Music Trade Review

Issue: 1896 Vol. 22 N. 14

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
The "Crown" Pianos.
The Ludden & Bates flusic House
'EO. P. BENT, of
Chicago, has
-_, something to say to
%- n dealers elsewhere in
this issue.
.
It invites the closest
study, and will be found of the liveliest in-
terest; for Mr. Bent rarely sits down to
"put his pen to paper" unless he has some-
thing mighty interesting to exploit.
He talks about the "Crown" piano; and
why not? The history and standing of a
successful piano, like a successful man, is
always fascinating, and well worthy being
"read, studied and inwardly digested."
In his essay Mr. Bent eschews rodomont-
ade or literary verbiage. It bristles with
logic, and is right to the point. He tells
some forcible truths which may be incom-
prehensible to those who are running busi-
ness on methods which prevailed a century
ago. On the other hand, the progressive
and up-to-date dealer will not need an inter-
preter to "make plain" the strong points
of this "unvarnished talk."
If there breathes a man with soul dor-
mant to the charms of the "Crown" pianos,
it must be due to the fact he is not selling
or not acquainted with them. Hence the
sooner he falls in line and investigates their
special claims the sooner will he augment
his trade, increase his bank account, and
perpetually admire his good judgment the
day he decided to handle the products of
the "Crown" factory.
TO CONTROL THE OUTPUT OF THE MATHUSHEK
PIANO MANUFACTURING CO., OF
NEW HAVEN.
RRANGEMENTS have been con-
cluded between the Ludden & Bates
Southern Music House and the Mathushek
Piano Manufacturing Co., of New Haven,
whereby the former concern will control
the wholesale and retail business of the lat-
ter firm in New York as well as control the
output for a large portion of the United
States, in addition to the Southern territory,
which they now have charge of.
The Ludden & Bates Southern Music
House will open up a New York establish-
ment early in the fall, at least as soon as the
Mathushek people will close their retail
warerooms, which we understand will take
place around the first of May. This deal por-
tends a pushing of the products of the
Mathushek Piano Manufacturing Co. on
aggressive and modern lines, and ensures
the Ludden & Bates house being a factor
in local trade. The change reported above
will not be an unwelcome one.
A
Chickering & Sons.
fct
W 1
C. F. TRETBAR, of Steinway & Sons, will
leave for Europe early next month. He
will be absent several months.
P. J. GILDEMEESTER, of Gildemeester &
Kroeger, was in Cincinnati the early part
of the week, and is expected to return to
town about Wednesday next.
A PIANO factory is to be established at
Portsmouth, O., and the company will be
known as the Golden Rod Piano Co.
Messrs. Brown & Walker are incorporators
and owners.
THE New Brunswick, N. J., Board of
Trade announces that they have collected
$2,500 to meet the expenses of moving the
Muehlfeld & Haynes Piano Co. to that
place. The company want $3,000.
A. M. WRIGHT, of the Manufacturers'
Piano Co., Chicago, arrived in town on
Monday last. He is staying at the Everett
House, and expects to remain in the city
for two weeks.
CHAS. H. STEINWAY and wife will leave
for Europe around the middle of May.
A SALE of second-hand pianos — old
squares and uprights—taken in exchange
by Hardman, Peck & Co., were sold in
Philadelphia the early part of the week by
Birch, the auctioneer.
E really ought not to complain
very much of the state of trade,"
said Mr. Theodore Pfafnin to THE REVIEW
on Friday last. "Of course, I do not mean
to imply that business is what it should be,
FERDINAND WESSELL is the athletic mem-
but, at the same time there is a steady and ber of the family of which Mr. Otto Wessell
increasing demand for Chickering pianos, is the head. At the games of the Seventh
The Autoharp.
and as the business in New York for the Regiment last week, he won two prizes—a
'""T'HE Autoharp trade is distinctly hope- months of March and April up to date is diamond crescent and a silver flask—at the
[
ful," said Mr. Rudolf Dolge to ahead of that for the corresponding time athletic tournament held in the Armory.
THE REVIEW during the week. "Our road last year, I feel fairly encouraged with the Ferdinand inherits the Wessell grit and
men are doing business, and our extensive general outook. We have received the ability, which always comes out ahead when
advertising of last year is undoubtedly first shipment of our new line of Marshall & put to the test.
bringing us good returns. "
Wendell and Starr pianos, and they make
J. KOEHLER, formerly employed by James
It would be a good thing for dealers to a very nice showing."
&
Holstrom, has opened a wareroom at 225
bear in mind that the Autoharp—like the
East
Twenty-first street, this city, for the
bicycle—is an admirable "vacation" instru-
transaction
of a retail selling and renting
Desirous
of
Hoving.
ment, and this point cannot be too strongly
business
in
pianos. He is well-known and
emphasized by dealers.
