Cable Piano Company

The Cable Piano Company
Industry Piano designing / manufacturing
Founded 1880
Founder Herman D. Cable
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois, The USA
Products Pianos
Row of key fitters at the Cable Company factory.
Row of key fitters at the Cable Company factory.
Kingsbury Piano.
Kingsbury was one of the many brands produced by the Cable Company.

The Cable Piano Company or simply Cable Company was an American piano manufacturing company founded by Herman D. Cable in 1880. It was one of the largest piano makers in Chicago.[1] It claimed to be "the world's greatest manufacturer of pianos, inner player pianos, and organs".[2] In 1901, the company built a factory in St. Charles on 3.5 acres west of the Fox River.[3]

History

After being originally involved with the Western Cottage Organ Company (later changed to Chicago Cottage Organ Company), H.D. Cable founded The Cable Piano Company, and subsequently became one of the major contributors to the American piano industry.[4] In 1890, Cable consolidated with the Conover Brothers, as well as his two brothers Fayette S. Cable and Hobart M. Cable (although Fayette S. Cable and Hobart M. Cable continued to build pianos under their own names).[5] During the factory's heyday in the early 1900s, there were as many as 500 employees.[6]

Brands

The Cable Company produced pianos under different name brands, after acquiring other piano makers. In 1936, the Schiller Piano Company was acquired, producing pianos under the name Cable and Conover. Other piano brands that were acquired and/or produced by Cable were Euphona,[7] Kingsbury,[8] Wellington[9] and Elburn. The facility known as the Wellington Piano Case Company Building, is on the National Register of Historic Places in Leominster, Massachusetts.

References