Lindeman was a name used by a series of piano manufacturers in New York in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The concern was founded by William Lindeman (1794–1875) on a small scale in Dresden in about 1822, and reestablished by him in New York City in 1835 or 1836, where it grew to a medium size within twenty years. American piano historian Daniel Spillane credited him as one of the first successful immigrant German piano makers in the United States.
William's sons eventually became partners in the firm, reorganizing first as Lindeman & Son and then Lindeman & Sons and each of them worked in the industry following their father's death. Henry founded several independent piano manufacturing companies, the longest lived of which were Henry & S. G. Lindeman and the Melodigrand Corporation, both of New York; Herman is best known for patenting the firm's unusually shaped "Cycloid" square piano, and with his brother Ferdinand, and son George, he headed the short-lived Lindeman Piano Company of Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Lindeman & Sons name itself was eventually sold and was controlled by different companies after 1890, including the Wanamaker's department store and the piano manufacturing conglomerate Aeolian-American, which also controlled H. & S. G. Lindeman and Melodigrand names. The trademark was most recently owned by Burgett Brothers, Inc., owners of manufacturers Mason & Hamlin and PianoDisk, and who own a number of trademarks from old American piano manufacturers. As of 2014, the brand is defunct.
Nineteenth century
William Lindeman was born Wilhelm Lindemann on March 28, 1794 in Jöhstadt, in eastern Saxony on the Bohemian border. He was the third of six sons of Karl Gotthilf Lindemann, a preacher and rector of the municipal school. Wilhelm learned cabinetmaking—alone among his brothers in not attending university—and in 1812 moved to Vienna where he worked as a fine furniture maker. He worked in Munich as a pianomaker for about a year, and subsequently in for piano manufacturers Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, and Rosenkranz in Dresden before establishing his own shop, which much later advertisements date at 1822. According to a short biography published in Der Deutsche Pionier of Cincinnati in 1875, Lindeman's output was small and was sold principally through dealers in these cities, and he was unable to profit from what the article described as well regarded and innovative instruments.
Lindeman emigrated to New York City in 1834. The 1875 article recounted that with the help of a translator he applied to work at the piano manufactory of Dubois & Stodart, who operated a music store at 167 Broadway, but that Lindeman became indignant over the delay caused by the approval required by the pianomakers' union, and instead took a non-union position tuning and regulating at Geib & Walker's music store at 23 Maiden Lane. His reported starting salary was $8 a week, which was increased soon afterwards to $12, and he was able to earn as much as $18 a week ($ today) by taking outside work as a tuner and repairman. He was able to save $80 by economizing and the following year sent for his family to join him.
Wm. Lindeman
In 1835 or 1836 Lindeman began manufacturing his own pianos, and according to the 1875 article he employed a single journeyman. His initial address was listed at 48 William Street;William Lindeman" Musical Instrument Makers of New York Nancy Groce Pendragon Press, 1991 p.98 by 1836 he established a small factory at the corner of Bank and Fourth streets, but reportedly removed to work for piano makers Gerding & Simon on Long Island as a result of the bank crisis of 1837.
Lindeman reestablished himself at 19 James Street, New York City in 1842, and was joined then by his oldest son Herman. The 1875 article described that within two years he produced about two pianos a week, and moved to larger premises at 139 Centre Street. Lindeman was awarded diplomas at the 1847 and 1848 American Institute fairs, placing after piano makers James Pirsson, and Senior & Grovesteen, both of New York, in 1847List of Premiums awarded by the Managers of the Twentieth annual fair of the American Institute, October 1847 - Manufacturing and Mechanical Department: Piano fortes Sixth Annual Report of the American Institute of the city of New-York Charles Van Benthuysen, Albany 1848 p. 105 and J. H. Schomacker & Co., of Philadelphia, and behind J. H. Grovesteen and D. J. Winkle of New York the following year.21st Annual Manufacturing & Mechanical Department - Piano Fortes & Musical Instruments Seventh Annual Report of the American Institute of the City of New-York Weed, Parsons & Co., Albany 1849 p. 116
Lindeman & Son
In 1849, Lindeman made Herman a partner, and the firm moved to 56 Franklin street. The 1855 New York Census reported Lindeman & Son employed about 15 and produced $18,000 worth of pianos (about $ today) - representing about one percent of the combined output of the piano factories in New York City as reported in the New York State census of 1855.67 piano manufacturers in the state of New York reported having produced a total of 7,686 pianos worth $2,592,662 in 1855.Census of the State of New-York Charles Van Benthuysen, Albany 1857 p.403 They were awarded a diploma at the 1857 American Institute fair, placing after Schuetze & Ludolff, Gross & Hulskamp, Boardman & Gray and Henry Hansen.Transactions of the American Institute of the city of New York, for the year 1857 Charles Van Benthuysen, 1858 p.99
Lindeman & Son moved to 171 and 173 Mercer street in 1859.
