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Has anyone seen or know any info about them can not find any serial number looked at one picture in Steinway books of troops playing it.

Rhonda

I have seen one of the Victory Steinways in its battle green painted case. The piano its self left a little to be desired but hey who cares - this is Steinway history for real. The one I looked at was here in the UK and was I beleive shipped back to a client in the States. Not a great deal more that I can add.

you can see on it where is was green at one time they have painted it black but you are right the history behind it .

Very cool. I'm wondering if there are more of these around such as in the Smithsonian. I had an article I found last year about a Steinway that way on a US Navy Sub. It had been delivered in the dark of night whne the sub was being built and was in a special case that was opened after the sub was underway. I'll try to find it or at least post the url. I looked at a piano that someone had done a camoflage paint job on. Instead of green or tan they used white and purple. Sort of a Gateway Computer pattern. It actually blended in quite well with the rest of the room that was painted the same way

In honor of our veterans this Memorial Day, I thought I would post a couple of photos of a Steinway Victory Vertical piano that my father bought from the GSA back in the early 60's for $75.00. It was a real dog when he got it with blue paint, and every white key had a cigarette burn on it. Someone had carved "Big Rudy" on the front of it. Its last home had been a VA hospital. He spent many hours restoring this piano and had the keys and felts redone and the soundboard was restrung. It has been played by 3 generations of our family and still sounds great!

S/N is 5399 and you can still see the original blue paint on the inside of the piano. As far as I can tell, it would have been a "Navy" model for shipboard service. Anyone have any additional information on these pianos, perhaps a S/N range?

Understand that the The Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, CA has an Army model on display.

See also:

http://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/george-lukas

http://www.stillfumin.com/stillfuminnews/SFNEWS_winter_2008_2009_web.pdf

They also have one of these WWII Steinways on display at the new Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) here in Phoenix.

i had a victory vertical that my father brought back from germany after the war. i learned how to play on it and took it with me when i had a home of my own. i loved it. my folks had it finished in a satin black finish. unfortunately i lost the piano in katrin. i lived in an area of new orleans that was under really caustic water for three weeks. the piano wasn't restorable. i would love to find another one to replace it. it was exactly like the pictured above, but with a black finish. i really want another one and don't care what color. can anyone out there help me locate a replacement? what joy it would be to find one.

Sorry to hear about this loss, Loretta. They are usually held for special reasons such as yours or displayed in WW2 museums. I don't know of anyone selling one explicitly, but if you search this forum, you will find that there are indeed others here who own them who might be willing to let them go for a certain price. Or with enough searching, you will stumble on one I am sure.

Best wishes-