Morris Pianos Ltd. was established in 1892 by three Listowel businessmen to make use of a Listowel furniture factory that had recently closed. The factory had been a major employer in the town and the town fathers came up with the plan to make use of the existing facility to manufacture pianos. The company even received a bronze medal at the 1900 Paris Exhibition. After the factory burned to the ground in late 1908, the company was reformed in partnership with the D.W. Karn Piano Company of Woodstock. In 1909 it became the Karn-Morris Piano and Organ Co., with its head office in Woodstock. By then the company had made over 10,000 pianos. In 1920 the partnership was dissolved and the company was re-organized as Morris Pianos Ltd., with its head office in Toronto while the factory remained in Listowel. For a short period in the early 1920s Morris manufactured a phonograph. The company ceased all operations in 1924.
Canadian Furniture World and the Undertaker, March 1920, p. 46. "Morris Pianos, Ltd., Listowel, Ontario, has been incorporated with a capital of $150,000 to manufacture pianos, organs, gramophones, records, accessories, appliances, etc."
The Morris Piano Co. Ltd. factory, Listowel, Ontario.
A Morris phonograph for sale through Facebook Marketplace labelled "Morris - Toronto Listowel".
