{{More footnotes needed|date=May 2024}} {{Short description|American piano company}} {{use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox company | name = Baldwin Piano Company | logo = Baldwin piano logo.png | logo_size = 250px | type = [[Privately held company|Private]] | industry = [[Musical instrument]]s | genre = | foundation = {{Start date and age|1890}} | founder = [[Dwight Hamilton Baldwin]] | defunct = | location_city = [[Nashville, TN]]<ref name=taylor>{{Cite web |url=http://www.taylorsmusic.com/baldwin-story/ |title=The Baldwin Story |website=Taylors Music |access-date=2014-12-10 |archive-date=2014-12-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210195843/http://www.taylorsmusic.com/baldwin-story/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> | location_country = [[United States]]{{efn|For distribution. Baldwin pianos are manufactured in China.}} | area_served = | key_people = James Curleigh {{small|(President & [[Chief executive officer|CEO]])}} | products = [[Piano]]s | services = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | assets = | equity = | owner = | num_employees = | parent = [[Gibson Brands, Inc.|Gibson]] | divisions = | subsid = [[Wurlitzer]] | footnotes = | homepage = {{official website}} | market cap = | intl = }}
The '''Baldwin Piano Company''' is an American [[piano]] brand. It was once the largest US-based manufacturer of [[keyboard instrument]]s and was known by the slogan, "America's Favorite Piano". {{as of|since=y|2001}}, it has been a [[subsidiary]] of [[Gibson Brands, Inc.]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://warp.la/la-marca-guitarras-gibson-se-declara-bancarrota-176196 |title=La marca de guitarras Gibson se declara en bancarrota |first=Oscar |last=Adame |work=Warp.la |date=2018-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180223004641/http://warp.la/la-marca-guitarras-gibson-se-declara-bancarrota-176196 |archive-date=2018-02-23 |lang=es}}</ref> Baldwin ceased domestic production in December 2008, moving its piano manufacturing to China.<ref name="BaldwinFactory">{{cite news|title=Baldwin ceases production, lays off workers|work=Trumann Democrat|date=2008-12-08 |url=http://www.trumanndemocrat.com/story/1484097.html|accessdate=2009-02-11|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305095420/http://www.democrattribune.com/story/1484097.html|archivedate=2012-03-05 |last=Randall |url-status=usurped|first=Mark }}</ref>
==History== [[File:Baldwin Company 1904.jpg|thumb|Share of the Baldwin Company, issued 20. September 1904]] The company traces its origins to 1857, when [[Dwight Hamilton Baldwin]] began teaching piano, organ, and violin in [[Cincinnati]], [[Ohio]]. In 1862, Baldwin started a [[Decker Brothers]] piano dealership and, in 1866, hired Lucien Wulsin as a clerk. Wulsin eventually became a partner in the dealership, which by then was known as the D.H. Baldwin & Company. The Baldwin Company became the largest piano dealer in the [[Midwestern United States]] by the 1890s.<ref name="BaldwinAbout">{{cite web|title=The Baldwin Legacy|website=Baldwin Piano|url=http://www.baldwinpiano.com/default.aspx?|accessdate=2014-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830041632/http://www.baldwinpiano.com/default.aspx|archive-date=2018-08-30|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 1889 or 1890, Baldwin vowed to build "the best piano that could be built" and subsequently formed two production companies: Hamilton Organ, which built [[Pump organ|reed organs]], and the Baldwin Piano Company, which made pianos. The company's first piano, an upright, began selling in 1891. Baldwin introduced its first grand piano in 1895.
Dwight 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 with its Model 112, which won the Grand Prix at the 1900 [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|Exposition Universelle]] in Paris, becoming the first American-manufactured piano to win such an award. Baldwin-manufactured pianos also won top awards at the 1904 [[Louisiana Purchase Exposition]] and the 1914 [[Anglo-American Exposition]]. By 1913, Baldwin had retailers throughout the United States and was exporting to 32 countries. [[File:Academy of Music Concert, Indianapolis Maennerchor, November 26, 1920 - DPLA - 7b312695966c6161043d3e45c8fb2ad3 (page 3) (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|Concert at the [[Indianapolis Maennerchor|Maennerchor]] building, 26 November 1920]] Baldwin, like many other manufacturers, began building [[player piano]]s in the 1920s. A piano factory was constructed in Cincinnati. Player piano models became unpopular by the end of the 1920s, which, coupled with the beginning of the [[Great Depression]], could have spelled disaster for Baldwin. However, Wulsin's son, Lucien Wulsin II, had become the company's president and had created a large reserve fund for such situations. These reserves enabled Baldwin to ride out the market downturn.
