeover occurred remains a mystery.

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The Apollo Piano Database Project

Melville Clark Piano Company Era

The primary information that has gone into building up the Apollo Piano database has been meticulously gathered over a period of years by Jere DeBacker, a longtime player piano enthusiast and expert in the restoration, history, and music of player and expression pianos. Whenever he has had access to an Apollo expression piano he has carefully recorded mechanical and historical details of interest. The result of his thoughtful analysis is presented in an orderly, easy to read format in the report offered below.

By default, current ownership information is not displayed in database reports, but a provision exists whereby the current owner's name can be accommodated and then shown in database reports when specifically authorized. Doing this requires that specific written permission is granted to the Mechanical Music Press specifically authorizing us to show and/or distribute individual ownership information. Moreover, 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 resulting from the dissemination of any ownership information.

Wurlitzer-Apollo Era — Disposition Of Instruments Manufactured ledgers

As the Apollo Database project matured, it became evident that there was definite merit to going back into the Wurlitzer 80,000 and 105,000 series ledgers and pay more attention to the listed DeKalb made pianos. Earlier perusals were undertaken, but interest at that time was limited to coin operated pianos, organettes, and mortuary organs manufactured by Wurlitzer in its large North Tonawanda factory. These instruments are currently listed in the Wurlitzer Disposition of Instruments Manufactured database project located elsewhere in this Mechanical Music Registry.

Most of the entries in the 80,000 to 82,474 ledger pages (which equate to approximately the latter half of 1925) and the 105,000 to 107,599 ledger pages (latter part of 1927 to the latter part of 1928) are mostly relegated to somewhat mundane items (from a mechanical music collector's viewpoint), such as upright studio pianos or standard 88-note player pianos. There are many, many pages of them, but for the early part of the 1920s interspersed within the sea of standard pianos can be some kind of upright reproducing piano, or the occasional coin operated piano. Moreover, in the 1925 ledger (80,000 series) and the 1927/1928 (early part of the 105,000 series) ledger pages there are many piano brand names assigned to various pianos that are not usually associated with the Wurlitzer name or its (Apollo) DeKalb factory, such brand names as:

• Bauer Bros.
• Biddle (probably the Biddle Piano Co., New York City, New York).
• Caldwell (Possibly the Caldwell Piano Company of Cleveland, Ohio, officially commencing business in September of 1910. The Caldwell brand was also one of the lesser-known brand names sold by Sears Roebuck & Company. Wurlitzer appears to have built some Caldwell pianos during the late 1920s.)
• Clark.
• DeKalb (The DeKalb Piano Co., of DeKalb, Ill, was probably a subsidiary of Wurlitzer, with Edwin S. Rauworth, as president, a man who was also the president of the Apollo Piano Company, a subsidiary of Wurlitzer.)
• Ellwood (Known to have been marketed by Wurlitzer, but exact relationship to the Wurlitzer company is unknown.)
• Erek (probably Erek Piano & Player Co., New York, manufacturing pianos, piano players. Incorporated by J. G. Erek, C. D. Erck, and others.)
• Getman.
• Gilsenan (possibly Gilsenan Piano Company, N.Y.
• Haynes.
• Hoffman.
• Hollenberg.
• LeVine (probably the F. E. LeVine Piano Co. of Detroit, Michigan. F. E. LeVine was formerly connected with the Smith, Barnes & Strohber Co., but left there on August 1, 1922, to enter business for himself.)
• Lyric (The Lyric Piano Co., of New York City, was bought out and became a subsidiary of Wurlitzer.)
• Mayer Bros. & Bramley (Mayer Bros. & Bramley, Inc., New York City.)
• Mehlin & Sons.
• Milner (The Milner Piano Manufacturing Co., and the Milner Musical Co., of Cincinnati, Ohio, seem to be essentially the same entity, and owned by Wurlitzer.)
• Nisley (possibly the Nisley Practice Piano Company, of Portland, Oregon.)
• R. L. Loud (Robert L. Loud Music Company, Buffalo, N.Y.)
• Schaff Bros. (established in 1868. Thought to have been bought out by Wurlitzer during the 1920s.)
• Spence (possibly the Spence Piano Co., Zanesville, Ohio.)
• Stratford (possibly the Stratford Piano Company of New York.)
• Windsor (The Windsor—"The Home Piano"—brand was sold by the Chicago based Montgomery Ward mail order house. According to The Music Trade Review, August 26, 1916, the Windsor piano line was introduced through the company's latest 1916 catalogue. The piano was advertised as shipped directly from the factory to the customer, but what factory is not specified. What is known for certain is that Wurlitzer manufactured at least a few Windsor player pianos in its DeKalb factory.)

