16 Facts About Kimball International

In 1882, the Kimball International company was incorporated, and an expansive factory was built to produce reed organs.

Kimball International stopped making reed organs in 1922 after having produced 403, 390 instruments.

In 1887, Kimball International began building a five-story factory for making its own pianos, and the next year produced 500 instruments of unremarkable quality.

Prominent East Coast piano makers snubbed the Chicago exposition because they feared Chicago favoritism, and because of philosophical differences between their reliance on traditional name brand faithfulness and Kimball International's streamlined modern efficiency which greatly threatened their sales.

In 1890, Kimball hired Englishman Frederic W Hedgeland, trained at his family's organworks in London: W M Hedgeland.

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The pipe organ division of Kimball International built large, permanent pipe organs, including one for the Mormon Tabernacle in 1901.

Kimball International was involved in making player pianos, the first effort being an automatic mechanism in 1901.

Kimball International had slipped from being the world's largest piano maker to the seventh largest, and it was nearly insolvent.

However, Kimball International produced inexpensive console pianos, between upright and spinet size, in a subsidiary plant across the Texas–Mexico border in Reynosa, doing business as Kimco.

Company leaders realized that the Kimball brand had far greater popular recognition than the Jasper brand, and in 1974, Jasper changed its name to Kimball International, going public in September 1976 with the initial public offering of 500, 000 shares of common stock.

In 1984, Kimball International shipped and loaned 84 baby grands to the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for their use at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Opening Ceremony.

Kimball International operated Krakauer for five years in New York before closing the plant.

On October 31, 2014, Kimball International announced the spin-off of Kimball Electronics resulting in a new furniture company.

Kimball International expanded its offerings into a broad product line, including casegoods, systems, seating, filing, and tables.

In 1980, Kimball International formed National Office Furniture to make mid-priced office furniture.

Kimball International Hospitality has furnished over 14, 000 rooms in Las Vegas's hotels and casinos.