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Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



March 25, 1918 





Superior Veneer Work 



VENEERS AND PANELS ui 



::S 



WISCONSIN VENEEER CO. 



^ MANtJFACTURERS ,.,', 



il RHINELANDER, WIS. (' i 



kW 



•m. 



Glue makers would like to know how and of what materials 

 Egyptians manufactured the glue which they used 5.300 years ago 

 in making the veneer panels forming part of the oldest bedsteads 

 on earth, so far as known. The glue is holding yet and the veneer 

 is in good condition. The wood of which the veneer is made appears 

 to be ebony; at any rate, it is some hard, dark wood, glued upon 

 a backing of cedar. 



The bedstead is a curiosity and is an interesting relic of the 

 past. It is one foot high, 26 inches w^ide, and 63 inches long. It 

 was a frame to hold the sleeper's blankets off of the floor or 

 ground; but it was too short for an adult, unless a dwarf, and 

 it may have been intended for a child. It is known that the Egyp- 

 tians provided furniture specially for children. It is believed, 

 however, that the bed w^as of regulation size, for old literature 

 refers to short beds with the sleepers' feet protruding over the 

 footboard, w^hich arrangement would be objectionable in a country 

 where the nights were cold. How^ever, the feet of the ancients, 

 who went barefoot were not as sensitive to cold as are those 

 of the moderns w^ho wear shoes. 



Be that as it may, the interesting thing about the old bed- 

 stead is the veneer panels which have withstood a hot climate 

 during more than 5,000 years. The ancient piece of furniture 

 is now in a museum at Cairo, Egypt. The bed had cords in 

 place of springs or slats. The bed posts rested on lion's feet 

 carved in wood, and they are a high class of carving, matching 

 in workmanship the veneer panels. The old furniture makers 

 of the Land of the Nile knew their trade well. It is remarkable 

 that they w^ere able to do such excellent work w^ith the poor tools 

 which they had; but. the class of work done often depends more 

 upon the skill of the workman than upon the character of his 

 tools. At any rate, no one ever heard of an old Egyptian carpenter 

 finding fault with his tools; for none but poor w^orkmen do that. 



Some Facts Regarding Pianos 



The Industry Is an Important User of Raw Materials 



HE average piano contains 340 square feet of 

 veneer, according to figures compiled for the 

 government by George W. Pound, counsel for 

 and general manager of the Musical Industries 

 Chamber of Commerce of the United States. The figures 

 were submitted at a hearing which was held for the pur- 

 pose of determining whether the making of pianos is an 

 essential or nonessential industry. In addition to the 

 veneer, the production of a piano calls for 261 feet of 

 lumber, divided as follows: Core stock, principally sawed 

 wormy chestnut, 1 10 feet; back stock, mostly beech and 

 elm, but with some maple and a small quantity of spruce, 

 120 feet; trim, v/hich is oak, red gum, vi^alnut, birch and 

 mahogany, 10 feet; keys, basswood and pine, 10 feet; 

 sounding board, spruce, 4 feet; action, maple, 7 feet. The 

 veneers are of many woods, but walnut and mahogany 

 predominate as the visible material. A gallon and a half 

 of glue is needed in the manufacture of a piano, and 

 also one and a half gallons of varnish. 



TTie total output of pianos in the United States is placed 

 at 300,000 a year. This means the consumption of 78,- 

 300,000 feet of lumber, and of 102,000,000 square feet 

 of veneer. According to government figures the total 



All Three of Us Will Be Benefited if 



demand for wood in the manufacture of all kinds of 

 musical instruments is 260,195,000 feet a year. This 

 indicates that pianos take probably less than half of all 

 the wood which is converted into musical instruments 

 in this country. 



Piano makers are usually men in the middle life who 

 have worked many years in the factories and have spe- 

 cialized in certain parts of the work; but, of course, there 

 are younger men who are working their way up to the 

 best positions in the factories. 



Mr. Pound in discussing the proposal to close the piano 

 factories for the period of the war, opposed such a meas- 

 ure and explained that the musical instrument industry 

 as such is not a largely profitable business as large busi- 

 nesses go. And it is not benefited by the war, but on the 

 contrary is depressed. The element of profit is small, and 

 therefore must have volume. There are some ten thou- 

 sand of the larger retail piano merchants, many more 

 smaller. Their entire capital is invested. They have no 

 other line to turn to. The piano dealer is almost always 

 an exclusive merchant, does not carry other lines of mer- 

 chandise, cannot from the very nature and circumstances 

 of the business. 



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