The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1876-01-27
From the New York Music Trade Review, Decem
Der J, 1873.
FRAUDS in THE PIANO TRADE.


A ss.tfins Expose or the Frauds Perps-
trated by MISCONCEPTIONS Persons on the
Leading PianOEOrte Makers-The State OF
The Law Necessity FOr . Trade Protective
AssOciatlOn-Tho History or the Decker
Plano.
Tho time has come when the frauds perpetatod by
INSCRIPTIONS persons ON the leading pianoforte
makers Of this country have assumed such dmen-
sions that they no longer bc endured In silence.
Not only the trade, but the public, are suffering
from them every day and we have, therefore, taken
upon ourselves the onerous duty of once for all
masking those per who, under the guise Of
great manufacturers name, boldly Hood the mar ket
with worthless instruments. The houses Of Chick
eripg. Steinway, Decker, Weber, Knabe aud Haines
are the principal firms whose names are either d.
rectly or In some mutlated shape put upon the in
struments which never saw light In their factories
but have been turned out Wholesale, like 80 much
sausagc-meat, from tho workshops Of men who look
upon the construction Of piano much In the light
OF q carpenter who makes cheap bedsteads by the
score, and considers the whole affair involving
much material, which, being knocked together any
taticn. - ~ '"'' - '' - '
alive indifference and supineness of the leading man
uiacturers hitherto inasmuch AS not only do these
Ssr they dspreests he value Of tHer panos Ia the
estimation OF the public, who are eontin ally treated
TO the sight of advertisements I'm the Herald In which
parties offer TO sell Instruments purporting to DO
genuine, at price. far below the market value Does
r r Ssse pan ssS o Be- f MAKE a
yertised as "being for sale at sl50l" Does Mr.
afford to rest under the public mputation that one
of his "grands , can be got ut ANY pricer' Does
instrument, advertised as theirs TO ali appearance
and rs "naving cost s"' can be got for $780, or
That the last mentioned firm have been forced to
take the matter p and gys ,hs ss sw
promising vny that we have devoted the rest Of this
IN Ina az or
brothers, with their usual enterprise have been the
never S@e retire s% Sa Of
which we can bring to bear We have enabled the
from the r'o osanshts Of knaves and rosues ''
TIE TRUE HISTORY OF THE DECKER PIANO.
4M. %So make sfs ss e ss .haS
e have right Of using Mn Sis fs for nearly
ION Of the pubic Of this These three firms
are,i. Decker Brothers, of 81 Union SQUARE, NV
YoiE; and. ). Decker 4 Brothers, OF 81 Blocker
street, New York. We now proceed to investigate
make u o Decker" piano, and to which Of the firms,
in the estimation Of the press, the public, and the
made the na"e Of pecfsr respected, popular and
valuable To do this We shall IN nowse intrude our
give the record of each house We aud others are
prepared to substantiate It..
MEssRs DECKER BROTHERS, OF 81 UNION SQUARE.
This hrm consists Of two brothers; John Jacob
Decker and David Decker. John Jacob Decker
1851, with the late firm of Bacon Raven, In 1854
on the death OF Mr. Bacon, the firm was reorganized
and continued in business MS Raven, Bacon CO.,
youny Mr.. Bacon taking his father's place, and Mr..
John j. Decker constituting the company, having
TSrs XIII an and "u aGsment t Thus john Decker
continued for eight years, till the year 1902 when he
the very house where Stenway started) in cOpjunc-
tion with his brother David, who previous to this
in and year out, AS ajourneyman.
The two brothers started on small capitalize
savings OF their steady indusry-and with no other
desire than To make lew square amos LOT INC re-
tail trade in New York ana its Vicinity. However
they were not de; tined ,,to bloom unseen. for the
late master: musician, Carl Apsehutz, t hold Of
am aut"graph letter as mannfacturers OF the Very
highest class" From this moment their fame rap.
after they had started in Ssrick street enabled to
to more capacous premises on Bleecker street,
moved their fac tory aud wsrerocms to Thirty fourth
street, and In 1870 opened separate warerooms In
linton Square. Being practical artisans and most
superior mechanics, they early entered upon the
the piano as much as possible. and in June, 1868,
the Scientific Americgm spoke in terms II the
then Just f patented After this their Strides il per.
iecting the manufacture of the instrument were
80, 20, ~ and 7s Which called forth the most IN,
eaniyocal praise from the press and the public, and
which have given them their present proud position;
s ,hG d"ns in highly s@dftSry hs% o.
bled them to develop in their instrument tone at
cn samr%Ss Ss m hs
which their improvement isheld is well shown in
the rapidly increasing business OF the frm In 81
pianoorte trade in the country, observed that the
sr Sos IN
direction. The genius and ability Of Mt. Hassard,
that paper the highest authority on all musical mat
tiers snd we md Its constant praise OF the insarn
the ps 81 'hS the hTo'
press, iadepeadsat Home Journal Sunday Times Irca.
