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| {{Infobox company | |||
| |name = Baldwin Piano Company | |||
| |logo = ] | |||
| |type = ] | |||
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| |foundation = {{Start date and age|1857}} | |||
| |founder = ] | |||
| |defunct = | |||
| |location_city = ] <ref name=taylor></ref> | |||
| |location_country = ] (Distribution) <br> ] (Manufacturing) <ref name=taylor/> | |||
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| |key_people = ] (]) | |||
| |industry = ] | |||
| |products = ]s | |||
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| |parent = ] | |||
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| }} | |||
| The '''Baldwin Piano Company''' is an ] ] brand. It was once the largest US-based manufacturer of pianos and other ]s. It ceased domestic production in December 2008, moving production to ]. Baldwin is currently a subsidiary of the ].<ref name="BaldwinFactory">{{cite web|title=Baldwin ceases production, lays off workers|publisher=''Trumann Democrat''|date=December 8, 2008|url=http://www.trumanndemocrat.com/story/1484097.html|accessdate=2009-02-11|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.democrattribune.com%2Fstory%2F1484097.html&date=2012-03-19|archivedate=2012-03-19|deadurl=no}}</ref> | |||
| ==History== | |||
| The company traces its origins back to 1857, when ] began teaching piano, organ, and violin in ], ]. In 1862, Baldwin started a ] piano dealership and, in 1866, hired ] as a clerk. Wulsin became a partner in the dealership, by then known as D.H. Baldwin & Company, in 1873, and, under his leadership, the Baldwin Company became the largest piano dealer in the ] by the 1890s. | |||
| In 1889–1890, Baldwin vowed to build "the best piano that could be built"<ref name="BaldwinAbout">{{cite web|title=Baldwin Pianos|publisher=Baldwin Piano|url=http://www.baldwinpiano.com/default.aspx? |accessdate=2014-03-11}}</ref> and subsequently formed two production companies: Hamilton Organ, which built reed organs, and the Baldwin Piano Company, which made pianos. The company's first piano, an upright, began selling in 1891. The company introduced its first grand piano in 1895. | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| Baldwin died in 1899 and left the Vast majority of his estate to fund missionary causes. Wulsin ultimately purchased Baldwin's estate and continued the company's shift from retail to manufacturing. The company won its first major award in 1900, when their model 112 won the Grand Prix at the ] in Paris, the first American manufactured piano to win such an award. Baldwin-manufactured pianos also won top awards at the ] and the 1914 Anglo-American Exposition. By 1913, business had become brisk, with Baldwin exporting to thirty-two countries in addition to having retailers throughout the United States. | |||
| Baldwin, like many other manufacturers, began building ]s in the 1920s. A piano factory was constructed in ]. The models became unpopular by the end of the 1920s, which, coupled with the beginning of the ], could have spelled disaster for Baldwin. However, the company's president, Lucien Wulsin II, had created a large reserve fund for such situations, and Baldwin was able to ride out the market downturn. | |||
| During ], the US War Production Board ordered the cessation of all US piano manufacturing so that the factories could be used for the US war effort. Baldwin factories were used to manufacture plywood airplane components for various aircraft such as the ] trainer and the stillborn Curtiss-Wright ] cargo aircraft. While the employment of wood components in military aircraft could by no means be considered a resounding success, lessons learned in constructing plywood aircraft wings ultimately assisted in Baldwin's development of its 41-ply maple pinblock design used in its postwar piano models. | |||
| After the war ended, Baldwin resumed selling pianos, and by 1953 the company had doubled production figures from prewar levels. In 1946, Baldwin introduced its first ] (developed in 1941),<ref name=Braun1982>{{cite journal|author=Hans-Joachim Braun|year=1982|title=Music Engineers. The Remarkable Career of Winston E. Kock, Electronic Organ Designer and NASA Chief of Electronics|publisher=CHE2004 of IEEE|url=http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs_iportals/iportals/aboutus/history_center/conferences/che2004/Braun.pdf}}</ref> which became so successful that the company changed its name to the Baldwin Piano & Organ Company. In 1961, ] became president. By 1963, the company had acquired ] and remained its owner until 1986. In 1959, Baldwin constructed a new piano manufacturing plant in ], originally to manufacture upright pianos: by 1973, the company had built 1,000,000 upright pianos. In 1961 Baldwin constructed a new piano factory in Greenwood Mississippi. Subsequently production of upright pianos was moved from Cincinnati, Ohio to Greenwood. | |||
| The company next attempted to capitalize on the growth of ]. After an unsuccessful bid to buy ], Baldwin bought ] in 1965 for $380,000, and began selling the guitars through the company's piano retail outlets. During this time period, Baldwin engineer Robert C. Scherer developed the Prismatone pickup for nylon string guitars.<ref name="Scherer">{{cite web|title=Robert C. Scherer Prismatone inventor|url=http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~scherer/prismatone.htm |accessdate=2014-11-14}}</ref> Unaccustomed to marketing guitars, the Baldwin stores failed to interest many guitar buyers, and sales proved disappointing.<ref name="Gjörde35">{{cite book|last=Gjörde|first=Per|title=Pearls and Crazy Diamonds|publisher=Addit Information AB|year=2001|location=Göteborg, Sweden|pages=35–37}}</ref> In 1967, Baldwin also bought ] guitars, which had its own experienced guitar sales force and a distribution network of authorized retail outlets. However, Fender and Gibson continued to dominate, and sales did not reach expected levels. The Gretsch guitar operation was sold back to the Gretsch family in 1989. | |||
