Advertisements in magazines promoted pianos for the home in the late 19th and early 20th century. In the late 19th century, a piano or reed organ in the parlor was a symbol that a family were a part of the new middle class. An organ or piano demonstrated the family could afford to purchase a large musical instrument, had the leisure time to enjoy it, and the culture and education to play it.
From the Ladies’ Home Journal, December 1896.