Keeping time

This metronome lived on top of my Grandma's piano for as long as I can remember. It used to have a door, but cohabitating with various cats (who, as everyone knows, own all high-up spaces) has caused it some damage over the years. It is also missing its base cover. 

 There is some grandfather sign here--the small piece of metal wrapped around the base of the upright is a sure sign my eternally-tinkering and fixing grandfather had a go at stabilizing it for some reason. 

This metronome, or as I have recently learned, "Metronome de Maelzel" as they were often called, despite not all being made by Maelzel, is a J.T.L product, or more properly by instrument maker Jerome Thibouville-Lamy. The lutherie and instrument-making families of Europe seem to be rather interconnected, and his was no exception. Rather than being a luthier or bow-maker himself, he was more of a business-man and distributor, selling makes from various ateliers.  More history here. 

This piece still works, and I do have the key for it. You can see the inside, serial number is plainly visible, as well as the words "New York", and instructions for how to ensure the device keeps good time. However I have not found any catalogs or listings to compare. The only thing I have been able to establish is that JTL's time in New York was fairly limited. That listing states that JTL's son and partner opened an agency branch in New York in 1889 at #106 Mercer street. Also, that the listing only lasts until 1909--was it closed down? Perhaps. But that is a short window of 20 years for the item to have passed through New York. Unfortunately for me that gives me more questions than answers!

This page is from "The Musician" magazine, second volume, which Google says is from 1897. The top center advertisement is for JTL metronomes, imported from France, through Hatch Music Company in Philadelphia, PA. My great-grandfather Henry A Post lived in PA for some time, perhaps he is the link here. 

This image is from "The Etude" Vol 14, issue 4, from 1896. This ad on the left column, middle ad, has JTL metronomes imported through Theodore Presser, Philadelphia PA as well. (Both magazines fully readable through Google Books--very cool). These ads precede the opening of JTL's New York offices, but indicate a popularity and demand for the items in the US. And it could be bought for $3.00, which is about a hundred of today's dollars. 

JTL badge visible on the parchment here as well as on the label inside. My grandmother was quite the musician, learning piano and vocal music as a young lady and giving recitals her whole life. As an adult she sang in the Bach Chorale and South Seattle Community College choirs as well as at her church, St Johns, right up until she died. Her piano is now with one of my second cousins, which is really nice. In the photos above it is pictured on my Mellville-Clarke which is a player piano (minus the player guts) from 1901...that I don't know how to play! (It is not a family piece) Someday I will learn. (I played orchestral music as a young person and guitar as an adult and sing, informally now)

If you have a metronome you suspect might be antique, this website might be helpful. 

I hope to make more of these posts as I enjoy them and want to share my beautiful old things.