Baldwin

American firm of instrument makers, notably of pianos and organs. It was started by Dwight Hamilton Baldwin (1821-99), a piano and organ dealer in Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1865. As D. H. Baldwin & Co. (1873) it became one of the largest dealers in the Midwest, agents for Bourne, Estey, Fisher and Steinway. From 1889 it manufactured reed organs and from 1891 low-priced upright pianos. In 1947 it introduced the Baldwin electronic organ, now chiefly two-manual domestic instruments. The Baldwin Piano and Organ Co. introduced a new concert grand piano in 1965; the parent company acquired Bechstein (1963), which retains its identity.