Please read before posting a comment or question: I have no direct connection to the Willis piano Company and as such am unable to provide additional information pertaining to the Willis family, the company, their employees, or even their pianos. It was one of the last holdouts in the domestic piano market.
Although the company still carried on for some years further, it ultimately met the same ignominious fate as all other Canadian manufacturers, finally closing its operations in October of 1978. The Willis family sold its interest in the company in 1967. the 36″ spinet), sales continued to decline steadily. Despite the introduction of cheaper and smaller models (e.g. On the piano side, however, the production quantity and (arguably) quality continued to decline over the years, as was endemic throughout the Canadian piano industry. The company diversified once again, making high-end furniture and wooden cabinets for radios, televisions and electric organs. The company managed to endure the many challenges of the depression, as well as another world war and the introduction of television. Willis died in 1934, leaving the company in the capable hands of the second and third generation. Warranty Certificate gilded on piano plate – long since expired!Ī.P. From what I could tell my piano would probably correspond to what they label as a “model X”. The Antique Piano Shop has a sales catalogue from c.1920 which shows the different models offered that year. Willis had an exclusive agreement in Canada to use and sell the Ampico system. These pianos might contain either a Standard player system, a “themed” system, or an Ampico reproducing system, which was often paired with the Knabe piano. made several models of both upright and grand player pianos. As with the rest of the industry, the teens and twenties were very good to the firm it was a time of popularity and prosperity for piano culture. downtown), complete with showrooms, offices and a concert hall! Following the lead of companies like Steinway, Willis would engage leading artists to come and give concerts at the hall, which naturally featured the latest Willis piano. Interestingly, Willis also advocated sales terms of barter and installment payments when selling pianos, which were not necessarily commonplace at the time. The firm opened a large new building in 1912 (moving from the old city on Notre-Dame to the corner of Sainte-Catherine St. He understood the importance of good marketing and branding. Willis became an adept businessman and the company had flourished under his direction and acumen. The Willis Company seems to have followed the overall trends of the piano industry in Canada. Another Extension to Willis Piano Factory – Montreal Gazette, 01-09-1910 Where Willis Pianos are made – Montreal Gazette 25-11-1912 Willis Piano, No. An important first milestone was reaching the 10,000 mark in 1913. From an initial annual production run of about 300, the company expanded to 1500 pianos annually by 1910, to an estimated 3000 annual peak production by the mid-teens (an ad from 1912 – pictured below – boasts 4000, which seems inflated).
Thérèse-de-Blainville, just outside of Montreal (Adélard Lesage reestablished his own business thereafter). In 1907 Willis decided to start making pianos under his own name, and bought out production facilities of a competitor, Damase Lesage, in Ste. Like other companies, Willis was initially diversified, and started by selling sewing machines before moving into the piano retail market, becoming a dealer for select Canadian and American brands including Knabe and Chickering.
A full personal biography by Mark Gallop can be found here. He became a travelling salesman, and made his way up to Montreal (then the most important city in Canada). As a young man Willis was a schoolmaster and would-be minister before deciding to try his hand at business. The company was founded in Montreal by A.P. was a venerable name in the Canadian piano industry, along with the likes of Heintzman, Bell, Nordheimer, Mason & Risch, Sherlock Manning, Lesage, and others.