PA Shorts: What Has Your Piano Eaten Lately?
Do pianos eat things? Some technicians I know think maybe they do. I received a great question from PA reader, Josh about quite an unusual something he and his technician found inside his piano.
I have a 1910 Jewett Upright Piano. Recently I had the keyboard pulled to repair some various felts and repair keys. Anyway, low and behold there were two very old cheesecloth bags with cloves in them in each far corner under the keys. Have you ever seen this before? The tuner had never seen that done before. We figured it was for the smell or maybe to deter pests or both.. Anyway curious if you’ve seen cloves in an old piano before or heard of it.
No I hadn’t. So, I looked up the use of cloves as a pest deterrent and yes, that is one of their uses–especially against mosquitos. Cloves also contain Eugenol, which has been used in dentistry for centuries. In fact, People of many culture chew whole cloves because of their effectiveness in relieving sore gums, toothache, and mouth sores, as well as freshening the breath. Hmmm… Under the keys you say???
All kidding aside, none of the technicians I contacted had ever encountered cloves under the keys of a piano. But, they told me about all kinds of other things they had found. One technician was called to attend to a piano with a stuck action and found a diamond ring which had been smashed flat. Another found a bent spoon used for cooking heroin hidden inside the action of an upright (clearly it’s owner was not so upright). I also enjoyed the story of a friend’s most ‘rewarding’ tuning experience. He found a crisp $100 bill inside a grand piano.
Here are some other items, aside from the expected pencils and paperclips, which my technician friends tell me pianos have eaten:
- Mice & Squirrels (alive and not)
- Volume of World Book Encyclopedia
- Toys
- Necklaces & Watches
- Marriage License
- Hot Chocolate (hammers soaked- yummo!)
- Chicken Bones
- Playing Cards
- Marbles
- Dead Crawfish
- Car Keys from a 50’s era Oldsmobile
- Potato Chips (complete with bag)
- Letter to Santa
- Dog’s bone (well chewed)
- Tuning hammer (now that was inevitable wasn’t it?)
During a recent piano gathering, my new (to me) Steinway B came precariously close to drinking a gin and tonic. From now on, folks, no drinkies on the piano!!!!
LOL and thanks to both Shawna and Mario for spending time with Piano Addict! I chuckle at the though of tuning tools being left in a piano since mechanics and surgeons are also notorious in this respect. Since the word is now out about the piano as a hiding place for $$$ we all had better find a new place. Perhaps inside your Timpani?
My mom finally, after 20 years, relented and gave me her piano (that nobody in the family could play except me.) Well this was in 2009, and when I took the covers off to clean it, I found a check dated in 1970 something written to a piano teacher I had for 3 or 4 months when I was 8 years old. Wow. I guess that piano teacher never got paid. I of course have found the usual pencils, papers, and so on. As for the money, I sometimes stash money inside the piano, so that’s not unusual.
Hey that’s an interesting story!
I’ve found mice nests and a 1896 penny.
We often find rubber mute wedges, tuning forks and the like. We (piano tuners) often forget tools in the pianos we service and the philosophy is well, I will find tools from other piano technicians and they will find mine as well so we cut even!
But a diamond ring? Nah, I wish I had though…
A $100 bill? Double time pay.
Thanks for sharing
Mario Bruneau