Many of the style descriptions are consistent, if not highly descriptive, but some often seem inconsistent. A style number, for instance, if and when given, sometimes applies to more than one brand of piano, such as a Strad, a Farny, or a Kingston piano, but that probably all shared the same furniture case style. As more entries are input into the database it appears more and more certain that the style number represents a specific case style, quite independent of the brand name applied or whether, or not, a player mechanism was installed. In the absence of more detailed information it was quickly recognized that to make irrefutable sense of the sometimes confusing nomenclature it was probably best to just record all of the 80,000 and a good portion of the 105,000 series ledger pages by putting them into a single unified database, where individual items could then be easily sorted and compared side-by-side in various ways, so as to perhaps better understand and more accurately interpret what often seemed like irregularities. But is it worth the effort? Whatever advantage there may be in converting the two sets of ledger pages into a single combined database one benefit that comes to mind is that, if nothing else, this effort will provide a better overview of what came out of Wurlitzer's large DeKalb, Illinois, piano factory.

One thing is abundantly clear, by mid 1925, for which Disposition of Instruments Manufactured information is readily available, the production at the DeKalb factory no longer resembled that of the old Melville Clark years. The emphasis was on piano sales, not on technical excellence or mechanical innovation. The complicated but expertly crafted creations of the Melville Clark era were gone, and a mix of standardized upright non-player studio pianos and 88-note players were churned out in large numbers, with only a very infrequent upright reproducing piano fitted out with an Art Echo (Amphion) or Recordo system showing up on the books. In addition to the company's own price point brands, it appears that Wurlitzer also supplied both players and non-players for subsidiary companies like Lyric or Milner, as well as for many other independent companies and/or marketing outlets, such as Robert L. Loud Music Company, of Buffalo, New York, or Mayer Bros. & Branley, Inc., of New York City.

Apollo Piano Project Database Definitions and Explanations

A few items in the Apollo Piano Project database report are technically a little out of the ordinary. Consequently, the necessarily terse headings and/or line descriptions intended to keep the report clean, simple, and easy to read can sometimes unintentionally be the cause of some confusion. The report header itself contains a couple of style notes to clarify the most easily confused items, i.e., "Case Height" vs. "Overall Height" and "Scale." But there are other items that might be confusing to the uninitiated, too, and so to forestall any awkward bewilderment, as well as not clutter up the report with endless style notes, the following explanations are offered in alphabetical order, which may help the reader to more fully understand and/or relate the database information to their own Apollo piano. The list that follows does not include every item in the database report, but anything not covered here ought to be self-evident:

