The Savvy Marketplace

Excellent antique pianos were made by the Baldwin Piano Company in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Baldwin pianos were used in concert by the greatest artists of the day. The final measure of the standard of excellence of the manufacturer is found in the endurance of the Baldwin piano through the ages making it an antique to be treasured. Baldwin’s campaign to use famous artists as advertising value became very effectve. Other components contributing to this success were and excellent product, a talented leadership determined to take the Baldwin to greatness and an impressingly efficient distribution and sales system, tying regional activities of each division to each local dealer.

Lucien Wulsin, creator of the Baldwin piano, in honor of his father the founder, said it would have the best material, the best engineering skills, and the best craftsmen to become the best piano that could be built.

Celebrities lent their names to the Baldwin product. People like Mrs. Calvin Coolidge, Mrs. Howard Taft, and Mrs. Warren G. Harding, all First Ladies, and famous places as a “Baldwin in the Lincoln Room” of the White House gave elegance to these pianos. Al Jolson and other singers and performers aided in making the Baldwin famous.

D.H. Baldwin, a music teacher, began the Baldwin Company in 1873. After Baldwin died, Wulsin and a fellow worker, Armstrong, bought out the Baldwin estate stock. They worked together perfectly. Wulsin’s love for the noble and beautiful is stamped on every part of the Baldwin Company. He made the workplace a place of beauty and efficiency. This was a tribute to his workers. Thereby the Baldwin pianos were given the highest prizes at the Paris Exposition in 1900. Someone said “the Baldwin tone is boundless, you can’t get to the bottom of it–can’t pound it out,” yet it can also whisper Chopin’s pianissimo pieces. The Baldwin piano is an art product, made by artists who are living and working in an artistic atmosphere. This is due to Lucien Wulsin being an idealist.