The Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-02-25, Page 171
Battle just starting fQr piano bualderc
BY JIM FITZGERALD
The first piano that rolled off the
assembly line last week at the revived
Sherlock -Maiming piano factory in Clinton
may have signalled the revival of a nearly
dead Canadian industry.
But'the revival is a big gamble for the
three Clinton men and their Toronto in-
vestor, flying against the wind of high
intertest rates, a sagging economy, less
consumer disposable income, and cheap
imports.
Murray and. Carl Draper, and Joe Reid,
together with Toronton" n Norman
Hathaway, watched last s eek as Lois
Hathaway stroked the keyon the first„a'
piano that came off the line (the revived
factory and pronounced it su er-b!Mrs.
Hathaway is a member of. the Draper
-family, along with Murray -and -Bob -who
are offspring of the late Caryl W. Draper.
The first piano represented a great
amount of sweat, blood and even a few
. tears for Draper Brothers and Reid, as
they now ca 11 themselves, and as one of the
only two piano manufacturing companies
left in Canada, the battle is just beginning.
Joe Reid, the man who manages the
infant firm, said the Sherlock -Manning
name is highly respected in music circles,
and a tour threugh the plant soon shows
that
,quality ; nd c.raftmanship are
foremost on th manufacturing line.
"We've a ady got 70 orders from
dealers ---who are very loyal. They are
pleased with the product and the price,”
said Mr. Reid, who has been connected
with the local business for over 20 years.
The present staff of 16 full and part-time
employees turn out two pianos a day, but
increasing production requires carrying
higher inventories of supplies and finished
pianos, and with interest rates nearing the
20 -percent mark, getting -more operating
capital is out of the question for the time
being, Mr. Reid said.
The Sherlock-Manning',,name has been
associated with high quality musical in-
Pridecomes second to
getting day's work done
BY CATH WOODEN
One would think that the craftsmen and.
craftswomen who are spending their days
and snaking their living creating fine
pianos would be able to sit down and play
the finished product.
- But it 1pn't ss: There pis Qnl;y -one e : -
ployee at Sherlock -Manning in Cinton that
can play the piano and that is the tuner,
Dianne McLennaghan. The 25 -year-old
Blyth woman learned her craft at the
Heintzman factory in Hanover from the
five piano tuners that worked there before
Heintzman went under lastfall.
She then joined the Draper Brothers and.,
Joseph Reid in Clinton and is enjoying
herself more there. "It's small here and
friendly," she says of the factorywhich
employs about 10 people thus far. •
It takes°much time and patience to tune
a newly -made piano and Diane says that
the Drapers "are really picky," so that
they can maintain their high standards.. .
Only when pressed does Dianne admit to
a certain pride in her work. "Yes. I guessi
do have the last say before they pack a
piano." She is like the other employees tri
her shyness. .
"It's all in a day's work," insists Harold
Fremlin who has worked at the factory
since the end of World War II. "It's a good
thing for the town. But I don't think too
much about it...well, yes I guess it makes
me feel good." .
Fremlin's father made player pianos in
Clinton and set his son to work there after
the war. He works on the 'belly' of the
piano, notching intricate holes and wedges
onto the bridge ofl�the piano: ___
When the Sherlock -Manning factory
closed in Clinton for two years, Fremlin
stayed on as a piano repairman and
woodworker while there was work.
Bill Austin is another employee who
remained at the factory during the in-
terim. Austin has worked .there for 13
years as a finisher. He laughs and smiles
when asked if he feels proud when he
finishes a product.
"Oh, I don't know. I guess this job is
something to conquer. You're always
improving something by re -finishing it and
you,can see it so easily." Austin was in the
process of re -finishing an older piano that
had layers of stain of the wood. He held a
Dianne McLennaghan tunes pianos at the
Sherlock -Manning factory in Clinton. She
learned her craft from five other tuners at
Heintzman in Hanover. (Photo by'Cath
Wooden)
carved piece of the instrument and ran his
hand over it. "This wood has good
character," he said.
Jean Alexander has worked at building
Sherlock -Manning pianos for eight years.
She enjoys her job and enjoys the people
she works for. "They don't keep you
going," she says of Murray and Bob
Draper. Jean is currently putting together
.the backs of pianos though she tries to
learn about other jobs too.
"It's fascinating,". she readily admits.
"I' can tell which pianos I did. It's kind of
exciting."
ran EMI Is one of seven Sherioek-Manning employees that worked for Heinzman in Hanover
while the Ston factory was out of business. Here, Ian attaches the strings. (Photo by Cath
Wooden)
struments for 60 years, and in 1934 when
the late Caryl Draper designed and built:
the first apartment -sized .piano, the name
spread throughout the world.
The company was the result of a merger
of the Doherty Piano and Organ Company,
which.. had been manufacturing in Clinton
since 1869, and Sherlock -Manning Pianos
of London, Ontario. • Production was
consolidated in the Clinton plant in the
1920's.
In 1967, William Heintzman bought
controlling interest, and in 1978, having '
bought the remaining shares, he merged it
with Hpintzrhan Ltd., and moved the whole
ape rtation to Hanover.
