Re: does anybody know.......

["Bruce A. Wahler" <bwahler@tiac.net>]

Jim Smith wrote:
> 
>    I have a question (so what's new?)......does anyone on this list
>    know where a company called Wm. Knabe & Co. is or was located? 
>    There is a decal on the panel between the upper and lower consoles
>    of my M3 that reads Sold by Wm. Knabe & Co. It would be interesting
>    to know where the organ came from, as with most things in South
>    Florida it's probably not a native.
>

I learned to play on a Wm. F. Knabe & Co. piano (circa 1880) -- boy does 
this bring back memories!  They were truly gorgeous instruments; the 
scrollwork on the legs and the ornate soundboard covers would cost 
$1,000s to make today -- if you could even GET someone to do it!  I 
played a very old 9' (???) Knabe grand piano in a hotel Lake Placid, NY 
last year; the body was done in a natural oak finish (which anyone who 
played a C-3 for several years will tell you, is the most beautiful of 
all woods! :-) ).

[Sorry, I got off track ...]

In answer to your question, my 1880s upright prominately displayed "Wm. 
F. Knabe & Co., Baltimore, Maryland" just below the music stand.  I 
think the grand piano said the same thing on it.  I don't know if they 
ever moved, but that's where they started.

-BW