The first documented mail-order operation was in 1499 in Italy (books), followed by catalogs for seed (England, 1667) and saplings (U.S., 1771).

To the traditional shopping expeditions to Chicago or 'back East' was added the mail-order catalog.

For those living in far-flung areas of the U.S., however, help was coming, wearing a white hat. 1900), the explosion sparkled to a close, moving westward no farther because the population dropped off sharply beyond Chicago and transportation of materials further west would drive up the price beyond what the economies of the area could bear. Starting in the Northeast (Boston, upstate New York, and especially New York City), piano manufacturing moved westward through Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Ohio toward Chicago.Ībout the time it reached the mid-West (ca.

The economy of the North had been strong throughout the conflict and continued to grow after it. This manufacturing explosion was scarcely interrupted by the Civil War. I do not list American brands out of patriotic preference but because in the hundred-year period between 1820-1920, there was an explosion of piano building in America, so many of those 12,500 brands were American. My technician (make sure you deal with a Registered Piano Technician, not a 'tuner') told me that in the last 200 or so years, there have been about 12,500 different brands of pianos made (not model names - brands)!Īs you read my comments on piano brands, below, you will note that many are American.

Weber upright piano serial number