The Beckwith Piano & Organ Company was established by the retail giant Sears Roebuck & Company in Chicago in the late 19th Century. Instruments by Beckwith were widely sold in their mail-order catalogs and larger retail stores across the country. For decades, Sears Roebuck & Company built and sold pianos & organs under the names of Beckwith, Sears Roebuck & Co., American Home, Maywood Piano Company, Beverley Piano Company, and Caldwell Piano Company. The Beckwith name was by far the most popular of the Sears brands, and thousands were sold.

These pianos were of very good quality, yet they were made affordable by payment plans, financing, etc. Because of high quality, brilliant marketing and widespread distribution of their sales catalogs, Sears Roebuck products became a household name then as they are today.

Since Sears sold their pianos from mail order catalogs, they sent their pianos to the most rural parts of the country, usually by wagon and train. They would go to both extreme hot and cold climates, dry and moist climates, and the manufacturer had to guarantee them to hold up.  Sears guaranteed their pianos for 25 years so they had to be extremely well made and durable! Many people think since a piano was made and sold by Sears that it must be an average quality piano. These pianos were, in fact, exceedingly well made with substantial tone quality and excellent workmanship.