- The inauguration ceremonies for the Steinway & Sons piano #300,000 begin with the private showing of the piano at Steinway Hall, followed by the “Preview Luncheon for the Creators of the White House Piano”, held across the street, at the Lotos Club. The new piano is Steinway & Sons’ gift to the nation, to be hosted at the White House. It’s a Model D grand piano, finished in Honduras mahogany, and adorned with dance scenes around the case: “Swing your partner”, “Cowboy Songster Dance”, “Colonial Minuet”, “Darkies’ Shuffle”, and “Indian Grass Dance”. The case is designed by Eric Gugler (artist), Dunbar Beck (designer) and Albert Stewart (sculptor).
- Theodore E. Steinway has sent a special invitation to the ceremonies to his son Henry Z. Steinway, who has recently graduated from Harvard and started learning the piano trade by being an apprentice at Ditmars: “Since you have had such an interest in the piano that is going to the White House, I wish you would do me the great honor to come and take lunch with me on Saturday, December 3rd, meeting at Steinway hall at 12 o’clock, so that we may have a look at the piano before it goes to Washington, and also to have you met Mr. Eric Gugler, Mr. Albert Stewart and Mr. Dunbar Beck, the artists who have helped us to create this piano, Always yours, Theodore.”
- After the ceremonies in New York, Steinway & Sons ships #300,000 to the White House, where the United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt accepts the piano from Steinway & Sons officials, dedicating it “to the advancement of music in every city, town and hamlet in the country”, and then Josef Hofmann plays several musical pieces by Frederick Chopin.