Jak's View of Vancouver v.3

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In May 1924, John Thomas Guy, a 40-year old Englishman, arrived in Vancouver seeking a site for his dream of building a piano making factory. After a brief exploration, he met with the Board of Trade and announced himself impressed with the possibilities, and noting that most of the materials he would need were available locally. As good as his word, he obtained the vacant lot that would become 2085 Commercial Drive and had a small building erected into which he moved himself and his 24-year old wife, Viola.ⁱ

John Guy was born in Staffordshire in 1880. He emigrated to Canada in 1902, arriving in New Brunswick. In Sackville, he took care of 60 pianos for the Mount Allison Conservatory of Music where he was studying. He served as choirmaster and organist in several Maritime locations. He also spent time as an apprentice piano maker, learning the trade from the ground up.ⁱⁱ

Viola Chapman’s background was in Aulac, NB, so it is reasonable to assume John and Viola met during his time in that Province. They married in December 1925 at Fairview Baptist Church in Vancouver, when they were living at 1491 W. 7^th Avenue. John listed himself on the license as “Divorced” but I have no information on an earlier marriage.ⁱⁱⁱ

Within a few years of opening his own factory on the Drive, which he christened VanGuy, he and his wife were manufacturing pianos and selling as many as they could make at $195, about one half the cost of importing a piano from back east. Their pianos were described as “featuring exquisite styling, lovely touch and tone, all the woodwork of genuine walnut.” Alder was used as the core for the case which was veneered with mahogany or walnut. The strings are imported from England, the hammers from Toronto, and the keyboard section from Brantford, ON. In the 1940s, they also sold custom made piano stools for $14.95. In an interview in 1948, Guy estimated that he had built 300 pianos in the shop. His aim, he said, was “to remove the old ugly upright” pianos with “modern small sized pianos of good tones at moderate prices.” By the 1950s the price has risen to $395, and Guy was planning on an even smaller model but with the same tone, reducing them from 41 inches to 38 inches in height.^iv

During a visit to the factory in 1952, the reporter noted that Guy was working on 11 pianos simultaneously. “Five new backs were ready for stringing, and six others were already strung. A nearby drying rack held rows of gleaming, freshly lacquered cabinet tops.” Guy sometimes complained that he just could not keep up with the demand for his instruments. “Highly individualistic, he will not take advance orders for pianos, nor will he take deposits. As each piano is completed it is moved into the showroom and the first buyer gets it.^v

Guy often complained about the lack of a financing bureau with capital available to small manufacturers. He noted that he was losing business due to his inability to buy additional materials and he was unable to hire more staff and train them in the technical arts. On at least one occasion he needed a piano to work on and was obliged to swap a new ten-tube radio console.^vi

John and Viola lived in a small suite above the workshop. There, they raised three children, two daughters Jean Charlotte and Marie and the middle chid, a son, JohnTaylor. Each of the children acquired serious musical abilities. In the 1940s, the Guy Family Ensemble of instrumentalists was a popular attraction at classical music events. It consisted of Jean on piano, Marie on cello, and John Taylor on violin. They were sometimes accompanied by their father on piano and organ. By the 1950s, they had gone their separate ways: Marie had a career as a cellist, and John as a pianist and tuner, while Jean had become a BC Electric employee and member of the Ladies Glee Club.^vii

John Taylor joined the business around 1950 and the name was changed to John Guy & Son. He took over when his father retired and was an active member of the Lower Mainland Professional Piano Tuner’s Association, leadiing their complaints about the difficulty of attracting young people to the trade.

John Thomas Guy was not only interested in pianos and music. When the First World War broke out, John enrolled at Williams Aviation School in Michigan where he gained his pilot’s license. He built himself two small experimental aircraft. He was modest about their abilities – they “flew all right against the wind but wouldn’t stay up with it … came down in a hurry.” He was also an accomplished oil painter.^viii

John Thomas Guy died in January 1972 of a “cerebal thrombosis.” He was 91 years old. Viola passed away in January 1983 aged 81 from “congestive heart faiure”.^ix

Shockingly, John Thomas Guy is not mentioned in the long list of “Canadian Piano Manufacturers” in Canadian Encyclopedia: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/piano-building-emc/. That is an error that needs to be fixed.

ⁱ  Sun 1923 May 19, p. 15

ⁱⁱ  Sun 1952 Jun 21, p,18; wedding license 91255

ⁱⁱⁱ   wedding license 91255

^iv  Sun, 1928 Nov 22, p.4; 1952 Jun 21, p.18. Stools: See for example, the ad in Province, 1948 April 3, p.27; VanGuy: Province 1948 Nov 3, p,21

^v  Sun 1952 Jun 21, p,18

^vi  Sun 1928 Nov 22, p.4; 1929 Sep 25, p,17; ; Highland Echo 1936, Dec 10

^vii  See notes in BC Music Festival: Sun, 1944 May 11, p. 12; Province 1948 Nov 3, p,21; Sun 1952 Jul 21, p.18

^viii  Province 1948 Nov 3, p,21; Sun 1952 Jun 21, p.18

^ix  John, death certificate 72-09-002336; Viola, death certificate 83-09-002089