Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1906 Vol. 42 N. 21

Page 5 Text:

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
RLVIFW
THE
fflJJICT^ADE
VOL. XLII. No. 2 1 .
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at 1 Madison Ave., New York, May 26, 1906.
THEY LIKE THEJANSSEN PIANO.
OUR FOREIGN COMMERCE
Some Complimentary References to This Piano
in Orders Which Have Just Reached Ben
H. Janssen from the Far West.
Continues to Expand—Amounted to a Quarter
Billion of Dollars for the Month of April.
Ben H. Janssen, the widely-known piano man,
of 1881-1883 Park avenue, New York, is feeling
good these days because of the growing appre-
ciation of his pianos. During his recent trip to
the Far West he took orders, among others, for
a number of sample pianos, and is now hearing
from them >in a very pleasing way.
For instance, Smith & Delano, of New Lon-
don, Wis., under date of May 7, write: "Just
opened the style H. A perfect beauty, beats any-
thing we have ever had. We doubted what you
said about getting a tone to please us, but you
have done it in grand shape. Send us all like
this and Janssen will have a reputation in this
neck of the woods. Find check for this piano."
T. J. Hammett writes from Redlands, Cal., on
May 3, and enclosing draft for piano, says: "The
piano arrived yesterday. It is excellent value,
and a credit to you. If you will guarantee me
the same quality and completeness in every de-
tail, I shall be pleased to give you an order for
several and discontinue several other lines I
have now on stock," etc.
R. E. Trognitz, San Diego, Cal., writes under
date of May 4: "The piano arrived all O. K., and
it is just as you represented; in short, a beauty,
and I want to say that I am not sorry for giving
you the order. I am simply delighted with it.
Flease find draft for same."
The Minneapolis Music Co., Minneapolis, Minn.,
writing on May 9, add their tribute of praise,
thus: "The piano seems to be a nicely made in-
strument. Our boys in the store like it as well
as myself. The finish and veneering is good, and
it also has a good scale. We think you deserve a
larger trade than we are able to give you, al-
though we sell a number during the year, and
hope the time will come when we will be sit-
uated to handle a good many of your pianos."
Coming nearer home we find a letter from B.
A. Fenstermacher, of Scranton, Pa., dated May 9,
in which he orders a style B, mahogany, adding:
"I have given your piano a thorough test, and
I am glad that I can say that it is the best piano
for the money I have come in contact with. I
have now decided that I will take it .in with my
line."
Plenty of evidence here that Ben Janssen's trip
was a big success. And, mark you, these are only
a sample of many similar letters that he has re-
ceived.
TO INCORPORATE IN LOUISIANA.
The Chas. W. Stumpf Piano Co., Ltd., of New
Orleans, have applied for a certificate of incor-
poration to the authorities of Louisiana, for the
purpose of conducting a piano business, with a
capital of $35,000. The following persons have
been chosen as the first board of directors, to
serve until their successors shall have been
elected and qualified, to-wit: Joseph T. Schaef-
fer, president; Bmile J. Lacoste, vice-president,
and Charles W. Stumpf, secretary-treasurer; Paul
Freund and Dr. Adrian Hava.
vSpecial to The Review.)
Washington, D. C, May 21, 1906.
The foreign commerce of the United States in
April, 1906, was larger than that of the corre-
sponding month of any earlier year, consisting of
107 million dollars imports and 144 millions ex-
ports; total, 251 millions, or more than a quarter
of a billion dollars in a single month. In only
one previous April in the history of our export
trade has the total of imports and exports
reached as much as 200 millions. For the ten
months ending with April the record is equally
striking, being: Imports, 1,021 millions; exports,
1,488 millions, or a total of 2,509 millions. No
similar period of any earlier year ever touched
the one billion dollar line in imports or reached
the 1,300 million line in exports. The total com-
merce of the United States for the ten months
ending with April is thus over 2*/2 billions of dol-
lars, and should the monthly average for May
and June be as great as that for the ten months
for which the record is made, the total of the
first year, 1906, will exceed 3 billion dollars.
