Monument to William Kimball (1828-1904) in Graceland Cemetery, 4001 N Clark Street in Chicago, Illinois. Kimball made a fortune in real estate, but his passion was making pianos and pipe organs. Chicago’s Kimball Avenue is named after him.
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Great story about a Chicago legend.
I never played piano, but taught myself how to play a 2 keyboard (and pedals) Kimball electric organ as a kid.
Later, in between college and finding my first “big” job, a friend of my Mom’s had bought Bev Patterson’s piano store in Fox Valley mall, a big attraction, back then it was allowed to set up a big organ or piano in the mall, play music to gain interested customers. They needed help, I needed money! I learned a TON about pianos, how they are made, what makes one better than another.
We mainly sold Kimball’s…dollar for dollar, you could NOT find a better made, longer lasting piano than a Kimball. If I recall, they came with an insane 100 year warranty or somethimg like that.
That was 34 years ago, I’m sure some things have changed. The piano store is gone…but, the legend lives on!
Thank you for reminding us all of it!
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