American Made Pianos

An Outstanding Manufacturing Tradition

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Acoustigrande

Factory Location: Chicago, Illinois
Serial Number Dates: 1900 - 1927

History:

Chickering Bros. Piano Company was established in 1892 in the city of Chicago by Clifford Chickering. Clifford was a son of Josiah B. Chickering who was related to the well known Chickering family of Boston, Massachusettes. The Chickering Brothers company made the Acoustigrande as well as the Capacoustic Grand.

 

Information source: Pierce Piano Atlas

The Resonance of a Continent: The American Piano Tradition

The American piano manufacturing tradition is a story of unparalleled craftsmanship meeting the boundless natural resources of a new world. At its heart lies the selection of materials—most notably the vast, old-growth spruce forests of the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast. These superior stands of Sitka and Adirondack spruce provided the tight-grained, resonant timber essential for crafting the world’s finest soundboards, offering a tonal depth and "singing" quality that European makers envied. Combined with a relentless spirit of industrial innovation, American makers refined the overstrung scale and the heavy cast-iron plate, creating instruments of such structural integrity and powerful projection that they redefined the modern piano.