Stencil Pianos

Pianos that did not bear the manufacturer's name, but some other name, were known as stencil pianos. Stencil pianos had their beginnings in the 1890's, on up through the roaring '20's and beyond. They were more often than not, a cheaper version of a piano (either grand or upright) made by that manufacturer. Not all manufacturers practiced the "art" of making stencil pianos, but since there were hundreds of piano factories in the hey-day of piano making, dozens did.

Lots of games were played with stencils. Mail order houses put their own names on them, claimed to save the buyer a hundred dollars or more (remember back in the beginning of the 20th century, uprights nominally went for $350 or so, and the more expensive ones were above $500), and their literature claimed that they were the same quality, or better, than the pianos being sold at the local piano stores for more money. Of course, nothing could have been further from the truth.

Other stencils were of better quality, but you would have found them in dealerships rather than in mail order catalogues. Manufacturers making stencils for their dealers would not make them better in quality than those with their own name on them, for obvious reasons.

It was about competing for business, and some just did not have many scruples when it came to making a sale (some things never change). It was estimated that in 1908, nearly half of the 200,000 pianos sold that year, were of the stencil variety.