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| A old Jacob Brothers Piano Upright Grand |
Paula had it shipped from her Grandma Emma & Great-Aunt Lee's in Philadelphia to Nassau County and then, finally, to her home in Suffolk County.
After reading an article in the New York Times about the dumping of pianos into the trash, she sent this picture and some history.
The Jacob Brothers Piano Company was established in 1878 as a large retailer in New York and Boston. They described themselves as "one of the most progressive and successful concerns in the piano industry, with several retail stores in the city of New York and in other important cities of the east." They also stated their pianos and player-pianos "durable instruments, their finish being exceptionally fine and the tone quality satisfying".
There is no mention of Jacob Brothers after about 1955. And I wonder what shift and change in New York led to their disappearance.
However, Paula's "pinano" is still here. "It is very damp here", she wrote me, "and it doesn’t stay in tune long but I love it dearly."
After reading an article in the New York Times about the dumping of pianos into the trash, she sent this picture and some history.
The Jacob Brothers Piano Company was established in 1878 as a large retailer in New York and Boston. They described themselves as "one of the most progressive and successful concerns in the piano industry, with several retail stores in the city of New York and in other important cities of the east." They also stated their pianos and player-pianos "durable instruments, their finish being exceptionally fine and the tone quality satisfying".
There is no mention of Jacob Brothers after about 1955. And I wonder what shift and change in New York led to their disappearance.
However, Paula's "pinano" is still here. "It is very damp here", she wrote me, "and it doesn’t stay in tune long but I love it dearly."
**
Paula, an old, dear friend is the twinkle in a witty observance and the soft of a breeze. Born in New York City Sloane Hospital for Women, as it was called then, she lived in the Bronx until she was 12. Then she was dragged away to Nassau County - "very annoyed". She has repeatedly dazzled and inspired me with emails filled with poems and photos from her life that sing the secret heart of soul, cat or others.
