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The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, was an American company started in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1853 by German immigrant Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company originally imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments from Germany for resale in the U.S. Wurlitzer enjoyed initial success largely due to defense contracts to provide musical instruments to the U.S. military.〔http://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php?rec=45〕 In 1880 the company began manufacturing pianos. Eventually the company relocated to North Tonawanda, New York and quickly expanded to make band organs, orchestrions, nickelodeons and pipe or theatre organs popular in theatres during the days of silent movies. 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. As technology evolved, Wurlitzer began producing electric pianos, electronic organs, and jukeboxes and eventually became known more for jukeboxes and vending machines, which are still made by Wurlitzer, than for actual musical instruments. Wurlitzer's jukebox operations were sold and moved to Germany in 1973. The Wurlitzer piano and organ brands and U.S. manufacturing facilities were acquired by the Baldwin Piano & Organ Co. (commonly called the Baldwin Piano Company) in 1988 and most piano manufacturing was moved overseas. The Baldwin Co., including its Wurlitzer assets, was subsequently acquired by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in about 1996. Ten years later, Gibson acquired Deutsche Wurlitzer and the Wurlitzer Jukebox and Vending Electronics trademarks, briefly bringing Wurlitzer's best-known products back together under a single corporate banner in 2006. Baldwin ceased making Wurlitzer brand pianos in 2009. Vending machines are still manufactured in Germany using the Wurlitzer name under Gibson ownership. The company ceased manufacturing jukeboxes in 2013, but still sells replacement parts. The Rembert Wurlitzer Co., Wurlitzer's rare and historic stringed instrument department was independently directed by Rudolph Wurlitzer's grandson, Rembert Wurlitzer (1904–63), from 1948 until his death in 1963. Rembert's shop on 42d Street in New York City was a leading international center for rare and historic string instruments.〔http://www.allthingsstrings.com/Instruments/HISTORY2/Wurlitzer-Shop-History〕 ==History== Wurlitzer was founded in Cincinnati in 1853 by German Franz Rudolph Wurlitzer (1831–1914) from Schöneck, Saxony. It was directed successively by his sons Howard, Rudolph, and Farny. The company initially imported musical instruments from the Wurlitzer family in Germany for resale in the U.S. 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.〔http://www.jukeboxhistory.info/WurliTzer/WUR-history.html〕 In 1896 Wurlitzer manufactured its first coin-operated pianos. In the late 1800s, fairs were very popular and, as crowds grew and mechanical rides began to appear, a need for louder music was realized. The fairground organ was developed. Eugene DeKleist of North Tonawanda, NY was an early builder of such organs (also called "barrel organs") for use in carousels. Wurlitzer bought into DeKleist's North Tonawanda Barrel Organ Factory in 1897. Eventually Wurlitzer bought out the entire operation (in 1909) and moved all Wurlitzer manufacturing operations from Ohio to New York.〔Fairground organ〕 In 1909 the company began making innovative harps that were far more durable than European prototypes, and from 1924 to the 1930s eight acclaimed 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 all over the world in a variety of theatres, museums, churches, and even private homes. With the onset of World War I, imports from Germany became problematic and Wurlitzer found it necessary to increase manufacturing efforts in the U.S. In the late 1930s or early 1940s Wurlitzer built a new, state-of-the-art manufacturing and marketing facility in North Tonawanda, complete with employee recreation areas, showers, and an on-site cafeteria.〔http://www.nthistorymuseum.org/Collections/wurlitzer.html〕 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 took over production of Lyric brand radios from the All American Mohawk Radio Company in Chicago. Lyric radios were a very high-end console radio which retailed for as much as $425 in 1929 (approximately $5,800 in 2014 dollars).〔http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/adaccess_R0520/〕 In addition to business acquisitions, Wurlitzer also entered into several joint ventures with James Armitage, George Herschell, and other businessmen from the area. A separate plant specializing in short production runs was built at Goundry and Oliver Streets in downtown North Tonawanda to fabricate organs and hurdy-gurdy's for amusement parks, circuses, roller rinks, and carnival midways. Amusement rides, particularly carousels, were also assembled at the facility. Starting in about 1933, the Wurlitzer name gradually became more and more closely associated with jukeboxes than with actual 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. The firm's violin department, independently directed by Rembert Wurlitzer (1904–63) from 1949 until his death in 1963, became a leading international centre 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 tools 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 guitar market as the sole distributor of Holman-Woodell guitars, which were originally sold under the Wurlitzer brand. (See Electric Guitars, below.) Wurlitzer then switched to an Italian guitar maker, Welson, before abandoning guitar sales altogether in 1969. While original Wurlitzer jukeboxes sold very well, technology soon outpaced Wurlitzer. By the 1950s other companies dominated the jukebox market. Wurlitzer sold its Martin rights to a French company (LeBlanc) in 1971, perhaps in an effort to stay afloat and recapture dominance in the jukebox market.〔http://saxpics.com/?v=man&manID=14〕 However, in 1973, Wurlitzer sold its jukebox brand to a German company and closed the North Tonawanda factory. Piano and organ manufacturing continued in Mississippi and Arkansas factories for a number of years. Wurlitzer's piano-making assets and brand were bought by the Baldwin Piano Company in 1988. Baldwin was subsequently acquired by and run as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Gibson Guitar Corporation. Meanwhile, Gibson acquired Deutche Wurlitzer Jukebox and Electronics Vending brand in 2006, briefly bringing the primary Wurlitzer product lines back under the Gibson flag. However, Baldwin stopped using the Wurlitzer name on pianos by the end of 2009. Gibson now uses the Wurlitzer brand name exclusively for jukeboxes and vending machines.〔http://www.gibson.com/Products/Wurlitzer/Jukebox%20Museum/History/〕 Wurlitzer continues to manufacture jukeboxes and vending machines at its factory in Hullhorst, Germany. Wurlitzer world headquarters are also located in Hullhorst while the company has branch distribution and sales offices in Gurnee, IL (U.S.) and Oxfordshire, England. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wurlitzer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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