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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
13
fering from catalogue competition work in
the interest of the whole trade of the town,
and the result would very soon be evident.
Hugo Sohmer and Another Prominent flember of the Trade Discuss the Subject—Will Affect
"But no matter what all the dealers de-
the Commercial Piano Only, says the Former- Dealers Must Fight With the Weapons of
cide to do, the trade of the individual
their Opponents To Retain Home Trade, is Another View.
dealer depends very largely upon himself,
FROn HR. SOHHER'S VIEWPOINT.
stay. It is not a new thing. It came into and he should retain his hold upon every
The great problem of the day, as pointed prominence thirty years ago and has been customer by absolute honesty of repre-
out last week in the editorial columns of steadily growing more numerous and ag- sentation, fairness in price and genial good
The Review, is how best to neutralize or gressive. The cheapening of postage, of nature. All the gods help such a man to
combat the efforts of the "catalogue expressage and of freight charges has success.
houses." By their enterprising mailing helped this trade. The interest in adver-
" In The Review editorial another aspect
methods these concerns have taken away tisements has moved it along, and the of the situation is referred to, viz., the
from the piano dealers many thousands of growing confidence in getting good treat- prospective relations between the manu-
customers, and the end is not yet. In fact, ment from advertisers has given it a facturers and the catalogue houses. This
this is merely the beginning.
I do not care to discuss. The National
mighty push.
Hugo Sohmer, of Sohmer & Co., after
" It is always taken for granted that the Association at its forthcoming convention
reading The Review editorial, agreed that mail-order house is simply an organized might well give the subject consideration,
the system is far-reaching in its effects, swindle, and the consumer needs only to for ' it's a condition and not a theory that
but said he thought such effects would not have his eyes opened a trifle by the local confronts us!' "
go far beyond the realms of the commercial dealer to discover this fact for himself.
"The Perfect Piano-Player."
piano.
Much is made of the inferior goods that
"It is not by any means a new feature," the catalogue house is said to handle exclu- NEW YORK'S GREATEST AMATEUR ORCHESTRAL
ORGANIZATION CONSIDER THE "HARMON-
remarked Mr. Sohmer, when chatting on sively, and men talk as if they not only
1ST" THE NEAREST APPROACH TO THE
this subject with The Review on Tuesday. knew this to be the truth, the whole truth
PERFECT PLAYER
STRONG
"People who are satisfied with a 'commer- and nothing but the truth, but they take it
TESTIMONY.
cial' instrument at a 'commercial'price fre- for granted that everybody else knows it
following communication received
quently avail themselves of 'catalogue' op- also—always excepting the poor, deluded by The
the American Piano Manufacturing Co.
portunities, but if an intelligent man has consumer.
anent the Harmonist Piano-Player, for
money to spend and looks at the pictures
they are the factors, speaks elo-
"If there is a way to fight the catalogue which
and descriptions of pianos as they appear houses successfully I am confident that quently for itself:
Amicitia Orchestra,
in these catalogues, he will also look for a this is not the one that will do it. The
Herr Von Praag,
name, and will say to himself, 'So this in- physician who will cure most successfully
Director.
Carnegie Hall,
strument is not known among the good is the one who is the best in diagnosing a
New York, Feb. 15, 1901.
pianos!' Of course it is not, and that will case. He that has not the ability to de-
American Piano Mfg. Co.,
end it, as far as he is concerned.
New York City.
termine what and where the disease is
"The 'catalogiie' trade certainly makes ought never to be trusted with a patient.
Gentlemen:—We, the undersigned, de-
sire to express our appreciation of the re-
an inroad into the business of the country
"What can the retailer do to- hold his cital
kindly tendered by you to us, illus-
dealer of the old school, but wide-awake home trade?
trating
the merits of the Harmonist Piano-
dealers can overcome the evil by getting
"He can do exactly what the catalogue Player.
out among their constituents and letting houses are doing—persuade his neighbor-
We beg to assure you that we consider
them know, far and wide, the real charac- hood that he is giving them good value for it to be the nearest approach to the perfect
ter of the catalogue piano.
their money. He must do something be- piano-player that we have yet heard.
