Photographs

Object Details

Names: Lake Placid Club; Berlin, Irving, 1888-1989; Lopez, Vincent, 1894-1975
Collection Author: Falcone Custom Grand Pianos
Collection Donor: Pratt, Read and Company
Collection Creator: Sohmer & Company

Topic: Piano; White Christmas; Washington Irving High School; Sohmer Park; Celebrities

Collection Citation: Sohmer & Co. Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Collection Rights: Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Scope and Contents: Photographs, whose functions are unknown and separate from those used in the art work for advertising, cover a range of subjects. The photo prints primarily depict views of pianos, but there are interior views of the factory and showrooms as well as of piano actions and construction. Also included are photographs of Harry J. Sohmer sr. and his sons Harry J. Jr. and Robert, as well as picture of their employees. Photographs of hotels, the Washington Irving High School in New York, and the Lake Placid Club in Lake Placid, NY, all customers of Sohmer & Co., were probably kept for marketing purposes, such as the inclusion in brochures. A large number of photographs depict celebrities, such as Guy Lombardo, Vincent Lopez, and Irving Berlin seated at Sohmer Pianos. The series also includes photographs with scene from the motion picture "White Christmas." The known dates of these photographs range between 1934 and 1961, but some may have been taken in the 1920s. The photographs are arranged by subject and are identified by a number consisting of the collection number, the box number, the folder number, and the number of the individual photograph.

Collection Restrictions: Collection is open for research.; Collection is open for research.