[[File:Baldwin ad 1905.jpg|thumb|right|180px|A 1905 Baldwin ad.]]During [[World War II]], the U.S. [[War Production Board]] ordered the cessation of all US piano manufacturing so their factories could be used for the war effort. Baldwin factories were used to manufacture plywood components for various aircraft, including the [[Fairchild PT-19|Aeronca PT-23]] trainer and the stillborn Curtiss-Wright [[C-76 Caravan]] cargo aircraft. Lessons from constructing plywood aircraft wings helped Baldwin develop a 21-ply maple pinblock design used in its postwar piano models.[[File:Baldwin Hamilton de 1968.jpg|thumb|right|180px|A Baldwin Hamilton manufactured in 1968.]]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 [[electronic organ]] (developed in 1941),<ref>{{cite conference |first=Hans-Joachim |last=Braun|year=2004|title=Music Engineers. The Remarkable Career of Winston E. Kock, Electronic Organ Designer and NASA Chief of Electronics|conference=CHE2004 of IEEE|url=http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs_iportals/iportals/aboutus/history_center/conferences/che2004/Braun.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309223721/http://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs_iportals/iportals/aboutus/history_center/conferences/che2004/Braun.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-09}}</ref> which became so successful that the company changed its name to the Baldwin Piano & Organ Company. In 1961, [[Lucien Wulsin III]] became president. By 1963, the company had acquired German piano manufacturer [[C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik]]; it would retain ownership until 1986. In 1959, Baldwin constructed a new piano manufacturing plant in [[Conway, Arkansas]], to manufacture upright pianos; by 1973, the company had built one million upright pianos. In 1961, Baldwin built a piano factory in [[Greenwood, Mississippi]], and later moved production of upright pianos there from Cincinnati.
The company next attempted to capitalize on the growth of [[pop music]]. After an unsuccessful bid to buy [[Fender Musical Instruments Corporation]], Baldwin bought guitar manufacturer [[Burns London|Burns of London]] in 1965 for $380,000, and began selling guitars through the company's piano retail outlets. Baldwin engineer Robert C. Scherer developed the Prismatone [[Pickup (music technology)|pickup]] for [[Classical guitar|nylon-string guitars]].<ref name="Scherer">{{cite web|title= Baldwin Prismatone Guitar Pickup |website=web.ics.purdue.edu |last=Scherer |first=Steve |url=http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~scherer/prismatone.htm |accessdate=2014-11-14}}</ref> But 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 bought [[Gretsch]] 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 would be sold back to the Gretsch family in 1989.
Throughout the 1970s, the company tried to diversify into financial services. Under the leadership of Morley P. Thompson, Baldwin bought dozens of firms and by the early 1980s owned more than 200 savings and loan institutions, insurance companies, and investment firms, including [[Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation|MGIC Investment Corporation]]. The company changed its name to Baldwin-United in 1977 after a merger with United Corp.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |entry-url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/baldwin-piano-organ-company-history/ |entry=Baldwin Piano & Organ Company History |via=Funding Universe |title=International Directory of Company Histories |volume=18 |publisher=St. James Press |year=1997}}</ref> In 1980, the company opened a new piano manufacturing facility in [[Trumann, Arkansas|Trumann]], [[Arkansas]].<ref name="kait8.com">{{cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |work=[[KAIT-TV]] |date=2005-01-07 |url=http://www.kait8.com/Global/story.asp?S=2779233&nav=0jshUwbM |title=Trumann Piano Plant Lays Off Workers While Undergoing Restructuring |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221050810/http://www.kait8.com/Global/story.asp?S=2779233&nav=0jshUwbM |archive-date=2009-02-21 }},</ref> By 1982, the piano business contributed only three percent of Baldwin's $3.6 billion revenues. The company, which had borrowed deeply to acquire companies and build facilities, was finding it increasingly difficult to meet its loan obligations. In 1983, the holding company and several of its subsidiaries were forced into bankruptcy with a total debt of over $9 billion—at that time, the largest bankruptcy ever. The piano business was not part of the bankruptcy.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/27/business/baldwin-a-casualty-of-fast-expansion-files-for-bankruptcy.html?pagewanted=all |title=Baldwin, A Casualty Of Fast Expansion, Files For Bankruptcy |work=[[New York Times]] |date=1983-09-27 |first=Michael |last=Blumstein |page=A1}}</ref>
