A piano falling from the sky looks more like a frame from a cartoon. However, this is a very real fact from the past: the Americans dropped hundreds of pianos from the air during the war.
Coffins instead of musical instruments
When World War II broke out, all production using important metals was suspended. The raw materials were sent to the manufacture of weapons and ammunition.
In order to somehow exist afloat and not close at all, many manufacturers of musical instruments went to the trick: they temporarily began to make various wood products, from children's toys to coffins. The world famous company Steinway & Sons, which still makes grand pianos and upright pianos, at that time also produced the necessary parts for the front.
But a couple of years after the outbreak of the war, they were assigned a responsible project - to develop a small piano that could easily be carried away by four people.
Promotional video:
A piano that can fly with a parachute
And now, after some time, Victory Verticals appeared, the weight of which was about two hundred kilograms, and the length was about one meter. Each of them was treated with a special insect repellent solution and covered with a special compound to protect it from moisture and dampness. But most importantly, there was very little metal in the Victory Verticals: about a tenth of a regular grand piano.
A piano ready for transport.
The pianos were not only light and compact, they could actually be thrown from the air. For this, Steinway & Sons developed special boxes in which the musical instrument was packed, along with instructions and the necessary tuning equipment. During the war, about 2,500 pianos were dropped by American soldiers by parachute.
Music is a way to distract from war
Music was the easiest and surest way to escape from all the horrors of war, so pianos were very useful. The soldiers played, sang songs, studied musical notation. It was great entertainment, which supported at the front and helped not to go crazy with what was happening around.
During the war, Steinway & Sons made about five thousand pianos, but only half of them went to the front. The rest went to other public organizations, ranging from schools and hotels to religious institutions.
Well, the fate of the musical instruments that passed the front was also not bad: after the war they served the military for several decades. Some of them can be seen in museums today.
Daria Lukyanova