Heard this on the radio this morning...the audio is worth a listen
On the up side you can get a decent piano for free off craigslist if you keep your eye out. A buddy of mine tunes pianos as his third job. he probably only does a few a month. I keep meaning to ask him to keep an eye out for a decent free one. A few times a year his dad gets a university tuning gig and he goes for a few weeks to a month and just tunes pianos five days a week. Most the "free you haul" pianos are scrapped for the metal in the frame. The guys who take them will lie and say that they are going to fix them up and resell them because it makes people feel better.
It would be interesting to see how the annual sales changed over time rather than just compare 1909 and the present. It seems like a piano is probably a long term investment for most people. I wonder if it's related to population growth and the economy too.