{"id":2385,"date":"2014-06-19T11:10:50","date_gmt":"2014-06-19T03:10:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/?p=2385"},"modified":"2021-09-18T23:17:03","modified_gmt":"2021-09-18T15:17:03","slug":"antique-and-vintage-piano-tools-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/2385","title":{"rendered":"Antique and Vintage Piano Tools – Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"
Many specialized piano tools have been thrown away, probably because people in succeeding generations who have discovered these tools in storage, did not recognize what they were for, or if they did, could not find a use for them. Because of this, these tools have become relatively uncommon, considering how many must have been made to supply the large size of the piano industry between 1880 and 1930. Far more pianos from this period have survived, in comparison to the old tools made in the same years, that were created for working on them.<\/h5>\n
Antique and vintage piano tools, just as the pianos, generally reflect an old-world attention to detail. These tools utilized some of the best metals available, as well as fine-quality wood which was more common. These were the tools that were available and that were used by craftspeople on the pianos made during the heyday of the once-mighty U.S. piano industry, both in the factory and out in the field. The piano was a featured subject of interest within the prominent classical music scene, the rise of the Jazz age, and in much of popular music.<\/h5>\n
The catalogs that I have read span the years between 1885 (Hammacher Schlemmer) and 1940 (Hale, Tuners Supply Company). Two things become apparent in reading the trade literature from these years. The first is the static nature of innovation and development in the piano-tool-making field (along with the pianos themselves). There is some change, however, much of it surrounding the advent of electric power, and the phasing out of some hand boring, cutting, and planing tools. Other changes came after World War II, primarily driven by the utilization of new synthetic materials in tool production, and the phasing out of rosewood and other hardwoods.<\/h5>\n
The other constant in the trade literature is price; there is very little price increase for tools between 1885 and 1940. Compensating for inflation, tools became much more affordable as time progressed. For example, an 1885 Hammacher Schlemmer (Erlandsen) extension hammer with a star head sold for $7.80 while a 1940 Hale rosewood extension hammer sold for $6.00.<\/h5>\n