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?