The Weber Piano Company is a former piano manufacturing company based in New York City and East Rochester, New York from the middle of the 19th century through the beginning of the 20th century, and continued as a division of Aeolian-American at East Rochester, New York until 1985, when Aeolian went out of business.
The Weber name was then sold to South Korean piano company Young Chang, which in turn sold the Weber name to Samsung Group in 1987. Young Chang remains responsible for manufacturing the pianos, which are sold in two product lines: Weber, with entry-level and mid-level pianos, and Albert Weber, with higher-level products.
History
Weber Piano Company under Albert Weber Sr.
The Weber Piano Company was founded in 1852 by Albert Weber (born: July 8, 1829, Heiligenstadt, Bavaria; died: June 25, 1879, New York). Weber emigrated to the United States at the age of 16, and while his first intent was to support himself by teaching music and playing the organ, he soon was employed first as an apprentice of Charles J. Holder, a piano builder, and then as a piano builder by the D.J. Van Winkle piano company. During this time, Weber supplemented his income by giving music lessons in the evenings, and by playing the organ in churches on Sundays. In 1851, he set up a small piano business on West Broadway and White Street, in Manhattan. On October 1, 1851, Weber completed his first piano, working with two assistants, and by the beginning of 1852, they had completed five additional pianos. In 1852, Weber moved to a larger facility at 103 W. Broadway & 28 Jones Street.
A fire destroyed Weber's Broadway workshop in 1854, but Weber stayed in the Manhattan area, moving to 103rd & 105 W. Broadway, and later to 155 W. Broadway. By 1864 Weber had achieved some success with the then-popular "square grand piano", and opened a larger factory nearby at 41 Wooster Street in Manhattan, and later expanded that facility several times. Between 1864 and 1869, Weber's pianos became popular in New York music circles. In 1869, Weber opened a large, luxurious showroom on 108 Fifth Avenue and 16th street in New York City. This was seen as a bold move by Weber's larger competitors, but it paid off, establishing the Weber brand as a premium product in the mind of customers. This new location became a "rendezvous of musical people" and Weber became wealthy. Weber's products were arguably some of the highest-quality pianos of their day, famous for fine materials and exacting attention to detail. Lacking a background in piano construction, Weber focused on proven methods of piano construction as opposed to innovative new ideas. Weber's pianos were also some of the most expensive of the day – the price of a Rococo Weber Grand Piano in 1874 was $1,400, approximately the cost of a large mansion.
As Weber's business grew, his pianos received recognition. The company received medals at the Philadelphia Worlds Fair (1876), the London World's Fair (1887) and the Paris World's Fair (1889). Weber also advertised his pianos aggressively, and is believed to have coined the term "Baby Grand" to describe a small grand piano. Weber was described as a skilled pianist, with genuine enthusiasm for music. He was well-educated and well-read, and was described as "a keen observer of men and things, [and] a most interesting entertainer". Weber was also a socialite, founding the Arcadian Club in New York, as well as being a member of the Manhattan Club, the Palette Club, the Arion Society, and the Liederkranz Society.
Albert Weber died relatively young, at the age of 50. Like many creative professionals, Weber was highly passionate about his work; however, this came at a cost to his health. He worked long hours, and also attended opera, theaters, and clubs at night. Described as having a "Bohemian" temperament, it may be that Weber's health failed due to his hard work and restlessness, or it may that he taxed his body with various vices such as smoking and drinking. According to his obituary, he was ill for nearly a year before he died, with the final nine weeks being serious enough to cause him to withdraw from his business.
At the time of his death, Weber lived at No. 32 West Nineteenth Street in New York, and his remains were interred at Green-Wood Cemetery. Weber's funeral was attended by over 300 employees, friends, and family. Weber's fortune, estimated at over $1 million (about $24 million in 2012 dollars), provided a comfortable living for his widow, Martha Weber (Maiden name: Martha Woodward), and his three children, Albert Weber Jr., Martha Weber, and Robina Weber.
Less than a year after Weber's death, however, a suit was brought against the estate by an alleged illegitimate child – Miss Josephine Todd – who claimed that she was Weber's daughter and that he had supported her throughout her life and had promised to name her in his will. Miss Todd asked for a settlement of $30,000 (about $702,983 in 2012 dollars.) The jury found in favor of Miss Todd, and a New York State appeals court affirmed the judgement for a total of $10,868 with interest from the time of Weber's death.
Competition with Steinway and Sons
Steinway & Sons, arguably one of today's most recognized piano manufacturers, was founded by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg in 1853, only a few years after Albert Weber founded his company.Steinway and Sons
The two businesses have many similarities. Both companies were founded by German immigrants, both started building primarily square pianos, both focused largely on high-quality, top-of-the-line instruments, and both companies were based in the lucrative piano market of New York City. During the latter half of the nineteenth century, Steinway and Weber competed closely. For example, in a New York Times piano buying guide in 1874 (which was possibly a paid advertisement), Steinway and Weber are the top two brands with the longest paragraphs. The article also includes other high-quality piano makers of the day, including Chickering, Knabe, and Decker Bros.
