Enthusiasm for player pianos
Table Three illustrates that the world output of pianos followed the U.S. After the Great Depression of the 1930′ s, recovery was slow due to the development of alternatives to home entertainment such as the gramophone, radio, record player, television, and on to the tape deck, compact disk, and even the electronic musical instruments, satellite television, and computers. The maintenance of great interest in piano stores from 1900 to the depression was aided by enthusiasm for player pianos, especially in the early 1920′s when 500,000 were made every two years. From 1900 on the piano, now well established as a versatile concert or home instrument, followed trends in the times. Many other American piano manufacturers were forced into bankruptcy between 1929 and 1931.
