."

In those days the manufacturer had to make each article by hand that
went into a piano, which is the reason it took so long to finish the
instrument.

[Illustration: Piano made by Charles Albrecht, Philadelphia]

If the early records are reliable, the history of the piano in this
country begins at Philadelphia. In 1775 John Behrend, a German or Swede,
built an instrument in the Quaker city, and up to 1855 it continued to
be the center of trade in musical instruments. When we consider how
much the piano has contributed to the happiness of mankind and to the
promotion of art and culture, the honor conceded to the Pennsylvania
city is by no means a small one. The first spinets and virginals made on
this side of the water were undoubtedly of Philadelphia manufacture.
This was in the year 1742. Along with its musical progress it is said
that the first hand or barrel organs were made there, and of the latter
some one says: "They are the curse and plague of the modern high class
individual." A Scotchman, who settled in Philadelphia near the end of
1785, was the maker of the hand-organ.

To show that the town was progressive in all kinds of instruments, we
find that the historical society of Philadelphia has records of the
first organ built there in 1737 by one Mathew Zimmerman. Local
historians claim it to be the first one built in America. John Clark
built one at Salem, Mass., in 1743, for the Episcopal church at that
place. This puts Massachusetts well to the front in early musical
history. Zimmerman's will, probated the same year he finished the organ,
bequeaths it to his nephew and expresses the hope that he would learn to
play upon it, adding, "If not, it can be sold, owing to its being so
much of a curiosity."

[Illustration: Piano, Primitive German Action. Eighteenth Century]

The story of the first piano to come into this country is truly romantic
and historic. The famous continental frigate "Boston," a
privateer, sailed into port with a British merchant ship as a prize. The
dauntless Captain Tucker was in command. The cargo was sold for the
benefit of the National Treasury, and among other articles was a
pianoforte of London make.

It was not until after the revolutionary period that the spinet and
harpsichord were superseded in this country by the piano. A newspaper of
1791 tells us that there were some twenty-seven pianos among the wealthy
Boston families. All were of English make. In 1840 slow, easy-goi