John Gerts

Biography

John Gerts was born in Germany in 1845 and attended public school until age fourteen, then served a three-year cabinet-making apprenticeship before learning piano making under Otto Börs, a noted Hamburg piano-maker. He came to Chicago in 1870 and worked twelve years as a piano-maker for C. A. Gerold before starting his own business. In 1885 he joined William H. Bush and William L. Bush to form W. H. Bush and Company ($20,000 capital), reorganized in 1890 as the Bush and Gerts Piano Company ($400,000 capital). Described as a piano-maker of the old school who had mastered every branch of the art, Gerts was credited with the fine quality of the firm's pianos, complementing William L. Bush's aggressive business management. He died on May 14, 1913, whereupon his son, John Gerts, Jr., succeeded him as secretary and treasurer of the company, by then capitalized at $700,000. John Gerts had learned piano making in Germany, thoroughly mastering all branches of the art. In 1886 he joined William H. Bush and William Lincoln Bush as a partner in founding W. Bush & Company for the manufacturing of pianos.

Highlights

• Learned piano making in Germany, mastering all branches of the art
• Co-founded W. H. Bush & Company in 1886 with William H. Bush and William Lincoln Bush
• Trained as a piano-maker under Otto Börs of Hamburg before emigrating to Chicago in 1870
• Worked twelve years for C. A. Gerold before co-founding W. H. Bush and Company in 1885, later Bush and Gerts Piano Company
• Described as a piano-maker of the old school who had mastered all branches of the art

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), p. 355; Vol. II (1913), pp. 48, 49.

Public domain.