Piano Women

Pioneers in all parts of the world rarely embrace where they live. Most often they attempt to recreate the places where they came from, often with disastrous consequences. Objects are moved with the pioneers in order to assist with the creating the illusion of a home similar to the one they left behind, the piano being one of the pieces the most challenging to transport.

I found it interesting that two of the first families on the Shuswap had brought pianos with them.  I have very little information about Jessie Herald’s mother, Edith, who created with her husband, Dr. Herald, the farm on what is now Herald Park in 1908. I wish I knew how Dr. Herald met his bride from Ontario as he was farming in Medicine Hat at the time. Jessie told me that her mother was a very cultured woman who had no previous training in farming. She was an accomplished pianist and painter.  Jessie kept a cabinet of finely painted bone china tea cups that her mother had done in her farmhouse. 

Edith and Dundas Herald

The piano that she had moved to their farm was a grand piano. I only every saw the piano in the new house, which I am currently living in. It has a large living room and I remember that the piano took up most of that space. I don’t understand how they fit the piano in the original farmhouse which I remember as only having two small rooms with a half loft where they lived as a family of five.

The Herald living room as it is today as our home. The grand piano took up much of this space.

The piano had been shipped from Alberta in the 1920s. The piano, including it’s 30 inch legs had all been crated separately and loaded onto a log raft and pulled by motor boat to the farm.  Neighbors were called in to to unload the piano and put it on the rollers that brought it to the house (As reported to the Salmon Arm Observer).

The Wood’s family also brought a piano with them to the farm when they moved to their property at the turn of the century.  The piano travelled precariously balanced on boards between two row boats.

The piano in the Herald home was only played by Edith.  Jessie choose to play the guitar until her fingers became too arthritic.  The piano is a potent symbol of culture and societal status. A guitar or other such portable instrument is certainly more practical for the pioneer lifestyle but many people insisted on bringing their pianos despite the significant transportation challenges and the ongoing issue of keeping the instrument tuned and in overall good condition in the damp and cold farmhouses.