The fiscal year, 1906, seems likely to make a
new record in the foreign trade in several par-
ticulars. The total imports and total exports are
in each case likely to be greater than those of
any earlier year, and several monthly records
have been already broken. For example, imports
never exceeded 100 million dollars a month prior
to 1905, except in a single instance in which large
quantities of merchandise were being rushed into
the country to avoid pending tariff changes; but
seven out of the ten months ending with April
of the present year have shown each an im-
portation of more than 100 millions, and the
month of March showed the highest import rec-
ord ever made, $113,597,277.
On the export side the high-water mark of
earlier years has also been passed, the total for
the ten months ending with April being 200 mil-
lions in excess of the total for the corresponding
total of any earlier year, and the total for the
single month of December, $199,738,520, being 25
million dollars greater than in any preceding
month in the history of our export trade.
ADVERTISINGJTHE BALDWIN.
Some Splendid Ads. in the May Magazines
Which Reach 6,595,000 Readers.
Magazine advertising, particularly that bearing
on musical instruments, has never been as ef-
fectively gotten up, both from literary and typo-
graphical viewpoints, as to-day. For example, the
Baldwin publicity in the May magazines is most
artistic. Better still, it tells a story of Baldwin
accomplishments in the realm of the piano
maker's art, that at once interests and instructs.
Through this medium some 6,595,000 people are
reached, made acquainted with the Baldwin name,
and what it stands for. and much missionary
work of the right kind is done toward helping
the Baldwin dealers in each town and city to
gell the products of this house, This has meant
SINGLE COPIES, 10 CENTS.
$8.00 PER YEAR.
an outlay of hundreds of thousands of dollars,
and it behooves the dealers not to hide the Bald-
win light under a bushel. They must do their
share to keep the public advised that they are
selling the Baldwin products, and thus supple-
ment successfully the good work of the Baldwin
institution.
KENTUCKY'S TAX_ON PIANO AGENTS
Passes the Legislature in Spite of Much Oppo-
sition—Opinions Vary- as to the Interpre-
tation of the Law.
Considerable interest is evinced by piano deal-
ers in Kentucky and, in fact, all through the
Bast regarding the bill recently passed by the
Kentucky Legislature levying a license tax on
piano dealers and their agencies as mentioned
previously in The Review. A difference of opjn-
ion exists regarding the interpretation of the
bill, some holding that the tax may be applied to
traveling men who do business in various coun-
ties, while others contend that they are exempt.
Very likely the full meaning of the bill will
have to be interpreted by the courts before ac-
tion can be taken. In any event, it will mean
considerable hardship on the smaller dealers.
The provision of the bill, which relates to the
piano dealers, and which is considered unjust, is
as follows: "On each agency for sale of pianos
and organs for each county, $5; and where the
pianos and organs, one or both, are stored for
sale, the privilege shall be paid, though the said
property be assessed ad valorem for taxes; and
the person having charge of the same shall be
deemed the agent and liable for the taxes."
CAPITAL NOW IS $1,200,000.
Foster-Armstrong Co. Increase from $1,000,000
to Above Amount—Making 1,500 Pianos a
Month—Business Prospects of the Brightest.
(Special to The Review.)
Rochester, N. Y., May 21, 1906.
A certificate of increase in the paid in capital
stock of the Foster-Armstrong Co. from $1,000,-
000 to $1,200,000, has been filed with the Secre-
tary of State at Albany. This move was con-
summated at a special meeting held Wednesday
at the offices of the company. Business with the
Foster-Armstrong Co. is very brisk, and the com-
bined plants at Despatch, N. Y., are now turning
out about 1,500 pianos a month—almost the num-
ber planned when the building of this great en-
terprise was under consideration. This magnifi-
cent plant at Despatch is now absolutely the
property of the Foster-Armstrong Co., the final
payment of the purchase price having been made.