'T'HE Virgil Practice Clavier Co., 26 West esteemed, and the prospects for building
I Fifteenth street, have written the up trade are favorable.
Burned Out.
Board of Trade, New Brunswick, N. J.,
THE following music trade men and deal.
that
they
want
a
desirable
factory
site.
ers
have been in town during the week: A-
RED. W. PEABODY'S music store,
The
companj'
employ
fifty
hands,
and
will
M.
Wright,
Manufacturers' Piano Co., Chi-
208 Merrimac street, Haverhill, Mass.,
require
a
factory
containing
about
10,000
cago;
Charles
Keidel, Jr., of William
was badly damaged by fire last Monday
square
feet
of
floor
room,
with
an
engine
Knabe
&
Co.,
Baltimore,
Md.; Mr. Wood-
afternoon. Estimated loss by fire and
and
boiler
capable
of
supplying
at
least
35
ward,
of
Hollingshead,
Stults&
Woodward,
water, $2,000. On building, owned by W.
horse-power.
The
company
is
desirous
of
Baltimore,
Md.;
Albert
Krell,
Jr.,
of Krell
O. Tasker, damage $1,000. The losses are
making
a
permanent
location
at
a
good
ship-
Piano Co., Cincinnati; S. A. Ward, of
covered by insurance. The origin of the
ping point, and asked the Board what in- Newark, N. J.; J. N. Burtis, Asbury Park,
fire is a mystery.
ducements it can offer.
N. J.
"A Celebrated v.ase.
IT is reported that the Hemme & Long
Piano
Co. will consolidate their business
Decker 6: Son.
HE "celebrated violin case" of Bott vs.
with
that
of the late Chas. S. Eaton, ot San
Flechter is still occupying the Court
Francisco,but
the matter lacksconfirmation.
RANK DECKER, of Decker & Son, re-
of General Sessions. The prosecution
G.
F.
BLAKE,
president of the McPhail
ports a good demand for the Decker &
rested on Wednesday, and the defense is
Piano
Co.,
Boston,
was in town during the
now successfully refuting some of the most Son piano. Charles & Mayer, of Brooklyn,
incriminating evidence against Mr. Flech- are among their most valued agents, and week.
GEO. N. GRASS, of Geo. Steck & Co., made
ter. Many sensational features have been are doing a fine Decker business. Mr.
introduced, both by the prosecution and Fred. Mayer, of this enterprising house, a flying business trip to Washington, Balti-
defense, which make it hard to express an was recently asked how he spelt piano. more and the South, early in the week.
He immediately responded—D-E-C-K-E-R. He is expected back to-day.
opinion as to how the case will wind up.
F
T
F
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
From a Traveler's Note Book.
Baldwin piano is a distinct success archi-
tecturally and musically.
*
kIPPLES ON THE TRADE SURFACE THE TIMES THAT TRY MEN'S SOULS AND POCKETBOOKS —
CAMPAIGN SENTIMENT AND FACTS A TOUR OF THE BALDWIN FACTORY ORIGINAL
FEATURES FROM CELLAR TO ROOF—MAKING A PIANO THAT CONTAINS
MANY IMPROVEMENTS OF VALUE THE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE
ARE NOTED
FOR
THEIR ENTERPRISE
THE
C. G. CONN
ESTABLISHMENT THE LEADING BAND INSTRU-
MENT MANUFACTORY
THE CONN
PRODUCTS IN DEMAND.
RAVEL during- the past week
has failed to bring to light
any news of startling import-
ance. A careful gleaner for
this commodity meets with
many disappointments, and it
would require a comb of exceeding fineness
to bring to the surface anything of interest
which would cause even more than an ordi-
nary ripple to disturb the placid surface of
the trade.
The Briggs failure was one of the
"ripples" that excited but little comment,
for, it seems, by many it was not unex-
pected. I have heard, however, on every
side feelings of regret expressed for the
members of the concern. The Briggses-—
father and son-—are piano makers of repute,
and their long and untarnished commercial
career entitles them to the sympathy of the
trade just at the present time.
These are the times which not only try
men's souls, but their pocketbooks as well,
and if the latter is not plethoric they are
exceedingly liable to be caught in the whirl.
I recollect the old campaign song of
"Four years more of Grover,
Then we'll be in clover."
Most of us for the past three years have
been browsing outside these flower-
decked fields of which the campaign orator
sang. The succulent clover rich in emerald
hues, and crowned with the sweet scented
rose-tinted blossom, has been somewhat
separated from the daily walks of most of
us. When the campaign orators were mak-
ing the welkin ring with their wordy pyro-
technics containing windy arguments of
how much a dollar would buy they failed to
make clear just where the dollar was com-
ing from.
