The Aeolian Company

The Aeolian Company 

   The Aeolian Company was a musical-instrument making firm whose products included player organs, pianos, sheet music, records and phonographs. Founded in 1887, it was at one point the world's largest such firm. During the mid-20th century, it became the largest supplier of pianos in the United States, having contracts with Theodore      Brown, Inventor of the first Interior Player Piano and Edwin Scott Votey, due to his system of pianola. It went out of business in 1985.

  By cooperation with Edwin Scott Votey, ineventor of The self playing mechanical piano device, that entitled Pianola and Theodore Brown, inventor of the first Player-Piano that entitled AERIOL, Aeolian created the first Pianola Patent and the first Player-Piano patent.
  The first Pianola is located in Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. and first Player-Piano is belived to be owned by Abbas Helmy II, khedive of Egypt.
 In late 1890^s and early 1900^s, Aeolian put the Player-Piano Patent into production and markted as "Eriol" by John McTammany. The manufactured patent, that provided entertainment in the mansions of millionaires was an extremely profitable undertaking, and Aeolian virtually cornered the market in this trade, freeing them from the tight competition of church-organ building with its narrow profit margins
 The Aeolian Company was founded in New York City by piano maker William B. Tremaine as the Aeolian Company.
 In 1903, Tremaine absorbed a number of companies making self-playing instruments, like the [Albert] Weber Co., a New York piano maker since 1852, into the Aeolian,
 In 1904 Aeolian sued the Los Angeles Art Organ Company for patent infringement of its player mechanism, leading to court victories that, with other factors, effectively shut down a competitor.
 In 1915 the Aeolian Co. started making Vocalion phonographs and in 1917 started Vocalion Records. An attempt of the company to engage in the production of church and concert organs resulted in important installations at Duke University Chapel and Longwood Gardens. It was undermined by the Great Depression, during which the organ division was merged with the E.M. Skinner Organ Co. to become the Aeolian-Skinner Organ Co., a leading builder until the 1970
 In 1983, Aeolian declared bankruptcy.