FLINT MUSIC CO. SUFFER LOSS.
Fire in a new business block at Flint, Mich.,
late last week resulted in the store of the Flint
Music Co. being badly, if not totally, wrecked,
with a loss probably of $10,000. The fire started
in the furnace room underneath the piano store.
The Ann Arbor Organ Co. have had plans
drawn for a new five story building, 75x45, as an
addition to their present plant.'

Page 6 Text:

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
6
MUSIC TRADE
RLYttW
EDWARD LYMAN BILL, - Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
Executive and Reportorlal Staff:
REVIEW
this matter was fairly adjusted it would settle forever the status
of special brands, termed by some "stencils," and would give a
true position to every piano manufacturer's product. No other
trade publication in this industry has advocated this principle, and
it is, therefore, gratifying that the resolutions which were intro-
duced, resolving "that the National Association of Piano Dealers
of America is unqualifiedly in favor of the absolute establishment
of the one price system that will prevail throughout the country,"
shows the effect of newspaper work, even if the hitter's part of the
resolution—"that the manufacturer should fix the price in his con-
tract with the dealer"—was stricken out by those opposed to this
measure later.
G»o. B. KxiiLKB.
W. N. TTLBB.
F. H. THOMPSON.
BMILIE FRANCES BADBB.
L. B. BOWBBS. B. BBITTAIN WILSON, Wir. B. WHITE. L. J. CHAMBERLIN. A. J. NICKLIN.
BOSTON OFFICE:
RHNEST L. WAITT, 278A Tremont St.
CHICAGO OFFICE:
E. P. VAN HAHLINQEN, 195-197 Wabasb Ave.
TELEPHONES : Central 414 ; Automatic 8643.
PHILADELPHIA OFFICE: MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL: ST. LOUIS OFFICE
R. W. KAUFFMAN.
A. W. SHAW.
CHAS. N. VAN BUKEN.
SAN FRANCISCO OFFICE: ALFRED METZQER, 425-427 Front St
CINCINNATI. O.:
NINA PUGH-SMITH.
Published Every Saturday at 1 Madison Avenue, New York.
Entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Matter.
SUBSCRIPTION,(Including postage), United States, Mexico, and Canada, $2.00 per
year; all other countries, $4.00.
ADVERTISEMENTS. $2.00 per Inch, single column, per Insertion. On quarterly or
yearly contracts a special discount Is allowed. Advertising Pages, $50.00; opposite
reading matter, $75.00.
REMITTANCES, In other than currency form, should be made payable to Edward
Lyman Bill.
Directory ol Piano The directory of piano manufacturing firms and corporations
found on another page will be of great value, as a reference
Manufacturers for dealers and others.
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Prix
Paris Exposition, 1900 Silver Medal.Charleston Bxpoistion, 1902
Diploma.Pan American Exposition, 1901 Gold Medal. .St. Louis Exposition, 1904
Gold Medal.Lewis-Clark Exposition, 1905
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE—NUMBER 1745 GRAMERCY
NEW
YORK,
MAY 26,
1906
EDITORIAL
M
ANY of the trade papers presented in The Review last week
are worthy of close reading, and some of the matters which
were carefully reported at the business sessions of the dealers'
association will bear a second perusal.
The discussion over the establishment of one price, and that
price by the manufacturer, was really the most interesting topic
taken up for open debate. Some of the dealers were opposed to
the manufacturers naming prices at which their instruments should
be sold at different points, and one argued that the dealer himself
should fix the prices at which he should sell his goods, making it a
point in his argument that the faraway dealer could not sell as
cheaply as a dealer who did not have to pay excessive freight rates.
H
ENRY F. MILLER stated in reply that in his opinion it
would be impossible to have a uniform price for pianos
unless they were first established by the manufacturer. He took
occasion to say in the course of his remarks that he believed he
voiced the sentiments of the manufacturers as a whole when he
said that they did not, in assuming this point, wish to arbitrarily
dictate to the dealer at what prices he should sell except that the
pianoforte should be placed on the market at the value at which it
is advertised from one end of the land to the other, barring the
allowance which would properly be made for excessive freight
charges.
