Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Briggs

We gave my daughter my wife's old Briggs. Surprisingly, it's still a pretty decent piano. I guess because it's been cared for, had a bit of re-work and was a good piano to begin with. It's around 50 inches tall or so. (Edit: This piano is probably from the 20's)

Which is kinda common. A lot of the older verticals are 52" or taller. But I don't think I've ever seen a turn of the century vertical that is small.

They call this Briggs a boudoir upright.

http://antiquepianoshop.com/product/538/small-boudoir-size-briggs-victorian-upright-piano/

Anybody ever play a less than 50" turn-of-the-century vertical, of any good make? What were your impressions?

Jolly, now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever seen or come across (much less played) any older studio or spinet size upright piano from yesteryear. They are all more or less 50" tall or so. There might be some 48" tall older models out there.

In my studies of piano history, I remember reading that the upright models begin to get smaller right after WWII and the baby-boomer generation came along. Homes and apartments were smaller and the piano manufacturers decided to build a smaller/shorter upright to accommodate the new market segment. I think the Wurlitzer company was among the first, or one of the first companies who went to the smaller piano, and the spinet (36" tall?) became synonymous with the name Wurlitzer.

There is a soft spot in my heart for the old uprights of yesteryear...

Rick

I have played Steinway Es and Vs, which were the 48" model, dating back to the 1870s. The V is still made in Hamburg, and is a nice piano. There are some other piano manufacturers that made that size.

I have a Steinway from 1876 which is 47 1/4 inches tall. 85 keys. There is a picture in the picture forum, but I cannot seem to search it specifically.

The Briggs looks interesting.