Have I got a treat for you today!
One of you reading this is going to be a piano richer by 7 p.m. tomorrow night.
No, I am not going to be giving away some unique artifact each week. In fact, this is it for the foreseeable future.
Next week, I’ll be talking about what it would take to heat your garage, or mine, with solar energy. I would use my garage much more in winter if I could heat it affordably. Solar energy just may be the way. We shall see.
And I am using the gifting of this beautiful old piano today to address an imminent threat to all old wooden furniture in existence these days. The generation following us baby boomers just doesn’t seem to want it.
A lot of us boomers don’t even want it much anymore. Here’s why that bothers me.
So much of the wood used in building pianos, organs, dining-room sets, and so on, built, say, up to 1950-ish, was old-growth wood. Take, for example, this gorgeous Gaines Brothers cabinet grand piano I am giving away today.
The nice man I got it from believes this may have been manufactured in the 1880s, which means the wood used to build it could easily have started growing in the 1700s. It is very high-quality wood. Most of the forests this now-"elite" type of wood came from have been harvested to death. Old-growth wood existing in any form of instrument or furniture should never end up in the dump.
But it is, which is why I have become the no-kill shelter for old pianos and other old wooden furniture and "stuff."
Just because styles and technology have changed is no reason to devalue this wood. In fact, it should make it more valuable, more precious. Rather than being hauled to the dump, if not used for its original purpose, this extraordinary wood should be repurposed, reused in a different form.
My intent for this gorgeous old instrument is for it to be adopted by someone who will use it for its original purpose, to make beautiful music, along with it being appreciated, treasured and preserved for a long time to come.
To apply to win this baby, simply email me at the address below, make your case for why it should be yours (or someone you are representing) before the deadline of 6 p.m. tomorrow (Sunday, Jan. 13). No dealers, please. I want this going directly — and free — to its new home sweet home.
As for the rest of the old unwanted pianos and wooden furniture out there, I would love to start a business that interrupts their trip to the dump, have a warehouse to store all of this irreplaceable heritage in, then re-home and repurpose to my heart’s content.
A big part of said business would be selling the tons of freshly harvested old-growth wood, perhaps dismantling much of what comes in to be used in new wood creations — invaluable for woodworking specialists, craftspeople, artists, the possibilities are endless.
There is so much potential for creating superb works of art out of the components that make up a piano. Not just the wood. Everything. I’ve seen some of them and they are gorgeous. I’m considering making a loveseat out of one.
If we don’t set up rescue destinations for this irreplaceable old-growth gold, over the next 20 years or so, with the passing of a couple of generations, a huge percentage of what remains will go to rot and ruin in landfills. That would be tragic.
I don’t have the resources to start the biz I spoke of, but if you do, I will be your most exuberant cheerleader. In the meantime, anyone got an old warehouse I can store some of these in... free?
Comments or feedback, love to hear from you at lmustard1948@gmail.com.
