Tickle the Ivories

By the mid 1800’s in Europe, industrialisation was in full swing. Music and the Arts were flourishing. Franz Liszt - the great Hungarian pianist was touring Europe giving performances to large audiences, increasing the popularity of the piano. This fuelled design changes to increase the piano’s volume and range. Piano manufacture was developing on a larger scale than ever before.

In this time of change, progress and learning, it must have felt like anything was possible. Before the turn of the century, the world would see the discovery of radio waves, the invention of the phonograph, the telephone, the electric light bulb, film and the motor car.  Europe was looking to Africa for materials to further boost industry. One of the substances that fascinated and captured the imagination of manufacturers was ivory. It was white, smooth, durable, easy to carve to fine detail. It already had status as a precious material, being used for religious carvings for centuries. There was significance with the colour of white and its symbolism of purity. Ivory was known as “white gold”2. Before ivory, piano keys were plain wood. A thin covering of ivory was an attractive improvement. It was durable, and had a good feel under the fingers. It added an exotic element to the romance and allure of the piano.

It’s estimated that in the year 1800, the African elephant population was 26 million. By 1989 the estimate was 600,000. This prompted a worldwide ban on ivory trade. For 10 years the killing stopped and the population rebounded to around one million. African and Asian countries began lobbying for relaxation of the trade ban to allow them to sell stockpiles of ivory. Sadly once this agreement was made and trade resumed, so did the killing. Africa’s elephant population went back into decline4.

So where does this leave our distraught English professor? Ivory can be replaced with plastic keytops, so his piano can be repaired, but it will never be the same.

What about the other pianos that still have ivory keytops? Ivory has a tendency to go yellow over time. Its porous nature can cause the tops to come off. Still, some have remained in remarkably good condition. It’s questionable whether replacing these ivories with plastic is an environmentally sound alternative.

Post Script

In 2013 residents of Deep River joined the worldwide effort for the conservation of African Elephants  

"Deep River and Ivoryton flourished in the 19th and early 20th century because of the African ivory trade. Now is the time to help save the African elephant,"  Peter Howard - trustee of the Deep River Historical Society7

The buildings built for bleaching ivory keytops by Pratt, Read & Co in Deep River Connecticut have been converted to residential apartments called “Piano Works”.