The Day of the Minipiano

I have been reading 'The Piano Makers' by David Wainwright. It is a fascinating and well-researched book giving plenty of stories of how makers responded to the ups and downs of trade throughout the long history of the piano. 

In 1934, one English maker, Percy Brasted, discovered a miniature piano that was made in Stockholm by Messrs Lundholm. He bought the rights and began making the piano and called it the 'Minipiano' (This was the first registered use of the prefix 'Mini'.)

Piano tuners may never have really liked them but the minipiano restored the fortunes of the piano trade for many years. To give an extra sparkle to the appeal of these pianos, they began  producing the cases in different colours - this was a very daring move in the 1930s!

"... on the day the coloured Minipianos first appeared in the windows of the Barnes music shop in Oxford Street, London, and Wilson Peck in Sheffield, police had to be called in to control the crowds!"

Somehow, the thought of a piano being at the centre of civil disturbance in our lifetime, is highly improbable. Watch this space...

© Steve Burden