1946

  • Steinway & Sons net profit is $233,112.
  • Male workers having returned from the war, only 13 women remain working at Steinway & Sons.
  • US Army Major Theodore D. “Teed” Steinway comes back from Philippines, and immediately sets out on a trip through the Rocky Mountains, where he enjoys skiing and exploring the Green River, emphatically refusing to be involved in Steinway & Sons operations.
  • Frederick “Fritz” Steinway, retires from the US Navy, and enters Harvard Business School, where he will study for two years.
  •  John Howland Steinway returns from Africa, and begins to work at Steinway Hall in sales, marketing and advertising, eventually taking over William R. Steinway’s job as a head of advertisement for the company.
  • Henry Ziegler Steinway (age 31), a married man about to become a father, retires from the military, and becomes the vice-president, director and factory manager of Steinway & Sons – the unofficial leader of the company. (Frank Walsh becomes Henry Ziegler Steinway’s assistant.)
  • One of the first decisions Henry Ziegler Steinway makes as a factory manager is to fire all five workers of the upright finishing department at four hours’ notice, thereby committing a union contract violation, which will nearly result in a legal case of Local 102 against Steinway & Sons. Henry Z. Steinway prudently cancels his decision to fire the five workers, but soon gives “a week’s notice” of discharge to approximately a hundred less productive Steinway & Sons workers.
  • Pianist Josef Hofmann performs before the audience for the last time.