The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-06-02
FASHIONS al PIAnc
Fhe uuFirhf Used Most cls
Square rianoesse ana
nrnnaa Now aal-.

Granas New eelE
The upright piano was first intro
~ducedinto this country an0ut 3s yeaas
ago, and came into extensive 8ss
to 70 years ago. Sold ct hrst more e
pecially for use ia small rooms 8
modern fats and apartments. because
Of the small space it occupied. 81 soon
came into general use, and IS now re-
gaFded as the modern type Of plane.
The upright piano Is now the piano
commonly sold everywhere, in an
parts Of the country alike, Just as cha
square pianos were sold years ago. So
completely has &c crowded out tha
other that there are no square pianos
made nowadays, except to order, fer
special purposes as for use IN schools.
There are for instance. several hum
bred square pianos in use 80 the
schools of New York city. Such q
piano can be placed in a schoolroom
wherever most desirable without OBJ
s~tructing the view.
But while with the exception noted
there are no square pianos made now
adays and none sold new, there are
tens of thousands stiu in use, scat
tered all over the land in city and
country; proportionately fewer in tha
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 a piano and cannot afford to buy
a costly instrument.
For a long time Philadelphia was a
good market for secondhand 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 il
carloads, and such pianos have been
) loaded into T without boxing. Phil.
, adelphia doesn't take SO many sec
: Ondhand squares now as it formerly
did, but it is still taking INT
While the upright is now the stand
ard piano, as once the square was, all
manufacturers report a steady and
proportionateIy 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 a large percentage
of the output.-N. Y. Sun.