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 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=D22 |date=1984-06-19 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/19/business/finance-new-issues-ge-credit-signs-deal-with-baldwin.html|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|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1987-09-27 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/27/arts/for-the-piano-chords-of-change.html?pagewanted=3|accessdate=2007-12-15}}</ref> and moved its headquarters to [[Loveland, Ohio]].<ref name="Osborne">{{cite book|title=Music in Ohio|first=William|last=Osborne|publisher=[[Kent State University Press]]|date=2004|page=492|isbn=0-87338-775-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_x7_3e7H-xcC&pg=PA492|via=Google Books|quote=In November 1998 its headquarters had been relocated a bit further north in suburbia, abandoning the location in Loveland it had occupied since 1986 in favor of an office park in Deerfield Township.}}</ref>
Demographic changes and foreign competition slowed sales of keyboard instruments. The company responded by acquiring [[Wurlitzer]] to increase market share and by moving manufacturing overseas to reduce production costs.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|title=COMPANY NEWS; Wurlitzer Sale To Baldwin|work=[[The New York Times]] |agency=[[Reuters]]|date=1987-12-24|accessdate=2008-10-25|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/24/business/company-news-wurlitzer-sale-to-baldwin.html?exprod=permalink&partner=permalink}}</ref> In 1998, the company moved its headquarters from Loveland to nearby [[Deerfield Township, Warren County, Ohio|Deerfield Township]].<ref name="Osborne"/><ref name="Business Courier Baldwin">{{cite news|title=Baldwin to move headquarters|work=[[Cincinnati Business Courier]]|publisher=[[American City Business Journals]]|date=August 24, 1998|accessdate=April 1, 2018|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/1998/08/24/weekinbiz.html}}</ref> Throughout the 1990s, the company's fortunes improved, and by 1998, the company's 270 employees at its [[Conway, Arkansas]], facility were building 2,200 grand pianos a year. However, in 2001, Baldwin was again facing difficulties, and filed for bankruptcy once again. The company was bought by [[Gibson Guitar Corporation]].<ref name="LAT Gibson">{{cite news|title=Gibson Guitar to Buy Baldwin Piano|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=2001-11-02|page=C2|access-date=2008-10-25|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-nov-02-fi-64517-story.html|agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> In 2005, the company laid off some workers from its Trumann, Arkansas, manufacturing plant while undergoing restructuring.<ref name="kait8.com"/>
As a subsidiary of Gibson Guitar Corporation, the company has manufactured instruments under the Baldwin, [[Chickering & Sons|Chickering]], Wurlitzer, Hamilton, and Howard names. Baldwin bought two piano factories in China in which they manufacture grand and vertical pianos. Models built in the factory in [[Zhongshan]], China include the Baldwin Hamilton studio models B243 and B247, which are the most popular school pianos ever built.<ref name="finepb168">{{cite book| title=Acoustic and Digital Piano Buyer| first=Larry| last=Fine| page=168| publisher=Brookside Press| url=http://www.pianobuyer.com/index.html| year=2016| isbn=978-192914543-0| access-date=2017-01-08| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129141550/http://www.pianobuyer.com/index.html| archive-date=2016-11-29| url-status=dead}}</ref> The much-larger factory in Dongbei is not building pianos at this time.{{when|date=November 2022}} Baldwin grand pianos are being built to Baldwin specification by Hong Kong-based [[Parsons Music Group]].{{ref}} All new pianos are being sold under the Baldwin name, not Wurlitzer, Hamilton, or Chickering.<ref name="finepb168" />
Baldwin stopped manufacturing new pianos in the United States in 2008, briefly retaining staff at its [[Trumann, Arkansas]], factory for specialist work before closure and disposal of remaining inventory.<ref name="BaldwinFactory"/><ref>{{cite book |author-link=Jean-Pierre Thiollet |first=Jean-Pierre |last=Thiollet |title=88 notes pour piano solo |publisher=Neva Editions |year=2015 |page=135 |isbn=978-2-3505-5192-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/88notespourpiano0000thio/page/134/mode/2up |url-access=registration |lang=fr}}</ref>
In 2020, Baldwin was inducted into the [[American Classical Music Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Baldwin Piano Company |url=https://classicalwalkoffame.org/view-inductees/?id=158 |website=[[American Classical Music Hall of Fame]] |access-date=29 May 2024}}</ref>
