Hi Doug ~
The serial number on my XVIII is 744, which if we take the starting
serial number for this model into account (#501, according to the
Victor Data Book), should make mine the 243rd XVIII made?
One has to wonder how many they were being produced in a single day.
Models like this one I imagine must have taken longer, with the curved
cabinet structure, more hand-carved details, more careful selection
and placement of veneers, and all that additional gingerbread.
If it could ever be known how many were made in a day or a week, we
could get a fair idea of just what part of 1915 or 1916 any XVIII was
made.
Regarding the needle cup holder, I noticed that while my XVIII has it
on the right, my XVII has it on the left, which seemed a little odd to
me.
No handsprings at the moment, but I have to admit that it's been hard
to keep focused on my paying work here in my pop-up book studio, and I
steal a glance at the XVIII in the next room almost every time I step
out of the studio.
Andy
On Oct 23, 2009, at 4:53 PM, Douglas Houston wrote:
I don't recall if you told the serial number in your original post.
Yours does have the earlier ID plate, so it would suggest to me that
it's earlier than mine.
I'll have to look at a video I made of mine playing, but I think
that the needle cups are on the LH side of the playing compartment.
Could be wrong, of course.
Mine has a decal in the lid from J.L. Hudson's Piano Store. Hudson's
was THE store to buy things from, and the largest one in Michigan.
The store's now gone, the name is gone; Hudson's is just a memory to
us oldsters here, so the decal has a stronger meaning for many of us.
I'll bet you're still doing handsprings around the block over this
find.
Douglas Houston
[email protected]
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