April 22, 2011

Wooden Toy Piano in my life as a young mother.

Thanks to Uncle Lee this little piece of memory came back immediately to me!!  I went to take this photo out of a small 1970's album to find it in very good condition. The toy grand piano is clearly shown. As you can guess my daughter is left handed!!

Perhaps it was reading Benjamin Spock or perhaps toy pianos were the best toys in department store we bought one unit for our first born even before she was able to read and write..

Actually I remember most kids loved the little toy piano they had.  Like most parents I got one wooden toy piano  to help "develop the children's innate musical talent" from a very young age.

We were living in Brooke Drive Sibu and had no real piano at home then. To listen to real piano music we had to visit Aunt Ida who was giving piano lessons. Then slowly my  little girls outgrew their wooden toy piano and took real lessons. We bought a Yamaha later on. However the wooden piano stayed with us for indeed a long long time. Toys in those days were really made to last. I cannot remember when the toy became an old toy and was given away or kept some where to gather dust. With four children memories of those days can be very distorted.

How did my children actually develop their love for music? I suppose they also learned to appreciate piano music because of Schroeder from  the Peanuts......

We enjoyed reading Peanuts together. All my daughters and I agree that in each one of us we do have some characteristics of Lucy ....(pl. laugh out loudly girls!!) I did not get a boy until very much later. Is he a Schroeder or a Charlie Brown? Is he a Linus?

My generation of parents had read Peanuts throughout their childhood and youth  and later made their children read Peanuts and perhaps some composite characteristics did come through. But Shultz did give us some insight to children's psychology and help us in many ways to understand our children better. I really appreciate that.

Today Benjamin Spock and C. Shultz are not as popular as before because of language differences in Malaysia.

I am glad I have found one Youtube of Schroeder and Lucy to share with you. Enjoy!! It is comforting to hear the sound of the toy piano.....




From across the seas - thanks Uncle Lee for this memory shared!!

More pictures of wooden piano from Google!!

We bought a black toy grand piano from Ngui Kee Departmental Store. I think some kid sat on it and broke the legs of the piano. Grandma used to say it was too noisy....But I think the girls managed Jingle Bells .......and San Zi lah hoo....san zi lah hoo...one had no eyes...one had no tail...and they loved to substitute all the different body parts that went missing on the three tigers!! Favourite missing part was the koo chiong...or butt...how imaginative they were!!
I never did see a blue one like this. Can you remember seeing a blue one in the shops?

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

your boy was more of a linus :)

Anonymous said...

The one I saw in Sibu was a blue one. That was in the 1980's

Ensurai said...

Anonymous....I like that...Linus is a great guy.

Ensurai said...

The photo of my little girl was taken circa 1979?

I cannot remember seeing a blue one though in Sibu.....Now I must go to Toy's world to see if there is a modern version......good memories...

向日葵啊伯 said...

I bought the blue one for my daughter in 89.

Ensurai said...

Hi Peter...did you buy the blue one in Ngui Kee? I asked some of my friends...they too remember only Ngui Kee...and the pianos lasted for a long time....Thanks for dropping by...and Happy Easter.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

I was given one for my kids, a double length one.

Only one of my three surviving kids play the piano.

Ensurai said...

Yes Ann!! I was wondering if we should do a survey on early childhood...correlating toy piano with real piano...lessons!! All four of mine can play but the eldest and the second seem to play better..The boy went on to play drums. The third onepicked up guitar lessons much later.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

MY eldest is a Natural piano player. She bought her a very very expensive piano. Then she went harbin. I will feature her playing from when she was a baby in my Sunday Scan photos.

Ensurai said...

Hi Ann

Looking forward to your kids' photos....

HV said...

I am looking for the piano for many years already, can I know where u brought it coz i live in Kuala Lumpur.

Anonymous said...

where can order one?

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