Collection Guide
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Strong Museum Collection
ARS.0190
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Archive of Recorded Sound
Title: Strong Museum Collection
creator:
Aeolian Company
creator:
Mason & Hamlin
creator:
Amphion Piano Player Company
creator:
Strong (History Museum)
Identifier/Call Number: ARS.0190
Physical Description:
22 box(es)
22 records storage boxes (22 linear feet), including 129 bound volumes and 1 folder
Date (inclusive): 1825-1926
Abstract: The Strong Museum Collection contains piano, organ, player piano, and player organ patents in bound volumes from the Aeolian,
Amphion, and Mason & Hamlin companies. These date from circa 1825 to 1926 and are organized by dates and alphabetical indexes.
Also included is 1 envelope entitled 'Aeolian American Action'; undated.
Physical Location: Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University Libraries,
Stanford, California 94305-3076”.
The Strong Museum Collections consists of piano, player piano, organ, and player organ patents in 129 bound volumes from the
Aeolian, Amphion, and Mason & Hamlin companies. The majority of the patent volumes are from the United States Patent Office
but there are a small number from the English Patent Office. The volumes date from circa 1825 to 1926, and are organized first
by company, instrument and chronologically. There are also alphabetical indexes. Also included is one envelope entitled ‘Aeolian
American Action’; undated, which contains an advertisement.
The collection is in original order and each bound volume retains the Strong Museum call numbers in square brackets at the
end of the volume title.
The Aeolian company, founded in 1887 by William Tremaine, was a manufacturer of player organs and pianos.
Mason & Hamlin, based in Haverhill, Massachusetts, is a piano manufacturer that was founded in 1854 by Henry Mason and Emmons
Hamlin.
The Strong is an educational museum in Rochester, New York. The museum’s name has slowly evolved from the Margaret Woodbury
Strong Museum to the Strong Museum to the Strong National Museum of Play and finally The Strong.
(Source: Wikipedia, 2017-12-21)
This collection is in original order and arranged into five series:
Series 1: Aeolian Company, 1839-1926
Series 2: The Amphion Company, 1901-1926
Series 3: Mason & Hamlin Company, 1825-1909
Series 4: Patents Index, 1849-1913
Series 5: Patents of Player Action, etc., 1900-1908
Strong Museum Collection, ARS-0190. Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, CA.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head Librarian, Archive of Recorded Sound, Braun Music Center, Stanford, California 94305. Consent is given on behalf of the
Archive of Recorded Sound as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright
owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns.
Open for research; material must be requested at least two business days in advance of intended use. Contact the Archive of
Recorded Sound for assistance. Some of the bound volumes are fragile and may require special care during handling.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Mechanical musical instruments
Mechanical organ builders
Mechanical organs
Musical instrument makers
musical instruments and equipment
Musical inventions and patents
Organ builders
Organ (Musical instrument)
Patents--Great Britain
Patents--United States
Piano
Player piano
Player organ
Aeolian Company
Mason & Hamlin
Amphion Piano Player Company
Strong (History Museum)