Chickering's Offering Unusual Piano Values on 118th Anniversary

Chickering Pianos

1941

   The 118th anniversary of the founding of Chickering's is being celebrated this year at 146 Boylston St. with an array of piano values, both new and used, that will make history in piano selling in this city. Jonas Chickering, the founder of this old Boston institution, was born in 1798 at Mason Village, New Hampshire. The Chickering family moved to New Ipswich when Jonas was a young man and his interest in music and the construction and repair of the pianos of that day, plus his experience in cabinet making, was shaped there. 

   Shortly afterward he went to Boston and took up employment in the piano-making establishment of John Osborne. Within the next five years Jonas Chickering mastered every detail of the work and had made many improvements of his own.

   In April, 1823, in a tiny workroom on Tremont St., he established himself in business with James Stewart under the name of Stewart & Chickering, and the Hours of Chickering was born. Stewart soon returned to his home in Scotland, leaving his share in the business to Jonas Chickering. As the years passed, the Chickering grew in fame the world over. and in the long list of those who have acclaimed it, one finds such great names as Fanny Bloomfield- Zeisler, Hans von Bulow, Emil Fischer, Arthur Friedheim, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Charles Gounod, George Henschel, Richard Hoffman, Jenny Lind, Franz Liszt, Edward MacDowell, Vladimir de Pachmann, Xavier Scharwenka, Carl Reinicke, Sir Arthur Sullivan, Sigismund Thalberg, Richard Buhlig, Ferruccio Busoni, Teresa Carreno, George Copeland, Amelita Gallicurci, Margerete Matzenauer, Germaine Schnitzer, Eugene Ysaye, Josef Lhevinne. 

   Recently the Chickering Company announced the appointment of Howard B. Wood as manager of their retail store at 146 Boylston St. Mr. Wood is a skillful piano man of long experience. His first connection with the industry was in 1914 when he was the wholesale representative for the H. P. Nelson Company of Chicago. He later became president of the Gerhard Piano Company of New Jersey. In 1922 he obtained the American Piano Company franchise at Norfolk, Va., and opened a retail store. He operated this store until 1932, when he retired, and since then has been making his making his year-round home in Miami, Fla. 

   George Foster, president; Richard W. Lawrence, W. Lee White and other directors feel that Chickering is fortunate in persuading Mr. Wood to resume an active part in piano merchandising. Music lovers throughout New England are flocking to the Boston store to participate in the anniversary celebration of this fine old piano house and are profiting by the extraordinary piano values now being offered.

Oral History Presentation

14 September 2024 13:30

Our 30-minute Historical Society meeting was followed by this year’s featured speaker, Patricia Kangas Ktistes, who described her experience of interviewing Finnish-Americans in New Ipswich and surrounding communities for the purpose of preserving their stories for future generations.

Patricia Kangas Ktistes

Patricia with Ray and Earl Somero

James Roger diary entry

September 16^th 1908 (Wednesday)

Frosty morning, fine clear day wind E. to N.  David and Henry at Webber lot till 3³⁰ pm.  Then bringing in the clover hay which they put in sheds.  I raked up shingles on the Preston side of Hall. And loaded some for Knowlton.  Marshall  & Gordon gone to Concord tonight for the election tomorrow of governor.  Ralph Parker called to see if I would winter his horse, but I declined.

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Hidden History: New Hampshire’s Past of Abolition, Slavery, and Underground Railroad

Presented by Michelle Arnosky Sherburne

Saturday, September 21 at 2:00 p.m.

New Ipswich Library (6 Main Street)

Vermont historian, author, and newspaper publisher, Michelle Arnosky Sherburne will delve into New Hampshire’s fascinating hidden history of abolition, slavery, and Underground Railroad networks, highlighting the work of abolitionists to move freedom seekers northward to safety in Canada.

Despite the fact that Portsmouth served as a slave-trade hub for New England, 19th- century NH historians chose to exclude black heritage and history from their publications. In recent decades researchers like Sherburne have uncovered the rich history and significant contributions of enslaved people and discovered that the Underground Railroad network was active throughout the Granite State. With connections to Massachusetts’ abolitionists, such as William Lloyd Garrison, Nathaniel Peabody Rogers and Stephen Symonds Foster, freedom seekers were certainly prevalent in New Hampshire.

Sherburne will share what she has learned from her extensive research over the past 30 years.

A resident of Newbury, VT, Michelle Arnosky Sherburne has spent four decades in the newspaper business. In 2022, she and her husband took over the stewardship of the Journal Opinion, a weekly publication in Bradford, VT. Sherburne’s longstanding interest in the Civil War inspired her research of Vermont and New Hampshire’s Underground Railroad and the Abolitionist Movement, which has led to TV appearances, consultancies, in-school residencies, and the publication of four books and numerous articles. With a history project always in progress, Sherburne enjoys traveling around Vermont and New Hampshire lecturing and sharing her insights into New England’s rich history.

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