Mr. Ide, who followed Mr. Miller, stated that he believed
"that it was up to the manufacturer" to establish a one price sys-
tem, pointing out in his line of talk that almost every other busi-
ness had established a successful selling system without being
accused by the dealers of adopting arbitrary methods.
Mr. Ide stated further that the manufacturers seemed to be
afraid of one another, adding, if they would get together and
establish a one price system the dealer would fall in line, because
he would have to do so.
O
THER speakers followed who differed somewhat with the
earlier expressions, but it was conceded by many dealers
to be the most vital point brought up for trade discussion.
This publication has taken the ground for years that when
T
HIS question of the establishment of the one price at which
pianos shall be offered to the purchaser is the one important
issue which dwarfs all others, and its discussion this year shows
that it has aroused deep interest. Next year it will come up again,
for The Review will continue to advocate it as a trade measure of
vital importance, and will then be handled in a larger way.
It is difficult indeed to establish radical measures which revo-
lutionize the conduct of a business, but there can be no one price,
unless that price is established by the manufacturer. What a mix-
ing up of values there would be if one dealer setting his own price
say on a "Washington" piano in Cleveland, ()., offers it at $300;
then a dealer in the city of Toledo, who has boomed the instru-
ment particularly well so that it has acquired quite a reputation
locally, asks $400 for the same piano, while a dealer, we will say, in
Sandusky, advertises the identical instrument for $250. The papers
containing the advertisements of these pianos are easily circulated
in the various towns, and purchasers get an entirely incorrect idea
of piano values, and the idea is also encouraged that there is no
fixed value to the "Washington" piano. Suppose each dealer who
had fixed prices which we named above had held absolutely to his
own price, would not the variety of prices asked confuse the public ?
So in this way we get back to the original question—that of the
necessity of the manufacturer fixing the retail prices at which his
product may be offered. This has got to be settled by the manu-
facturers, but the mere fact that the dealers discussed it so promi-
nently at their meetings proves how closely they are thinking along
these lines of genuine one price.
We said over one year ago jn advocating this measure that it
might take years to prepare the trade for it, but eventually it must
be enforced, else piano stability would surely disintegrate.
T
HE talk on organs by W. P. Dorough was an interesting one.
particularly when we figure that the organ is still a live
factor in the Southern music trade. Mr. Dorough says, as a rule
the country customers to whom organs are sold seem to regard
their obligations more sacredly than do their city cousins who pur-
chase pianos. By this we are to understand that the rural folk
have a greater respect for their monetary obligations than those
who reside in the bustling cities. Mr. Dorough makes the point
that an organ customer is pretty apt to become a purchaser of a
piano later on, and he makes the interesting statement that the
organ business is best when the piano busines is poorest. He says
the organ work brings the dealer in close touch with the class of
constituents which are the best patrons of the mail order houses,
and in this way he says that the mail order business can be always
shut out by argument, for according to Mr. Dorough's belief the
mail order houses fatten on the ignorance of the public.
That may be, but certainly the mail order houses, with their
immense catalogues and seductive statements, win people who are
not wholly ignorant. We know of a certain piano man who stated
a little while ago that his wife had made a number of purchases
through a mail order concern, and we may state that this particular
man is not noted for his ignorance. The slogan of the mail order
houses, "From factory to the home," is a strong argument in their
favor, and it wins with a whole lot of people.
We can name a few piano men who are advertising broadly to
cut the dealer's profit and urging the people to buy direct from the
factory, thus saving one profit. Men in advancing v this line of
argument in their advertising do not appeal wholly to ignorant
people, but they appeal to those who are always looking for bar-
gains and who imagine that real opportunities present themselves
for saving money through some inducing announcement made in a
glowing advertisement.

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