My mother tells me that during one of my grandfather's prosperous
periods in the 1920's, their living room was graced with a big grand
piano with an Ampico reproducer unit therein.  The idea is that it
would provide a fashionable and musical centerpiece for The Whole
Family.  Both my mother and her sister were carted off to a piano
teacher (my great-aunt Dora, I believe) who subjected the girls to
the rigors of Musical Training.

But, for the most part, the piano stayed in the living room as
decoration, to be played only by the more musical relatives who
stopped by.  The girls -- Vera Antoinette Goldman and Sara Deane
Goldman, whose names give some idea of my grandmother's views on
'How Life Must Be Lived' -- mostly enjoyed playing house under the
piano, which was equipped with a comprehensive piano cover, with
fringe.

When they wanted to camp out, my mother (Vera) liberated several
large blankets from the cedar chest to place over the instrument,
thus assuring a light-tight and acoustically-isolated chamber
suitable for exchanging secrets with one's little sister.

I suspect that that piano has since been restored, zephyr skin,
animal glue, neoprene tubing et al, by someone on this list.

John Tuttle wrote:

> Why should I put myself in jeopardy because a customer elects to
> use the top of their piano as a showcase, or as storage space?  The
> way I see it is that I have to assume enough liability as it is for
> the piano and the player mechanism.  I'll be darned if I'll accept
> further liability just because the customer has no respect for either
> the piano or me!

Exactly.  Every console stereo I ever fixed was loaded down with fancy
lamps, vases, priceless pictures of each child, and a lot of other
fragile stuff that challenged the bounds of Western taste.

> So I've always had the customer clear off the stuff.  I'll help to
> the extent of holding doors open or moving stuff out of the way so
> that the items can be deposited, but I won't touch anything,
> including the stereo, until the owner has finished the transfer
> of all the artwork.  It's the only way to do business.

Repair work for the general public is a tough way to make a living.

Mark Kinsler
Lancaster, Ohio
http://www.frognet.net/~kinsler