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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
From a Traveler's Note Book.
ADVANTAGES OF TRAVEL—IT KEEPS ONE IN TOUCH WITH LOCAL ENVIRONMENTS EVERY-
WHERE RECOLLECTIONS OF RUSS C. MUNGER A NORTHWESTERN PIONEER.
FOSTER & WALDO OF MINNEAPOLIS TRADE IN JAPAN.
THE JAP NEVER CUTS PRICES.
HE educational advantages af-
orded by constant travel can.
not be overestimated. The
traveler's horizon is ever be-
ing broadened by the ever-
changing vista which is con-
stantly being brought before him by his
peregrinations over the Continent. I have
believed for years that it would be of the
greatest advantage to the members of some
of our large concerns to devote at least a
portion of their time each year to travel.
Through its mediumship they would be-
come in close touch with their constituency
in all sections of the country.
Again, they would see personally the
needs of the trade, and anticipate them to
a certain extent. At present travelers
are oftentimes backward in expressing to
their employers such changes as they think
would be beneficial to the advancement
of the firm's interests whom they represent.
From the traveler's coign of vantage he can
see the principal changes desired by the
change in popular taste in case architect-
ure, tonal effects, and all that which would
surely operate in no meagre way to the ad-
vantage of the company which he repre-
sents if his suggestions were adopted and
carried out.
Frequently and oftentimes too frequently
his suggestions are ignored, or he is im-
mediately sat down upon in offering any
radical changes in business affairs or in pi-
ano case construction.
This in my opinion is an error. It
should be speedily remedied. I know of
some firms who make it a special point to
consult with their travelers as to the knowl-
edge of their trade upon their return from
their trip. The men who do this are the
successful men of this trade. In the first
place they have confidence in the ability
and business acumen of the men who repre-
sent them. Having this confidence they
do not hesitate to adopt the suggestions
made, knowing that they are the offerings
of careful observation, backed by logical
reasoning powers.
When I look back over a period of travel
which extends over a decade, I am frank to
acknowledge that I owe for the knowledge
of the trade and its environments which I
now possess more to travel than to anyone
source from which I have gained informa-
tion.
It is true a transcontinental trip of
several thousand miles is not at all times
pleasant to contemplate, particularly when
one has strong business and home attract-
ions which draw as the magnet. Yet, in
the stern and complex battle of life we have
to divest ourselves of much of that senti-
mentality which seems to have no place in
modern business. The world is a cold,
practical world, and in order to meet com-
petition and to maintain a position fairly
won, one must get as near the practical root
of things as possible.
* *
*
It was many years ago when I met Rus-
sell C. Munger, of St. Paul, "Uncle Russ,"
as he is called up in the Northwest. He
I I
interest in all matters connected with the
development of St. Paul. He has been a
large owner of real estate both in St. Paul
and Minneapolis.
*
Another Northwestern man of note who
has recently been visiting New York is Mr.
C. L. Waldo, of the firm of Foster & Waldo,
Minneapolis. This firm have rapidly as-
sumed a leading position among Norih-
western music trade concerns, and their
future seems full of promise. Mr. Waldo,
since leaving the West, has visited many
points of commercial prominence in differ-
ent States. While on the whole he does not
take an optimistic view of trade conditions
he still maintains that a large volume of
business will be transacted this year, not-
withstanding the fact that generally busi-
ness prospects are discredited the years
when Presidential elections occur.
Foster & Waldo are energetic, and the
trade horoscope for them tells of a brilliant
future. They have been particularly sue
cessful with the Steger and Singer pianos.
* *
*
Since THE REVIEW some months ago be-
gan agitating the subject of our trade with
Japan, I have received several letters from
our readers throughout the country asking
my opinion regarding the possibilities of
the music trade in Japan. I would say that
some of the most prominent firms in Amer-
ica have already made a number of sales to
dealers in that country. It may interest
readers to know that the Jap is a stickler
for price, and as far as I am able to learn,
R. C. MUNGER.
special sales are unknown to that country.
is one of the landmarks of the Northwestern Japan should be the piano dealer's heaven.
music trade, and his friends East and West The Jap believes in one price. He never
will regret to learn of the financial disasters makes a reduction in the price of an article
which have recently overtaken him. He when a quantity is ordered, but on the con-
was born in the little town of Madison, trary, demands a higher price. He declares
Conn., and about 1850 he caught the West- that quantity signifies an increased de-
ern fever and went to St. Paul, where mand, and that prices should naturally in-
shotly after, with his brother, he opened a crease with demand.
music store. The Munger Bros, for four-
* *
sfc
teen years ran a successful business estab-
The Japanese do not advertise, as a rule,
lishment, then "Uncle Russ" became part
owner in the first opera house built in the and the queer native signs which confront
West. It was in 1878 when he resumed the American and European tourist can
his old music business, and ever since has neither be read nor understood. The sign
been engaged in it. He has taken a warm of the average shopkeeper at once deceives
the foreigners, as, for instance, a pair of
huge square spectacles, filled with gold
leaf, is not the sign of an oculist or spec-
tacle maker but that of a gold-beater or
working jeweler. Druggists do not dis-
play a mortar and pestle, but simply an
enormous bag, an imitation of the small
ones they use for infusing their medicines.
Tobacconists hang out a sort of snuff-col-
ored banner, bearing Chinese characters,
setting forth their name and perhaps their
trade mark. The}' never indulge in wood-
en images of Indian chiefs or ponderous
Dutchmen. Indeed, so far as the Ameri-
can Indian is concerned, the Japanese and
Chinese regard him as an impostor when
he poses as the discoverer of tobacco.
They claim that they themselves were the
original discoverers.
The Japanese saloon keepers, or rather
the dealers in rice whiskey or sake, adver-
C. L. WALDO.