There may be a mighty big purchasing
power to a dollar in these tines, but unless
one has the dollar what does the purchasing
power amount to?
While in Cincinnati it was my gcod for-
tune to make a complete tour of the Bald-
win factory. After having for years visited
nearly every factory of repute in the United
States, I was under the impression that
there was but little in store for me in the
matter of surprises in a piano factory. In
this I was disappointed—agreeably so.
Throughout the Baldwin factory is
evidenced an originality which is at once
convincing, and to one interested in me-
chanics, entertaining. The entire arrange-
ment from the lower story to the uppermost
is on original lines, and from the time one
passes through the imposing entrance to
the time he has reached the upper tier there
are surprises innumerable.
Any one interested in the factory facili-
ties, the placing and arranging of all detail
work, the introduction and utilization of
machinery of original and advanced
patterns, as applied to the production of
high grade pianos, will pass an instructive
period under the roof of the Baldwin piano
factory.
It seems that nothing has been overlooked
in the production of instruments which
meet with the most exacting demands made
upon them by people of musical culture.
I dwell upon the factory arrangement,
because I saw here much to think about for
a long time.
One must also be impressed, in making
the rounds, with the excellence of material,
the thoroughness of workmanship, the
originality of construction, all of which
united in one instrument make the Bald-
win piano. The acoustic rim is one of the
most remarkable features of the Baldwin
piano. It is built of many thicknesses of
veneer, glued together polygonal in form,
and a wooden frame supports the sounding-
board, to which the edges are continually
glued. This, as the company very clearly
state, is to form "a conducting circle for
the reinforcement of tone, whereby vibra-
tions starting from one part of the sound-
ing-board are not dispersed, but are taken
up by the rim and re-distributed through
the entire board and to the vibratory sys-
tem as a whole, thereby enhancing the
power and beauty of the tone."
Then if we study the acoustic disk, the
bridge, the fixed bridge plate and many
other patented improvements.we will better
understand why all of the innovations
and inventions embodied in the Baldwin
piano give it a strength and individuality
which is all its own.
What has made and still continues to
make it a great success as time advances,
is the fact that the members of the company
are imbued with a spirit of enterprise.
They are not satisfied, nor have they been,
that a musical instrument was not capable
of greater musical development. They
have been investigators in the sphere of
acoustics as app'ied to piano mechanics and
their investigations have brought forth good
fruit. They are not loitering by the wny-
side even now; they are ever investigating,
ever seeking to improve; that is why the
Another factory, of an entirely different
type, which interested me greatly, was the
C. G. Conn establishment in Elkhart, Ind.
Mr. Conn has built up an enterprise which
has won fame in all parts of the world
where brass instruments are used. To fol-
low the metal through its various stages un-
til it arrives at the point where it is fully
polished and ready for the musician, is a
matter of exceeding interest. There is,
however, one thing in an instrument fac-
tory which is in direct contrast with piano
factories, and that is the absence of machi-
nery in certain parts. Nearly all of the
work done upon the horns must of neces-
sity be performed by hand labor—highly
skilled labor at that.
Mr. Conn has raised men from the ground
up. so to speak. They have perfected
themselves in the particular branches to
which they were assigned, and by the em-
ployment of skilled labor he has been en-
abled to produce the "Wonder" instru-
ments, which have won for themselves the
wide-spread encomiums of the most cele-
brated band leaders. The Conn work is
thorough in every department.
During the absence of Mr. Conn at Wash-
ington the entire business is superintended
by Mr. W. J. Gronert, a gentleman of wide
experience and splendid adaptability to
his special field. While business in other
lines has failed owing to the depression of
the times, the Conn factor)' seems to have
been singularly favored. There has been
with them no dull times. A full comple-
ment of men in every department has been
and is steadily employed, working frequent-
ly over time. Thus we find a practical
illustration of the steadily augmenting fame
of the C. G. Conn instruments.
Jacob Doll
REPORTS BRISK BUSINESS —NEW STYLES AND
NEW CATALOGUE TO MAKE THEIR
APPEARANCE.
terse greeting on Tuesday morning
last. "We've just finished our last bottle—
off the ice—sorry you"re a little late; try
and get here in time next trip."
In response to the somewhat hackneyed
query as to the condition of business, Mr.
Doll stated that they had received an order
the first of the week, from a prominent
dealer, for forty pianos, and that "things
were moving nicely."
"Yes, I think we are getting quite our
share of trade. F. M. Hulett, one of our
road men, now in Indianapolis, is sending
in some nice orders—guess he'll find time
to call on ex-President Harrison pnd his
handsome bride," remarked Mr. Doll, face-
tiously.
"We shall bring out three new styles
next week, and our new catalogue will be
ready very shortly."

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