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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
Dealers of the Far West and South
^
TRADE SKETCHES.
Some of the Men Who Have Made
Music Trade History on the
Pacific Slope from Wash-
ington to the Gulf.
HE bands of steel have so closely link-
ed the Pacific Coast with the East that
the journey to San Francisco or to
Tacoma is looked upon nowadays as a
matter of not startling import. In the
early days it was different. The long
journey across the plains to the great unknown
country was a matter fraught with serious-
ness. It was no ball-room task to accomplish
such a journey. The traveler -of that time
had much to undergo before he had '' seen
his trade." The almost phenomenal develop-
ment of that country lying beyond " The Great
Divide " has naturally given an impetus to and
an increased sale of almost every line of manu-
factured goods. With the increased population
came the increased demand for musical instru-
ments. Then there came the line of specialty
stores, and as the musical culture was diffused
by the establishment of schools and conservator-
ies the music stores expanded into huge com-
mercial institutions until to-day the annual sales
in musical instruments alone on the Pacific
Coast swells into large figures. It is our aim in
presenting the following sketches to show some-
thing of the personality of some of the men
who have assisted towards the upbuilding ol
the music trade, and who have made music
trade history west of the '' Rockies '' and in the
great State of Texas. The limited space at our
disposal prevents us treating the subject with
the exhaustiveness which it merits. Many of
the individuals dealt with in the following
sketches readers will recognize as men of na-
tional fame.
WILEY B. ALLEN,
Portland, Oregon.
Wiley B. Allen is a native Oregonian, born
in the year 1855, in a log hut on the " Abiqua,"
a mountain stream running in the '' Wilds of
Oregon." While yet a child he took to music,
first playing on a cornstalk, and then urging
his parents to buy him an accordeon, which he
learned to play, and then he wanted an organ.
His father visited a music store for the purpose
of buying one, and after looking over the stock
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was unable to decide for himself, and said he
would get the services of a music teacher he
knew to select an instrument for him. The
professor was a most obliging man, in fact
astonishing in his efforts to oblige Mr. Allen,
senior, who is still living and kicking himself
for being so "all-fired green," in those days
before he learned of the '' commission evil.''
Winter & Harper. The corporation also have
a branch at Salem, the capital of Oregon, so that
with the three houses combined they absorb a
large proportion of the entire music business in
the Northwest. The Wiley B. Allen Co. con-
trols the Oregon agencies for the Bradbury, the
Fischer, Krell and Opera pianos, and the Estey,
Chicago Cottage and Farrand & Votey organs.
The officers of the corporation are Wiley B.
Allen, President and Treasurer ; Rudolph Wan-
geman, Vice-President, andj. E. Whitney, Sec-
retary.
CALDER'S MUSIC PALACE,
Salt Lake City, Utah.
WILEY B. ALLEN.
Wiley B. Allen started in the music business
in the year 1877, a t S a n Jose, Cal., with a
capital of $600. Half of this amount he spent
in the purchase of a Pease piano and a parlor
organ and the other half he invested in small
goods, sheet music, etc. He sold out his San
Jose business in the year 1880 and moved to
Portland just prior to the completion of the
Northern Pacific R. R., and as times were lively
in those days, known as the " Villard boom,"
he made money rapidly ; then the collapse came
and the business went back a notch or two.
About this time he commenced his dealings
with Lyon & Healy, and to this day he attri-
butes much of his success in life to the advice
and succor he received at the hands of Lyon &
Healy. He classifies P. J. Healy, C. N. Post and
Geo. E. Griswold as his '' Four-leaf Clover." P.
J. Healy himself he considers two leaves, Post
and Griswold making the other two.
At the present time Wiley B. Allen is presi-
dent of The Wiley B. Allen Company, a cor-
poration doing business with a capital stock
of $100,000. They have two well regulated
stores in Portland, one of which is their own
four-story building at 211 First street, and the
other at 271 Morrison street; they having re-
cently purchased the Morrison street store from
This house was established in i860 by D. O.
Calder, and the stock did not exceed $500 first
cost. It was the first importation of this kind
into the territory, and although small, was suf-
ficient to meet all demands during the next
twelve months. About the same time Mr.
Calder organized vocal classes and taught 800
pupils, giving several concerts in the Tabernacle
and theatre, all of which created a market for
the sale of musical goods. During the follow-
ing years of 1861 to 1868, Mr. Calder imported
a number of pianos and organs from New York
and Boston. Notwithstanding they had to be
conveyed in wagons—no railroad at that time—
from the Missouri River, over the plains,
through rivers and over the Rocky Mountains,
at an expense of $270 for a transportation of a
D. G. CALDER.
piano and $80 for an organ, Mr. Calder\s busi-
ness so increased during those years that it be-
came necessary to enlarge his premises, and the
result was the erection of a two-story house on