In the 1850's a mechanic in Deep River, CT. (Phineas Pratt) invented a lathe that could cut ivory. This machine made the labor intensive job of making products out of elephant tusks very profitable for the small town. Pratt and Read Company began turning out combs, pins, pool balls etc., etc. and of course piano keys, a piano being the ultimate status symbol for every household in America.
Phineas was an abolitionist, but did he turn a blind eye to the source of his material? The ivory was harvested in the interior of Africa and taken hundreds of miles to the coast. Arab slavers guided large trains of slaves, men, women and children, chained together carrying the heavy tusks to the coast where they were loaded on boats sailing from Zanzibar headed for Deep River.
This profitable trade continued for another 50 years to approximately 1900 when it became harder and harder to find ivory and the trade dried up.
How does Laura Keene fit into this? As we all know, she was at Ford's Theater the night Lincoln was shot. She had brought her Pickering piano to the theater with her. From the 1850's on all Pickering pianos were made using keyboards made with ivory keys from Pratt and Read Co. in Deep River, CT.
I am a bit confused by all of this.
Are you saying because Laura Keene purchased a piano with Ivory Keys, she prolonged the slave trade?
You could then make the same claim regarding anyone who purchased a piano with Ivory Keys, not just her.
Why not make the same claim for anyone who purchased a garment made of cotton.
And what about the poor elephants being slaughtered for their tusks? Or rhinos being slaughtered for their horns and used for quack medicinal purposes by superstitious people? Is not a rhino's life, or an elephant's life worth more than that? What makes human beings think their desire to make pianos and listen to or play music is worth more than an elephant's life? Animals have had their will broken and have been enslaved by human beings since the beginning of humanity. Just think of the poor horse, for instance. It would much rather be roaming free than doing work for people. What about cows or chickens or pigs who are slaughtered for their meat? What about cutting down trees for their wood? Do you think a tree likes laboring to grow for years and years, only to summarily be cut down and hacked up and loaded on a truck?
NONE OF IT IS FAIR!
Gene, not at all. Did Laura Keene have any idea how those ivory keys got in her piano? Probably not. It's just ironic how two terrible tragedies are connected by a piano. Also ironic how Conneticut abolitionists (Pratt and Read) thought that elephants were a renewable resource and had to have known the cost in human lives to transport the ivory to the African coast. Some sources say between 2-5 slaves perished for every tusk. 90% of all ivory imported to the U.S. made its way to Deep River, CT.
(08-26-2018 07:01 AM)Rsmyth Wrote: [ -> ]Gene, not at all. Did Laura Keene have any idea how those ivory keys got in her piano? Probably not. It's just ironic how two terrible tragedies are connected by a piano. Also ironic how Conneticut abolitionists (Pratt and Read) thought that elephants were a renewable resource and had to have known the cost in human lives to transport the ivory to the African coast. Some sources say between 2-5 slaves perished for every tusk. 90% of all ivory imported to the U.S. made its way to Deep River, CT.
Thank you, Rich, for posting that piece of social history that few people would think about. No matter whether an abolitionist or a planter, economics ruled the day (still does). When money is rolling in, it's easy to forget your basic principles. Many Southerners took the blame for the continuance of slavery, but Northerners had a vested interest in it also.
On a personal note, I served as an Episcopal church organist from the time I was twelve until I was 38. However, I learned music on an 1890 fruit wood upright piano that my grandmother received for her sixteenth birthday. My fingers spent a many an hour on those ivory keys without once thinking about where they came from.
I was a nut on the Lincoln assassination story even then, so I really should have made the link between the ivory keys being sourced by enslaved laborers and the murder of Lincoln being a result of the conflict over enslaved laborers.
(08-25-2018 09:29 PM)Gene C Wrote: [ -> ]Are you saying because Laura Keene purchased a piano with Ivory Keys, she prolonged the slave trade?
(08-26-2018 07:01 AM)Rsmyth Wrote: [ -> ]Gene, not at all.
Title of this thread:
How Laura Keene prolonged the African slave trade
You are absolutely right Kate. Due to Laurie's recent revelation the title of the thread should have been "How Laurie prolonged the African slave trade." lol
(08-27-2018 11:27 AM)Rsmyth Wrote: [ -> ]You are absolutely right Kate. Due to Laurie's recent revelation the title of the thread should have been "How Laurie prolonged the African slave trade." lol
Now wait a minute! I inherited those piano keys; I wasn't the one who purchased them in 1890. That would have been my great-grandfather, Joseph Eli Huntt, whom you have all heard about housing David Herold overnight on April 13, 1865, as well as being mentioned in Smoot's book as being prepared to supply horses to the conspirators during the kidnap plot. And, while he was not a slaveholder, his father was...
Today I came across this video of a man playing piano music for an old nearly-blind elephant. Note that the elephant's tusks are gone (maybe that is normal for an old elephant) and his ears are torn and ragged. He seems to enjoy the piano music very much. (I thought this video was rather touching.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfC9DAKN0bY
(09-03-2018 01:47 PM)My Name Is Kate Wrote: [ -> ](I thought this video was rather touching.)
I second you, Kate.
Brought tears to my eyes, Kate, thanks for sharing.
They say that music soothes the wild beast. This fine old gentleman isn't so wild anymore, but he appreciates the finer things in life.
(09-03-2018 01:47 PM)My Name Is Kate Wrote: [ -> ]Today I came across this video of a man playing piano music for an old nearly-blind elephant. Note that the elephant's tusks are gone (maybe that is normal for an old elephant) and his ears are torn and ragged. He seems to enjoy the piano music very much. (I thought this video was rather touching.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfC9DAKN0bY
The elephant dances better than I ever did. A slight compliment to the elephant.