In 1959, the W.W. Kimball Company, a century-old piano maker, was purchased from the last remaining Kimball family heir by Mr. Arnold F. Habig, becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Jasper Corporation.
Prior to Mr. Habig purchasing the company in 1959, the piano company had slipped to seventh place in global rankings of piano makers. At the time it was purchased, W.W. Kimball Company was producing only 15-25 pianos per day in Melrose Park, Illinois.
Piano production was relocated to the small, southern Indiana town of West Baden, Indiana, where the company was rejuvenated and once again began to grow. Ten years after the purchase, Kimball was once again the world's largest piano company.