Released
1971
Status
Discontinued
Wurlitzer traces its origins to the Wurlitzer family's musical instrument business in Saxony dating back to 1659. Rudolph Wurlitzer immigrated to America and founded the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1853, initially importing and later manufacturing pianos and organs. The company's breakthrough came with the acquisition of the DeKleist Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company in North Tonawanda, New York in 1908, which became the world's largest musical instrument plant at the time. Wurlitzer became renowned for manufacturing player pianos, band organs, and theatre organs, but achieved its greatest commercial success with jukeboxes. After acquiring a patented jukebox mechanism in 1933, the company became the world's best-selling jukebox manufacturer, producing over 45,000 units annually by the late 1930s and ultimately manufacturing over five million jukeboxes. The iconic Model 1015, introduced in 1946, sold 56,000 units in its first eighteen months. In the mid-1980s, the American company was purchased by Baldwin Piano and Organ, which was subsequently acquired by Gibson Guitar Corporation in 2001, giving Gibson control of the Wurlitzer brand.