American Made Pianos

An Outstanding Manufacturing Tradition

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Chickering & Sons

Factory Location: Boston, Massachusettes
Serial Number Dates: 1823 - 1988 (?)

History:

The Chickering piano has a long and colorful history. Jonas Chickering was from Boston, Massachusettes, and was building pianos in the early 1800s. In 1843 he patented a complete cast-iron frame for the grand piano. This award winning frame (used for uprights as well) was placed into production around 1845. In 1852, the Chickering factory in Boston was destroyed by fire, prompting the building of a much larger factory, which was at that time, the second largest building in the United States. The new factory was able to produce around 1000 pianos per year. In 1908 a quarter-grand piano was introduced. With its high profile brandname and its quality workmanship, Chickering became the number one competitor for the Steinway Company, especially after Chickering added a full size concert grand piano to its line of production. In 1908 the company merged with the Knabe Piano Company to become the Aeolian American Piano Company. The Chickering name is now owned by Wurlitzer. Production lasted for more than a century.

 

Information source: Pierce Piano Atlas

The Resonance of a Continent: The American Piano Tradition

The American piano manufacturing tradition is a story of unparalleled craftsmanship meeting the boundless natural resources of a new world. At its heart lies the selection of materials—most notably the vast, old-growth spruce forests of the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast. These superior stands of Sitka and Adirondack spruce provided the tight-grained, resonant timber essential for crafting the world’s finest soundboards, offering a tonal depth and "singing" quality that European makers envied. Combined with a relentless spirit of industrial innovation, American makers refined the overstrung scale and the heavy cast-iron plate, creating instruments of such structural integrity and powerful projection that they redefined the modern piano.