Cremona Pianos and Orchestrions
The Marquette Piano Company, of Chicago, Illinois, began in 1905 by manufacturing
Marquette player pianos and selling player piano actions to other piano companies
that didn’t want to make their own. Under the guidance of J.P. Seeburg, one
of Marquette’s founders, the firm introduced the Cremona coin operated piano
in 1907. Starting in that year, Seeburg took Marquette’s entire output of Cremona
coin pianos and operated them in commercial locations in the Chicago area. In
1909, when Seeburg left Marquette and introduced his own brand of coin pianos,
Marquette continued on its own and remained in business, adding orchestrions
and photoplayers to its line, until it faded away in the 1920s.
Using the Information on this Page
This page continues with detailed descriptions and photos of various technical
and/or mechanical features, which are deemed important for a truly useful understanding
of both the database reports and to effectively fill in the Survey Reporting
Form. The actual database reports and
survey form can be accessed in the Distribution of Database
Information section and then clicking on the large
Download button at the bottom of
this page.
Cremona Serial Numbers
Since Marquette wasn’t a large enough company to manufacture its own pianos,
it obtained many, if not all of its pianos, ready for installation of player
components, from Smith, Barnes & Strohber, a successful Chicago maker of regular
pianos. These pianos are characterized by a two piece piano plate, with the
upper part covering the pinblock separate from the lower frame, with a large
flowery casting in the upper plate between bass and treble sections, and an
extra vertical frame member in the mid-treble of the lower plate resulting in
four sections of hammers instead of the usual three. Similar pianos appear to
have been used in early Operators (Coinola) instruments, and in 1920s Chicago
Electric coin pianos made by Smith, Barnes & Strohber.
107000 to 139999 series (circa 1907-1913 Smith, Barnes
& Strohber numbers)
Certain
early Cremonas have Smith, Barnes & Strohber piano plates and six-digit serial
numbers. Examples in this group that we have observed to date have numbers ranging
from 107,000 to 139,999, made between 1907 and approximately 1913. (These numbers
represent the total number of pianos made by Smith, Barnes & Strohber during
these years, only a small percentage of which were used for Cremona pianos.)
These dates don’t coincide exactly with the dates reported in the Pierce Piano
Atlas, a situation which applies to a number of early piano companies that merged
with other larger companies that didn’t keep old production records.
7800 to 12800 series (circa 1912-1918 Marquette numbers;
possibly includes a wider range of numbers)
In
the early ‘teens, Marquette began using its own numbers and piano plates of
somewhat different design. Documented numbers range from 7896 (circa 1912) to
12790 (circa the late ‘teens). The authors believe these to be Marquette’s own
production numbers, indicating a total of over 4,800 Marquette pianos in this
series. According to pneumatic stack numbers and hand-written dates found inside
the cases, it seems possible that Marquette used some pianos with its own serial
numbers and others with Smith, Barnes and Strohber numbers concurrently for
a year or two.
15000 to 25000 series (early ‘teens; need more information)
There are also a few Cremona pianos and Marquette home player pianos with
numbers ranging from 15,000 to 25,000 that don’t fit into the other series.
Although the numbers are higher than in the paragraph immediately above (7896
to 12790), pianos in the 15000 to 25000 series have the earlier belt-drive mechanism
from the crankshaft (type 2). To date we have no stack numbers for pianos in
this series, except for one player piano (25254) with stack 2353, the earliest
stack noted to date. More information is needed before valid conclusions may
be drawn.
Cremona Stack Numbers
Most
Cremona pneumatic stacks are numbered, indicating the order in which instruments
were produced regardless of whether the piano serial number was Marquette’s
or Smith, Barnes & Strohber’s. The number is usually stamped on the front of
the stack directly behind the fallboard, usually somewhere between the left
end and the center. Stack numbers tell the total number of Marquette stacks
made and to help pinpoint the introduction of important mechanical changes through
the years. It will be helpful if readers who submit Cremona information will
take the time to remove the upper front panel and music shelf from the piano
to make note of the stack number.
