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30-612: On March 8, 2023, HNI Corporation entered into an agreement to purchase Kimball International. On June 1, 2023, the acquisition was completed. This division started as a piano dealership in Chicago in 1857 as W.W. Kimball and Company by William Wallace Kimball (1828–1904). In 1864, Kimball moved from its earliest location in the corner of a jewelry store to sales rooms in the Crosby Opera House where Kimball sold pianos made by East Coast piano makers Chickering and Sons ,

60-832: A beer garden , parade, fireworks, golf tournament, beauty pageant (Miss Strassenfest), fishing tournament, and a network of German "Polka Masses" at the three Roman Catholic parishes. On average, over 1,300 lb (590 kg) of bratwurst are consumed during the event. In 2021, the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center and public lending library opened. Sites in Jasper listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Dubois County, Indiana include: Jasper has 18 city parks covering 355 acres (144 ha). The following persons have held

90-545: A humid subtropical climate , abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps. Jasper is the principal city of the Jasper Micropolitan Statistical Area , a micropolitan area that covers Dubois and Pike counties and had a combined population of 54,734 at the 2010 census . As of the census of 2010, the population of Jasper was 15,038 and there were 5,994 households. The gender makeup of the city is 49.2% male and 50.8% female. The racial makeup of

120-619: A decision which allowed great profits to be made by competitors. However, Kimball produced inexpensive console pianos, between upright and spinet size, in a subsidiary plant across the Texas–Mexico border in Reynosa , doing business as Kimco . Based on the success of piano and organ sales, Jasper determined to leverage the Kimball brand recognition to assist sales of office furniture, home furniture and electronics. Company leaders realized that

150-691: A five-story factory for making its own pianos, and the next year produced 500 instruments of unremarkable quality. Kimball hired veterans from Steinway & Sons and C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik , and these men initiated improvements to the piano line. By 1893 at the World's Columbian Exposition , at which Kimball received the "Worlds Columbian Exposition Award", Kimball was known for high quality, efficiency in manufacture, and aggressive sales practices using 35–40 traveling salesmen to cover cities and remote areas. Prominent East Coast piano makers snubbed

180-772: A long-term downward trend. In 1984, Kimball shipped and loaned 84 baby grands to the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee for their use at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Opening Ceremony. In a section devoted to the Hollywood musical with George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" as the main theme, the 84 baby grands were rolled out under the arches of the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. Kimball operated Krakauer for five years in New York before closing

210-492: A luxurious new factory in the Chicago suburb of Melrose Park, Illinois , but the factory's high costs, its poor performance, and flagging sales brought the company into grave financial crisis. Kimball had slipped from being the world's largest piano maker to the seventh largest, and it was nearly insolvent. In 1959, the W.W. Kimball Company was purchased from the last remaining Kimball family heir by Mr. Arnold F. Habig, becoming

240-619: A name herself, and named the city after a passage in the Bible (Revelation 21:19). Jasper was not officially platted until 1830. That year, the community became the new county seat of Dubois County, succeeding Portersville . The Jasper post office has been in operation since 1832. During the New Deal era, Jessie Hull Mayer won a federal commission to paint a mural as part of the Section of Painting and Sculpture ′s projects, later called

270-531: A new building, the Kimball Building , in 1916. It is now the Lewis Center at DePaul University . During World War II , Kimball produced aircraft parts for major military airplane manufacturers such as Boeing , Douglas and Lockheed . After the war, piano production resumed but a series of poor financial decisions by W.W. Kimball Jr led the company into decline. In the mid-1950s, Kimball built

300-549: A satellite campus of Vincennes University . In 2022, Jasper won the annual Strong Towns "Strongest Town" competition. The largest industry sectors by employment in Jasper are manufacturing, retail, and health care and social services. Jasper has the only municipally supported Arts Council in Indiana; it is part of city government. The City of Jasper and the Jasper Community Arts Commission won

