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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
2OO
HOW TO ADVERTISE.
T
HAT advertising pays, says The Office, has become
almost an axiom in the commercial world. Yet,
when one is continually hearing of advertise-
ments which apparently have not paid, he is apt to stop
—unless his fcfith is too well grbunded in the system—
and wonder whether, after all, the principle is not falla-
cious. The simple, unvarnished truth of the matter is
this: The generally accepted principle is true only in
the abstract. Before it is unhesitatingly vouched for it
should be qualified. Advertising, to be made to pay,
must be conducted on certain unwritten, but none the
les^ sharply defined, laws. It is possible to lose money
at advertising just as ii is possible for one who knows
nothing of the business to squander a fortune in pub ish-
ing a newspaper. Both, if properly managed, become
paying investments. One man will advertise in papers
all over the country, and will be fairly deluged with ans-
wers, while another will patronize the same sheets with
equal liberality, and yet fail to secure one-half the re-
sults. To succeed, he must not only know where to ad-
vertise, but how and what to advertise.
Advertising is like any other branch of the business
world in that it is precisely a matter of rule and system.
Certain causes inevitably produce certain effects. This
is as sure as reaction in chemistry or a problem in alge-
bra. v Advertising has been erroneously compared to
casting bread upon the waters. Nothing could be more
misleading. In the course of a conversation with a gen-
tleman who is at the head of a large and well-known
New York firm, he mentioned a case in whch he had
bought an entire page in a weekly paper of compara-
tively large circulation and received only a pitifully few
number of answers. Why ? I took the trouble to look
up this particular " ad." and found it to be merely an
announcement that Blank did business at such an ad-
dress, .and carried such and such lines of goods in stock.
What could be expected from such a formula? Not
that 1 think for a moment that his money was utterly
wasted. The only sort of returns that this man could
appreciate were of an actual and tangible nature, which
it is apparent his bare announcement was not calculated
to bring in. He was too shori-sighted to perceive that
his advertisement, instead of being wholly ephemeral,
was actually a step toward such a reputation as the
manufa< turers of the celebrated Royal Baking Powder
and other well-known advertisers have achieved for
their gonds. As such a step, it is well worth the money
he paid for it ; but unless he proposed to follow it up,
it was as valueless as a link of a chain—all-important in
in its place, but useless alone. To look for an actual,
immediate response from a r i announcement of this na-
ture is just as though a farmer should expect corn in a
field in which he had planted wheat. Had the gentle-
man in question devoted his page to an offer to send
his new catalogue free on application, he would proba-
bly h-ive been overwhelmed with answers, and then he
would have realized that his "ad." had been effective by
practical demonstration.
To point the preceding remarks with a moral pub-
lishers should encourage their advertisers to aim for
specific rather than general results. This will prove
more satisfactory to all concerned. The advertiser will
be contented and happy, because he will have practical
evidence that his advertisements are proving effective,
and the publisher will be contented and happy, because
—well, because his advertiser is. Unless a man is pos-
sessed of the patience of Job and extraordinary clear
perceptions, he is disposed to believe that a constant
expenditure with no apparent income is little better
than shear waste. Consequently he comes to the ab-
rupt conclusion that advertising does not pay, and at
once stops the leakage. There are, however, some lines
of business in which general advertising is necessary
from the very nature of the case. Thus it is with steel
pens. Neither Jos. Gillott & Sons nor the Esterbrook
Company are able to gauge the exact results of an ad-
vertisement in a particular magazine or newspaper.
They are advertising for a reputation and do not look
for tangible returns, as does the man who has lost his
watch, and in the " Lost and Found " column of the daily
paper offers a reward for its return. But even with
large manufacturers of this kind it is possible to aim at
a result which will make itself felt when accomplished.
Thus the Dixon Crucible Company, in some of its ad-
vertisements, offers to send a few sample pencils on re-
ceipt of a certain sum. When a large number of appli-
cations come in, all mentioning a certain paper, it is
naturally concluded that that paper is a good medium.
ASSIGNMENT OF PH. J. LAWRENCE.
EASTON, PENNA., December 24th, 1888.
DEAR SIR :—The result of the assignee's manage-
ment of the Lawrence Organ Works during the past
year shows such a profit as to indicate that, if continued,
the wisdom of the course pursued by the creditors in
determining upon continuing the operations, of the or-
gan works under the direction of the assignee, will be
fully demonstrated. The affairs of the factory are not
yet in such shape as to demand the hasty completion of
the bonded scheme agreed upon by the creditors. The
holiday season is at hand and money is so exceptionally
close that the bonds can not be issued and taken up be-
fore spring. In view of these facts, it is deemed exped-
ient by many of the creditors that an extension of time
should be granted within which to complete the neces-
sary details. While it is confidently expected that this
can be accomplished before April jst, 1889, it is'barely
possible that something may happen to bar tempo-
rarily the progress of the plan, and no period of exten-
sion short of one year should be considered. It can
scarcely be expected that any one will object to what is
herein proposed, for, if the factory were to be closed
down and disposed of at a forced sale, it can not be
doubted that general creditors and even some of those
secured would receive little or nothing. A little time
and continuation of wise directon will surely result in
the liquidation of all demands in full. The law requires
the assent in writing of every creditor, and you will find
enclosed the required form, which you will kindly sign
and return to the assignee.
