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![[Pic of Bernard Shoninger]](bshon.jpg) |
![[Shoninger piano]](bshon-1.jpg) |
Bernard Shoninger (1828-1910), an immigrant from Bavaria, settled in New Haven in the 1850s. He became one of the leading industrialists in the city, manufacturing organs and pianos. One of his brothers, Emanuel Schonunger, remained in Germany as a cantor and Hebrew teacher, and the other, Joseph Shoninger, was the rabbi at Adath Israel in Boston from 1856-1874.
The picture of Bernard Shoninger appeared in Jews
in New Haven, Volume IV.
The upright piano pictured here was made by "B.
Shoninger of New Haven" in 1898,
and is currently (1998) in the possession of Paul
R. Simon of South Dakota, who kindly gave us his permission to use this
photo.
(Click to enlarge) |
Bernard Shoninger
came to America in 1841 with his scanty baggage
and fourteen dollars and forty cents. According to an advertisement which
appeared in 1892, the B. Shoninger Organ Company was established in 1850
when he began the manufacture of melodeons, in a small way, in Woodbridge,
Connecticut and had a showroom for their sale at the corner of Chestnut
and Chapel streets in New Haven.
His business went along quite well until the Civil War when there were
shortages and high prices, but he was not to be stopped. The sales of the
store soon outran the capacity of the factory and in 1863 he erected a
two story wooden factory on Kimberly Avenue in New Haven. This building
with its contents burned in 1865. He then purchased the factory which had
been occupied by Treat & Lindsley, near the corner of Chapel and Chestnut
streets, to which he made additions reaching to the Chapel street front.
Further additions were made to the building, until by 1881, it had a frontage
of 300 feet on Chestnut street and 130 feet on Chapel street. A new office
was added to the factory in 1881 which was the finest in the city, being
finished in polished mahogany, cherry, walnut and curled maple, relieved
with delicate tracery of inlaid wood and rich hand carvings. The buildings
were six stories high. The average number of men employed at that time
was over 300. By 1887 the company held over thirty patents of their own
invention, and by 1892 they were producing over two thousand pianos annually.
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B. Shoninger Company factory
as it appeared in an engraving published in 1892
(From New Haven of Today,
published by the Palladium Co., 1892)
By the 1880s his trade was world wide and his business was classed with the leading musical instrument manufacturing firms. He demanded no less than the best materials and the most skilled workmanship in the manufacture of his instruments. He also made many improvements in the manufacture of pianos, and in 1875, obtained a patent for the introduction of a bell and chime for the reed organ. He also added other improvements such as the double bellows, self-adjusting reed valves and noiseless safety valves.
B. Shoninger Organ Co. real
photo trade card advertising the Cymbella Organ.
(Click images for larger view.)
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Apparently the B. Shoninger Co. went out of business in, or shortly after, 1929. It seems that the rights to the Shoninger name were then sold to the National Piano Corp. of New York and pianos with the Shoninger name were made well into the 1960s. National Piano made mostly, if not all, (short) spinets whereas the Shoninger pianos made in New Haven were (tall) uprights. Shoninger products were awarded medals by the New England State Agricultural Society, 1868; Philadelphia Exposition, 1876; Paris Exposition, 1878, Rotterdam Exposition, 1883; and the New York State Fair, 1886. .
The beautiful Shoninger upright
art-case piano, pictured above, was manufactured in 1920 and restored in 1999 by Myles Kaufman
of Country
Piano in Burdett, NY. It is decorated with carved angels and griffins.
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| NOTE: Although we welcome your questions as well as comments,
please recognize that we can NOT help with any questions regarding
appraisals, values, or restoration of any instruments, nor do we know where
to get parts. The sole purpose of this page is to provide some historical
data concerning the Shoninger family and business.
If you are a member of the Shoninger family, or happen to know anything about the family that is not shown on this page, we would appreciate it greatly if you would let us know. Thank you. |
Updated August 7, 2002 10:02 PM
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