Here we have a reconditioned Baldwin 243 Upright Piano. Make: Baldwin Model: 243 Finish: (SW) Satin Walnut Statues: Used/Reconditioned. The company was founded by Dwight Hamilton Baldwin a Cincinnati music educator. In 1865 Baldwin hired Lucien Wulsin as a bookkeeper and in 1873 offered him a full partnership in the company. In 1887 Steinway made one of the biggest errors in their history. They cancelled Baldwin as a Steinway & Sons piano dealer thereby creating Steinway’s biggest domestic competitor of the 20th century. This cancellation led the Baldwin company to begin designing and building their own pianos and organs. In 1889 they acquired the Hamilton organ company of Chicago and the following year established the Baldwin Piano Company. Their goal was to put the Baldwin brand on only the highest quality pianos made. Baldwin vowed to build the best piano that could be built and subsequently formed two production companies: Hamilton Organ, which built reed organs, and the Baldwin Piano Company, which made pianos. The company introduced its first grand piano in 1895. Baldwin won their first major award the “Grand Prix” in Paris in 1912. This was the first American manufactured piano to win such an award. By 1913 Baldwin was exporting to thirty-two countries and had dozens of retailers throughout the United States. (Baldwin 243) as advertised. Available at our NEW Arroyo Pasadena location.