Recently, I had my Harding baby grand piano tuned by the good folks at the Michigan Piano Company. My piano is third or fourth-hand, and I've been told it's quite old, but the tuner and the shop owner couldn't tell me anything significant about it -- even after looking in their books.

On the face above the keys, it says:

Harding
Detroit - New York

In the little triangle area of the inside metal frame, there's a serial number: 30970. On the underside of the music tray (I'm sorry, I don't know the terminology), there's a marking like this:

H
4 285 0

I'm not looking for a free appraisal here; I'm just looking for information. Here's what I know: I got the piano from my mother, who bought it from a school or church around 1977 for $500. A well-known piano dealer in the Detroit area at the time, Arnoldt Williams, offered to buy the piano if my mother didn't want it. I don't know when the school or church bought the piano.

The people at Michigan Piano Co. told me that there was once a Harding & Miller piano company and later at Harding Player Piano company, but my piano is not a player piano.

I just am curious about the history of this piano, and I would greatly appreciate any info or tips that any of you real piano people have!

Thanks!

Matt

Matt,

The Pierce's Atlas shows a Harding Pianos made by Weydig Corp, New York. The Weydig Paino Corp. was established in 1880 and discontinued in 1926. They later built radios in uprights, called the Radi-O-Player.

I'd guess that like many other New York piano manufacturers at the time, the Harding was a production piano. It's not listed in Dolge's 'Pianos and their Makers', so the Harding was probably a small concern. The value of your instrument in reasonable shape is worth probably less then $500, depending on the market. Hope the info helps.