By Miami U. Libraries - Digital Collections - https://www.flickr.com/photos/muohio_digital_collections/3092714639/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38956416
The following photos are of the payments for an Emerson piano in Sunderland, UK. One brand of pianos that they sell is the Emerson although it is spelt Emmerson.
In Alfred Dolge’s book ‘Pianos and their Makers’ he writes about William P. Emerson who started making pianos in Boston in 1849. According to Dolge ‘Emerson had more business acumen than mechanical talent and artistic inclination’. At first, Emerson built low-cost instruments and within a few years he had built up a large and profitable business. However in 1854, Charles Briggs, a reputable piano maker joined the firm. Briggs improved the standard of the Emerson piano and it gained a reputation for superior quality. After Emerson’s death in 1871 it was bought however in 1879 a syndicate bought the company. Under the management of a Mr Patrick H. Powers Dolge states ‘the product was continually improved to maintain its position as a high-class instrument, and the company enjoyed an enviable reputation for integrity and reliability’.
By Anonymous engraver - Emerson Piano Company catalogue, 1889 (https://archive.org/stream/grandsquareuprig00emer#page/12/mode/1up), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40387781