@er and others when to this we add that una
solicited, the firm hold testimonials of high regard
Carl Bergman, a. B. Mills, William Mason, j. ii
Bonawtz, Henry J. Andres, Ed. Mario, Julia Rive,
steal profession It not be doubted that the press
of the country as body and tho musical profession
psrison Between the works Of other distiSsaishsd
We'll known mSsksrs raid deserved tribute to Tn
Decker Come we now to n, history Of the firn
next on our list namely, that OF
Which consists OF Mr. Myron A. Decker and Of Mr.
Barnes, and was formed in the spring of 1871, and
IL. III and Isl Third avenue. Br. barnes had beef
for many years In the employment OF Messrs. Chick
leaving them In ISL, went into partnership with MIR
Myron A. Decker, with whom he has continued ever
MIR. Myron A. Decker who. by the by, is In no.
wise related to the Decker Brothers, started in a
expiration Of a year he bought MIR Mixsel out and
them aud sold them to the public. In lass he made
Fair Se at 'T ~ hS
business Improbable, he broke up and came to New
broadway aud Fulton, and had some diiic,lty with
u rival restauratenr concerning the appropriation
Sn Me Let Toward the cose OF the
1901 he started rs piano manufacturer in Twenty:
the instruments he made. to the firm Of Ilsley i
Coz, of Broome street, who always put .Ilslcy
10, Nina hp tttAI tnfu tt.Ix
1865 When he persuaded Mr. George isiey toy to 20
into business with him as piano manufacturers,
@ sso to ess His han che sSs
concern and to put in such stock aud fixtures he
dollars and eighty-iour cents. We have it from Mr
Ilsley himself that tho Argument used by Mr.. Myron
tho 3 e the pseser 20
had made the nam. name Decker popular aud therefore
might enable them 10 do a good business Thus in
the year lsS W, Vas formed the firm Of Decker
fsiey became dissaiisaed With his ipartnsPs6ip,
Co., and ID e%poycd Mr. MyrSn Decker as ore
man Of his establishment till he failed. From 1868
to 1871, MIR. NJ. A Decker was, more or less out of
business In 1871 he entered into partnership with
Mr. Barnes, and has continued so, rs webaye already
We now come to the firm Of
,pEcTE DECKER PROS, or ~ BLEEcKrn ST., NEW YORK;
cial agencies to he doing business on the
reputation Of the firm OF Decker Bros, OF Union
lated nor connected and whose title they have
sought to copy closely possible. The firm con-
sists Of Mr.. Marcus A. Decker who Is the of Mr.
II. Ii. Decker, who was y well known tuner, and
died last winter. This Mr.. II. b.. Decker was the
brother Of Myron A.. Decker, of Decker
Barnes, and started In business In the year 1868 in
u small store In Blocker street as n retailer of
pianos. lie made an arrangement with another
brother, ii. Ii. Decker, n farmer, now living near
Binghampton. to use his name, and 30 put up the
firm name of Decker & Bro. This concern never
made piano during the whole course of its exist
ence. In 1869, MIR. Il. b. Decker's son, Marcus, the
only present survivor of this branch OF the family
was taken into the firm, which two years at erward
changed its name to Decker and Brothers, though
with moral or legal right TO do so, and re-
moved from Broome to Blocker street, where our
readers will remember the Decker Bros. made their
reputation. Their reason for doing this is most
obvious. On Mr.. II. Il. Decker's death Mr.. Marcus
A. Decker, his son, continued the business under
the old firm name.
From this account IL Is most clear
l. That the only firm entitled to the honor and
credit Of having obtained great reputation for the
Decker" piano are Mcssrs. Decker Bros, OF 30
Union square.
2. That Messrs. Decker a Barnes, though partial
manufacturers (inasmuch as they do not make all
the parts OF their ipstruments), not justified in
asserting as they do In their catalogue, that their
Myron A. Decker was the one who made the
decker instrument known, seeing that next to
years after the Decker Bros had started. Never
thciess they are fully entitled TO their firm name,
and do n legitimate business.
hat IA rE nfna m lsOaIl ~