Chicago lyon and healy harp day
Does It Hurt?Īt craft shows I have the pleasure of meeting and conversing with a good many folk who stop by my table. If not for the hard decision that Steinway made back in the 1970s, Lyon & Healy may well have closed their doors completely by now.Īfter reading about the humble beginnings, the amazing accomplishments, the harsh pruning, and the incredible longevity of this great company, I have even more respect for the makers of the fine instrument that started me down the path of creating piano art. After this pruning, Lyon & Healy regained their focus, and their harp industry continues to this day. It sounds harsh, but sometimes a farmer has to prune branches that are producing fruit so that the remaining branches will produce more and better fruit. Steinway closed all Lyon & Healy retail stores and discontinued production of all instruments and sheet music so that the company could focus on the production of harps. The Great Pruningĭuring the Great Depression, the Everett Piano Company bought Lyon & Healy’s piano division, but they continued making pianos under the Lyon & Healy brand until the 1970s, when Steinway & Sons purchased all rights to the name. Many professionals had an annual salary of $1,500 to $4,000. Bear in mind that the average house sold for $4,700, you could buy a car for $1,450, and a loaf of bread cost 4 cents.
In fact, they were advertised as being “the world’s largest music house.” New upright pianos sold at that time for $125 to $290. And they did not forget their humble beginnings, for by 1930 they were the largest distributor of sheet music. For a while they also built pipe organs for both home and church use, as well as a variety of brass and woodwind instruments.
Pianos and harps were not the only instruments produced by Lyon & Healy. They also produced a line of upright pianos under the name of “Washburn” as an affordable alternative to the more elite Lyon & Healy brand. They were already carrying pianos made by other manufacturers, but now they began to produce their own: uprights, players, and grands. In the late 1800s Lyon and Healy further expanded their business. Healy’s hard work paid off, and his company became known as the world’s leading manufacturer for concert harps. Healy noticed that his repair shops were filled with harps that needed a great deal of work, so he set about to design “the finest harp the world has ever seen.” It took years of research, but in 1889, the first Lyon & Healy harp was produced, and it was played daily at Morgan Park High School in Chicago for 90 years, until it was returned to the company to be put on display in the Museo Dell’Arpa Victor Salvi in Italy.