Time Machine.

[Ron Nossaman]

I bought a retired tuner's old steel tackle box at this month's PTG meeting
/ auction. It looked like a good size for my little angle grinder and
was/is too ugly for much of anything else, so nobody else wanted it. Going
through the box and cleaning out the junk today, I dumped out all the old
oversized tuning pins and soundboard toggle clamps (glad to see them out of
circulation). Seeing something still stuck to the bottom of the case, I dug
in and pulled out an old manila envelope that looked like it might have
been the first one ever made. Inside, I found a city library postcard
saying that "scientific Piano Tuning" has been reserved for you and will be
held for you until 9:00 pm, Feb. 24, 1948. There's another one for "Piano
Tuning, Regulating, and Repairing" with the same postmark date. I guess he
made the pickup, since he is, after all, a retired tuner.

I have three pamphlets for "X-Hale piano formula moth exterminator" used to
 inform customers that "Piano Moths are a DANGER in your HOME!", and offers
to have the tuner inspect the piano and take the necessary corrective action.

Hand written on a printed form headed "Teachers Daily Plans", and dated Feb
2, 1934, is a NAPT price list. Among other things, tuning was listed at
$7.50, and service labor at $3.00 per hour.  Refinishing a grand was $125.00.

The last thing here kind of goes with the discussion on the pricing of new
tuning hammers. It's an invoice from Tuners Supply dated Mar 4, 1948 ( a
little less than three months after I was born ) listing :
1		# 2 tuning hammer		$6.00
1 doz		rubber mutes  # 70		  .60
2		muting felt			  .50
1 gill		T P T 				  .75
1 qt		X-Hale				  .90

with a 1% cash discount, and .56 postage, it came to $9.22. He must have
either already had a fork, or was saving it for the next order. Not a bad
price for a tuning kit huh? I also assume "TPT" was tuning pin tightener,
since he went through a lot of the stuff in the next forty years.

I always enjoyed these little glimpses into the past.


Ron N