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Author Topic: Louis Miller, San Francisco accordion maker: documenting his work and history  (Read 10194 times)

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pgroff

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Hi all,

Thanks to AJ, KLR, and Kimric we've had some good information posted to melnet about Louis Miller, who worked in San Francisco, California ca. 1883 - 1917 by most accounts. In one of those discussions I also added a link that I dug up, which included an interesting discussion of Miller's activities and a newspaper account from 1898:


http://www.archive.org/stream/musicaltrade185000unit/musicaltrade185000unit_djvu.txt


I'm happy to report that -- in celebration of a new project -- I have been able to find out a little more about Miller.  So I'd like to open a discussion here to share our knowledge of his work.  I invite anyone who owns a Miller accordion (or other Miller instrument) to send in its information: photos if available, information on the external badges, dates, addresses, numbers, and other internal inscriptions, specifications such as key, pitch, button layout etc.  We could post information to this thread or if some owners would like to participate but remain anonymous I can add your information to the database but keep part or all of it confidential.

Please email me (groffco at gmail dot com) or post here if you'd like to contribute.

I'll start the ball rolling by linking a couple of previous discussions related to Miller that took place here on melodeon.net, and one on concertina.net:

http://forum.melodeon.net/index.php/topic,5536
http://forum.melodeon.net/index.php/topic,5706
http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=962

Posted below, a photo of my new study and restoration project, from L. Miller's accordion factory at #6 City Hall Square, San Francisco in 1903. . . a small 1.2 row diatonic accordion in C (high pitch).  It's nearly all-original (replaced grillecloth and one screw, leather thumbstrap is torn, and one or two small metal plates -- possibly with original owner's name -- were removed from the top).   It's also, amazingly, playable (making allowances for curled leathers and surface rust on some reedtongues). 

One item that came up in my recent research is an ad in the San Francisco Call, October 13, 1902 (p. 8, column 6)*  Mr. Miller was advertising for help, and I suppose if a young fellow answered that ad he might have helped build this accordion:

" WANTED — A young man who has had some experience in handling metal working tools.  Apply at Louis Miller's Accordion Factory, 6 City Hall square, bet. 9 and 10 Monday."



Thanks!

Paul Groff
Miami, Florida, USA
groffco at gmail dot com

*
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1902-10-13/ed-1/seq-8/
« Last Edit: June 22, 2014, 06:28:16 PM by pgroff »
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pgroff

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Addresses for Louis Miller.

In another discussion, KLR mentioned that the addresses for Louis Miller are given in "The Golden Age of the Accordion."
When I can access that book, I'll post the addresses and if need be I'll edit this post.  Possibly all the addresses I'm about to list here are also listed there.  But in the meantime, for convenience here are some early addresses that may belong to our Mr. Miller. Note the date of the first of these --   Miller seems to have been making instruments earlier than the 1883 date that is often listed.

Langley’s San Francisco directory 1881:

http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sanfranciscodirectory/1881/1881_714.pdf

“Miller, Louis, dealer and maker musical instruments, 229 Third”

? “Miller, Louis, r. 547 Mission”  (Possible residence in 1881? but could be another Miller.  Miller was on Mission later however.)

Langley’s San Francisco directory 1886:

http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sanfranciscodirectory/1886/1886_840.pdf

“Miller, Louis, musical instruments, 108 Third, r. 229 Third”


From the Miller inscriptions in the Lachenal concertinas, mentioned in the discussion linked above on www.concertina.net:

"Louis Miller, 706 Mission St., S.F. Cal., May 21, 1897"

Quoting A.J. Culwell, in a discussion linked above, from www.melodeon.net:

"L. Miller maker dec 1902
Jackson/ fedral square SF"


A couple of months earlier, in October, 1902 (San Francisco Call newspaper, link posted above):

"L. Miller's accordion factory, 6 City Hall square"

And for March, 1903, that last listed address is also found in my project box, which I'm provisionally calling "Miller No. 56."  See photo below.

PG




« Last Edit: June 22, 2014, 01:54:35 AM by pgroff »
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triskel

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Addresses for Louis Miller.

In another discussion, KLR mentioned that the addresses for Louis Miller are given in "The Golden Age of the Accordion."
When I can access that book, I'll post the addresses and if need be I'll edit this post.

