Shortly after they were married in 1971, Bill Hadfield told his new bride, Linda, that they were moving to Montana.
Hadfield, who had flown helicopters in Vietnam, chose Montana because it has few people, but an abundance of clean air and water.
The Hadfields drove the 2,000 or so miles to Montana in an old school bus turned camper. Along for the ride was a circa 1890s upright piano.
Prior to making the journey west, the Hadfield’s were living in Endicott, New York, in the basement of a house belonging to a Mrs. Potts. In that basement was the piano.
Hadfield believes the piano had always been in Mrs. Potts’ family, but doesn’t know anything else about its history.
When Mrs. Potts said they could have it, the Hadfields decided to bring it west with them. They initially settled in Cascade, but later moved to Boulder, buying their house on North Washington Street in 1979.
Mrs. Potts was unaware her family piano had moved so far west, said Hadfield.
Linda played the piano “some,” said Hadfield, adding that she tried to teach it to their children until the family got a keyboard.
Linda passed away in 2016.
Today, the piano sits unused in a corner of Hadfield’s house, where it now serves as a place to display his many plants.
Hadfield doesn’t play the piano, but he does claim to have a “green thumb.” While initially gruff in response to questions about the piano, he softened a bit as he lovingly described the many plants sitting on the vintage upright, and a nearby set of shelves and table.
Recently, Hadfield decided it was time to get rid of the piano and tacked up a notice in the Boulder post office in case anyone was interested in it.
“It’s in the way,” said Hadfield of the piano.
If there are no takers, it would be dismantled for firewood, he said.
The piano was made by J & C Fischer Piano Company of New York, which was one of the largest piano manufacturers of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The Antique Piano Shop website has a set of J & C Fischer catalogs from the 1880s and 1890s, with several pianos resembling Hadfield’s upright.
The pianos were made of a variety of woods, such as burled walnut and mahogany, as well as Hungarian ash, antique oak, among others. The pianos featured ivory keys with elaborately carved cabinets.
Some of the keys on Hadfield’s piano are missing pieces of ivory, but the carved panels remain. Running his hand across the keyboard, Hadfield said it hasn’t been tuned in decades.
With no takers, perhaps this story is a requiem for the piano?
Hadfield laughed.
Perform a requiem on it, record it and then play it back while the piano burns, he said.
