Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE
all your friends and customers to join in
and help.
Big pay in the shape of great
reductions for cash.
Positions for all ap-
plicants.
The Advance of Weber Fame.
WHAT MR. WHEELOCK AND HIS ASSOCIATES HAVE ACCOMPLISHED—THE FUTURE KRIGHT
WITH PROMISE ACHIEVEMENTS WHICH MERIT PRAISE.
Whoop things up and don't let the shadow
of the department store octopus scare you
even a little bit.
Hustle; use the daily
papers to tell the people what you have to
sell. •
Sell all you can for cash.
Tell your
salesman to talk cash, and get out of the
installment rut.
It is easy.
Try it.
A N important principle and one which
will interest every manufacturer and
merchant is embodied in this extract from
the New York vSun which shines for all.
Since Christmas there have been ten
failures reported of concerns that made a
speciality of goods intended for holiday
presents. Some of these concerns carried
large stocks, and were entitled to the des-
ignation "'big." In one or two instances
the stocks were valued at more than
$250,000. The noticeable thing about each
of the collapsed concerns is that it did not
advertise in the newspapers.
The stores that did advertise were crowd-
ed with customers from the commence-
ment of the holiday season to the hour of
closing the night before Christmas. They
all report the greatest holiday business in
years.
Piano men should take this truth home,
for no matter how many instruments are
manufactured the avenues are practically
closed for their distribution unless the at-
tention of the people is persistently called
to them.
Fill a store with the finest stock of musi-
cal instruments on earth and they will re-
main there unless the potency of printers'
ink is brought to bear in their distribution.
Advertising
is the trade lubricator and
without it the wheels creak.
The new
school is the progressive one, and the man
who says " I can't afford to advertise," is
lost.
As a merchant he is a back number
and is foredoomed to destruction.
The
man who cannot afford to advertise cannot
afford to remain in business.
Wessell, Nickel & Gross Success.
Latest reports at the Wessell, Nickel &
Gross factory point to continued success
during 1^99. When asked for news by The
Review during the last visit to the factory,
a member of the firm said: " It is difficult
for us to furnish you with any actual news,
beyond the fact that our force is steadily
employed on orders."
This is not unusual, but it tells of a
healthy business condition —a condition that
exists year in and year out at the Wessell,
Nickel & Gross establishment. It means
that, in the face of strong competition the
firm are more than holding their own.
Perhaps the most striking corollary of
the commercializing tendency now abroad
in the piano trade is the increased respect
and value in which the great names, long
and honorably identified with the evolution
of the American piano, are held by the in-
telligent public —that is, and we hasten to
qualify, those names whose reputation has
been conserved and carefully guarded by
allegiance to a policy consistent with an
artistic standard of manufacture and the
cultivation of enterprising methods in
sympathy with the times.
This is fittingly instanced in the case of
the Weber piano.
Here we have an object lesson, not only
in the indestructibility, but in the enhance-
ment, of a piano name. It is perpetuated
not merely on tradition but on the intrinsic
merit of the instrument.
And here is the secret of the immortality
of a name—meritorious products—repu-
tation—backed by tireless effort, to com-
mand and hold prestige.
This, has been the commendable policy
of the Weber-Wheelock Company since
they absorbed the old Weber business. The
time-honored name has been revitalized,
and conservatively, but nevertheless surely,
the old love for the piano has been rekindled.
Dealers and purchasers alike are a unit in
paying homage to the Weber pianos of to-
day, as fulfilling all the demands of the
critical judge of tone and of the connoisseur
in the matter of architecture and finish.
In the production of the Weber piano an
extremely high standard has been set—a
persistent striving after perfection. And
it has well been said, " i t is a serious busi-
ness, this striving after perfection, for
perfection is demanded of the Weber prod-
uct. Nothing is too small but hours can
be spent on having it positively correct,
and the finished product never sees the in-
side of a wareroom without passing a
rigid inspection from great experts."
In the development of the business of
the Weber-Wheelock Company, the sole fac-
tors of the Weber piano, it is impossible to
overlook the effective labors of the head of
that institution when bearing on the aug-
mentation of the prestige of the name of
Weber.
Wm. E. Wheelock is widely acknowl-
edged to be one of the prominent men of
the piano trade—a man whose influence is
felt all the more effectually becaiise of a
natural conservatism backed by an earnest
enthusiasm, which characterizes him in all
his dealings. That he is possessed of rare
force of character and high administrative
attainments are clearly evident from the
admirable manner in which he has man-
aged this business. In spite of the com-
mercial hurricanes and typhoons of the past
few years, he has steered his extensive and
varied interests into the safe harbor of
prosperity. All this has been accomplished
without undue blowing of trumpets for Mr.
Wheelock believes as did the founder of
the Weber house, Albert Weber, Sr., .that
solid merit in a piam? is the only ..ftmrwla-
tion upon which endurrhg reputation cari
be built. This accounts to.no small ex-
tent for the present day popularity of the
latest Weber styles. It furnishes a sub-
stantial reason for the progress of this
house.
As we stated, substantially, at the open-
ing of these remarks, a great piano name
is a valuable asset only when it represents
intrinsically artistic values, and when they
are brought to public notice in a dignified
and intelligent manner.
Mr. Wheelock has made the Weber
name more valuable than ever by empha-
sizing this fact. His labors along these
lines deserve such commendation — nay,
eulogy—that space and time are not at our
disposal to do him justice. His achieve-
ments in placing this institution—both in
this city and Chicago—on a healthy finan-
cial basis afford such testimony of his re-
markable ability that details would seem
like unnecessary reiteration.
It is only proper to say that in the plan-
ning and execution of his work for the
Weber piano, Mr. Wheelock has been
splendidly aided by Chas. B. Lawson and
a capable staff or workers in the business
and manufacturing departments, among
whom should be specially mentioned Louis
Dederick, manager of the Chicago branch,
and Chas. Logan, Jr., of the Pittsburgh es-
tablishment, all loyal and enthusiastic in
the furtherance of Weber expansion.
How appropriate is this word "expan-
sion" when applied to Weber! Now on
the eve of a new year we can safely prog-
nosticate an advanced appreciation of the
merits of the Weber piano that will excel
all anticipations before the close of 1899.
When we know that all departments of
the Weber concern are in the hands of
men of acknowledged capacity and ability,
the occupation of an advanced plane of
popularity is positively assured.
That Qoepel Greeting.
In last week's issue of The Review under
the caption ' 'Goepel's Greeting" appeared an
item to the effect that the Goepel concern
was sending out a greeting in the shape of
a card containing an expression of good
will. The notice referred to the dainty
Goepel card which occupied a whole page
in The Review, and not to a special
souvenir as some may have thought.
Emil Sauer Sails.
Mr. R. E. Johnston, who is bringing
Samv to this countiy is in receipt of a
cablegram dated at Liverpool, Dec. 28th:
"Just sailing, Majestic, arrive January
4th. Already sick, will be fora week. Defer
reception forty-eight hours after arrival.
Sauer."