William B. Tremaine

Biography

William B. Tremaine was born in 1840 and entered the piano business in 1868 as a member of the firm of Tremaine Brothers. Described as a man of restless disposition, cultured and versatile, he seized business opportunities as they arose. When Mason J. Mathews had his orguinette ready for market, Tremaine organized the Mechanical Orguinette Company in 1878 and sold the automatic instruments by the thousands; the enlarged 'Celestina' followed, and in 1883 the Aeolian organ was introduced. In 1888 he acquired the patents and stock of the Automatic Music Paper Company of Boston and organized the Aeolian Organ & Music Company. In 1892 he purchased the patents of the Monroe Organ Reed Company of Worcester, and in 1895 introduced the 'Aeriol' self-playing piano. The text credits him as the founder of the automatic-playing-instrument business, working without competition or encouragement before the advent of the Pianola. He relinquished the business to his son Harry B. Tremaine and died in 1907. Tremaine, of what was then known as The Aeolian Organ and Music Company, met Paul B. Klugh in 1893; his enthusiasm for self-playing organs captured Klugh's imagination and set the course of Klugh's career. Through Tremaine, Klugh witnessed a practical demonstration of the first cabinet piano player made, and at Tremaine's solicitation, Klugh went to St. Louis in 1902 to take charge of selling player instruments in Missouri and Southern Illinois. From Spillane (1890): W. B. Tremaine was a member of the New York wholesale piano-manufacturing firm of Billings & Tremaine, which commanded a large business around 1875. An expert piano salesman and businessman of large experience, he was credited with much of the firm's success. Around 1876 he separated from his partner, after which the business continued as Billings & Company, a popular-priced instrument sold successfully until 1886. Tremaine himself was described as versatile, later turning his attention to improvements in reed organs, and at the time of writing held a leading position in the Aeolian Organ Company. He was also noted as a man of musical attainments.

Highlights

• Founder of the business of manufacturing automatic playing musical instruments in America
• Organized the Mechanical Orguinette Company (1878), introduced the Celestina and the Aeolian organ (1883), and later organized the Aeolian Organ & Music Company
• Introduced the 'Aeriol' self-playing piano in 1895; died in 1907 after handing the business to his son Harry
• Introduced Paul B. Klugh to self-playing organs in 1893, and later to the first cabinet piano player.
• Encouraged Klugh to take charge of selling player instruments in Missouri and Southern Illinois in 1902.
• Partner in Billings & Tremaine, a major wholesale piano firm around 1875
• Later held a leading position in the Aeolian Organ Company
• Contributed improvements to reed organs

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), p. 327; Vol. II (1913), p. 63.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 285, 286.

Public domain.