Have you ever asked yourself how people passed the long evenings in the days before television? The answer is that those 1 could afford it used to play the piano, or at the very least tried to persuade their daughters to 2 so. Although there is less piano-playing nowadays, pianos are still of interest to collectors of antiques, both as instruments and as pieces of furniture. As a result, it is once 3 very fashionable, amongst those with both money and space, to have a grand piano in the living room. Not 4 pianos, however, are equally fashionable. It would be a mistake to get too excited about the possible resale value of a modern piano bought ten years 5 for example. Similarly, not every old piano is going to be a good investment. Rather, like television sets today, they were made 6 huge numbers in the early twentieth century. At that time, pianos became so popular that most sizeable towns had a local manufacturer. Newly-married couples frequently got 7 as a main wedding present. So nowadays, many pianos are worth little more than the value of the materials they are made from, and end their days being chopped 8 for firewood.