Truly yours,
W. R. FRANCISCO,
Assignee.
The extension will date from January 11, 1889.
JUNIUS HARTS SUCCESS IN NEW
ORLEANS.
HE fostering of a vigorous commercial spirit in
many parts of the Southern States is of the hap-
piest augury. Among the various branches of
trade that are now growing up and prospering south
of Mason & Dixon's line, must be reckoned those of mu-
sical publishers and dealers in musical instruments; and
of these Mr. Junius Hart of 191 Canal street, New Or-
leans, is one of the most enterprising and successful.
Mr. Hart is an absolutely self-made man, and his career
provides a shining example of the value of honesty, en-
terprise, and indomitable perseverance. On his arrival
in New Orleans, a few years ago, his worldly wealth did
not amount to a dollar, whereas at the present moment
his check for very many thousands of dollars would be
honored by any banker or well-established merchant in
the Crescent City. His piano and music publishing
rooms at the address given above have recently under-
gone thorough renovation and decoration, and now
form one of the very finest music establishments in the
South, if, indeed, they do not occupy the first place in
the category. An enormous sum has been lavished by
Mr.Ilart upon the refurnishing, rehabilitation, and splen-
did decoration of these magnificent premises.
T
WELL DOME, PSESTOT
HE holiday number of our excellent and enterpris-
ing friend The Presto, of Chicago, is a marvel
of elegance and taste. It is printed in various
colors of ink, and in the matter of type, cover, and paper
is singularly pleasing. Its pages are further adorned by
a profusion of appropriate and well-chosen illustrations.
The reading matter is varied, entertaining and valuable.
The little Piesto has made a gallant, honest fight. It
has not, like some of its older contemporaries referred
T
to in the present issue of THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW,
tried to make headway by throwing mud at honest men
while hypocritically posing as loftily virtuous. The
progress of Piesto has been quiet, gradual, clean and
fair. We are glad to see that its advertising business is
extending. The probability is that Presto will flourish
as the green bay tree when the New York Egotist and
the Ananias of East Fourteenth street are forever sunk
in the feculent pit which they are now digging for them-
selves and for each other.
TRADE MARKS.
Music Boxes, No. i6,oSg, M. J. Paillard & Co.
THE A. B. Chase Co.'s pianos are rapidly acquiring
great popularity throughout the middle and Southern
states. That the merits of these admirable instruments
—their brilliancy and sweetness of tone, their fine elas-
ticity of action, and their elegance of design—should
have so suddenly met with so wide-spread an apprecia-
tion, is creditable to both manufacturers and purchasers.
There is a particularly heavy demand for these pianos
in Maryland, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, but they
promise to become familiar as a household word through-
out the land as quickly as they can be shipped to every
point thereof.
THE Boston Piano Co. send us illustrations—printed
upon satin of various colors—of their pianos. This
novel and tasteful idea originated, we believe, with the
company, and marks another step in the upward pro-
gress of artistic advertising. Geo. W. Carter is noted
for originality, excepting in the matter of original sin,
of which he inherited surprisingly little.
JACK HAYNES, the redoubtable apostle of Newman
Bros, excellent organs, issues his compliments to the
fade and to the public, and with them a calendar for
1889. The calendar is appropriately embellished with
the figure of a bright-eyed, cherry-lipped damsel, who
bears in one hand a bouquet and in the other a music
roll, these two forming, in conjunction with the maiden,
a triple emblem of a sweet and poetic character.
THE "Gem Calendar" comes from the Bridgeport
Organ Co., of Bridgeport, Conn., and is well named.
A. A. POND, of Springfield, Mo., dealer in musical in-
struments, has executed a chattel mortgage for securing
$712.50.
IN the Christmas number of the Muskegon (Mich.)
Chronicle appears an extensive greeting to the public
from the noted house of Wolff, Herrick & Co. In ad-
dition to a vast stock of general musical merchandise
and the smaller instruments, this firm handle the Stein-
way & Sons, Hallet & Davis, Bradbury, Krakauer, Ivers
& Pond and other pianos, and the world-renowned
Story & Clark organs.
THE agency in Chicago for the Baus pianos has been
taken by the enterprising firm of Newell & Co.
THE Century Piano & Organ Co., Minneapolis, Minn.,
are publishing long lists of their December purchasers
in several of the Minneapolis dailies Among the pi-
anos purchased by these parties we notice that those
made by Henry F. Miller & Sons Piano Co., Geo. Steck
& Co. and the Sterling Company figure prominently.
BANJO.—James J. Doyle, Albany, N. Y. The strings
are all secured at one end to one adjustably supported
holder and at their opposite ends to independent indi-
vidual keys, so that they may be independently tuned
for playing, and thereafter all lowered and again raised
simultaneously.—Scientific American,
C. C. MCEWEN, N. Y., the youngest piano manufact-
urer in the United States, will soon commence building
a large factory.
TONY DE ANHUERA, in a moment of frolic, invested a
dollar in the Louisiana Lottery, and was greatly tickled
on finding it multiplied a hundred-fold. If good luck
never fell to the lot of worse men than Tony there
would be more contentment in the world.