James (Jim) Francis Broderick (19 August 1854 Philadelphia - 17 November 1920 Chicago) became president on January 1, 1898, and served in that role until March 1911. William Straube, an investor, not a piano expert, incorporated Straube Piano Company in 1897 as an Illinois entity. In 1996, a book author provided 1859 as the founding year.

Straube Piano in 1924 attributed 1879 as the founding year. At some point, Straube Piano began casting the numerals '1878' in the piano plates (aka iron frames). The December 19, 1914, issue of Music Trade Review began using the 1878 founding date. However, in 1911, Alfred Dolge published an influential reference book, Pianos and Their Makers, that gave 1878 as the founding year. In 1907, Straube Piano Company executives publicly recognized 1895 as the founding year. Alternate founding years attributed to the Straube Piano Company Straube continued the business under his own name. Around July 1896, Van Matre and Straube dissolved the partnership, after Straube purchased Van Matre's share. was a music dealer at 105 State Street in Rockford, Illinois. Straube manufactured its first piano in June 1895 at that factory, which was also the factory of Van Matre & Co. The original wareroom was at 24 Adams Street, Chicago. That same month, Van Matre and Straube leased a factory near Chicago at Downers Grove, Illinois, on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, at the present intersection of Warren and Forest Avenues. The Straube Piano Company was the outgrowth of Van Matre & Straube (aka Straube & Van Matre), a partnership formalized in February 1895 by Williard Naramore Van Matre, Sr.

It distributed all models nationally, and its players internationally, particularly in Australia. The company produced premium pianos under the Straube name-but also manufactured Hammond, Gilmore, and Woodward brands, some of which sold at lower prices, but were still of high quality. Betz (superintendent and inventor/innovator), were influential industry exponents who held leadership roles in industry organizations. Its company executives and plant superintendents, particularly E.R. Straube Piano Company developed influential business models based on innovative management, promotion, advertising, and pricing. The company flourished as an innovator of player pianos, rapidly grew into a high-volume producer of premium and affordable pianos, and earned acclaim for its concert grands.

The Straube Piano Company had its own golden era, from about 1904 to 1935, from several perspectives. By comparison, in 2011, 41,000 were sold, along with 120,000 digital pianos and 1.1 million keyboards, according to Music Trades magazine. Industry-wide, nearly 364,545 pianos sold in the United States at the peak in 1909, according to the National Piano Manufacturers Association. Straube manufactured pianos for the last thirty-seven of those years. The years 1875 to 1932 were a golden age of piano making, a time when pianos had few competitors for home entertainment.

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