One example of Weber's ongoing feud with Steinway comes to light in the piano industry's attempts to reign in unauthorized, counterfeit pianos. By 1876, the piano was a popular home entertainment device, with sixty to seventy thousand pianos and organs being manufactured and sold in the United States per year. Many strong brands were established, and despite the protection of trademarks, many counterfeit pianos were also being produced with low-quality materials and sold at a deep discount.
Brand Counterfeit Names Used Chickering & Sons "Chickring & Sons", "Chichering & Sons" Decker Bros. "Decker and Bros.", "Becker Bros." Hazelton Bros. "Hazeltine Bros.", "Hazelman & Co." Mason & Hamlin "Nason and Hammin" Steinway & Sons "Stanley & Sons", "Steinman & Sons", "Steinmetz & Sons", "Steinmay & Sons" Weber "Webber", "Weber & Co.", "Weber Scale"
In an attempt to curtail the trade in counterfeit pianos, representatives of sixty-five piano and organ manufacturers met to form the Piano, Organ, and Music Trade Association of New York on January 31, 1876. When voting for the directors of this group, an upset occurred when Joseph P. Hale and Albert Weber were elected as leaders. Albert Weber later wrote that all sixty-five firms voted openly, and the results were counted openly, but "the men who expected to get elected did not get votes enough!" Weber, an admirer of the American system of social mobility that had allowed him to rise so far in society, quipped: "The poorest is as much entitled to an office as the richest, if he gets the votes.
The election of Weber and Hale offended some of the largest piano and organ makers of the day, who sought to control this industry group. The representatives of Chickering, Decker Brothers, Mason & Hamlin, Steinway & Sons and some smaller piano and organ makers resigned from the group, forming their own Piano-forte and Organ Manufacturers' and Dealers' Protective Association of New-York.
The likely cause of the upset was that, with sixty-five companies present, the smaller piano companies controlled the majority of the votes and voted for those that they believed would represent the interests of smaller companies. Weber was seen as an upstart success story – someone who had risen rapidly from a sole proprietorship to one of the most prominent piano makers in New York, with lavish showrooms on Fifth Avenue and prominent endorsements. As far as Joseph P. Hale, he too had traveled a similar path, but focused on production efficiency and assembly-line work methods. His bold new ideas made him rich, made the piano more affordable for the middle class, and made him strongly disliked by his competitors. Both Weber and Hale could therefore be seen as credible threats to the larger and more established companies like Steinway.
Weber, ever bold, did not believe that protection of an industry group was even necessary at all (even though he was elected to lead it), writing:
"About a month ago a society was projected. I did not believe in it. I had fought my way up to the top, felt secure in my position, and believed that each manufacturer would accomplish more by being untrammeled.... The name "Webber", with two "bs," "Weber & Co." "Weber Scale," had appeared on a number of bogus pianos, but I did not whine about it or hire a scurilous publication... to tell the world my griefs, as they did.... I found the place where the bogus "Webber" instruments were made, and put a stop to the work. Those of the bogus makers who proved obstinate I handed over to my attorneys... who speedily procured an injunction on the work and recovered judgement. The same law protects my neighbors' rights, and will act as effectually in their case as it did in mine."
Although Weber's boldness had benefited him, and allowed him to win many battles, Steinway & Sons ultimately won the war. Unlike Steinway, Weber focused his efforts on refining quality, materials and worksmanship rather than technological innovation. The key difference between the two founders (Albert Weber and Heinrich Steinweg) was that Weber had trained and studied as a pianist, and not as a businessman or piano builder. Steinweg, on the other hand, worked and trained primarily as a builder of a variety of instruments and not as a musician.Henry E. Steinway As a builder first and foremost, Steinweg, and later his family members, discovered many technological innovations in piano construction and design that helped them versus against other piano builders. Further, Steinweg was better able to delegate control of his burgeoning empire to his family members, while Weber struggled with micro-management and had difficulty stepping back from the minutiae of day-to-day operations.
Weber Company's position against Steinway & Sons further weakened with Weber's relatively early death at the age of only 50. While Weber outlived his rival, his family was smaller and far less prolific than the Steinway family, and due to his tendency toward micro-management, Weber's death was a large loss to the company. Unlike Steinweg, Albert Weber's heir was a poor reflection of the original, and did damage to the Weber name.
Weber Piano Company under Albert Weber Jr.
In 1879, Albert Weber Jr. (born: 1858; died: 1908) succeeded his father as the head of Weber Piano Company after his father's death. Although Weber took control of the company at the age of only 21, his father had provided a formal education as well as training in piano-making.