Gertz, a genius who contributed many innovations to the piano industry, including the Duplex Scale, screw stringer and the Tension Resonator, a remarkable device that was designed to maintain the crown of the soundboard for the life of a piano. Wisely, it also hired brilliant designers. Following traditions established in making its organs, Mason & Hamlin built its pianos with the very finest materials-slowly and meticulously, with great attention to even the smallest detail. In 1881, the company decided to branch out into making pianos. It wasn’t long before Mason & Hamlin had established a worldwide reputation for excellence. The fact that they continued to win year after year was even more astounding. The fact that a small American company won the top prize over its much larger, more established European competitors astounded the music world. Arthur Loesser summed up their success in his book, Men,Women and Pianos, A Social History: “Mason & Hamlin…soon became and remained the foremost in the field.”įrom the organ harmonium, the company graduated to the American Cabinet Organ, a product that would earn Mason & Hamlin 1st prize at the Paris Exhibition of 1867. Fortunately, the combination of limited production and great attention to detail paid off, and the company and its products were instantly successful and in great demand. Hamlin developed his discovery to perfection, and in 1854, he and Henry Mason formed their company for the purpose of manufacturing a new musical instrument that they called the “organ harmonium.”Īlthough the company was started with very little capital, the two owners were determined to make only the very best instruments, even if there were very few produced. Price and Company of Buffalo, Hamlin invented a way to voice organ reeds, so that they could imitate the sound of a clarinet, violin or other musical instruments. While working at the melodeon factory of George A. Henry Mason was a pianist and his brother, William, was one of America’s foremost classical pianists and composers.Įmmons Hamlin was not a musician, but instead a brilliant mechanic and inventor. The Masons were renowned for their involvement in the arts. Henry Mason was a member of one of America’s oldest families-they were actually descendents of pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower. Although their backgrounds and interests were very different, the two men shared a common goal: to make the world’s finest musical instruments. In 1854, two brilliant idealists, Henry Mason and Emmons Hamlin, founded the Mason & Hamlin Company in Boston, Massachusetts, the birthplace of American piano design and manufacturing. The museum and creation of the Mason & Hamlin Historical Preservation Society are just two ways the company is honoring its long and illustrious history. That’s why the factory’s top floor showroom will one day house the Mason & Hamlin Museum, where vintage instruments, artifacts and memorabilia will be on display to the public. But along with its eye to the future is one trained on the past. Mason & Hamlin is a forward-thinking company that invests time and millions of dollars in creating its products. Choosing quality over quantity, Mason & Hamlin limits its annual production to 50 uprights and 300 grand pianos. Before a Mason & Hamlin leaves the factory, it’s inspected no fewer than 12 times.
Within its walls, a workforce of 70 highly skilled craftsmen complete every phase of production from rim-pressing to prepping the finished product.Īttention to detail takes time, and Mason & Hamlin invests a great deal of it in every piano it makes. Six floors of its busy factory are dedicated to handcrafting Mason & Hamlin pianos. Mason & Hamlin is headquartered in Haverhill, Massachusetts, not far from its original location in Boston, the birthplace of American piano design and manufacturing. Of the hundreds of American piano companies that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Mason & Hamlin is one of only a handful that survive today. Founded in 1854, Mason & Hamlin is one of America’s oldest and most respected piano manufacturers.
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