page_title: Wurlitzer
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Wurlitzer / History
caption_attribution_description: English: 1920s print ad for American Mohawk Lyric radios as manfufactured by Wurlitzer
context_page_description: The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments from Germany for resale in the United States. Wurlitzer enjoyed initial success, largely due to defense contracts to provide musical instruments to the U.S. military. In 1880, the company began manufacturing pianos and eventually relocated to North Tonawanda, New York. It quickly expanded to make band organs, orchestrions, player pianos and pipe or theatre organs popular in theatres during the days of silent movies.
  Wurlitzer is most known for their production of entry level pianos. During the 1960s, they manufactured Spinet, Console, Studio and Grand Pianos. Over time, Wurlitzer acquired a number of other companies which made a variety of loosely related products, including kitchen appliances, carnival rides, player piano rolls and radios. Wurlitzer also operated a chain of retail stores where the company's products were sold.
context_section_description: Franz Rudolph Wurlitzer (1831–1914), an immigrant from Schöneck, Saxony, founded the Wurlitzer Company in Cincinnati in 1853. His sons Howard, Rudolph and Farny successively directed the company after his death. The company initially imported musical instruments from the Wurlitzer family in Germany for resale in the United States. Wurlitzer was an early American defense contractor, being a major supplier of musical instruments to the U.S. military during the American Civil War and Spanish–American War. In 1880, Wurlitzer started manufacturing its own pianos, which the company sold through its retail outlets in Chicago. In 1896, Wurlitzer manufactured its first coin-operated pianos.
  In the late 1800s, fairs were popular. As crowds grew and mechanical rides began to appear, there was a need for louder music. The fairground organ was developed. Eugene DeKleist of North Tonawanda, New York, was an early builder of such organs (also called "barrel organs") for use in carousels. Wurlitzer bought an interest in DeKleist's North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory in 1897. In 1909, Wurlitzer bought the entire operation, and he moved all Wurlitzer manufacturing from Ohio to New York. In 1909, the company began making innovative automatic harps that were more durable than European prototypes, and from 1924 to the 1930s, eight models were available. The "Mighty Wurlitzer"  theatre organ was introduced in late 1910 and became Wurlitzer's most famous product. Wurlitzer theatre organs are installed around the world in theatres, museums, churches and private residences.
  With the onset of World War I, imports from Germany became problematic, and Wurlitzer found it necessary to increase manufacturing in the US. In the early 1930s, Wurlitzer built a new, state-of-the-art manufacturing and marketing facility in North Tonawanda, complete with employee recreation areas, showers and a cafeteria.  Wurlitzer abandoned production of nickelodeons but continued to manufacture the paper player piano music rolls through a wholly owned subsidiary called the Endless Roll Music Company. Wurlitzer also assumed production of Lyric brand radios from the All American Mohawk Radio Company in Chicago. Lyric radios were a high-end console radio, which retailed for as much as $425 in 1929 (approximately $5,800 in 2014 dollars).
  In addition to business acquisitions, Wurlitzer entered into several joint ventures with James Armitage, George Herschell, and other businessmen from the area.  He constructed a separate plant at Goundry and Oliver Streets in downtown North Tonawanda specializing in short production runs to fabricate organs and hurdy-gurdys for amusement parks, circuses, roller rinks and carnival midways. Amusement rides, particularly carousels, were assembled at the facility.
  Circa 1933, the Wurlitzer name gradually became more associated with jukeboxes than with musical instruments. In 1942, organ production at the North Tonawanda factory ceased and production was shifted to the manufacture of bomb proximity fuses for World War II. After the war, normal production efforts resumed but with more focus on radios, jukeboxes and small electronic organs for private homes.
  Among Wurlitzer's electronic instruments, beginning with electrostatic reed organs in 1947, the most important have been the fully electronic organs, especially the two-manual-and-pedals spinet type (from 1971 with synthesizer features) for domestic use. In the mid-1950s, Wurlitzer began manufacturing portable electric pianos.
  Rembert Wurlitzer (1904–1963) independently directed the firm's violin department from 1949 until his death in 1963, building it into a leading international center for rare string instruments.
  In the 1960s, Wurlitzer ventured into new instrument markets. In 1964, Wurlitzer bought the rights, registered trademarks, copyrights, patents, engineering records and factory of the Henry C. Martin Band Instrument Company, which manufactured brass wind instruments in Elkhart, Indiana (not to be confused with the C.F. Martin & Company guitar maker). In 1967, Wurlitzer entered the g
caption: American Mohawk Lyric Radio as Mfd. by Wurlitzer circa 1920s
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