Cycloid pianos
Herman Lindeman patented a construction for cycloid pianos in 1860. These roughly semi-circular squares were manufactured with the sides and interior portions of the wooden frame laminated from long, thick veneers bent and glued up into a single, continuous piece with the required shape and thickness, in order to make the pianos "lighter, smaller and circular at the back and sides."Herman Lindeman, Piano-forte. United States Patent No. 29,502 August 7, 1860; reissued, No. 1,773 September 27, 1864 The firm advertised that the cycloid was "the most elegant in shape, the most exquisite in tone, the strongest and most enduring piano manufactured in the world" and made an unsupportable claim in the late 1860s that it was "driving the unsightly square piano out of the market."advertisement The Christian Examiner vol. 6, no.270 (November 1868) This patent was credited by piano historians Daniel Spillane and Alfred Dolge to Herman's younger brother Henry, who is not listed on the original or reissued United States patents, but is listed jointly with Herman in the 1865 English patent;W. E. Newton (a communication from Herman Lindeman and Henry Lindeman), no. 1708 - An Improvement in Pianofortes, June 26, 1865 Abridgments of Specifications relating to Music and Musical Instruments. A. D. 1694-1866 second edition. Office of the Commissioners of Patents for Inventions, London 1871 p.448-449 both historians also identified Henry as the oldest brother.
Lindeman & Sons
In 1864 sons Henry (August 3, 1835-April 14, 1920) and Ferdinand joined the company, and it was reorganized as Lindeman & Sons. By 1866 they were listed at 173 Mercer, as well as 2 Leroy place and 112 Wooster
The rapid growth of the American piano industry does not appear to have slowed following the financial crisis of in the mid-1850s,J. Wayne Laurens The Crisis, or, The Enemies of the United States Unmasked G. D. Miller, Philadelphia, 1855 p. 170; Croll D. Wright and Horace G. Wadlin "The Industries of the Last Hundred Years" Justin Winsor, ed. The Memorial History of Boston vol.IV Ticknor & Company, Boston 1886 p.91 although the average sales prices of pianos lowered, but the industry went into decline during the Civil War when both the prices of pianos and value of piano sales compared to the number of workmen dropped. According to the 1860 United States Census fifty-five manufacturers in New York state had employed 2,064 hands—1,728 in New York City—and produced 12,800 pianos worth $2,849,007 ($1,381 per worker, or $223 per piano) compared to sixty-seven manufacturers reporting 7,686 pianos worth $2,592,662 in 1855; ($1,447 per workman. $338 per piano) whereas the 1865 New York state census listed 1,406 workers for forty-one piano manufacturers reporting—only 855 in New York City—and twenty-seven manufacturers declared $1,874,931 in sales.Statistics of Population of the City and County of New York as shown by the State Census of 1865 The New York Printing Company, New York 1866 p.267 The 1875 article described that Lindeman's workforce was reduced by half during the war.
Lindeman & Sons reported to the Revenue Department the sale of 233 pianos in 1866, far below the numbers reported by Steinway & Sons (1,944 pianos valued $1,001,164), Chickering & Sons (1,526, $651,285),Editorial Summary The Scientific American vol. 91 no.11 new series (March 16, 1867) p. 167 but which ranked them as the thirteenth largest American piano manufacturer, following Albert Weber, Decker Brothers, George Steck & Co., and W. B. Bradbury, all of New York.James Parton "The Piano in the United States" The Atlantic Monthly vol. 20 1867 p.93 The firm declared $63,000 in sales in 1869 (which would represent about the same scale as they had reported three years earlier based on an average value, according to census data, of about $300 per piano) but ranked them only twentieth, placed between J. & C. Fischer and Raven, Bacon & Co. of New YorkPiano-fortes: Sales for the year 1869 (from the New York Tribune, March 15, 1870) The Great Industries of the United States J. Burr & Hyde, Hartford 1873 p.331
Lindeman & Sons' pianos placed well at many agricultural fairs but they did not earn top honors at major industrial exhibitions. The firm advertised they had been awarded "the first premium gold medal for novelty, superiority and excellence" at the 1865 American Institute Fair,advertisement New York Times December 25, 1865 but the list of awards showed that they placed after George Steck & Co., and the Driggs Patent Piano Co., of New York.Award of Premiums at the American Institute Fair The Scientific American vol. 13, number 18, October 28, 1865 p.277 They were one of only three American piano makers to exhibit at the 1867 Paris Universal Exposition, but failed to win an award and their participation was eclipsed in most American reports by the fierce competition between Steinway and Chickering. A sympathetic article in the American Eclectic Medical Review reported that the cycloid shown at Paris had "fully the power of the best semi-grand but with about two thirds the size,"The Cycloid piano at the Exposition Universelle American Eclectic Medical Review vols. 1 and 2 (May 1867) p.279-280 but a New York Times review of the Exposition described the tone of the example at Paris as "pleasant, but thin" and reported that there were "better instruments of the same construction in the Norwegian department.".The Paris Exhibition The New York Times May 22, 1867, page 2
The firm established new headquarters at 92 Bleecker Street by 1870, and according to the 1875 biography, their production doubled to eight pianos a week about the same time. They received a second premium for a cycloid at the 1870 American Institute Fair, however the top manufacturers of the country were not represented: F. C. Lighte & Co. took first place, and Taylor & Dupuy, took third.Award of Premiums - Department I. Group 5. Thirty-first Annual Report of the American Institute of the City of New York for the year 1870-71 The Argus Company, Albany 1871 p.21 In 1872 Lindeman & Sons removed their New York warerooms to 14 East Fourteenth Street, and in 1874 Herman established a branch in Cincinnati, Ohio at 173 West Fourth street, reportedly to promote their sales in western states.Williams' Cincinnati Directory 25th annual edition Cincinnati Directory Office, Cincinnati June 1875 p.579