Story of the Steinway and Sons Company - Essay Example

Steinway & Sons: An American History Since its inception, many immigrants have come to the United s in search of a better life. More than any other city, New York City’s history has been marked by the waves of immigrants who have made New York their home. The story of Heinrich Steinway and his family is just one such story. Heinrich Steinweg was a piano maker who lived with his family in Seesen, Germany. Charles, one of his sons, was involved in the failed European revolutions of 1848, and decided to leave Germany for the United States in 1849. He went to New York, already a cultural and manufacturing center of the United States. Once there, he saw considerable potential and reported this back to his family in Seesen (Burrows and Wallace 741). Heinrich, faced with a generally weak economy and many restrictions on trade, decided to immigrate with his family to New York City as well. Thus they became part of the “Great Migration”, the wave of immigrants who moved to the United States from 1820s through the 1860s (La Guardia and Wagner Archives 4). Many of these new immigrants settled in New York City. It is estimated that between 1840 and 1860, more than 3 million immigrants arrived in New York City (La Guardia and Wagner Archives 4). Of these over 70% were Irish or German. The German population clustered in the area of New York City now known as the Lower East Side. In those days, this area was referred to as “Kleindeutschland”, meaning Little Germany (La Guardia and Wagner Archives 6). It was in this area that the Steinweg family settled. Like many immigrants, they were searching for possibilities that were not present in their home country, and their hope was a better life in the United States. The time from 1825 through the 1860s is known as the “Age of Improvement” (La Guardia and Wagner Archives 10). This period marked significant improvement in the arts, sciences, and manufacturing in the United States. Recognizing a growing need from the new middle class for pianos, Steinway opened his first factory in 1853 (Burrows and Wallace 741). Opportunity, combined with skill and dedication to quality led the Steinway company to early success. As soon as 1855, Steinway & Sons pianos began to win domestic as well as international awards. In 1867, the company won the prestigious “Grand Gold Medal of Honor” for excellence in manufacturing and engineering at the Paris Exhibition (Steinway History). Steinway & Sons was the first American company to earn this award. This event was symbolic of the growing credibility of the United States in the world of manufacturing and engineering. But what was it that made the Steinway brand so special? It seems to be a combination of two factors: quality and innovation (La Guardia and Wagner Archives 10). From the beginning, the Steinways used only the highest quality materials and produced pianos made to the highest standard. But, very importantly, they also recognized the stagnation that existed in the evolution of the piano at that time. There was a need for improvements in the quality of pianos, particularly the ability to create larger, more powerful pianos suited for concert halls without sacrificing quality. Steinway & Sons thus set about perfecting the sound and strength of the pianos they produced. This period of time was marked by innovations in the production of pianos and also be a better understanding of acoustics. The Steinways filed patents to protect the innovations they had made. Between Heinrich and his sons, particularly his son Theodore, more than 55 patents were filed (Steinway History). Within 10 years of the establishment of the 1st factory, Steinway & Sons had firmly established itself as the leader of the piano manufacturing industry (La Guardia and Wagner Archives 10). Business was so brisk that by 1860 the original factory was no longer large enough to meet the production needs of the company. A new factory was built, using steam power to speed up the production process (Burrows and Wallace 741). While the original factory had initially had production rates of one piano per week, with the new facility and over 350 employees, the company could produce 30 square pianos and 5 grand pianos a week (La Guardia and Wagner Archives 10). The Steinway & Sons story reflects the establishment and success of the United States and New York City at this time in the field of manufacturing and innovation. By taking advantage of opportunities presented within the market, by incorporating new technologies into the manufacturing process, and by seeking for constant improvement, Steinway & Sons exemplifies the focus on progress which characterized the “Age of Improvement”. In 1866, Steinway & Sons opened the first Steinway Hall in New York City. The Steinway Hall took the selling of the Steinway pianos to a new level. Steinway Hall contained a concert hall with over 3000 seats. Importantly, in order to enter or exit the concert hall, guests passed through a “ware” room (showroom) containing Steinway pianos. The Steinways invited many famous musicians to perform on Steinway