The Beginning of Behr Brothers Piano Manufacturing - as reported in 1880 in the MTR magazine

A new firm of piano manufacturers was organized in this city (New York) under the name of Behr Bros. & Co., at Nos. 292 to 298 Eleventh avenue. The first two members of the firm have long been known to the piano trade as manufacturers of piano cases, and it is in the building used for that purpose that they are now making their pianos. They have associated themselves with Mr. Paul G Mehlin of this city, who has had almost a life-long experience as a practical piano manufacturer; beginning in Europe with Wilhelm Doner in Stuttgart, and afterwards serving here with such men as Jacob Decker, J. & C. Fischer, and lastly for thirteen years with Ernst Gabler.

During this long experience many good ideas concerning the manufacture of pianos have suggested themselves to Mr. G Mehlin, and some improvements in pianos have had their source in his brain. It would be difficult to find a man better qualified by experience and education for the mechanical department of the new firm than Mr. G Mehlin; for, in addition to his experience he combines a quality which goes a long way towards success, viz., a love for and an enthusiasm in his profession.The new firm propose at first to confine themselves to the manufacture of upright pianos of which they are making about ten per week at present, but will increase this number as rapidly as the growth of the business demands,to four or five times that number. Their facilities are large, the building which they occupy extending from 292 to 298 Eleventh avenue, New York city, five stories high, and covering a space of 75 x 100 feet, the whole substantially built of brick and situated in a part of the city adjacent to one of the principal lines of railroad communication, the freight cars of that road passing the door. All the upright pianos manufactured by this house will have the patent cylinder top by means of which the upper part of the piano can be opened for increasing the volume of sound or for tuning without disturbing the top of the piano, thereby enabling it to serve as a permanent resting place for ornaments, books or music. The cylinder top is one of the important features of the new uprights, and will no doubt add much to their popularity. In addition to this improvement the cases will be of entirely new and original designs, of which illustrations will be given in subsequent issues of this paper. In regard to the interior of the piano everything has been done that long experience could suggest to make a perfect instrument, Mr. G Mehlin himself superintending every detail. The firm state that only the best materials are used, and the result is a sympathetic and powerful toned upright.

Messrs. Behr Bros. & Co. state that they will spare no pains nor expense to make a really first class piano, and they will sell it at as moderate a price as is consistent with its quality and cost of manufacture. They also say that they have abundant capital to meet all the requirements of the new enterprise. The partners are men in the prime of life, in good health and vigor, and promise to make the new firm an important factor in the piano manufacturing industry of the country.

The demand for pianos in the United States is very large and is increasing at a greater rate than the increase in population, so there is plenty of room for the new firm, and we bespeak for it the favorable consideration of the trade and the public.

 

Fire at the Gabler Factory - Epilogue

One month later after the fire, the owner Ernst Gabler settled with his insurance company and began the task of rebuilding his factory himself. He expects to have the roof on his new building in eight

days, and to be moved in and at work again in his old quarters within three weeks. His customers have all remained with him as we predicted, and after the old factory is in running order again he will commence operations for erecting a new factory on the three vacant lots adjoining the original

building.

An Alfred Dolge Interview in 1881, Published in an 1881 MTR Magazine

Anything worth printing to-day?" one of our reporters asked while 
looking in at Alfred Dolge's office the other day, and a spirit of

mischief made him add: ''besides that bashful Sounding Board Advertisement

of yours?" That was too much, of course, and before he knew it, he

found himself in the sanctum, where Mr. A. D. unbosomed himself in his

usual drastic style.

" See here, sir, if an advertisement is to show what a man can do and is

doing, I should like to see one that is more to the point than mine. The

truth of my figures (which, by the way, never lie, you know) I can show

you from my books any moment, and if you will take the trouble of a trip

to Brocketts, you will see enough of the finest spruce there to make

my 41,000 Boards of 1880 twice over! I will just give you a nutshell full

of the fine points to which I have brought this industry, and then you will

understand its fabulously rapid growth."

Since I am cutting my stuff in my own forests, it pays best for the

present as well as for the future, to select only the largest and entirely

sound and straight trees; if I had to buy the stuff in the log, I could not,

of course, control the quality as I do now. Of every tree only the butt log

(the lowest 13 feet) is taken for sounding boards, no matter how clear and

tempting the next 13 feet look, because only this lower end is habitually and

constitutionally free from knots, wind shakes, cross grain and a dozen other

immoralities, of which you editors never dream. After sawing, the planks

are piled under open sheds and exposed to the sharp, dry, piercing winds of

our mountains for one or two years, which gives a most wonderful and

thorough seasoning without affecting the texture of the stuff. When

thoroughly seasoned, the boards are planed and edged, dried again for a few

weeks in steam-heated kilns, and then assorted according to length, width,

color, grain and other qualities, ready for use. This assorting, which is

performed by experts with admirably keen and quick eyes, is one of the

most important features of the whole work. Each lot contains several thousand

feet of faultless spruce of exactly uniform quality and size, so that the

men who ' match' or lay out the sounding boards,—experts again of ripe

judgment and unerring eye—are bound to make any number of boards absolutely

alike as long as they use the same lots of stuff. After gluing, which

is done with the best material obtainable and facilitated by several ingenious

machines specially got up for the purpose, the boards are tested, cut into

shape and pass through the planers,—unique machines again—where they

receive any thickness and taper desired, together with a highly finished surface.

This done, they are subjected to a final close examination and are then

ready for shipment. The test just mentioned consists in exposing a good

sample (say 6 or 12 boards) of each lot to a heat of 180 degrees Fahrenheit in a

steam-heated box for a few days. If they stand this without showing the slightest

effect, they are good; but if they crack or show any alteration, the entire

lot, which they represent, is put back for further seasoning until it stands the

test. So you see, complaints in this direction are well-nigh an impossibility.

The cases, especially those destined for export, are made as nearly air-tight

as possible, to keep out the moist air, and generally arrive in perfect order."

"Another good point in my favor is that I am a practical piano maker

myself, and have, with these my hands, made many a hundred sounding

boards in my day, all of which, I trust, are still doing duty and giving satisfaction.

So I know exactly what is needful, and have personally instructed

my foremen accordingly. Moreover, even now, when everything goes like

clockwork at the mills, and I am still waiting for the first word of complaint

about one of the forty-one thousand boards shipped last year, I never fail to

spend half a day or so in the sounding board department once a week, or

whenever I come to Brocketts, and to examine most critically into every

detail, down to the very glue brushes. That is what gives a man the right

feeling to stand up for h.s work if necessary. And the men like it too, I

assure you; for every one of them is ambitious and does his best. Why?

Because whenever I get favorable reports or other acknowledgments from my

customers abroad or here, I take the letters up to the factory and read them to

the men, and each one gets his due of the credit us well as of the more substantial

results.

" Where all these boards go? It would be easier to tell you where they

do not go. They go to about every place where there is a good piano made,

and where progress is appreciated.

" But now don't let me detain you any longer, sir; there is a nice half

column for you, and a good match to that advertisement you were pleased to

criticize just now. Good-bye!"