Extra Instruments
Cremona coin pianos and orchestrions with one rank of pipes had either stopped
flutes, open flutes, or violins. Metal violin pipes or stopped wood flutes were
used in a few early instruments, but the majority of later Cremona G pianos
have open wood flutes. Style J orchestrions with two ranks usually had violins
and open flutes, but the number of pipes per rank varied, with a few early examples
having fewer pipes than later ones. Style K orchestrions had open flutes, wood
violins and wood piccolos. When submitting information for an instrument with
original pipework, please specify what type of pipes are used and how many there
are in each rank.
Style J orchestrions either had a wooden xylophone or steel Deagan Una-Fon
orchestra bells. Judging by the few remaining examples with Una-Fon bells, these
occurred mainly in early examples of the style J orchestrion.
Art Glass
Most Cremona models were depicted in original advertisements and catalogs
with standardized art glass designs. These have been reproduced in The Encyclopedia
of Automatic Musical Instruments by Q. David Bowers, and in the forthcoming
Reblitz/Bowers Guide to Coin Operated American Pianos and Orchestrions
by Arthur A. Reblitz and Q. David Bowers.
Most style G coin pianos had the glass shown in company advertising, with
predominantly light green (or less commonly, light blue) motif. All style K
orchestrions had a combination of colored and beveled clear glass, permitting
a partial view of the interior parts. Most style J orchestrions had colored
glass, usually with a predominantly blue background, but a few early examples
had a combination of colored and beveled clear glass.
Certain Cremona instruments also exist with art glass not shown in original
literature and for which only one or a few examples are known. Some of this
undocumented art glass is exquisite in design and detail, as in two known examples
of Cremona Style G pianos—each somewhat different—showing ancient Pompeii depicted
with Mt. Vesuvius erupting in the background.
Mechanical Design Changes
Cremona mechanisms, including roll drives, pneumatic stacks, coin accumulator
mechanisms and vacuum regulators underwent several notable design changes over
the years.
Roll Drive Mechanisms
-
In
the earliest roll drive observed by the author, a pulley is mounted on the
front end of the crankshaft. A belt runs from this pulley to a shaft behind
the motor. The right end of this shaft has several more pulleys and belts
to drive the spoolbox. The music speed is adjusted by moving one of the
belts to one of several positions on a stepped pulley behind the roll mechanism.
-
The
second system observed is similar to the first, but has a larger stepped
pulley under the roll mechanism for changing the speed of the music.
-
The
early all-belt system was prone to slipping during rewind, when the spoolbox
required the most input torque. In the next design, a shaft running left
to right across the bottom replaces the long belt. A worm on the crankshaft
drives the left end of the shaft. The right end has a large sprocket with
a non-slipping chain for driving rewind and a round belt running to a stepped
pulley for play. In this and later systems, the motor sits on a tall stand
above the shaft.
-
Another
intermediate design featured a friction wheel running between a pair of
spring-loaded drive cones. The speed is regulated by moving the friction
wheel left or right through a linkage connected to a knob located under
the keyboard. The output shaft of the second drive cone has a sprocket with
a chain running to the roll mechanism, eliminating the last roll drive belt.
This system was apparently first made with the driving cone in the back,
and later in the front, although the difference might have been due to the
depth of the piano case or some other mechanical necessity rather than age.
More information is needed.
-
The
next design change was to replace the drive cones and play chain with a
friction drive wheel on a vertical shaft, with a bevel gear on the top end
of the shaft turning the takeup spool shaft. The rewind drive chain remains
the same.
-
Later
Cremona cabinet style 10 and keyboard styles 20 and 30 used a completely
different roll mechanism incorporating a tune selector that enabled patrons
to fast-forward or rewind to any song they wanted by selecting it on a numbered
dial. In keyboard-style pianos, this was located above the keyboard behind
a door rather than under the keyboard where all the earlier styles had been
located. Cremona photoplayers used a similar roll mechanism with fast forward
and rewind, enabling the operator in a theatre to select music appropriate
for each scene on the screen by pressing buttons or turning dials.