pianos in the concert hall, and Steinway Hall soon became a premiere cultural center of New York City. Many notable cultural figures, including Christine Nilssson, Anton Rubenstein, and Charles Dickens, performed there (Burrows and Wallace 962). Meanwhile the company had expanded their production facility to a new location in Astoria, Queens. From the beginning, Steinway & Sons had attempted to control as much of the production process as possible, one of the factors which had led to their success. The new location in Astoria was near the water, and became the place where raw materials such as wood and iron were received by the company. After preliminary treatment, the materials were shipped to the Manhattan factory, where the finished pianos were produced (Burrows and Wallace 938). The dedication of the Steinways to controlling as much of the production process as possible took on a whole new significance in response to the labor strikes that characterized New York City in 1869 and 1872. Traditionally, the Steinway company had employed many of their fellow German immigrants living in Kleindeutschland, as Germans were traditionally very skilled in wood working. Bolstered by the successes of other guilds, German woodworkers organized into the Furniture Workers League and went on strike in May of 1872 demanding a 8 hour work day. The powerful Steinway & Sons took the lead in attempts to break the strike. They countered by offering their employees increased wages in exchange for keeping the 10 hour day. When some employees accepted, the piano workers assembled and surged on the Steinway & Sons factory, attempting to drive away the 10 hour workers. Steinway called in the police who attacked the workers with clubs (Burrows and Wallace 1013). This event marked the beginning of a period of serious labor unrest. As workers fought for their rights, business owners looked to New York City officials for assistance and received it. The end result was that all of the gains achieved by workers were reversed, including the 8 hour work day. About this time, the company began to build a community in Astoria, near its factory there. This community would offer safe and clean worker housing for Steinway & Sons employees, and was also geared to attract middle and upper class residents as well (Burrows and Wallace 939). It seems clear that the construction of Steinway Village was at least in some way motivated by the labor unrest that the company had recently experienced (La Guardia and Wagner Archives 19). Was it an attempt to prevent instability in the production process by isolating and thus better controlling the employees (La Guardia and Wagner Archives 19)? Or was the motivation simply to provide safe and clean housing for its employees, many of whom were living in the tenements of New York City? Whatever the motivation, the result was a planned community that was as well thought through and engineered as any Steinway piano. Private company funds paid to install macadamized roads, waterworks, a sewer system, a railroad spur, and a telegraph line (Burrows and Wallace 938). By design it contained such things as a kindergarten, church, public bath house, post office, fire department, park, amusement park, and transportation provided by street cars drawn by horses. In 1871, Heinrich Steinway died, and his sons C.F. Theodore and William took over the company. Given the domestic success of the Steinway & Sons company, as well as its growing international prestige, the company decided to expand its operations overseas. A showroom was opened in London in 1875. In 1880, a factory and retail store were opened in Hamburg, Germany. Over the years, international expansion continued. The success of the Steinway & Sons continues to the modern day. By 1900, the company was producing more than 3500 pianos per year. Although demand decreased during the Great Depression and World War II, the post-war era saw renewed prosperity for the company, with production increasing from 2000 pianos per year in 1947 to over 4,000 by 1960. According to the Steinway & Sons company, every major concert hall in every major city in the world has at least one Steinway & Sons piano (Steinway history). Seneca once said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”. In many ways this statement summarizes the story of the Steinway & Sons company. Their story is one of maximizing opportunity through hard work, innovation, and a dedication to excellence. Today there is still the belief that with hard work anything is possible, and this is the direct legacy of the immigrants who came before us looking for a better life, including Heinrich Steinway and his family. It was their spirit and drive that shaped the culture and history of New York City and the United States. Works Cited: Burrows, Edwin G. and Wallace, Mike. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Print. La Guardia and Wagner Archives. Steinway: Immigration, Family Business, Neighborhood A New York Story. Long Island City, New York: LaGuardia Community College/CUNY, 2001. Print. “Steinway History.” Steinway.com, n.d. Web. 21 April, 2010. Read More