One of the large objects features in the Things Come Apart
exhibition at the Benton County Historical Museum is a piano. The pianoforte (the full name) was invented
around 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori. By
using strings struck by padded hammers with a spring recoil, the new instrument
was more responsive to the musician's touch and could play both loud (forte)
and soft (piano) tones.
The Benton County Museum has several pianos in its
collection. One square piano is thought
to be the first piano in the Willamette Valley. Sometime between 1872 and 1880, it was shipped
by boat around Cape Horn to Portland and then taken by a team of oxen to Lafayette,
in Yamhill County, Oregon. Owned by Eva Burbank, the piano with its elaborately
carved legs was a real attraction, and people came long distances to see
it.
By the date of the next piano (1927), people would not have
traveled so far to view one for they were no longer a novelty. The number of pianos sold increased rapidly
during the period from 1890 to 1920. More Americans had achieved middle class
status and owned their own home. Their
next big purchase, which revealed their status and a showed culture, was a
piano for their living room or parlor.
This Kohler and Campbell upright has a much simpler than the elaborate
carvings on the first piano; instead, the decorative element is the painted
floral designs in the corners. This
studio model piano is smaller than usual and would fit more easily into a
modest home or apartment. While most
pianos have 88 keys (52 white and 36 black), the studio piano has only 61 (36
white and 25 black), giving it a smaller range of notes.
 |
| Kohler & Campbell 61 key piano |
By
Martha Fraundorf, Volunteer for Benton County Historical Society, Philomath,
Oregon
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