330-451: A wholly owned subsidiary of The Jasper Corporation which began operations in 1950 and founded by Mr. Arnold F. Habig. The combined company was later renamed Kimball International. Piano production was relocated to the small, southern Indiana town of West Baden, Indiana, where the company was rejuvenated and once again began to grow. Ten years after the purchase, Kimball was once again the world's largest piano company. The Jasper Corporation

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360-658: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Jasper, Indiana Jasper is a city in and the county seat of Dubois County, Indiana , United States, located along the Patoka River . The population was 16,703 at the 2020 census making it the 48th largest city in Indiana . On November 4, 2007, Dubois County returned to the Eastern Time Zone , after having moved to the Central Time Zone

390-1166: Is also the world's leading hearth products company, manufacturing and marketing gas, electric, wood and biomass burning fireplaces, inserts, stoves, facings and accessories. The company was founded in 1944 by engineer C. Maxwell Stanley , advertising executive Clem Hanson, and industrial designer H. Wood Miller. Its headquarters are in Muscatine, Iowa , with operations located in Muscatine, in various other U.S. states, and in Asia. HNI's office furniture brands include The HON Company , Allsteel, Gunlocke, Maxon, HBF, OFM, and Lamex. The corporation's hearth brands, manufactured by Hearth & Home Technologies and offered through multiple retail and new construction channels, include Heatilator, Heat & Glo, Harman, Quadra-Fire, Majestic, Monessen, Fireside Hearth & Home, and Vermont Castings. HNI acquired Kimball International in March 2023. This United States manufacturing company–related article

420-734: The Section of Fine Arts , of the Treasury Department . Indiana Farming Scene in Late Autumn depicts a harvest scene on a farmstead, with no indication of the town. In 1975, the painting was featured as part of a film, Art for Main Street: The Indiana Post Office Murals , produced by the Indiana Historical Society . Jasper was incorporated as a town in 1866, and was incorporated into a city in 1915. According to

450-536: The 2010 census, Jasper has a total area of 13.191 square miles (34.16 km ), of which 13.1 square miles (33.93 km ) (or 99.31%) is land and 0.091 square miles (0.24 km ) (or 0.69%) is water. The city is located in the townships of Bainbridge , Madison and Boone . The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Jasper, IN has

480-478: The Chicago exposition because they feared Chicago favoritism, and because of philosophical differences between their reliance on traditional name brand faithfulness and Kimball'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. Hedgeland supervised a portable pipe organ design about

510-528: The Governor's Arts Award in 1987 and 2007. The Jasper Strassenfest is a four-day event held annually during the first weekend in August. The "Fest" is a celebration between Jasper and its German sister-city Pfaffenweiler , a village in southwest Germany, and some citizens of Pfaffenweiler travel to Jasper around this time of year. The street festival encompasses the city square, and features food stands, rides,

540-420: The J & C Fischer Piano Company , Hallet & Davis , F.C. Lighte , Joseph P. Hale , and the W.P. Emerson Piano Company . Kimball also sold less expensive reed organs . The Great Chicago Fire destroyed all of Kimball's commercial assets in 1871, but he continued selling from his home, and rebuilt his dealership business. In 1877, W.W. Kimball began assembling its own reed organs, using actions made by

570-446: The J.G. Earhuff Company and cases made by contractors. After three years, the company began offering organs made entirely in house. In 1882, the Kimball company was incorporated, and an expansive factory was built to produce reed organs. Soon, the factory was producing 15,000 organs a year; the world's largest organ maker. Kimball stopped making reed organs in 1922 after having produced 403,390 instruments. In 1887, Kimball began building

600-536: 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 1980 Kimball International bought Krakauer Brothers , a New York piano maker founded in 1869, and Conn Keyboards, the piano and organ division of C.G. Conn ltd . The acquisitions were ill timed, as piano and organ sales were in

