What's In a Name? Why We Name Pianos

Day 1 Piano 1 - "Eva"

When old and preloved pianos arrive at our warehouse to be assessed, processed and then either repaired and rehomed or recycled, they receive a unique girls name.  Some are named intuitively.  Our very first piano- a Haake- was called “Eva” because she was the first.  When a “Turner” brand piano came in, there was only one option for her “Tina Turner”!

"Morticia" Albert Fahr with her owner

One recent Albert Fahr piano was being turned into a casket for her owner to be buried in, so she became “Morticia”.  And the name continues on to the casket that she was made into. When Taylor Swift was in town, we had a “Thurmer” brand piano arrive as well, which was named “Taylor” in the singer’s honour. Many pianos are named according to their brand – Sally Schwechten, Shelia Schwechten etc.  or owner- “Kaylene” H Kohl piano was owned by a Kaylene. Other names are completely random – from where the piano came from to nice sounding flower names. More recently, a piano owner had even pre-named her piano for us! "Llewelyn" Lipp-a Welsh name of significance to their family.

"Morticia" casket

Why do we name pianos?  We name pianos for a multitude of reasons.  The main reason is because all pianos are individuals – they look different (different featuring, colours, timbers, condition, marks and idiosyncrasies etc), they sound different, they feel different and just like the pianists that play them, all pianos have a different story.

Even though many of the pianos we see here at Pianos Recycled began life 50-100 years+ ago, and were mass produced in factories all over the world, once they were distributed all over the country, their varied stories began…

For example, Beale may have churned out 100,000 or so fairly similar Beale pianos in it’s 50 years at Annandale in Sydney.  From there, however, they were sent to homes or schools or community centres or performance venues or hospitals in Sydney, and Melbourne, and every other Australian city, whilst others were transported regionally, or into outback Australia.

Here is a recent story that was emailed to us about their own family Beale piano:

“I have a beautiful old Beale piano. It was my mums and grandparents  from early 1900s . It was the piano that brought people from far and wide and was played by my family in Goulburn and Borowa where my grandfather was the band master, then Mudgee and finally Blacktown. I inherited it from my mum as I play however the lid has been damaged and can no longer be closed. I live by the sea and it’s stored in our garage so it worries me that it is deteriorating. I would love if it could be recycled somehow. or sent to a community who might use it. It was turned regularly until about thirteen years ago when we moved. Is there somehow a way of using it? “

We have an emotional attachment to our pianos- they were part of a family, we made music and memories with them.  So of course they need a unique name because they are unique in their story.

Naming pianos also does help us to remember them . We have processed 22 Beale pianos, for instance, to date.  We can remember Beatty Beale, Brenda Beale, Beverley Beale... Belinda, Beatrice, Ella, Elly, Beth, Brittany, Babette, Bailey, Bree, Brooklyn, Bessie, Beatrix, Brandy, Stoney, Beryl, Britney, Bradie, Begonia and Beyonce Beale–their stories and what happened to each, much better than if it was Beale No.1, Beale No.2, Beale No.3… Beale No.22 etc etc

So at 650+ pianos and unique names on, are we running out of names?  The short answer is yes – for some letters (eg girls names starting with “G” “L” “M” “S” “T” “Y’ and “Z”).  So we are most open to any suggestions!!

Adieu being played on a beautiful Schwechten piano named "Sabrina"

Why do we give them all girls names?  When you look at a piano are you thinking “Gee that’s Handsome “or “Isnt it Beautiful!”  We rest our case – they all identify as female, for this part of their journey at least!