Music Trade Review

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THE!
MU3IC TRADE REVIEVA/
belong td a higher civilization. That the South will be elevated
to a much higher plane than ever before as a purchaser of pianos
and musical instruments is absolutely certain.
Then the outlook in the great West, too, is most encouraging.
There probably never was a time when the real wealth of this coun-
try was as great as it is at the present time. It is true that in 1903
an enormous shrinkage in values of securities occurred, but this
was the natural result of the stupendous inflation of the three pre-
ceding years. The collapse of many bubble schemes hit a certain
portion of our population and curtailed their purchasing power.
T
HE bursting of trust schemes haa the effect also to deter many
from investing in enterprises that were legitimate and safe.
The evil effects of the financial debauch incited by the magnates of
Wall Street, by which enormous sums were diverted from the
pockets of the people are still apparent, and until the lessons of
prudence and caution thus inculcated have been wholly forgotten,
business men who keep their eyes fixed on the financial center as a
trade barometer will be inclined to pursue a halting and hesitating
policy. But the real wealth of the country is drawn from the earth,
from the forests, from the mines, and Wall Street is not the whole
thing, to use the colloquial expression, that it was some years ago.
D
URING the past few months we have received communications
from thousands of individuals which have related directly to
tV»e condition of business. We have traveled thousands of miles
and have been afforded the opportunity of observing the trade pos-
sibilities in many sections. We may say that the result of our obser-
vations indicate trade conditions of a most favorable character,
and with the exception of wheat, there is no crop which is doubt-
ful, and the increased price of wheat will offset any shortage. As
the result, piano merchants express encouragement and satisfaction
in the highest degree.
T
HERE is, however, an over-conservatism existing in some quar-
ters, and some dealers are not inclined 10 buy instruments
in as large quantities as some years previous. This may be con-
strued as meaning a steady demand for pianos from this time until
the holidays.
It is not, however, the time for over-conservatism. Piano
dealers should well understand that they must take some of the
risk incident to modern business, and not expect the manufacturers
to pile up vast quantities of stock in order to quickly supply the de-
mands for rush orders when they come in by mail and wire, as
they are bound to come a little later.
H E dealers should understand that the intimate relations be-
tween agricultural yields and the financial conditions of the
country show a most encouraging condition of affairs. Statistical
reports show that the farmers of this country were never so rich as
they are to-day. From statistics shown in the Oklahoma Building,
at the World's Fair, it will be seen that the farmers of Oklahoma
are the richest per capita of any farmers in the world to-day, which
means there are a good many live piano prospects throughout that
countrv.
T
ORTGAGES which were in existence eight years ago have
been paid off, and present obligations of this character are
evidences, not of poverty, but of thrift, having been given by young
farmers, who have bought farms on credit, in order to branch out
for themselves. Even farming has succumbed to the business in-
fluences of the times. The old-fashioned farmer has become almost
a memory, and in his place we have an up-to-date business man, a
reader of standard works, good magazines, careful of his apparel,
and ready and able to spend money not merely for necessaries but
for luxuries such as pianos and organs.
M
UR special reports from some sections of the country show
that the trade is starting in at a lively rate. Retailing in
some sections has commenced with a vim that has even surprised
the dealers themselves. Now the retailers should understand that
they can secure better results with the advantage of a full stock
than ordering by piece-meal in order to supply gaps that are made
in their already small wareroom showing. A delay of filling in
stock is sometimes dangerous. If a customer cannot get what he
or she may desire to-day they are apt to look elsewhere, but that
is the kind of delay which means danger to the dealer. It pays to be
in line in order to reap the fullest advantage of the early fall trade.
O
1)
D
EALERS are beginning more than ever to realize the advan-
tages of good trade advertising. Advertising energetically,
intelligently and persistently followed is as irresistible as the rising
tide, works as surely and as silently, but unlike the tide, you can
forever keep it on the flood, or at the worst, it will build dikes high
enough and strong enough to hold back the resisting waters, should
unpleasant changes occur.
T
H E man who takes many chances, will, it is true, make some
errors, but he is gaining experience all the time, and his
errors will become less, as his experience increases, and thus he is
getting further than his competitor who fears to make the attempt.
A man cannot be backed up by doubts. If he makes a mistake,
it is better to go ahead and remedy the wrong than to flinch from
it. The positive qualities are the qualities that count, the negative
qualities are those that balance, and the balance wheel does not
make the machinery go.
I
T is surprising that in 1904 there are still more piano salesmen
who have not acquainted themselves with the detail of piano
construction, and therefore have not an intelligent conception of
the goods which they offer, or of the competition which they may
encounter.
It was recently a salesman remarked to us, after viewing the
superb educational booth of the Baldwin Company, at the World's
Fair, that he had learned more in an hour spent there than he had
before in five years' association with piano selling.
It certainly was a compliment to the Baldwin exhibit, but it
proved also how superficial was the salesman's knowledge of his
business. Familiarity and intimate knowledge of piano make-up is
a necessary qualification of a salesman, whether on the retail floor
or traversing the country. This is just as essential as tactfulness.
W
E have seen salesmen waste valuable time in trying to sell a
line of instruments which did not interest the caller in the
slightest. A correct knowledge of human nature should have fully
explained this to them.
The greatest essential in piano selling is a knowledge of the
instruments and their special claims as to excellence. Failure to
comprehend this must retard the selling record of the salesman.
I
T seems that the Boston Music Trade Association is again after
fake piano advertising. It was not so long ago when great
work was accomplished by this organization in suppressing dis-
honest publicity, and it is rather surprising that there should be a
necessity arising to again nip in the early bud a deceptive form of
advertising in the Hub. Depend upon it, however, that the l>oston
music trade men will succeed in completely eliminating every un-
desirable feature of piano selling.
It is a question which interests the entire trade in all sections of
the country, and it cannot be denied that the work of the Boston
Association had a splendid effect in reducing misleading adver-
tising to a condition of innocuousness in many parts of the Union.
T
H E R E has been a steady stream of music trade callers at The
Review booth in the music trade section at the World's Fair
during the past month, and the opinions expressed by the callers all
agree upon one subject, and that is that The Review exhibit is of
manifest advantage to the entire music trade. It is, too, admitted
that the souvenir given away by The Review is the most valuable
on the World's Fair grounds. These souvenirs have a lasting bene-
fit, for they are carried home, and there find a permanent abiding
place, so that the knowledge of musical wares is carried through
The Review mediumship into thousands of homes in all sections of
the land.
S
() completely has the interior of Steinway Hall been transformed
. that people who have not called there for the past two or three
months will find it hardly recognizable. There are now three en-
trances separating the three departments-—business, wareroom and
tuning. In the redecoration of the many rooms splendid color
schemes have been adopted which makes them marvels of delight to
the callers who may begin at the entrance of the main wareroom and
proceed through a series of esthetically colored rooms in each one of
which will be found a number of pianos specially adapted for the
local environment. Steinway Hall as it stands to-day is a fitting
home for the beautiful instruments displayed therein.