Rinker on Collectibles

RINKER ON COLLECTIBLES — Column #1760

Pianos, Parlor Organs, Vending Machines, and Other Disposal Nightmares

While serving as executive director of the Historical Society of York County (PA) in the early 1970s, I parked my car in the back section of the main museum building on Market Street in York. One morning when I arrived, the back door was blocked by a mid-19th century, Renaissance Revival, parlor piano that arrived mysteriously in the middle of the night.

The Society already owned several examples, all of which were not on display. It was possible the person (known as the dumpee) called The Society to ask if The Society would accept the piano as a donation and was told no. The curator would have handled the call and not the executive director.

Pianos, whether grand, parlor, or upright, are heavy. They are not one-person movable objects. I had to wait for additional staff members to arrive in order to push the parlor piano out of the way so I could drive my car through the backdoor. If memory serves me correctly, the parlor piano made its way into a quiet corner in the garage where it remained covered during the balance of my tenure.

Unwanted pianos are unwanted. Owners have great difficulty accepting this fact. More often than not, the unwanted piano has family or personal memories. The owner is convinced the piano needs to go to a location where it can create similar memories. Taking the piano to the dump is an alternative to be avoided at all costs.

Every time I encounter an upright piano slated for disposal, I am reminded of the February 23, 1992 episode of the television show “Northern Exposure” where Chris uses a catapult that he built to launch a piano through the air, an ideal use for both objects.

The concept did not originate with the “Northern Exposure” writers. They read accounts of individuals such as John Wayne Cyra, Allen Gross, John Quincy, and Ron Toms who built trebuchet catapults to fling everything from bowling balls, cars, coffins, dead pigs, pianos, prison toilet seats, caged rats (the Ratapault), and more. Toms built one with a chair and tested it by launching himself three times into a nearby river. John Wane Cyra built the “Northern Exposure” trebuchet catapult. It had a 10,000- pound counterweight, a foot of fling arm for every 10 pounds of piano. Cyra flung a total of 10 pianos in order to obtain the footage that was cut together to create the memorable scene.

[Author’s Aside: It is hard for me to believe that close to 30 years have passed since the “Northern Exposure” episode aired. “Northern Exposure was a comedy-drama television series about the eccentric residents of a fictional small town in Alaska that aired on CBS from July 12, 1990 to July 25, 1995. “Northern Exposure” aired so long ago (I am showing my age here), I wonder if anyone under 40 remembers it.]

In the 1990s and early 2000s, many organizations from college fraternities to musical organizations held “Smash the Piano” fundraisers. Participants bought tickets for “so much a swing.” Instruments of destruction ranged from axes to sledge hammers. While not indestructible, old pianos, especially uprights, did their best to resist the blows. A lot of tickets were sold.

When I sold the Vera Cruz (PA) Elementary School in 2010, I left behind the player piano my mother bought for me and which I had restored. Neither Harry Jr. nor my daughter wanted it. I certainly did not want to move it. Pianos are just the beginning of a list of things individuals leave behind when moving. It is no surprise that most individuals adopt a “what a relief; it is no longer my problem” approach to justify the abandonment decision.

Jura Koneius’s article “Considering parting with your piano? It won’t be easy” that appeared in “The Washington Post” in July 2019 [https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/home/piano-household-furnishings-decor-20190720.html] contained a number of points that any owner of an old piano needs to consider. The third paragraph reads:

“The piano, once the pride of many American living rooms, seems out of tune with a growing number of households. People who own old uprights, especially the oak and walnut ones, often have the same problem as those homes full of traditional brown furniture. When you need to get it out of your house, you can’t sell it or even give it away.”

The demise of the household piano is directly associated with the digital age. Elisha Gray invented the first electronic keyboard piano in 1876. Lee De Forest invented the triode electric valve in 1906. The first instrument to use it was marketed in 1915. In 1935, an electronic keyboard that produced polyphonic sounds was introduced by Hammond Organ. In 1946, the Rhoades Company introduced the first electronic piano – 3 and one-half octaves and with its own amplification system. By the early 1950, the Chamberlain and Mellotron were simple-playback keyboards. Synthesizers arrived in the 1960s. The first Moog Synthesizer appeared in 1964. The rest is rock ‘n roll.

With the arrival of the polyphonic synthesizer keyboard in 1977, the digital piano dominated the pop music genre and even worked its way into a large number of churches. Pianos became the provenance of classical music venues, music schools, and a few large stage presentation auditoriums in college and high schools. In 1978, 282,000 new pianos were shipped to retailers in the United States. In 2018, the number was 30,516 and continuing to decline.

Pianos weigh on average between 500 to 1,200 pounds. They are expensive to move. Minimum fees start at $200.00 for an upright to $300.00 for a baby grand with extra costs added for stairs and distance. Many owners have advertised their pianos on a “free if you are willing to move it” basis. This offer is no longer attractive. The days of moving a piano with six strong bodies, a case of beer, and six pizzas is over.

Likewise, pianos put out on the curb with a “Free” sign on them are more likely to fall victim to the elements than find a sympathetic new owner.

The movie industry documented the role the piano played in family life up until the middle of the 20th century. Multiple movies picture family and friends gathering around the living room piano singing seasonal or holiday songs. The television eventually replaced the role of the family piano. Today, it is Alexa and other electronic devices that can play music on demand.

How do you get rid of a piano? Forget about donating it unless it is a Kawai, Steinway, or Yamaha. Even finding someone or an institution willing to accept these high-end models is difficult. The issue is the cost of restoring an older model to bring it back to modern standards.

The best answer is 1-800-GOT-JUNK. The reality is that most owners of old pianos must pay someone to haul away the “family memory.” “Gone but not forgotten” only applies to their generation. Future generations will be thankful that they did not have to deal with it.

Most “Rinker on Collectibles” readers will not remember the time when a parlor organ challenged the piano for a prominent role in the household as well as civic meeting rooms. When I first entered the antiques and collectibles trade in the 1970s, I had to deal regularly not only with 19th century parlor pianos but parlor organs as well. Although the ornate, decorative cases of parlor organs made them decorative pieces of furniture, they proved useless when they malfunctioned and took up much needed space. Today, most individuals who reluctantly inherit one accept the fact that they are historical junk and the landfill is the inevitable end for most of them.

The basement vending machine craze also is at its end. The nostalgia/novelty demand for coin-operated soda and other dispensers among individuals, collectors are the exception, has fallen sharply. Owners who feel there is some parts for restoration value in their machines are learning that finding a buyer based on this assumption is almost impossible.

I do not like the concept that there are antiques and collectibles that nobody wants. Pianos, parlor organs, and vending machines are only the tip of the iceberg. I could write an entire column about obsolete electronic equipment from cell phones to computers to pocket calculators.

What candidates would you add to my list? Share your thoughts with me at harrylrinker@aol.com.

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Selected letters will be answered in this column. Harry cannot provide personal answers. Photos and other material submitted cannot be returned. Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5955 Mill Point Court SE, Kentwood, MI 49512. You also can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker@aol.com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered.

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