I wonder if it’s windy there? Or do birds soar there?

Early Fords were offered in a variety of colors, but it was observed that certain paint colors dried quite a bit faster than others (and yellow or red or blue cost more) and therefore production was speeded up, so they did that by offering "any color you want, so long as it's black".

Varnish? I thought it was enamel. Or what we would call enamel today.

here's something:
---------------//

You've heard the phrase umpteen times: "You can have any color as long as it's black."

It's one of the most famous quotes attributed to Henry Ford - his retort to customers asking about color choices for the Model T. No one seems to know whether Ford actually spoke those words.

But that quote is the reason why generations believe all Model T's were black.

Too bad it's not true.

Indeed, Model T's came only in black for 12 out of 19 model years. But in those seven other model years other colors - such as green, bright red, dark blue, brown, maroon and gray - were available.

Black dried quickly

The Model T was introduced Oct. 1, 1908, and through the 1913 model year buyers had a choice of several colors, including black. Then, in 1926 and 1927, colors included green, light blue, brown, maroon - and, of course, black.

Black was the only color the Model T came in from 1914 through 1925, and the reason was economics, not style. Black was the only color paint that could be dried quickly, and speed was important at the Ford plant because of its enormous volume.

According to Model T expert Guy Zaninovich in Ann Arbor, Mich., cars were painted using a process called japanning, which today would be called baked enamel. "It was first used in the mid-1800s for decorative items imported into America," Zaninovich says. "A piano has a shiny black surface that almost looks like plastic rather than painting because it was done with the japanning process. It leaves a very hard and durable surface. The only pigment that it worked in is black. If japanning worked in hot pink, all Model T's would have been hot pink."

Akron Paint & Varnish Inc., the 125-year-old Ohio company that made the original black paint for Henry Ford, is still around, and it has the formula. CEO David Venarge says the formula came with the two founders from Germany. "The formula used tung oil, a cheaper replacement for linseed oil, car black pigment plus gilsonite, a mined mineral," he says. "The paint was also used on mattress buttons, hooks and eyes, bobby pins and other hardware."

Bodies needed fast

By 1914, Henry Ford had implemented his moving assembly line. Having bodies ready for this faster method of assembly was key to hastening the rate of production.

Going to all-black cars was a wise decision because the young Ford Motor Co. had more orders for the Model T than it could fill. According to Ford, in 1914 alone, 300,000 Model T's were made, while competing automakers had a combined production of about 280,000 cars.

Source:
http://www.autonews.com/article/20030616/SUB/306160713/model-t-had-many-shades%3B-black-dried-fastest

Do you take requests. "Rockin' Pneumonia - Boogie Woogie Flu"? Johnny Rivers 1972

I prefer Ragtime, Scott Joplin comes to mind. Or if you wish, two favorites of mine: Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto or Mussorgski's Pictures at an Exhibition.

Or I can fire up the three manual Gulbransen and boom out Bach's Tocatta and Fugue in D Major.

That's pretty cool. I don't care for a lot of classical music, but they don't have any ****ing commercials, which I cannot stand, on the local college FM station. There's a "Pipe Dreams" program where they play bad *** restored church organs on Sunday nights. With a subwoofer it's pretty authentic sounding on my home stereo. I'm told playing those beasts is the musical equivalent of flying the space shuttle. When I hear Bach's Fugue I expect the Phantom of the opera monster to pop up. Creepy!

I think he ended up pitching for the Giants, didn't he?

Yeah my Dad went to Grinell, a small school here in Iowa, on the GI BILL. In those days, Uncle Sam would pay the tuition of any school, regardless of cost. If you got accepted that is. These days it's just a monthly stipend that hardly pays anything, still a good deal, but... Anyway they are sitting on about a $2 billion dollars with a B endowment, yet charge $53,000 a year for tuition, room, and board, and they used to hit up dear old dad like clockwork every year for donations when he was scraping by on Social Security. They claim to have a "commitment to social justice". Suuure. Take another Bong Hit.

If people think "College Should Be Free", certainly the professors will be willing to volunteer their services gratis, and the Colleges can draw off their endowments instead of hitting up the po' folk for charity and tax hikes on people who don't even want or need to go to college. Gah. For the "best and brightest" they sure are cranking out hordes of stupid ****ers these days.

Yeah for some reason I didn't realize, there is actually an "Associated Pipe Organ Builders Association" or APOBA.org (undoubtedly you're a member in good standing) I like the sound of "honky tonk" pianos. This is done in many songs and movies by using what's called a "tack piano", tacks or nails are installed on the hammers to give that distinctive old-timey or saloon sound. I think the strings are are detuned a bit.

Do you tune your Baldwin piano yourself? That's a whole 'nuther deal.