1. Wurlitzer Piano

The famous Rudolph Wurlitzer Company claimed to be sellers of ‘Everything Musical”, a slogan that was quite accurate! Rudolph Wurlitzer immigrated to America in 1854 and established his first firm in New York City. Wurlitzer moved to Cincinnati in 1856 and became a successful retailer of pianos, organs and general musical merchandise. Wurlitzer’s firm was so successful that he built “The House Of Wurlitzer”, a large factory with splendid warerooms, in 1861. During these early years, Wurlitzer manufactured organs and melodeons, but imported the majority of his other instruments from European makers which were sold under the Wurlitzer label here in America. By the 1920s, Wurlitzer had an endless array of mechanical musical instruments in addition to their traditional pianos and player pianos. There were several names that were controlled by Wurlitzer by the early 20th Century, including, De Kalb, Ellwood, Farny, Kingston, Merriam, Strad and Underwood.

Wurlitzer Piano

After the Great Depression era, Wurlitzer built several lines of spinets, consoles and baby grand pianos well into the 20th Century. The giant Wurlitzer Company continued to build pianos until the 1990s when the Wurlitzer name was sold to the famous.