living
The east side of Seventh Street South, 300 block. Heintzman & Company Ltd. was located at 315,
Photo: P20021008137.
SCAPES
Peter Nitz Credit Jewellers at 317, and Mike Hanzel Shoe Repairs at 317B.
Heintzman & Company Ltd.
C O U R T E S Y O F T H E G A LT M U S E U M & A R C H I V E S
T R I S H P U R K I S , A R C H I V E S A S S I S TA N T
M U C H O F T H E M U S I C H E A R D and played in the early 20th century was homegrown, played on an organ, violin,
accordion, or piano, and individuals who made their own music using these instruments were often self-taught.
The most learned instrument was the piano, and once you have learned the basics of the piano, you can learn to play
almost any other instrument.
The demand for pianos was high as nearly every household wanted one, and “Ye Olde Firme” of Heintzman & Company
Ltd. was only too happy to furnish these much sought-after instruments.
Heintzman & Company was incorporated in 1866 in Toronto, Ontario by Theodor August Heintzman. The company began
manufacturing pianos in the 1870s and by the 1880s had 2,000 in its warehouse.
Heintzman & Company’s Lethbridge location opened in the early 1920s. While the inventory was largely pianos, it also
became a centre for records and phonographs, and was listed in the 1923 Lethbridge Phone Directory as “Heintzman and
Company Limited Pianos, Phonographs & Victor Records 403-5th Street South.” By 1929 additional instruments were added
to its inventory.
In the 1930s the company held a sale to clear its inventory of used pianos and phonographs, stressing in a Lethbridge
Herald advertisement that “every instrument must be sold at once.” The sale preceded the closing of the store, which
disappeared from the Lethbridge landscape for 20 years.
The company returned to our city, and was re-established in 1959 at 315 Seventh St. S. It shared quarters with Bert & Mac’s
Radio-TV Ltd., and dealt in Heintzman pianos, reconditioned pianos, Hammond organs, Thomas organs, and Electrohome
organs. It closed its doors in 1971.
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LETHBRIDGELIVING.COM
MAR-APR 2016