Every good home needs a piano in the music room. This was my Grandpa's. It really bothers me that it's been sitting here silent. In honor of what would have been Grandpa's 100th birthday, I've decided to have it refurbished and upgraded with the Pianomation player system.
According to family legend, the piano had a dark brown/black finish on it once upon a time. At some point in history, Grammy got fed up with that aligator look that old finishes tend to get and stripped the piano down. However, she got sick doing it and never finished... so you'll notice the dark "eyebrows" that give the piano character.
The nameplate above the keys reads "Curtice Verticle Grand, Lincoln Neb. -- Elgin, Ill.
I haven't done much research about Curtice pianos yet... but in the limited research I have done, it appears that most websites agree.... there's no such thing as a "verticle grand". All the sites say that there are only two kinds of pianos, "uprights" or "grands". But they say that some companies used this as a marketing ploy.
You can barely read the cover of the hymnal on the music stand. It was Grandpa's favorite hymnal. The cloth cover is nearly worn out. It's called
"Songs We Sing"
Compiled and Edited by Jacob A. Filbert
Copyright 1954
There's also a price list inside saying that copies were $1.25 in the clothbound cover... but this one has been rubberstamped from the Alamo Revival Center. That was one of the many tabernacles we'd visit on any given Sunday... but I'll have to tell you those stories later.
You've probably seen the framed pic before. It's one of my personal favorites
That's a reflection from the flash or something on the side of the piano... in reality, there's nothing there.
To most, it probably looks like just junk piled up on the piano. But there's really a story with each item.
The Pilgrims are ceramic figures made my Aunt Ada (my Grandmother's sister). This was her practice session before she made an entire Nativity Set for me the following Christmas.
The wooden candleholder was built by one of my Canadian relatives. It was a centerpiece used at the Family Reunion in 1998. The candles are handmade from beeswax. (Those Amish relatives really have too much time on their hands)
The clear plate standing on the display holder is pressed glass. It's a divided dinner plate reading
"Where are you going my pretty maid" and
"See-Saw Margery Daw"
Family legend says that this was the plate that my Dad used to have at his place at the dinner table every meal... I remember eating many lunches using it too when visiting Grammy and Grandpa.
The other plates stacked there are serving pieces from Grammy's china closet.
Grandpa coul play many different instruments. Not only do I have his piano, but pictured here, you'll see one of his numerous harmonicas, the clarinet that my dad and I used in high school, a recorder, and the small mouth organ. It takes a LOT of air to make that organ play.
No, it's really not grafitti on the keys. That's just more of the piano's character. Grandpa really enjoyed playing his fiddle and also had a cello. On the snaggle-toothed ivory, you'll see some red crayon markings that Grandpa put there so he'd remember where to tune his other instruments. There are also some other stickers that were put on the keys when they tried to teach the kids how to play.
It's easy to find middle-C on this piano.... At some point in history, the ivory from the B and D surrounding middle-C were removed.
Here a better look of the inside
Here's a pic of the serial number plate. I should really do more research to find out this piano's history before it came into the family.
Family Legend -- It was purchased second-had from some church in Lincoln Nebraska. Grandpa brought it to Texas with the family when they migrated here in the 1930s.
It doesn't look in bad shape to me... but there are a few stuck keys and I'm sure re-felting the hammers, etc. would be appropriate for an instrument of it's age.
I really like the way the light and dark finishes look. I think it gives the piano character.
I'm early enough in the renovation project that I haven't firmly decided all the work that will be done.... but I'm fairly confident that I don't want the eyebrows removed. A little tung oil or some light finish might be appropriate to help take care of the wood for another 100 years or so... but I know I don't want to go back to a dark finish.
