![Did you know that in the late 1880s, Thomas Edison designed a piano made of concrete? Me either. That’s because it was a total failure.
All over the world, press laughed at Edison’s plans for concrete appliances, and his application for a furniture patent was denied. The concrete piano died before it had been born. But then…in 1931, the Lauter Piano Company took up the cause, and patented a process to build Edison’s concept. They then built and sold many of them. The model looked for all intents and purposes as any other 5-foot baby grand, albeit heavier. Kim Hunter of Orange Coast Pianos in Santa Anna, California has played one. He says “the piano sounded like a terrible spinet” with no musical value, and it would be” better as an anchor.”
I guess Edison was like, really into concrete. Look at the fancy naked lady phonograph cabinet above. Edison designed it, and it’s made of concrete. A special “lightweight, air-impregnated foam-concrete.” Crazy talk! But he was serious. He had plans for making concrete everything - from houses made in a single-pour mold to “bathtubs, windowsills, staircases, and picture frames to electrical conduits and reinforcing rods molded right in.” [source]
By manufacturing pianos in an affordable building material like concrete, Edison had hoped to allow more households to enjoy the instruments. Ironically enough, his invention of the phonograph pretty much sealed the fate of the pianos demise in homes across America for years to come.
PLAY HIM OFF, CONCRETE KEYBOARD CAT](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kp9q93Ub3W1qzvxbko1_400.jpg)
Did you know that in the late 1880s, Thomas Edison designed a piano made of concrete? Me either. That’s because it was a total failure.
All over the world, press laughed at Edison’s plans for concrete appliances, and his application for a furniture patent was denied. The concrete piano died before it had been born. But then…in 1931, the Lauter Piano Company took up the cause, and patented a process to build Edison’s concept. They then built and sold many of them. The model looked for all intents and purposes as any other 5-foot baby grand, albeit heavier. Kim Hunter of Orange Coast Pianos in Santa Anna, California has played one. He says “the piano sounded like a terrible spinet” with no musical value, and it would be” better as an anchor.”
I guess Edison was like, really into concrete. Look at the fancy naked lady phonograph cabinet above. Edison designed it, and it’s made of concrete. A special “lightweight, air-impregnated foam-concrete.” Crazy talk! But he was serious. He had plans for making concrete everything - from houses made in a single-pour mold to “bathtubs, windowsills, staircases, and picture frames to electrical conduits and reinforcing rods molded right in.” [source]
By manufacturing pianos in an affordable building material like concrete, Edison had hoped to allow more households to enjoy the instruments. Ironically enough, his invention of the phonograph pretty much sealed the fate of the pianos demise in homes across America for years to come.