My copy is maybe handier just now, so here are the listings:

1886 - 108 Third
1894 - 234 Fourth
1904 - 6 Marshall Square
1915 - 105 Castro (or 1105 Castro?)

pgroff

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Addresses for Louis Miller.

In another discussion, KLR mentioned that the addresses for Louis Miller are given in "The Golden Age of the Accordion."
When I can access that book, I'll post the addresses and if need be I'll edit this post.

My copy is maybe handier just now, so here are the listings:

1886 - 108 Third
1894 - 234 Fourth
1904 - 6 Marshall Square
1915 - 105 Castro (or 1105 Castro?)

Many thanks Stephen!

This seems to confirm that the Louis Miller I found in Langley's directory in 1886 is the correct one.   Business at 108 Third, residence at 229 Third in 1886?

But this also supports that I found the correct Louis Miller in 1881, listed at 229 Third.  If that continues to be reasonable as we learn more, then this gives us an earlier date than the usual 1883 for Miller's start making instruments in the city.

6 Marshall Square is probably intended to be the same address as #6 City Hall Square. See:
http://upfromthedeep.com/2011/01/03/marshall-square/
We know that Miller used the latter form of the address in 1902 and 1903 because it's in his advertisement and written in Miller accordion No. 56.

Thanks again for your help,

PG
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KLR

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I've revalved/regasketed my box, along with cleaning its insides up as much as possible, and will upload some sound files when I get a chance.  New valves brightened it up a titch.  There are still some real zingers tuningwise too, need to patch them up when I can. 

Someone told me about Michael J. Arralde in Seattle (www.expertaccordionrepair.com) converting a 2 row Miller into C#/D, which is interesting, not to say appalling.   ::)  Sacrilege!  Truthfully mine isn't the funnest box to play, no end of clack in the buttons, so if you want to play Irish music on something converted why not an old Hohner/Welty/etc?  But the outsides of his boxes are like nothing else, for sure.  And they're real pieces of history, too.
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triskel

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So Paul, did you know he was Danish, born July 1851 and immigrated in 1871?

He married his wife, Louisa (???), in 1891.

She was born in California in April 1871 - her father was German and her mother Spanish.

Should I go on?

pgroff

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Hi triskel,

Please do!

I'm sure we've only scratched the surface of what can be known about his biography.  I'm not finding very many of his accordions through my informal inquiries among musicians out west, so I suspect most of his extant instruments are sleeping, unplayed for decades or a century like the one I recently found.

PG
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triskel

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OK, that was from the 1900 Census, on which his occupation is given as Music Dealer, living at 1105 Castro with his wife, 3 children (Eugine 6, Lawrence 4, Baby 3) and Florence Elliot (16) a servant.

On the 1880 Census he was age 27 and living at 251 Third, with his Danish wife Mary, age 30, and 1 year old daughter Cicelia. His occupation is given as Accordion Maker

According to the 1892 Voter Register his full name was Louis Hans Peter Miller, he was 40 years old and a Merchant, 5' 7 1/4" tall, fair complexion, blue eyes, brown hair, home address 801 Harrison (1st floor), he was naturalised "Jul 12, 1882, S. F. Cal., Sup"

The 1910 Census lists him at 1105 Castro as Louis H. P. Miller (57), a Manufacturer of Musical Instruments "EMP" (Employer) and son Eugene (16) as Apprentice, Instrument Factory, Lawrence is 14 and Gwyneth D. is 12. Louisa's mother is given as "Mex-Spanish".

By 1920 Louis Miller must have died because Louisa is a widow, but she is still living at 1105 Castro with sons Lawrence (23), Eugene (26) and Eugene's German-born wife Wilhemmena (26). The occupations of both sons is given as Manufacturer, Accordions - Lawrence is indicated as "Em" (Employer) and Eugene as "Partner".

In 1930 Eugene is a Teacher, Music and Lawrence a Mechanic, General.

triskel

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Louis H. Miller died on 3rd October 1919, in San Francisco, age 67

OR

Louis Miller (born Denmark 1850) died on 16th June 1915, in San Francisco, age 65...

Edited to add second option

pgroff

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Great, Stephen -- many thanks!

I'm not surprised that there seem to be some inconsistencies there to be resolved.

