I don’t know when George Berkel opened his music store at 446 S. Broadway in downtown LA, but this photo was taken on July 1, 1914. So George, quite sensibly, decided to feature his most popular product in the biggest, brightest sign. Pianolas were upright pianos that used a paper roll to play the keyboard automatically. Before the advent of record players, they were the most popular way of making music in your home. Who needs to mess around with all those tedious piano lessons when you can get the pianola to do it for you? The first few decades of the 20th century were the pianola’s peak years, so I’d think that being located on Broadway, Mr. Berkel did a roaring trade. He certainly made sure night-strollers knew where he was.
And when you ordered your piano, it would show up in Berkel’s delivery truck!
It appears that there’s no specific building at 446 Broadway, so this is roughly where Berkel’s used to be. The image is from February 2023.
https://homesteadmuseum.blog/tag/george-j-birkel-company/
Found this 1902 add while searching. Also found 1905 and 1907 on 345-347 s Spring.
Then found 1925 add on 446 s Broadway
I was looking for info on the building in the google image. The info I found says that building was built in 1984. It looks much older to me? The address is 440 s Broadway, called the Broadway Mall. Does anyone that may be reading this blog have any info on this building? The little building to the right at 450 s Broadway is called the Squat Building going back to 1908.