F. W. Frickinger

Biography

F. W. Frickinger was a German immigrant who had learned the action-making trade in Paris before starting an action factory at Albany, New York, in 1837, later relocating the business to Nassau, New York. This made him one of the earliest piano action makers established in America. Upon his passing from the business, he was succeeded by his son-in-law, known as Grubb, and the firm continued afterward under the name Grubb & Kosegarten Brothers, a name still in use at the time this text was written. Frickinger's career illustrates the transatlantic transfer of piano action-making expertise from Paris workshops to the emerging American piano trade in the mid-19th century. Frickinger was described as the pioneer piano action maker of Albany, N.Y. Around 1850 he took on the fifteen-year-old Peter D. Strauch as a five-year apprentice. After Strauch completed his training he continued working for Frickinger as a journeyman for about three years, after which Frickinger took him into partnership. Strauch later left to work in New York City and, in 1867, founded Strauch Brothers with his own brother.

Highlights

• A German who learned the action-making trade in Paris, started an action factory in Albany, N.Y., in 1837, later moving it to Nassau, N.Y.
• Succeeded in business by his son-in-law Grubb, whose firm continued as Grubb & Kosegarten Brothers
• Described as the pioneer piano action maker of Albany, N.Y.
• Took the fifteen-year-old Peter D. Strauch as a five-year apprentice, then journeyman, then partner

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), p. 127; Vol. II (1913), p. 223.

Public domain.