“The location is a modern town within a short distance from Chicago and it has a working organization perfected through many years of intelligent management.” - The Presto, 1919
The construction of the DeKalb Pleasant Street factory began in September of 1904 and was completed by April of 1905. During this period, construction workers built the main building which was three stories high and 300 by 500 feet.
On August 2, 1919, Music Trade Review announced that the Apollo Piano Company (also known as the Wurlitzer Company) bought the Melville Clark Piano Company. The Apollo Company, under the management of Edwin E. Rauworth, would receive all of the Melville machinery, patterns, and patents.
This new building had great access to transportation; a direct railroad to Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and the Pacific Railroad. There were also two main truck lines, the Chicago and North Western Railroad and the Chicago and Great Western Railroad. These routes would help Wurlitzer pianos be delivered across the country. |
A common worker in the 1920s, Rubon Lungiren, was a Wurlitzer employee who worked ten hour shifts at twenty cents per hour. Rubon Lungiren had been working at the factory even before the Wurlitzer Company bought it.
Wurlitzer Hall was the home of the Wurlitzer University. Students from around the world would come and learn Wurlitzer’s essential product features and sales techniques. The Wurlitzer Company was the only music company that had its own university. |
In 1977, the DeKalb Division became the Wurlitzer corporate headquarters and engineering and research center. The Dekalb headquarters had control over the United States and international stores.