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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
day of the small man is doomed in everything, it does not apply
with the same force in the retail piano field. The small man will
cut his expenses down, and at the end of the year clean up a larger
income than perhaps he could obtain as a salaried man in any other
line.
T EADING piano player manufacturers have exploited their
*""* product in a large way in the columns of the leading maga-
zines during the year. They have recognized the benefits resulting
from a systematic campaign of publicity, and they have gone into
the matter in no half-hearted way. The dealers. are receiving a
benefit from all this splendid publicity.
Through the systematic campaign carried on, piano players are
talked of in thousands of homes and the clever presentation of
their merits in great advertising mediums is steadily creating pos-
sible customers everywhere.
A PAPER usually succeeds according to the value which it puts
forth. That is what advertisers and subscribers most desire,
and the journal basing its claims for patronage on the ground of
quantity and quality is working along lines which are consistent and
sound. Attacks upon such a paper, no matter by what motives in-
spired, are harmless as long as the supporters are receiving a splendid
equivalent for their dollars invested. And it is because The Re-
view has been giving to its clients in each department of the paper
a satisfactory return, that the business of the paper has shown a
surprising growth. The silly attacks upon The Review have not
aided it as some assert. This paper has gone steadily ahead be-
cause we have given to advertiser and subscriber the largest return
for the dollar placed with us. By a systematically organized busi-
ness and by the loyal support of a competent staff we have been
able to present values which have been interesting. If it were not
so, 1902 would not have marked the high water mark in Review
business.
'TpHERE are some people who believe that the whole aim of a
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newspaper should be to reform the world, and there are many
people who believe that the aim of a trade newspaper should be to
reform the particular industry of which it is the exponent.
That may be all right from the ideal standpoint, but this is a
practical age and the people who are always yearning for the ideal
newspaper will never find it any more than they will find the ideal
lawyer," merchant or banker. The trouble is that newspapers, like
all other affairs in this world have to be conducted by people who
are human, with the average of faults and limitations, and the best
that one can do is to come as near his ideal as possible under existing
conditions.
It is the duty, however, of a trade newspaper not only to present
the news with faithful accuracy but to expose practices and condemn
methods which are detrimental to the best interests of the trade.
'HpO-DAY the most successful newspapers are the ones which
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present the greatest amount of truthful news. Lies never
flourish long in any community and every time a trade newspaper
misrepresents a man or institution it injures itself quite as much as
it hurts the other party. And for the most selfish reason on earth,
self interest, it behooves a newspaper to be accurate and truthful.
The men in this industry are exercising keener judgment than
ever before in their estimation of the various trade papers. It isn't
so much what the different representatives have to say concerning
their own or other publications that count—it is the values which
are put forth weekly by the various publications.
*"T"*HERE has been a steady betterment in the lines of retail ad-
*
vertising methods. Leading piano merchants realize more
than ever the necessity of drawing the attention of the public to their
wares in a clever manner. The best results, as we study out the ad-
vertising field, have been obtained by dealers who have specialized
in their advertisements. By that we mean giving prominence daily
to some particular brand of pianos, either high grade, medium or
"popular priced."
Much more satisfactory results have been obtained from this
form of advertising than in the old way when the various lines were
all grouped together in one advertisement. By emphasizing the
merits of a particular piano and taking each one in turn is a better
way than the old system.
A RGUMENTS based solely on price do not cut as important
*• *• \ a figure as they did a few years ago. Price and price alone
was the key which had unlocked the citadel of the piano merchant's
heart. To-day we hear more about quality and less about price.
The quality standard is a good banner to raise and to fight under.
The piano man who stands on the vantage ground of quality will
win, because the people are becoming better judges of piano values
and the desire is more and more obvious on the part of the public
to become the owners of good pianos. It is well to place special
emphasis on quality and cash.
w
E are nearing the time for annual stock-taking, and stock-
taking in the retail piano line is not a difficult task. Nor
does it disclose as a rule many disagreeable features in connection
with stock on hand, for, where merchants in other lines have a good
deal of merchandise on hand which is out of date, and which should
be inventoried at reduced figures, the stock of the piano man is al-
ways worth its face value, provided it is purchased at the right
figure.
There is no stock which is out of date and unseasonable, and the
piano merchant who has bought right, will find that his stock on
hand on January 1 need suffer no depreciation by inventory.
'HE personality of Alfred Dolge is always interesting, and the
life of this man would read like a romance. He was the
pioneer piano felt manufacturer and of sounding boards as well, and
he built up under tremendous obstacles a series of great industrial
plants in the Dolgeville of New York, and now in far away Cali-
fornia there is being reared a new Dolgeville under the guidance
of the master mind of Dolge.
T
'HE decision handed down last Saturday by Judge Holdom, of
Chicago, imposing a fine of $1,000 on the corporate body
known as the Franklin Union, No. 4 Press Feeders, marks not only
a precedent but a decision of great moment in the warfare now so
general between labor and capital. This ruling was the outcome of
the Union being found guilty of contempt of court for violating an
injunction restraining it as an organization from interfering with
the business of employes of ten printing firms. In handing down
his decision, Judge Holdom uttered some vigorous words in. denun-
ciation of the methods practiced by the Franklin Union.
T