In response to my inquiries so far, a few more of the accordions seem to be coming to light.  But I think this may become one of those "long-term monitoring" projects. . . going forward, possibly every few years someone will have a question about a Miller accordion that has been in the family or is for sale, and then if they find us, the knowledge of that instrument can be brought into the fold for the database.

PG
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triskel

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I'm not surprised that there seem to be some inconsistencies there to be resolved.

Me neither Paul, there always are!

Whilst I'm hard-pressed myself to answer when asked to give my "occupation"...  ???

Kimric Smythe

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    • Smythe's Accordion Center

I restored an instrument that he had worked on in the early 1900's. He had written (I am not clear on this it was about 10 yrs ago) Miller accordion repair? 23rd and Castro. As I recall. it must have been him or a son? I want to think the date was 1917. It was a Galliazi instrument I think. I had to replace the reeds , as the zinc plates had expanded about 10% (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_pest) and had pried the reed blocks apart.

Kimric
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Smythe's Accordion Center
Pinole, California
Sales and repairs since 1997

limundlinda

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Hello to all,

Thank you very much for all posts about the accordion maker Louis Miller.
I appreciate a lot.

Here a early Miller accordion from July 1889 
(dated later in  the wood frame of the bellows  Aug 1896)

... no address found in the box.

Extremely precious well made responsive reeds.

Regards
and Thanks
Béat
 
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pgroff

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Salut Béat!

Thank you for adding your instrument! 

Your 1889 Miller instrument differs in several details from the Millers we've discussed so far (from the 1902 - 1904 period):  the moulded casework of the ends, made to  separate from the bellows frames with flat marquetry work, the box-like pallet cover, the open key levers, the pearl topped keys/levers, etc.

But it's interesting that your Miller seems to have the same positional relationship for the two "accidental" keys associated with the melody keyboard, as three other Millers known from 1902 - 1904 that also have 10 + 2 melody buttons.

The veneer around the bellows frames is very similar to that on two Millers we've seen from 1904, but the metal corner-guards are a different style.  The metal bellows clip is similar to that we've seen on the 1902-1904 Millers.

So, taking into account the dates written in your Miller, one *possible" explanation (that may be heuristic, suggesting other data to compare and other hypotheses):

1) The ends may be Miller 1889; if so, at this early date he seems to have settled on a particular keyboard layout for a 10 + 2 box.  The construction details are different than the 1902 - 1904 instruments discussed so far, more typical of nineteenth century free reeds:  the separate pallet-cover, open action, moulded casework, and spoon shaped pearl touches.
2) The bellows frames may be a later repair or replacement by Miller, from 1896, and in a style that is transitional to the 1902 - 1904 instruments we've seen.


Can you tell us the key and pitch of this accordion?

Thank you,

Paul Groff
« Last Edit: June 27, 2014, 02:54:17 PM by pgroff »
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KLR

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Here's some audio of mine:  Kevin Rietmann - 1904 Louis Miller D-A Button Accordion.mp3 - Box  I play the scale/basses and stagger through some jigs and hornpipes.  There are no 1st button accidentals.  The 1st note of the D row is supposed to be B/G I think but the B is seriously malfunctioning so it's hard to tell what the note is trying to sound.  The D in the middle scale is a bit out.  The basses are rather odd, G/G D/A B/F# E/A - this last is a guess, didn't quite get to the bottom of it.  Why have G in both directions when there's no Cnat note to use that scale?   I guess this is akin to how lots of boxes have C/C and rows in D/G/A.
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pgroff

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Here's some audio of mine:  Kevin Rietmann - 1904 Louis Miller D-A Button Accordion.mp3 - Box  I play the scale/basses and stagger through some jigs and hornpipes.  There are no 1st button accidentals.  The 1st note of the D row is supposed to be B/G I think but the B is seriously malfunctioning so it's hard to tell what the note is trying to sound.  The D in the middle scale is a bit out.  The basses are rather odd, G/G D/A B/F# E/A - this last is a guess, didn't quite get to the bottom of it.  Why have G in both directions when there's no Cnat note to use that scale?   I guess this is akin to how lots of boxes have C/C and rows in D/G/A.

Thanks Kevin!

Re: the logic of the basses.

