Jasper Corporation to Kimball International
The Jasper Corporation was founded in 1950 in Jasper, Indiana, by Mr. Arnold Habig to make television cabinets, cabinets, and furniture.[5] Jasper Corporation prospered from increasing television sales and from its investment in vertical integration, giving the company self-sufficiency. In 1959, Jasper, Inc., purchased the W. W. Kimball Company as a wholly owned subsidiary. Jasper moved its Kimball piano manufacturing to West Baden Springs in 1961.[4][5] The first Indiana-made pianos were plagued with quality problems, but the issues were addressed and the pianos improved.[4] In 1966, Jasper bought the Austrian piano maker Bösendorfer.[4]
By 1969, Kimball had returned to its former position as the world's largest piano maker.[5] The subsidiary made some 100,000 pianos and organs annually during its peak years in the 1960s and 1970s.[5] On an average day 250 pianos and 150 electronic organs were shipped from the factory.[5] Grand pianos from Kimball in Indiana ranged from compact 4 ft models to larger 6 ft models. In Vienna, the Bösendorfer division made concert grand pianos as large as 9 ft: the Imperial Bösendorfer. Kimball also made upright pianos in 42 in and 46 in sizes, but not smaller spinet models; a decision which allowed great profits to be made by competitors.[4] However, Kimball produced inexpensive console pianos, between upright and spinet size, in a subsidiary plant across the Texas–Mexico border in Reynosa, doing business as Kimco.[4]
Based on the success of piano and organ sales, Jasper determined to leverage the Kimball brand recognition to assist sales of office furniture, home furniture and electronics.[5] Company leaders realized that the Kimball brand had far greater popular recognition than the Jasper brand,[4] and in 1974, Jasper changed its name to Kimball International, going public in September 1976 with the initial public offering of 500,000 shares of common stock.[5]
In 1980 Kimball International bought Krakauer Brothers, a New York piano maker founded in 1869, and Conn Keyboards, the piano and organ division of C.G. Conn ltd. The acquisitions were ill-timed, as piano and organ sales were in a long-term downward trend. In 1984, Kimball loaned 84 baby grands to the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for their use at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Opening Ceremony. In a section devoted to the Hollywood musical with George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" as the main theme, the 84 baby grands were rolled out under the arches of the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. Kimball operated Krakauer for five years in New York before closing the plant.[4]
Because of a worldwide decline in piano and organ purchases through the 1980s and 1990s, the Kimball piano and organ subsidiary was discontinued in February 1996. The last Kimball grand piano was signed by every worker and company executives, and remains on display at Kimball's showroom in Jasper.[5] The Bösendorfer piano brand continued unaffected, but was sold to Austrian buyers in 2002.[4]
