George F. Abendschein

Biography

George F. Abendschein graduated from the New York City college at the age of seventeen and followed a commercial career for a number of years. His inclination toward creative work led him to study mechanical engineering and architecture in the evenings, and in 1890 he joined Albert Staib in the new enterprise of manufacturing piano actions for the trade, forming the Staib-Abendschein Company. While mainly attending to the commercial and financial side of the business, he also involved himself in the factory and, together with Staib, improved and devised labor-saving machines and appliances. He and Staib subsequently studied the repetition-action experiments of earlier inventors and, employing the inventor Snyder for two years, eventually developed the patented "Mastertouch" repeating upright piano action.

Highlights

• Graduated from New York City college at age seventeen, then pursued a commercial career
• Studied mechanical engineering and architecture in the evenings before joining Albert Staib in 1890
• Co-devised labor-saving machines and appliances and helped develop the "Mastertouch" repeating action

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), pp. 219, 220.

Public domain.