== Models ==
=== Grand pianos === Grand piano models ({{as of|lc=y|2020}}):<ref>{{Cite web|title=Grand Landing Page v1|url=http://www.baldwinpiano.com/grand-landing-page.html|access-date=2020-12-11|website=www.baldwinpiano.com}}</ref>
* BP 148: {{convert|148|cm|ftin|abbr=on|order=flip}} * BP 152: {{convert|152|cm|ftin|abbr=on|order=flip}} * BP 165: {{convert|165|cm|ftin|abbr=on|order=flip}} * BP 178: {{convert|178|cm|ftin|abbr=on|order=flip}} * BP 190: {{convert|190|cm|ftin|abbr=on|order=flip}} * BP 211: {{convert|211|cm|ftin|abbr=on|order=flip}}
=== Upright pianos === Upright piano models ({{as of|lc=y|2020}}):<ref>{{Cite web|title=Upright Landing Page v1|url=http://www.baldwinpiano.com/upright-landing-page.html|access-date=2020-12-11|website=www.baldwinpiano.com}}</ref>
* B342/B42 Acrosonic: {{convert|43.5|in|cm}} * B442/B42 Acrosonic: {{convert|43.5|in|cm}} * B243/B47 Hamilton: {{convert|47|in|cm}} * B252 Concert Vertical: {{convert|52|in|cm}} * BP1 * BPE1 * BP3 * BP3T * BP5 * BP-X5
==Notable performers== [[File:Amy Lee 2011 Evanescence concert 10-25-11.jpg|thumb|right|220px|[[Evanescence]]'s [[Amy Lee]] performing in 2011]] Many distinguished musicians have chosen to compose, perform and record using Baldwin pianos, including the pianists [[Walter Gieseking]], [[Claudio Arrau]], [[Mike Shinoda]], [[Jorge Bolet]], [[Morton Estrin]], [[Margaret Baxtresser]] (née Barthel), [[Earl Wild]] and [[José Iturbi]] and the composers [[Aaron Copland]], [[Philip Glass]], [[Igor Stravinsky]], [[Béla Bartók]], [[Stephen Sondheim]], [[Leonard Bernstein]], [[Lukas Foss]], [[André Previn]], and [[John Williams]].
Popular entertainers who use Baldwin pianos include [[Ray Charles]], [[Liberace]], [[Richard Carpenter (musician)|Richard Carpenter]], [[Michael Feinstein]], [[Ben Folds]], [[Billy Joel]], [[Cat Stevens]], and [[Carly Simon]], and jazz pianists [[Dave Brubeck]], [[George Shearing]] and [[Dick Hyman]]. [[Amy Lee]], the lead vocalist, pianist and keyboardist of [[Evanescence]] also uses this brand in most of her compositions, recordings and live performances. A Baldwin piano was played nightly by [[Paul Shaffer]] on the ''[[Late Show with David Letterman]]''. Baldwin was the official piano of the television show ''[[Glee (TV series)|Glee]]''. [[Marian McPartland]]'s long-running radio show ''Piano Jazz'' was hosted by Baldwin.<ref>{{cite episode| title=Marian McPartland's Storied Life, Told 'In Good Time'| url=https://www.npr.org/2012/08/18/158421073/marian-mcpartlands-storied-life-told-in-good-time| series=[[Weekend Edition]]| network=[[NPR]]| date=August 17, 2012| minutes=10:58}}</ref> Baldwin was second only to [[Steinway & Sons|Steinway]] in its artist and symphony roster.
==Notes== {{noteslist}}
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite book |last=Crombie |first=David |title=Piano: Evolution, Design, and Performance |isbn=0-7607-2026-6 |publisher=Barnes and Noble Books |year=2000}} * {{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.answers.com/topic/baldwin-piano-organ-company |title=Baldwin Piano & Organ Company |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Company Histories |via=Answers.com |access-date=2007-03-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070505131434/http://www.answers.com/topic/baldwin-piano-organ-company |archive-date=2007-05-05}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Baldwin Piano Company}} * [http://www.baldwinpiano.com/ Official website] * [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/morley-thompson Morley Thompson Interview] at [[NAMM Oral History Program|NAMM Oral History Library]] (2003) * [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/lucien-wulsin Lucien Wulsin Interview] NAMM Oral History Library (2005)
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[[Category:Piano manufacturing companies of the United States]] [[Category:American brands]] [[Category:Gibson Brands]] [[Category:Music instrument endorsement lists]] [[Category:Music of Cincinnati]] [[Category:Manufacturing companies based in Ohio]] [[Category:American companies established in 1857]] [[Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1857]] [[Category:1857 establishments in Ohio]] [[Category:2001 mergers and acquisitions]] [[Category:Companies that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] [[Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001]] [[Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018]] [[Category: Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq]] [[Category:Manufacturing companies based in Nashville, Tennessee]] [[Category:Companies formerly based in Loveland, Ohio]]