The Negro world., 1900-04-21
FASHIONS I'm PIANOS.
The Upright Used Most Nor-The Old
Square Pianos-More and More
Grnnds Now sold.

The upright piano was first intro
ducedinto this country about 3j years
ago, and came into extensive use 25
to 20 years ago. Sold at first more es-
| pecially for use in small rooms of
modern fats and apartments. because
of the small space II occupied. it soon
came into general use. and is now re-
garded as the modern type of piano.
The upright piano is now the piano
commonly sold everywhere,. all
parts of the country alike, just as the
square pianos were sold years ago. So
completely has 1t crowded out the
other that there are no square pianos
made nowadays, except to order.. for
special purposes. as for use in schools.
There are. for instance, several hum
dred square pianos inZus in the
schools of New York city Such a
piano can be placed in schoolroom
wherever most desirable without OBJ
structing the view
But while with the exception noted
there are no square pianos made now
adays and none sold new, there are
tens Of thou5ands still in use, scat
tered all over the land in city and
country; proportionately fewer in the
city than in the country, the sup
planting of the square by the upright
having naturally progressed most rap
idly in the cities. Many of the square
pianos yet in use in one part of the
country and another are still good
instruments, some of them excellent.
Made of the best materials, and in
most workmanlike manner, by good
makers, their life with any sort of
reasonable care is very long. and they
may remain good pianos for years
yet Many secondhand square pianos,
which have been taken in exchange
for modern pianos are sold. The old
square pianos taken in exchange are
disposed of in various ways. and at all
sorts of prices; some are sold for as
little as $40. Some secondhand
square pianos are sold to churches
and to Sunday schools and other
schools all around the country. 9th
ers are sold to country hotels and
summer boarding houses. But by far
the greater number of them are sold
for use in homes to purchasers of
moderate or very limited means, who
want piano and cannot afford to buy
n costly instrument.
For long time Philadelphia was a
good market for second-h hand square
pianos. Philadelphia is commonly
known as a city of homes, where
many people of moderate or small
means live in houses of their own.
The owners of these homes had more
room to put pianos in than the fiat
dwellers had, and many of them
bought secondhand squares, getting
good instruments at low prices. Sec
ondhand square pianos have been
shipped from here to Philadelphia in
carloads, and such pianos have been
loaded into cars without boxing. Phil
adelphia doesn't take so many Sec
ondhand squares now as 1t formerly
did. but II is still taking some.
While the upright is now the stand
ard piano, as once the square was, all
manufacturers report a steady and
proportionately increasing sale of par
lor grand pianos, both small and
large. More and more people of com
Portable or ample means are now buy
ing parlor grands. While all manu-
facturers are now making more
grands than formerly the proportion
of grands sold in any one make in
creases with the cost of the pianos
produced. In one make at least the
grands constitute large percentage
of the output.--N. " Sun.