Summary Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century advertisements for pianos, pianists, merchants, music publishers and, above all, for domestic purchases are full of images employed for commercial rather than cultural purposes. This volume examines the commercial characters and significances of how pianos were pictured between the early days of 'modern' marketing to today. During the early 1920s, piano sales peaked in the United States; nevertheless, pianos have continued to be sold even as radios, record players, television sets and electric keyboards increasingly replace them as must-have sources of entertainment and improvement. The market for player pianos, although comparatively short-lived, also provided manufacturers and retailers with opportunities to depict pianos and pictures. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Chapter I: Advertising, Iconography, and Secondary Sources of Information Previous Studies of Illustrated Piano Advertising Musicological Iconography and Iconology Advertising as a Professional Activity, 1865-1920 Chapter II: Changing Attitudes Toward Pianos and Pianists Pianos as Objects of Admiration, Denigration, and Social Cach Women and Keyboard Instruments: Traditional Associations and Early Illustrations Display, Religion, Respectability, Talent, and "Piano Girls" Chapter III: The Evolution of Illustrated Piano Advertising, 1770-1925 Early Piano Advertisements, Endorsements, and Testimonials Illustrated Piano Advertising Comes of Age, 1865-1910 Concluding Observations A Synopsis of Illustration Piano Advertising and Advertising's Emerging Importance The Declining Importance of Pianos and the Increasing Popularity of Phonographs, Radios, Other Electric Devices, and Guitars * Bibliography Index