Spoolboxes
In
very early Cremona pianos, the spoolbox or music roll mechanism had wooden sides
and a wooden tracker bar. After a short time, these were replaced with cast
iron side frames and metal tracker bars.
Pneumatic Stacks
There are two main types of Cremona piano stacks.
-
Earlier
stacks have the tracker bar tubing connections and adjustable bleed screws
located on top near the back. While this type of stack works very well for
a long time, when it was subjected to very heavy commercial use in a dusty
location, dirt and paper lint sucked into the tracker bar was deposited
under the pouches until they were packed full, impeding the operation of
the valves.
-
In
later stacks, the tubing connections and adjustable bleeds are in a rail
on the front of the stack for easier access. These have less of a problem
with dirt accumulating and becoming packed under the pouches.
Coin Accumulator Mechanisms
-
Very
early Cremonas have a coin chute with a built-in electric switch. When the
nickel reaches the bottom of the chute pictured here, it bridges across
two contacts and completes the circuit to the motor. At the end of the tune,
the shutoff pneumatic separates the contacts and drops the nickel into the
lower chute to the cash box. Unfortunately, sparking tended to weld the
coin to the contact points, making shutoff unreliable.
-
In
the second type of accumulator, the nickel hits the end of a long lever,
which rotates a pinned wheel, closing a separate set of points. Additional
nickels deposited while the piano is already playing add credits by rotating
the counting wheel. This system relies on the weight of each nickel to trip
the lever and wheel.
-
For
a short time, Marquette used an accumulator mechanism with two pneumatics.
In this style, the first nickel turns the piano on mechanically, but if
additional nickels are inserted while the piano is playing, a pallet valve
connected to the trip lever actuates a credit pneumatic, something like
in a later Seeburg accumulator.
-
Later
Cremonas incorporate an accumulator similar to Wurlitzer, Nelson-Wiggen
and Western Electric accumulators, in which each nickel releases a small
trip lever, allowing a spring-loaded ratchet wheel to turn one notch, closing
the points and counting any successive nickels. This design is more reliable
than the earlier style in which the weight of the nickel must turn the wheel.
Cremona Orchestrion Vacuum Regulators
-
Early
Cremona J and K orchestrions have a loud-soft vacuum regulator with two
separate control pneumatics, set into operation by a lock and cancel mechanism
which responds to the loud and soft expression holes in the music roll.
The control pneumatics alternately push a spring-loaded vacuum regulator
to a louder or softer position. In most other brands of vacuum regulators
the soft setting is adjusted by regulating the spring tension that pulls
against the regulator pneumatic. The spring rate is uniform enough through
its range of motion that the regulator works regardless of how many notes
are playing. In contrast, however, in the early Cremona system the soft
pneumatic isn’t as effective as a spring because its applied force is unstable
and constantly changing depending on how many notes are playing. It can,
nonetheless, be made to work more effectively by removing the connection
between the soft pneumatic and the regulator, adjusting the regulator with
a spring, and then letting the loud pneumatic do all the work.
-
In
later orchestrions, the vacuum regulator's soft pneumatic was eliminated,
leaving a more conventional spring-loaded vacuum regulator with one pneumatic
that pulls against it to make the piano louder. The expression lock and
cancel perforations in the music roll still controlled a lock and cancel
mechanism, but in the later style mechanism it only turns the loud control
pneumatic on and off, rather than switching between loud and soft control
pneumatics as in the earlier system.
Cremona Inspector's Initials and Date
Many
Cremona pianos, especially early examples, have a date and inspector’s initials
written in pencil on the inside of the left side of the case, usually near the
top, in front of the piano plate or tuning pins. Where known, they are included
in the database comments, such as HW 3/26/1913 TD, or K 5-15-12. Since these
easily damaged and easily overlooked markings are often the only clue to when
a Cremona instrument was made, please be careful not to remove any such markings
when cleaning or restoring a piano.
