Serious question, lightly asked

[Robin Blankenship]

Does anybody else on the list refer to 5' instruments (give or take a few
inches) as "fetal grands"? With all that that nomenclature implies in these
times!!
----- Original Message -----
From: <JIMRPT@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 18, 1999 10:08 AM
Subject: Re: Re: Serious question, lightly asked


>et al;
> Thanks for responding to the question of "baby" :-)
>Nothing is settled of course but the answers were interesting and a few
made
>me LOL. S&S evidently, according to A. Loesser, advertised a "Baby" grand
>during the 1880s, long before the 5'1" model S was introduced in 1936.
>
> Perhaps Del has the definitive answer when he says "Let's just say the
term
>is flexible."
>
>I compiled 'most' answers/suggestions below:
>
>1. Where did/does the name come from?
> Marketing.  It's an appeal to the glands, rather than the intellect.
>
>2. What does/did it mean?
> ....generic term for three legged piano.....
> ....three legged piano needing marketing spin.....
> 5'1" S&S
> 5'
> 5'8" Reblitz
> Baby Grands are between 5 and 6 feet in length.
> 7'1" News Commentator
> SD-6.
>
>3. Were/are Wurlitzer Butterfly and Kimball LaPetite "baby grands"?
> I would refer to them as "newborns
>
>4. Is a five foot grand a "baby grand".
> yes
> Not really. It's a five foot grand
>
>5. Is a seven foot grand a "baby grand"?
> yes...
> No, but it will also be called a baby grand by nearly everyone.
>
>6. At what size is a grand no longer a "baby"?
> When it's reduced to pieces shorter than 18".
>
>Jim Bryant (FL)
>