Meanwhile, Caryl Draper's two sons;
along with their former manager Joe Reid,
purchased the Clinton plant and equip-
ment -from - Heintznaan after- the move.
There they manufactured furniture and
repaired pianos, as well as supplied the
Heintzman operation.
Last fall, Heintman went bankrupt, and
the Hanover plant was purchased by
Sklar-Peppler, 'a• furniture manufacturer
for 15 cents on the dollar. Sklar says they
still intend to turn .out -.pianos.
When He inztman went into receivership
last fall, Draper Brothers. and Reid,
together with Norman Hathaway, bought
the Sherlock -Manning name from the
receiver, and set out to make pianos at the
Clinton plant.
"Manufacturing pianos is a highly
ski!kd, labor intensive operation," said
Mr. Reid last week. "We expect before the
end of the year we will have at least 25.
people back on the payroll."
''urn to page:2A
the .
The first piano
'While Lois Hathaway plays the keys of: the ftrst Plinio to come 'off the line, the owners
watch, including, Joe Reid, Bob Draper, Murray Draper, and Lorne Hathaway. (James
Fitzgerald photos
SIGNAL
133 YEAR -8
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1981
ST,
SECOND SECTION
Brothers where they want to be
BY CATH WOODEN
Murray and Bob Draper do not like to
talk about themselves.
Murray and Bob Draper will tell you
anything you want to know about pianos
and about their factory. Murray wi i Show
you his little `gingerbread' cottage called
The Music Box and its history of recorded
music inside with enthusiasm, but don't
ask to take his picture.
At 63 and 61 years of age respectively,
Murray and Bob Draper have formed. a
company with Joseph Reid and re -opened
the Sherlock Manning piano factory in
Clinton. • They could have continued
repairing pianos and refinishing furniture
until they. could retire, but they chose to
start up the business again and pick up
where they left off as Canada's finest piano
makers.
Neither • one of them can think of
something they would rather be doing.
"It's a complicated work," says Murray.
"But it's nice." Murray works on the
`action line', assembling the hammer and
key actions while Bob works wherever he
is needed on any number of the jobs.
Neither one of them can play a note.
"Never-had--time-to-iearn,"-says Bob. "I
was into sports too much."
Murray may .not be.. able to play piano,
but he knows everything there is to know
about the intracacies of creating one. He
has also made a hobby out of music, a
valuable hobby. 1
For 30 years, Bob Draper has been
collecting music boxes and gramophones
and also has two organs, a player piano,
and a military band organ. He keeps his
collection in a cottage called The Music
Box in Clinton.
Murray explains that the first recorded
music invented around 1820 was in the
form of a cylinder box. He has nine of these
ranging in size and age. They were made
in Switzerland.
• Good ones "are awfully hard to come
by," says Murray and most of his were
purchased at antique shows and stores. He
says collectors get to know each other and
develop a line of .communication among
themselves.
Gradually, the cylinder boxes expanded
in scope to include bells and organ music.
He has an 1860 box that he bought in New
York and restored.
In 1 s..0, the Germans invented the disc
box which replaced the cylinder type.
Owners could buy more discs for a bigger
variety of music and this type could also
play much louder.
An Ametiican company improved fur-
ther this type in 1904 and manufactured a
$900 disc box which eventually evolved into
the gramaphone. Murray also has some of
these and several records which are very
thick and played at 78 r. p.m.
The Edison.. Company came out with a
cylinder gramaphone fit in 1904 and then
in 19W, introduced the flat disc model that
had a permanent diamond needle.
Murray also has a roller organ, which
was a common and cheap home en-
tertaiment. The owner had to stand and
crank the organ to make the music.
Murray has had at least 500 visitors in
this room of the cottage and three tinges
that many in the room that holds his
organs, player piano, and marine band.
The player piano is a Sherlock -Manning
that was made in the London factory
although the same model was built in
Clinton:
He has two Doherty organs made in 1886
in the Clinton factory which stood where
the high school is now. He re -built and re-
finished -the- home organ which is larger
and more ornate than the church organ he
found in a shed in Holmesville.
It is the military band organ that can
stand up to any teenager's stereo speakers
for ear -blasting power. Murray's band
organ is one of three custom made models
built in. 1973. It is a copy of a 1921 model
and plays original rolls • ` -
Military band organs were used in
skating arenas to provide music. There
are only a very few original band organs
left today and valued very highly.
Harold Fremlin, a Sherlock -Manning veteran of over 35 years, does the delicate work of
readying the sounding board of a piano for its strings. Harold learned his craft from his
father, who made player pianos in the first part of the century. (Photo by Cath Wooden)
This ancient time clock is characteristic of
the entire Sherlock -Manning piano factory
in Clinton. Everything breathes 'an-
tlqueness' but at the same time exude' an
air of quality and efficiency. (Photo by
Cath Wooden)
Awaiting a new look
While the rest of the piano is restored and refinished in the factory,
these old keys sit waiting la the showroom. During the interim
when the Sherlock -Manning factory was closed down in Clinton, the
1Jtaper rer°ts ref hed-pian s5-andainruftur : (PtiOtiy by.Eatl•
Wooden)