A small piece of Chicago accordion history

[lmschgo]

I stumbled across an Italian-American business directory for Chicago dated 1933.
It listed Finau Piatanesi Mfg as an accordion manufacturer.

I then located an obituary for Finau: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/123814965/finau-guerino-piatanesi

The obit credits him with manufacturing the first piano accordion in the US, as well as making accordions for Lawrence Welk and Dick Contino.
I am assuming Finau is related to the founders of Piatanesi Accordions (1920) in Castelfidardo and which is still in business.
@Tom has a Piatanesi accordion.

Howard

 

[JerryPH]

Nice find! You must be a member of Ancestry.com... ancestry members are the biggest users of findagrave... lol

 

[Tom]

I stumbled across an Italian-American business directory for Chicago dated 1933.
It listed Finau Piatanesi Mfg as an accordion manufacturer.

I then located an obituary for Finau: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/123814965/finau-guerino-piatanesi

The obit credits him with manufacturing the first piano accordion in the US, as well as making accordions for Lawrence Welk and Dick Contino.
I am assuming Finau is related to the founders of Piatanesi Accordions (1920) in Castelfidardo and which is still in business.
@Tom has a Piatanesi accordion.

Howard

Great find Howard, Thanks! I was not aware there was a Piatanesi making accordions here in the US.

 

[lmschgo]

Great find Howard, Thanks! I was not aware there was a Piatanesi making accordions here in the US.

I wonder if the current owners of Piatanesi in Castelfidardo have any recollections about Finau?

 

[lmschgo]

 

[Tom]

Hard to say, but I wouldn't be surprised. The Piatanesi boys started what is now Romagnoli "in the early 1900s". The Castelfidardo group startrd in 1920. Maybe one brother started in Italy and the other brothers decided to giveit a go in L'America? Pure speculation on my part. Maybe Steve or one of the historians on hete knows....

 

[Ffingers]

Accordion "finto" with decorative piano keys overlaying a chromatic button system.
All in the name of percieved 'respectability'.

 

[AccordionUprising]

I stumbled across an Italian-American business directory for Chicago dated 1933.
It listed Finau Piatanesi Mfg as an accordion manufacturer.

I then located an obituary for Finau: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/123814965/finau-guerino-piatanesi

The obit credits him with manufacturing the first piano accordion in the US, as well as making accordions for Lawrence Welk and Dick Contino.
I am assuming Finau is related to the founders of Piatanesi Accordions (1920) in Castelfidardo and which is still in business.
@Tom has a Piatanesi accordion.

Howard

Checks out.
Piatanesi I think built the first piano accordions for the Diero brothers Guido and Pietro, back in the early 1900s.

Gets a mention in Petosa's new book:

AN AMERICAN ACCORDION STORY: Celebrating the Petosa 100 Year Anniversary​

https://petosa.com/collections/musi...r-unique-places-in-american-culture-pre-order


Also noted on the old GuidoDeiro.com website, which was amazing, and is thankfully mostly preserved on the internet archive. Here Finau Piantanesi was consulted as a judge in the debate about which brother played piano accordion first. (The elder Guido seems likely to have.)
Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20160326164335/http://www.guidodeiro.com/testimonials.html

 

[mmuussiiccaall]

Whoever made the grave marker wasn't an accordionist.

 

[Tom]

Whoever made the grave marker wasn't an accordionist.

Well, at least the father of the piano accordion, if the urban legend is true. Looks like the carver either forgot the "o" or started with an "a" and changed it to an "o". Thanks Musical!!!

 

[NickC]

Well, at least the father of the piano accordion, if the urban legend is true. Looks like the carver either forgot the "o" or started with an "a" and changed it to an "o". Thanks Musical!!!

Yeah. When I was looking for older accordions on craigslist to check out, I would also spell it with an "a" to see if there were any overlooked instruments.

 

[Ventura]

accordi* in the cList search box gets you both a and o listings

 

[Ffingers]

“What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would still smell so sweet.” W. Shakespeare.

 

[Tom]

"A cordeen by any other name still smells so musty when left in Aunt Emma's basement for 28 years." Rusty T. Reed