• Action Date: This date is often hand written on the bass end of the piano action. Frequently, it cannot be seen unless the action is removed from the piano. Sometimes, the date is stamped, and again usually on the bass end of the 2-3” wide wood rail onto which the action parts are screwed. Often it is handwritten in red or green.
• Case Height: Measuring the case only, along the side of the piano, on the outside, with the lid up. Do not include the casters or the lid.
• Case Type: Upright or Grand Piano - or maybe a push up player, or a remote player.
• Case Veneer: Usually either Mahogany, Walnut, or Oak, but sometimes a fancy grain or burl-wood. Sometimes brown stain, or red stain on Mahogany.
• Dynaline: The Dynaline pointer device is not installed on all Apollo pianos. The idea is to keep the Dynaline pointer hovering over a special blue Dynaline printed on the music roll, and do this by adjusting the vigor by which the foot pedals are operated. By following the blue Dynaline a degree of piano expression is provided that matches the intent of the music roll recording artist.
• Glass over Spool: Indicates whether there is a sliding glass door in front of the spool box, or not, or is blank, or is unknown. Please note that if the track that holds the sliding spool-box access doors has an extra, or unused track, then the piano almost certainly originally had a sliding glass door.
• Number of Ribs: Ribs can be observed and counted on the back side of the piano. Ribs are approximately one inch wide and run diagonally, and are glued across the back of the sound board. Some pianos have 15 ribs, some have 14, some have 12.
• Overall Height: - Measuring from the floor to the top of the lid on the piano. This can vary with carpet, replaced casters, etc.
• Plate Date Code: In early pianos, this seems to be cast into the very bottom right hand corner of the plate. Somewhat later it was cast into the plate behind the bass strings and above the bellows and below the keybed. In even later pianos, the number is often behind the strings and behind the key bed, where it is hard to see without removing the player action. Often the year seems to be first, for example: 16 1 26 could translate into January 26, 1916. However, the date code format seems to vary over the years, probably at the whim of the pattern-maker, which makes for a guessing game as to exactly what the actual date represented might be. Moreover, the plate date probably represents the date when the pattern-maker finished constructing the plate pattern, from which many plates would have been cast. As such, the plate date is only a general approximation as to the era in which the piano plate was cast, or when the piano itself was assembled.
• Plate Height: Measured from the bottom of the cast metal gold painted plate to the top of the plate, usually easiest to do on the treble end of the plate.
• Plate Number: This number will be cast into the plate on the bass end about a foot down from the top of the piano. Numbers to date range from 0 to 20. This is a one or two digit number and it is clearly visible with the top lid open.
• Serial Number: The serial number is painted on the plate, or it may be may also be stamped in the soundboard just under the plate number. The serial number may (or may not) be stamped on the player action, but if so usually on the bass end on top of the valve chest.
• Scale: in the form of ##,##,## representing the number of notes in the bass section, the number of notes in the tenor section, and the number of notes in the treble section.
• Spring / Air Motor: The spring motor was probably standard in the early pianos, and optional in some later pianos.
• Stack Type: Stacks were made by Melville Clark Piano Company up until the end of August of 1919, whereupon Wurlitzer (Apollo Piano Company) officially took command of the company on September 1, 1919. Soon thereafter Amphion stacks were used in at least some models. Variations in pneumatic stack construction include:
  • 3-tier early stack with pneumatics facing forward, and pushing down on the keys.
  • 4-tier early stack with pneumatics facing forward, and pushing down on the keys.
  • 3-tier common stack with pneumatics facing rearward, and with a lever system pushing down on the keys just behind the fall board.
  • 3-tier late stack with pneumatics facing rearward, and with ordinary strikers that lift up on the action.
  • Solo Stack above the keyboard, with cranks that lift a hook near the rear end of the piano keys.
  • Solo Stack above the keyboard, with rods that push up on the piano action stickers.
  • Solo Stack below the keyboard, with rods that push up on the back of the piano keys
• Type of Player System: This could be a 58/65/88 note multi-roll player, a regular 88-note, a Solo Apollo, an Art-Apollo, a Solo-Art-Apollo, or something else.

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.apollo_p06_style

Distribution of Database Information
Last Updated on January 9, 2023

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.

Melville Clark Piano Company database reports for Apollo Pianos. Download the current Apollo database report as a PDF file by clicking on the button below.
35 pages.
Wurlitzer "Apollo-Era" Disposition of Instruments Manufactured Reports These database reports show certain manufacturing output for the Wurlitzer Company AFTER it took possession of the old Melville Clark Piano Company facility in DeKalb, Illinois. The Wurlitzer 80,000 through 82,474 series ledger pages cover the latter part of 1925 production; while the 105,000 through 107,599 series ledger pages show output from the latter part of 1927 up through the latter part of 1928.
118 pages.	123 pages.
115 pages	122 pages.
121 pages	129 pages.

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:

Database information compiled by Jere DeBacker, and transferred into database format by Terry Hathaway.

Text by Art Reblitz and Terry Hathaway.

Additional information: Jere DeBacker, Allen Kraxberger, and Rich Schommer.

Graphics:

Terry Hathaway, Jere DeBacker, and Apollo catalogue and other related music trade information courtesy of Terry Smythe.

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