It was by far, the best performance that
" 'Catalogue' men are merely middle- sides sit down and wait for them to come
we have ever heard from a mechanical
men—commission merchants. Some of to him and pay any price he cares to ask. piano-player
and was thoroughly enjoyed
these people become rich by persistently
"The one thing needed in business to- by all of us.
following up the plan they have adopted. day is brains. The man with brains is
Wishing you the success you deserve in
Much of their trade in the 'piano depart- putting himself into close touch with his having at last solved the problem of giv-
ment,' as they probably call it, comes from neighborhood by every form of advertising ing to the public an instrument that actu-
people not overburdened with intelligence that will identify his name with his line of ally does the work of the great artist, we
beg to subscribe ourselves.
and from such as live in such p 1 aces and goods; but he is, above everything else,
Yours truly,
under such conditions as prevent them original and personal. He who copies
(Signed) S. Van Praag, •
from finding out the actual facts.
Director,
some one else will hardly ever succeed.
Milton
Baer,
M.
Meyers,
"The preparation of attractive cata-
"A crude advertisement, full of person- Clifford Smith,
C. A. Fox,
logues for this special mailing trade is fre- ality and individuality, will bring more A.
P. Tannert,
Chas. E. Lauten,
Jacob Btrg,
quently carried on in an elaborate and ex- dollars than a smooth one that has so little A. C. Marks,
Arthur E. Duerr,
Haas,
pensive way, because the better the book snap to it that it is equally bad either in Julius
Ferdinand Kuhn,
Robert Schmaier,
Sam'l Liehman,
Henry Shilstom,
showing, the better the ultimate results Maine or Montana.
M. C. Schuman,
Irving Heidelsheimer,
are sure to be.
E. E. Gould,
H. V. Upington,
"Another thing. The piano man is not G.
W. Springmuhl,
Benj. F. Poth,
"It is merely a commercial method of
going to hold people from buying pianos if Henry Weil,
A. G. Gilderleen,
selling commercial goods. The people who
B. Shaw,
Otto Rumpp,
he encourages them to send away for their H.
L. A. Ramage,
M. J. Fechheimer,
feel its effects most keenly, I should imag-
small musical instruments, their music, Peter Wagner, Jr.,
J. L. Hatch,
ine, are the travelers for those who make
Van Der \*en,
Sam'l Worms,
their groceries, their haberdashery or dry H.
Harry Prochaska,
Millard H. Ellison,
commercial pianos. It certainly cannot
goods. He must be in close touch with his M. Kahn,
Henry Westerkamp,
injure the makers of reputable instru-
H. Rothschild,
T. M. Trainor,
fellow merchants, and almost as ready to E.
E. Spenceer,
C. P. McKnight,
ments."
keep other money at home as piano money. Max Fisher,
Henry W. Silvermann,
E. W. Clarkson.
"Is this done? It is not. The piano Henry Fachs,
ANOTHER VIEW OF THE SITUATION.
M.
Denzer,
"I read with considerable interest the man fancies he is currying favor with a American Piano Mfg- Co.,
editorial in last week's Review on the cata- possible customer if he helps him or her to
42nd St. and 5th Ave., City.
logue house or mail order competition," send away for a banjo, a mandolin or sheet
Gentlemen—I am so delighted with the
said a prominent member of the trade this music, instead of helping a neighbor in the marvellous possibilities of the Harmonist
week. "It is an extremely 'live' question business. Imagine the result. The mail that I have concluded to give you an
Kindly send me one and a com-
which is bound to grow in importance as order habit is an infectious one, and one order.
plete library as soon as possible.
the century grows older. In my opinion, trial too often leads to another.
Yours truly,
however, the catalogue house has come to
"Let the dealers of the town or city suf-
(Signed) S. Von Praag.
Is Catalogue House Competition a Menace?