| Throughout the 1970s, the company undertook a significant bid to diversify into financial services. Under the leadership of Morley P. Thompson, Baldwin bought dozens of firms and by the early 1980s owned over 200 savings and loan institutions, insurance companies and investment firms. In 1980, the company opened a new piano manufacturing facility in ], ].<ref name="kait8.com">KAIT8 News, Jan. 7, 2005, , </ref> By 1982, however, the piano business contributed only three percent of Baldwin's $3.6 billion revenues. Meanwhile, the company had taken on significant debt to finance its acquisitions and new facilities, and was finding it increasingly difficult to meet its loan obligations. In 1983, the company was forced into bankruptcy with a total debt of over $9 billion—at that time, the largest bankruptcy ever. | |||
| During bankruptcy proceedings in 1984, the Baldwin piano business was sold to its management.<ref name="NYTBaldwin19840619">{{cite news|title=G.E. Credit Signs Deal With Baldwin |publisher=The New York Times|date=June 19, 1984|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E7DD1739F93AA25755C0A962948260|accessdate=2007-12-17 }}</ref> The new company went public in 1986 as the Baldwin Piano and Organ Company.<ref name="NYT19870927">{{cite news|last=Rothstein|first=Eward|title=For the Piano, Chords of Change|publisher=The New York Times|date=September 27, 1987|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5D91E3FF934A1575AC0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=3|accessdate=2007-12-15}}</ref> The company went private again when it was sold to an investment group in 1993 for approximately $62 million.<ref name="NYT19930129">{{cite news|title=Baldwin Piano Agrees To Be Acquired |publisher=The New York Times|date=January 29, 1993|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5D91E3FF934A1575AC0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=3|accessdate=2007-12-17|first1=Edward|last1=Rothstein}}</ref> | |||
| However, difficulties continued as demographic changes and foreign competition slowed sales of keyboard instruments. The company responded by acquiring ] to increase market share and by moving manufacturing overseas to reduce production costs. The company moved its headquarters from ]<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|title=COMPANY NEWS; Wurlitzer Sale To Baldwin|work=] (])|publisher=]|date=1987-12-24|accessdate=2008-10-25|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE2DA1039F937A15751C1A961948260&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink}}</ref> to ]. Throughout the 1990s, the company's fortunes improved, and by 1998, the company's 270 employees at its ] facility were building 2,200 grand pianos a year. However, in 2001, Baldwin was again facing difficulties, and filed for bankruptcy once again, when the company was bought by ].<ref name="LAT Gibson">{{cite news|title=Gibson Guitar to Buy Baldwin Piano|work=]|publisher=]|date=2001-11-02|page=C2|accessdate=2008-10-25|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/nov/02/business/fi-64517}}</ref> In 2005, the company laid off some workers from its Trumann, Arkansas manufacturing plant while undergoing restructuring.<ref name="kait8.com"/> | |||
| The company, now a subsidiary of Gibson Guitar Corporation, has manufactured instruments under the Baldwin, ], Wurlitzer, Hamilton, and Howard names. Baldwin has bought two piano factories in China in which they are manufacturing grand and vertical pianos. Recreations of the former US built verticals are built at its factory in Zhongshan, China. These include the Baldwin Hamilton studio models B243 and B247 which are the most popular school pianos ever built.<ref name="finepb168">''Piano Buyer'' by Larry Fine, p.168.</ref> The much larger factory in Dongbei is not building pianos at this time. Baldwin grand pianos are being built to Baldwin specification by Parsons Music, China.{{ref}} All new pianos are being sold under the Baldwin name and not Wurlitzer, Hamilton or Chickering.<ref name="finepb168" /> | |||
| Baldwin stopped manufacturing new pianos at its ] factory in December, 2008. They have retained a small staff to build custom grands and to finish numerous artist grands which are ordered.<ref name="BaldwinFactory"/> They are planning to continue production of the pianos as demand picks up. | |||
| ==Notable performers== | |||
| ] performing in 2011.]] | |||
| Many distinguished musicians have chosen to compose, perform and record using Baldwin pianos, including the pianists ], ], ], ] and ] and the composers ], ], ], ] and ]. Baldwin pianos have been used by popular entertainers including ], ], ], and ], and jazz pianists ] and ]. ], the lead vocalist, pianist and keyboardist of ] also uses this brand in most of her compositions, recordings and live performances. A Baldwin piano was seen nightly being played by ] on the '']''. Baldwin was the official piano of the television show ''Glee''. ]'s long-running radio show ''Piano Jazz'' was hosted by Baldwin.<ref>http://www.npr.org/2012/08/18/158421073/marian-mcpartlands-storied-life-told-in-good-time</ref> Baldwin was second only to Steinway in its artist and symphony roster. | |||
| ==General references== | |||
| * Crombie, David. ''Piano: Evolution, Design, and Performance.'' Barnes and Noble, 2000. First printed by Balafon Books, Great Britain, 1995. (ISBN 0-7607-2026-6) | |||
| * ''Encyclopedia of Company Histories.'' Answers.com. Accessed March 1, 2007. | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{reflist|2}} | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| {{Commons Category|Baldwin Piano Company}} | |||
| * | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
Revision as of 23:42, 22 February 2016
