I have a piano that has a NAMM sticker under the tuning bridge; can this number help me understand the maker, year and value of the piano?

Our office is frequently contacted by the owners of older pianos asking about a sticker they found on the back or underside of their piano. The sticker relates to a program that occurred just before World War I called "For the Advancement of Music." In the early 1900s, there was a significant increase in the number of misleading "stencil" pianos in the marketplace, which led to the establishment of this program.

Stencil pianos often had deliberately misspelled names on the fallboard that looked or sounded similar to well-known manufacturers. For example, "Steinbay" in place of "Steinway," "Baltman" to represent "Baldwin," "Chichester" instead of "Chickering" and "Bush & Gaerts" in place of "Bush & Gerts." These pianos were often of lesser quality, and the piano industry was very concerned that consumers were being misled into buying a potentially inferior product when they thought they were getting a piano from a name manufacturer.

"For the Advancement of Music" was a cooperative effort between the National Piano Manufacturers Association (NPMA)—now known as the Piano Manufacturers Association International (PMAI)—and the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). The goal was to identify for the consumer those pianos made by legitimate manufactures. Stickers were placed on every piano built for several years in the early 1900s with a serial number that was logged into a record book at the NPMA headquarters. Unfortunately, those records have been misplaced or destroyed over the ensuing years, with the result being the loss of a significant historical record.

Often those contacting our office about the stickers are hoping we can date their piano using the serial number on the sticker. Unfortunately, without the record book, that is not possible. In some cases, however, piano owners may be able to date their pianos with the brand name and serial number by referring to the Pierce Piano Atlas, which lists serial numbers for several of the older piano brands.