I have recently negotiated to purchase a Steinway grand piano and during this was shown some paperwork linked to its past. One such letter was from Steinway & Sons in 1943 and the address of Steinway Hall at the time was 1 & 2 St. George Street, London. This brought back early memories of visiting Steinway Hall as a very junior technician just starting out in the piano trade. I remember meeting the legendary Bob Glazebrook who was most kind in showing me around and as I remember it I was left to wander about the huge stock of concert instruments entirely as I wished.
Things I remember from those visits were the large scale letters on the short side of the main rim simply saying -STEINWAY. This rather vulgar advertising was scaled down in time and we have seen the size of letters on the side of the piano go up and down in size over the years. I also remember scrounging as much literature and brochures as I could and eagerly reading and soaking up the information on the train on my journey home.
Ah…them were the days….
