Manufacturing Records
name: label: Names
content: Management Service Company
label: Names
content: Wecker, Karl
label: Collection Author
content: Falcone Custom Grand Pianos
label: Collection Donor
content: Pratt, Read and Company
label: Collection Creator
content: Sohmer & Company
topic: label: Topic
content: Piano templates
label: Topic
content: Piano design
label: Topic
content: Design sketches
label: Topic
content: Capo d ̓Astro bar
setName: label: See more items in
content: Sohmer & Co. Records
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1872 -1967
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0349, Series 4
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Manufacturing records
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Diagrams
label: Type
content: Piano registers
label: Type
content: Lectures
label: Type
content: Design drawings
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Manufacturing Records
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Diagrams
label: Genre/Form
content: Piano registers
label: Genre/Form
content: Lectures
label: Genre/Form
content: Design drawings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Manufacturing Records date between ca. 1910 and 1967.  Included in this series are piano templates, design drawings, and sketches for the construction of a variety of piano styles, as well as several diagrams, such as the patented Capo D'Astro Bar.  The 1957 manuscript on the "Construction of the Sohmer Piano" was originally written by Harry J. Sohmer to assist Dr. Karl Wecker in the preparation of a series of lectures.  It details the history, methodology, and philosophy behind the construction of the Sohmer piano. Consultant reports, prepared by management engineers of the Management Service Company, make recommendations to increase the effectiveness or efficiency of the construction process.  For example, in the machine department, a report recommends "you should use a flat joint instead of a Linderman joint on core stock, in order to improve the quality of the joint and to save lumber."