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Creator
McKee, Thomas
Call number
JPB 06-48
Physical description
3.08 linear feet (3 boxes)
Preferred Citation

Thomas McKee Papers, JPB 06-48. Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Repository
Music Division
Access to materials
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Thomas McKee was a citizen of Great Britain who in the 1900s lived in Portland, Oregon and New York City. He received two patents related to automatic player pianos. Though not a musician and apparently unable to read music, in the early 1930s, McKee wrote a book titled The Language of Music utilizing research including materials from Carroll Brent Chilton. This book described how music was inaccessible to those not trained in music and then explained how a new player piano could become a teaching tool for the masses. The book also served as a business perspective designed to present his new designs for the player piano and solicit interest in his designs. His attempts were apparently unsuccessful.

Biographical/historical information

Thomas McKee was a citizen of Great Britain who in the 1900s lived in Portland, Oregon and New York City. Though not a musician and apparently unable to read music, he received two patents related to automatic player pianos.

In a 1933 letter to D. S. MacColl, Thomas McKee explained that he had once been a part of the grain trade and the Panama Canal, but had left it due to the troubles in Europe. For unknown reasons, McKee turned to the field of music specifically related to automatic player pianos. In the same letter, McKee claimed to have fought and won a lawsuit related to his patents. He also said he had written his book "to try and get the Nobel Prize" so he could use the money to create a "complete working model" made of his instrument.*

United States Patent 1,398,107 patented on November 22, 1921 was applied for on May 20, 1890 with Serial No. 497, 156. This was renewed July 29, 1920 under Serial No. 399,888. This patent primarily concerned the operation of perforated sheet music for automatic player pianos.

United States Patent 1,580,438 patented on April 13, 1926 was applied for on December 10, 1908 with Serial No. 466,788. This was renewed June 27, 1921 under Serial No. 480,720 ½ . This patent concerned the device that maneuvered the perforated piano sheet music through the piano.

In the 1920s through the 1930s, Thomas McKee was in contact with Carroll Brent Chilton of the Audible Music Text Society and the Aeolian Company and author of The De-Assification of Music: A Propagandist Magazine of One Number Containing News of Importance to all Music Lovers, Especially to all Owners of Player Pianos. In the 1920s, McKee wrote to the business associates of numerous businessmen, musicians, and philanthropists such as Henry Ford, Irving Berlin, Otto H. Kahn, and Douglas Fairbanks apparently hoping to solicit interest in his designs. In the early 1930s, McKee wrote a book titled The Language of Music utilizing research including materials from Chilton. This book described how music was inaccessible to those not trained in music and then explained how a new player piano could become a teaching tool for the masses. The book also served as a business perspective designed to present his new designs for the player piano and solicit interest in his designs. His attempts were apparently unsuccessful.

In 1932, McKee wrote several letters attempting to interest buyers in "Vit-O-Weat" and "Wole-O-Weat" cereals sealed and then cooked in their cans in order to preserve minerals and chemical elements.

*McKee to D. S. MacColl 22July 1933. See Correspondence.

Scope and arrangement

The Thomas McKee Papers contain materials related to his player piano patents and his attempts to promote his designs through The Language of Music. Materials include correspondence, patents, clippings, and publicity materials.

Of interest are the correspondence related to McKee's attempts to gain funding for his patents and book as well as his manuscript copy of The Language of Music. Correspondence with Carroll Brent Chilton of the Audible Music Text Society and the Aeolian Company and Chilton's writings provide context for McKee's work. Correspondence with player piano roll businesses provides some detail into the creation and business of automatic player pianos.

The Thomas McKee papers are arranged in two series:

  • Series I: Professional Papers, ca.
    1890 - 1933

    Materials related to McKee's research in player pianos and his attempts at soliciting interest in his designs through correspondence and through his book, The Language of Music. Series includes copies of Carroll Brent Chilton's writings providing context for McKee's work. Also contains reference patents concerning automatic player pianos and permissions for McKee to utilize other author's work in his book.

  • Series II: Oversized, ca.
    1921 - 1933

    The series contains McKee's two volume draft of The Language of Music. The book is hand typed with pencil revisions and contains citations and illustrations pasted into the text. The series also includes scrapbook pages containing oversized patents and correspondence papers. Of interest are correspondence between McKee and player piano roll companies which provide some information about the automatic player piano business. In addition, the series contains correspondence between McKee and the associates of numerous businessmen, musicians, and philanthropists such as Henry Ford, Irving Berlin, Otto H. Kahn, and Douglas Fairbanks whom McKee apparently hoped to interest in his designs.

Administrative information

Processing information

Processed by Whitney Berman; Machine-readable finding aid created by Whitney Berman.

Using the collection

Location

Music Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish, contact the Chief, Music Division.