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Piano Man

Central Avenue down here is a lot like Seminary Street in G-Burg.  Antiques, restaurants, specialty cupcake shops, retro stores, bars, art galleries, you name it. Fun street to check out on Saturdays.  On a recent stroll this piano was outside a vacant store on the sidewalk.




It was weathered, falling apart in places and seemed to have been here a while.  Probably waiting for the junkmen to haul it away, it still was an unusual thing to see.  







The lower panel was gone exposing the innards and some of the once nice was flaking off.  I didn't have my camera with me but did have my i+phone so I took couple of shots.  It was bright out and I couldn't really see what i was taking too well, but I shot anyway.   I looked up the company and discovered Horace Waters was a reputable instrument maker back in the day.   



The firm of Horace Waters & Co. is one of the older and more historical names in the American piano industry. Horace Waters established his 'Piano & Music Establishment' in New York in 1845. In the first decade, Waters was a large retailer for pianos, melodeons, organs, sheet music and other miscellaneous musical merchandise. In the late 1850s Waters began building his own organs and melodeons with great success. After the Civil War, Horace Waters began building pianos in addition to his organ and melodeon line. In about 1864, Waters admitted his two sons T. Leeds and Horace Jr. into the firm. Pianos built during this period were often labeled as "Waters & Sons". The organs and melodeons were discontinued in the last part of the 19th Century due to the rising popularity of the piano. Waters was known for building very high quality instruments, and they enjoyed a very good reputation in the industry. In the 20th Century, Horace Waters produced pianos under the names of Horace Waters & Co., Waters, and Chester. He also produced a line of player pianos under the name "Waters Autola". Horace Waters went out of business in about 1949.

Wikipedia






When I returned home I brought up what my little iPhone had taken and was somewhat astounded at the beautiful pictures it had taken.  Just walking down the street and haphazardly snapped a few of this old piano in the harsh sun, the photographer not even being able to see where he was aiming or composing.  These are amazing pictures for what I consider an inferior camera.  You just never know.

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