Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Pianos
odd: label: Brand Name Index
content: Brand Name :: Company Name :: Type of Product

Beckwith :: Sears Roebuck & Co. :: Piano

Bijou :: Calenberg & Vaupel :: Piano

Bradbury :: F. G. Smith & Co. :: Piano

Capen :: Brockport Piano Mfg. Co. :: Piano

Conover :: Cable Co. :: Piano

Crown :: Geo. P. Bent Mfg. Co. :: Piano

Kingsbury :: Cable Co. :: Piano

Orchestrella :: Aeolian Company :: Piano

Pianola :: Aeolian Company :: Piano

Separable :: Calenberg & Vaupel :: Piano

Weber Pianola :: Aeolian Company :: Piano

Wellington :: Calenberg & Vaupel :: Piano
name: label: Creator
content: Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969
topic: label: Topic
content: pianos
label: Topic
content: Piano makers
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Pianos is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
creator: label: Creator
content: Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969
setName: label: See more items in
content: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Pianos
abstract: label: Summary
content: A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Pianos forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4.59 Cubic feet (consisting of 8 boxes, 2 half boxes, 5 folders, 7 oversize folders, 2 map case folders, 2 flat boxes (partial), plus digital images of some collection material. )
unitdate: label: Date
content: undated
label: Date
content: 1842-1965
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Pianos
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Ephemera
label: Type
content: Business ephemera
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: In 2016, with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund, the Archives Center at the National Museum of American History implemented the use of minimal level processing standards to increase information about and facilitate access to more of our collections. 
            
A large portion of stored material from the original acquisition received minimal level processing, which resulted in additions to this Subject category. This effort included basic arrangement and replacement of non-archival housing for long-term stability, but staples and other fasteners have not all been removed. Revisions to the encoded finding aid were made to reflect the added content in context to the previously processed material.

Minimal level processing and enhancement of the machine-readable finding aid completed by Nicole Blechynden, September 2017.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Ephemera
label: Genre/Form
content: Business ephemera
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection consists primarily of advertising cards, business cards, bookmarks, printed advertisements, scattered correspondence on letterhead stationery, pamphlets, bills/receipts, trade catalogs, fans, photographs, patents, song books, articles and books from manufacturers and distributors of pianos and piano parts. There is a substantial amount of materials for each company especially for the bigger and better known piano manufacturers. A number of these companies also sold organs. Among the materials there is a small number of programs, hymn books and music books. 

A large amount of the materials are images. Most of the images are of pianos and organs found primarily in the trade catalogues and on printed advertisements. The images on the printed advertisements are similar to those in the trade catalogues and include the same information such as dimensions of the piano, style name, price, type of wood frame, and attractive features. The piano is shown as a focal point of family life. Pianos are considered as important furnishings for the home. Manufacturers advertised pianos as companions and the source of inspiration, pleasure and entertainment. Images depicting women and family life are also particularly strong in this collection. 

There are a number of publications which discuss the history of piano manufacturing companies. These publications are included with the company related materials. Other publications include primers, early American hymn books, instructions on how to play piano and old favorite songs. 

The material is organized alphabetically by name of company. There are seven folders of material grouped by type: business cards, patents, shipping documents, clubs, schools, general images and shipping documents.
relatedmaterial: label: Materials in the Archives Center
content: Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)
label: Forms Part Of
content: Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.

Series 1: Business Ephemera

Series 2: Other Collection Divisions

Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers

Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
label: Related Materials
content: Researchers interested in other collections in the Archives Center that relate to the manufacture of pianos and piano parts should consult the following collections:  

Sohmer & Company Records, 1872-1989, Collection #349  

Steinway Piano Company Collection, 1850-1906; 1953, Collection #178  

Pratt-Read Corporation Records, 1839-1990, Collection #320  

Chickering & Sons, 1823-1985, Collection #264  

Wood & Brooks Company Records, ca. 1900-1960, Collection #457  

Wurlitzer Company Records, 1864-1984, Collection #469  

William Lenz Piano Tuning Collection, Collection #511