At the Great Exhibition in London, 102 different manufacturers exhibited 178 pianos.

1851

This is roughly the date when the classical piano-making period gave way to the more modern period, exemplified for example by the greater use of iron frames.

1852

Chickering & Sons, Piano Makers, opened a factory in Boston, USA.

1852

Albert Weber was born in Bavaria on July 8th, 1828. In 1852 he established the Weber Piano Company in Manhattan, New York. In 1869 the company opened new premises at the uptown location of Fifth Avenue and Sixteenth Street in New York. In 1903 the Aeolian Company of New York acquired Weber. At about this time they also opened a factory in Hayes, England. In 1985 the Aeolian Piano factory was closed down. The Wurlitzer Company purchased the Weber name, but they never made any pianos under that name. In 1986 they sold the name to Young Chang, which started to produce Weber pianos. However, this did not last long as Samsung America, Inc. acquired the licence to sell Weber pianos and established the company offices in New Jersey, USA. Around 1988 they introduced different numbers for grands and uprights. Grands started at number 034442 and uprights started at 1327707. In 1992 they introduced new models. The agreement obligated Samsung to buy these pianos from Young Chang. However, in December 2003 Samsung dropped Weber and is now marketing Chinese pianos under the Behning name.

There are a few makes of piano going under the name of Weber, most in the US, but there was one in Berlin and a large company in Canada.

1853

Bechstein of Berlin was formed.

1853

Blüthner was formed.

1853

Steinweg changed its name to Steinway of America and the Steinway piano firm was founded.

1853

A Norwich England action maker patented a spring and loop action.

1853

Bord used a spiral spring for the jack.

1853

Claude Montal one of the first blind piano tuners. He exhibited the sostenuto pedal, which Steinway bought. A monograph written by Montal in Paris in 1856, entitled "L'Art d'accorder soi-meme son piano," described his invention.

1854

Gabler was founded in New York, USA.

1854

Mason & Hamlin was founded in Boston, USA, by Henry Mason and Emmons Hamlin.

1855

On the 12th August in the late evening, Broadwood's Horseferry Road factory burned down. The factory made 2300 pianos a year, and 575 employees worked there. At this time their piano factory was the biggest in the world. It was three storeys high, with a separate steam engine house. The weekly payroll was £1000. There were 600 pianos permanently out on rentals, at rates ranging from 12s to £2.12s.6d per month, serviced by ten delivery trucks. With much of their business done on credit it was recorded that sometimes there was an annual write-off of £10,000. This was the year they made and sold their last cabinet piano, No. 8963, because of the fire.

1855

W. Sames Ltd. was established.

1856

Decker & Son, NY, USA, was established.

1856

Wurlitzer pianos, USA, was established.

1857

Steck, NY, USA, was established. They later merged with Aeolian.

1858

The Hallé Orchestra was formed.

1858

Grotrian-Steinweg, of Braunschweig, was formed. Later the family split and the other half emigrated to the US and founded Steinway & Sons.

1858

Monington & Weston, London, was established. Later they put the double iron frame on their uprights, making them very heavy but very stable pianos.

1859

August Forster established a small workshop in Lobau, Germany, where he made his first piano. From there he went on to open his first factory in 1862.

1859

Ludwig Bösendorfer took over the business when his father died.

1859

Kimball, Chicago, USA, was established.

1859

On December 20 of this year Henry Steinway Jr. took out the patent for over-stringing for grand pianos (patent number 26,532). This was a turning point for Steinway and their pianos won many awards around the world for best grand piano because of the over-stringing feature.