I'd say the most common bass layout for an A/D box would be (listing press / draw):

G/G     F#/B
D/A     A/E

If you're playing on the D row in the key of D, it's useful to have the G bass and chords available in both directions because the D note of the G chord is found on the press on that row, but the G and B notes on the draw.  That's also why a 4-bass 1-row box often has the basses:   Tonic/Dominant   Subdominant / Subdominant.

PG
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pgroff

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Hi all,

Here's a link to the 1888 report, already quoted in another reference above.

The entry on page 111 may possibly describe Béat's 1889 Miller accordion:

http://books.google.com/books?id=ASE9AQAAIAAJ&dq=louis+miller+musical+instrument+san+francisco&q=louis+miller#v=snippet&q=louis%20miller&f=false

Note that this instrument was valued at $150 US in 1888!

The reference to Miller's invention of a key system that allows playing of "any key, major or minor," might initially seem to refer to a chromatic instrument.   But I wonder if rather it may possibly refer to the specific 10 + 2 button diatonic melody keyboard that Miller seems to have used on some instruments over several decades.  Although this 10 + 2 button keyboard does not allow modulation in all twelve keys of the equal-tempered scale, possibly what was really meant was "any *kind* of scale, major or minor" -- a statement that is not true of the typical 10 key, 1-row diatonic accordion, which can't play some minor scales. 

On my own 1903 Miller, the 10 + 2 melody keyboard (in C, high pitch, non-equal-tempered) includes these notes (press / draw):


                                             F#/G#                             F#/G#

E/A        G/B        C/D        E/F        G/A        C/B        E/D        G/F        C/A        E/B



This is actually almost a partial (10.2) layout in the keys of C/B, based on the location of the two inner buttons, except that a true C/B layout would have the higher-pitched helper button play the notes F#/E.

This layout allows all the familiar modes playable on a typical 1-row box in C.  But it also provides over two octaves of the G major scale and its modes (including D mixolydian), several types of A minor scale, and more.

From the brief description of the 1902 Miller discussed in an earlier thread, I suspect that that 1902 accordion has a similar layout but transposed up a step:  a full row in D major, plus two accidental buttons yielding G#/A# in two octaves.

PG
« Last Edit: June 27, 2014, 10:39:18 PM by pgroff »
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Christopher K.

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Addresses for Louis Miller.

In another discussion, KLR mentioned that the addresses for Louis Miller are given in "The Golden Age of the Accordion."
When I can access that book, I'll post the addresses and if need be I'll edit this post.

My copy is maybe handier just now, so here are the listings:

1886 - 108 Third
1894 - 234 Fourth
1904 - 6 Marshall Square
1915 - 105 Castro (or 1105 Castro?)

Many thanks Stephen!

This seems to confirm that the Louis Miller I found in Langley's directory in 1886 is the correct one.   Business at 108 Third, residence at 229 Third in 1886?

But this also supports that I found the correct Louis Miller in 1881, listed at 229 Third.  If that continues to be reasonable as we learn more, then this gives us an earlier date than the usual 1883 for Miller's start making instruments in the city.

6 Marshall Square is probably intended to be the same address as #6 City Hall Square. See:
http://upfromthedeep.com/2011/01/03/marshall-square/
We know that Miller used the latter form of the address in 1902 and 1903 because it's in his advertisement and written in Miller accordion No. 56.

Thanks again for your help,

PG

While not adding much to the discussion of the instruments, I thought I'd take the opportunity to plug the Golden Age of Accordions book. There are several lending libraries in North America that will loan it via ILL, if you'd like to look it over before buying. There's just so much information inside, it's bewildering... names, dates, addresses, all sorts of ephemera, etc. Definitely something youll want on the shelf!

pgroff

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Hi all,

Thanks to a couple of west coast friends, here are a couple of photos of a lovely 3-row Miller made at #6 City Hall Square. (Photos shared by permission).

This one looks to be from 1901 if I'm reading correctly. I've made inquiries about some more of its details and will post them here if I can find out the exact date, note layout, number, etc.

PG
« Last Edit: July 04, 2014, 07:58:10 PM by pgroff »
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KLR

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Wow, dual air buttons.  Haven't seen that before.  Maybe built for an ambidextrous client, or just to have something for players either sinister or dexter?
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