Other Comments
The late Harvey Roehl (of Vestal Press fame) often mentioned the exceptional
quality of materials used when he observed the beautiful birds-eye maple interior
veneer and solid mahogany pneumatic actions. Unfortunately, Cremona orchestrions
often have more stripped screws than any other brand thanks to the beautiful
but relatively soft mahogany parts. This problem may be overcome during restoration
by cross plugging the screw holes with harder wood. Marquette’s use of adjustable
vents in the pneumatic stacks and xylophone actions necessitated occasional
adjustment, unlike most of their competitors’ products, although with meticulous
restoration and reasonably good humidity control, it is possible to achieve
excellent repetition for years without further reregulation.
The expression in Cremona orchestrions is less effective than it otherwise
might be, because the control valves for the large piano pedal pneumatics are
located in the piano stack instead of being in a separate valve box. If the
expression regulator is adjusted to play the piano very softly when the roll
calls for soft expression, the stack vacuum isn’t high enough to reliably engage
the piano soft pedal, losing the effectiveness of this important expression
device. If the soft vacuum level is set high enough to operate the soft pedal
pneumatic, it doesn’t lower the piano stack vacuum as much as it otherwise might.
Certain restorers add a separate valve box operating on full pump suction to
operate the large control pneumatics, which then allows the piano to be adjusted
to have greater expression.
In all, well-restored and regulated Cremona coin pianos are beautiful looking
and sounding instruments. Regrettably, the Marquette Piano Company was not as
prolific a manufacturer as were Seeburg or Wurlitzer, and so Cremona instruments
are much less common then those two brands.
The Cremona Database
The primary information that went into building up the Cremona database has
been meticulously gathered over a period of 45 years by Art Reblitz, a longtime
expert in the restoration, history, and music of automatic pianos and organs.
Whenever he has had access to, or enjoyed the opportunity to rebuild, a Cremona
piano or orchestrion he has carefully recorded mechanical and historical details
of interest. Many other people, listed under
Acknowledgements in the Introduction to the Registry, also submitted information
to Art. The result of his painstaking effort is presented in an orderly, easy
to read format in the report offered below.
By default, current ownership information is not integral to the database
project, but a provision exists whereby the current owner's name information
can be accommodated and then shown in database reports. However, this will be
done only if and when specific written permission is granted to the Mechanical
Music Press specifically authorizing us to show and/or distribute individual
ownership information. Furthermore, if and when such authorization is granted
the Mechanical Music Press and/or its authors shall assume no liability or responsibility
of any kind, nor to any extent, regarding any inferred, purported, or actual
privacy intrusions, incidents, or claims.
Updating the Database and Reporting Errors
We cordially invite and solicit additional information for the database
on Marquette and Cremona pianos that are not in this list, and additional details
for pianos that are already listed but have little information.
To facilitate the reporting of database errors and/or new or additional information
regarding Marquette and Cremona pianos and orchestrions please click on the
Survey Reporting Form button in
the options panel below. Please note: We welcome any survey information, whether
it be only the brand, model, and serial number, or all requested details. We
realized that it can be difficult (even for an experienced restorer) to find
certain serial numbers without partially disassembling an instrument. Nonetheless,
please submit a form regardless of how many spaces you can currently fill in.
- Please be aware that the Mechanical Music Press and/or its authors may,
at their sole discretion, require some sort of verification as to the authenticity
and accuracy of any submitted information and/or material.
All database report information is offered
"as is," without any guarantee or warranty whatsoever of any kind, neither stated,
implied, nor inferred, as to the accuracy, correctness, exactness, suitability,
or usefulness of any content.
Distribution of Database Information
Last Updated on May 16, 2012
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Please do not contact the Mechanical Music
Press or Art Reblitz for further information regarding individual entries, because
all available information regarding each line item has been included in the
downloadable Cremona (Marquette Piano Company) database report.