630-496: The U.S. In 1980, Kimball International formed National Office Furniture to make mid-priced office furniture. Kimball International entered the lodging market in 1985. Kimball Hospitality has furnished over 14,000 rooms in Las Vegas 's hotels and casinos. HNI Corporation HNI Corporation is one of the largest office furniture manufacturers in the world in regard to revenues resulting from office segment sales. HNI

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660-539: The city was: Of the total Jasper population: Jasper is a regional center in Southwestern Indiana , with German Catholic ancestral roots. Jasper has been called the "Wood Capital of the World", with furniture companies such as Jasper Group, Kimball International , and Masterbrand Cabinets are located here. Also located in Jasper are Southern Indiana Education Center, Jasper Engines and Transmissions, and

690-553: The factory. Grand pianos from Kimball in Indiana ranged from compact 4-foot-5-inch (135 cm) models to larger 6-foot-7-inch (201 cm) models. In Vienna , the Bösendorfer division made concert grand pianos as large as 9 feet 6 inches (290 cm): the Imperial Bösendorfer . Kimball also made upright pianos in 42-inch (110 cm) and 46-inch (120 cm) sizes, but not smaller spinet models;

720-471: The office of mayor of Jasper, Indiana . In 1970, the school system of Ireland, Indiana , was consolidated into that of Jasper. Schools in Jasper include: The following stations are licensed in the city of Jasper The fictional town of Orson, Indiana, from the TV series The Middle , is based on Jasper. Jasper participates in the sister cities program, as designated by Sister Cities International , and

750-528: The plant. Because of a worldwide decline in piano and organ purchases through the 1980s and 1990s, the Kimball piano and organ subsidiary was discontinued in February 1996. The last Kimball grand piano was signed by every worker and company executive, and remains on display at Kimball's showroom in Jasper, Indiana. The Bösendorfer piano brand continued unaffected, but was sold back to Austrian buyers in 2002. On October 31, 2014, Kimball International announced

780-434: The previous year. Land use in the area is primarily agricultural. The Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame, which honors players and others associated with the national pastime who were born or lived in Indiana, is located in Jasper. Jasper was founded in 1818. The Enlow family were the first settlers of the town. Jasper was originally going to be named "Eleanor" after the wife of early settler Joseph Enlow, but she opted to suggest

810-531: The size of a large upright piano . The pipe organ division of Kimball also built large, permanent pipe organs, including one for the Mormon Tabernacle in 1901. When the pipe organ division was closed down in 1942, some 7,326 models had been built. Kimball was involved in making player pianos , the first effort being an automatic mechanism in 1901. As well, from 1917 to 1929, Kimball produced an attractive line of cabinet phonographs . The company built

840-451: The spin-off of Kimball Electronics resulting in a new furniture company. The Kimball brand made its first desk in 1970. Kimball expanded its offerings into a broad product line, including casegoods, systems, seating, filing, and tables. Kimball is based in Jasper, Indiana, operates manufacturing facilities in Jasper, and in Salem, and has showroom locations in major metropolitan areas around

870-483: The town of Jasper. The first Indiana-made pianos were plagued with quality problems, but the issues were addressed and the pianos improved. In 1966, Jasper bought the prestigious Austrian piano maker Bösendorfer . By 1969, Kimball had returned to its former position as the world's largest piano maker. The subsidiary made some 100,000 pianos and organs annually during its peak years in the 1960s and 1970s. An average day saw 250 pianos and 150 electronic organs shipped from

900-525: Was founded in 1950 in Jasper, Indiana , by Mr. Arnold Habig to make television cabinets, cabinets, and furniture. Jasper Corporation prospered from expanding television sales and from its investment in vertical integration , giving the company self-sufficiency. In 1959, Jasper, Inc., purchased the W. W. Kimball Company as a wholly owned subsidiary . Jasper moved its Kimball piano manufacturing to West Baden Springs in 1961; some 26 miles (42 km) northeast of

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