Adam Nickel

Biography

Adam Nickel was, like Otto Wessell, employed as an action maker at Steinway & Sons before joining Wessell in 1875 to co-found Wessell, Nickel & Gross. After Wessell's death in 1899, Nickel continued the business as partner, alongside Henry Nickel, Jr. and Wessell's sons as junior partners. Adam Nickel was one of the founders of the New York piano action firm Wessell, Nickel and Gross. He guided the training of his son Henry Nickel, directing him toward action making within the family business. From Spillane (1890): Adam Nickel was a native of Europe who trained as an action-maker there, working in a number of the best European shops before emigrating to New York. In New York he was employed in the action shop of Steinway & Sons, where he formed a personal friendship with fellow action-maker Rudolph Gross that eventually led to their joint business venture. In 1874, together with Otto Wessell, Nickel and Gross founded the action-manufacturing firm of Wessell, Nickel & Gross, beginning modestly and building it, within sixteen years, into a concern ranking with the leading piano houses in status and finance, employing over five hundred hands by the time of writing. Spillane credits Nickel, alongside his partners, with growing action-making into a distinct and important branch of American piano manufacturing, and characterizes all three founders as admirable examples of self-made manhood and model citizens.

Highlights

• Former Steinway & Sons action maker who co-founded Wessell, Nickel & Gross with Otto Wessell in 1875; continued the business after Wessell's death in 1899.
• One of the founders of Wessell, Nickel and Gross
• Guided his son Henry Nickel's training in action making
• A native of Europe who learned action-making there, working in many of the best shops in various countries
• After arriving in New York was employed in Steinway & Sons' action shop, where he formed the friendship with Rudolph Gross that led to their business partnership
• Co-founded Wessell, Nickel & Gross in 1874

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911); Vol. II (1913), p. 227.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 323, 324, 325, 326.

Public domain.