Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1906 Vol. 43 N. 2

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC TRADE
RENEW
REVIEW
powerfully the socialistic thought. There are over twelve hundred
stockholders distributed in nearly all of the States and Territories.
They have a regular college for the education of socialistic speakers,
where young minds are trained with this socialistic belief. There
is a talented author who is president of a socialistic college society
who in a recent lecture before three thousand students of Yale Col-
lege denounced the Constitution of the United States, and said: "To
hell with the Constitution."
EDWARD LYMAN BILL, - Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPHXANE, Managing Editor
Executive and Reportorlal Stall:
Quo. B. Kflujgn.
W. N. TYLER.
F. H. THOMPSON.
BMILIB FRANCES BAUEB.
L. B. BOWERS. B. BBITTAIN WII-SON, WIT. B. WHITE. L. J. CHAMBERLIN. A. J. NICKLIN.
BOSTON OFFICE:
CHICAGO OFFICE:
B. P. VAN HAHLINQEN, 195-197 Wabash Ave.
TELEPHONES : Central 414 ; Automatic 8643
PHILADELPHIA OFFICE: MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL: ST. LOUIS OFFICE
RENEST L. WAITT, 278A Tremont St.
R. W. KAUFKMAN.
A. W. SHAW.
CHAS. N. VAN BUBEN.
SAN FRANCISCO OFFICE: ALFRED METZGER, 425-427 Front S t
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 dlfcount 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 oi Piano
Manufacturers
The directory of piano manufacturing firms and corporations
found on another page will be of great value, as a reference
for dealers and others.
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Prix
Paris Exposition, 1900 Silver MedaZ.Charleston Exposition, 1902
Diploma.Pan-American Exposition, 1901 Gold Medal..St. Louis Exposition, 1904
Gold Medal.hewlB-Clark Exposition, 1905
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE—NUMBER 1745 GRAMERCY
NEW
YORK,
JULY
14,
1906
EDITORIAL
A
PIANO manufacturer who is noted for his conservative views
remarked recently that he did not believe this country would
suffer the slightest set-back until after the Presidential election comes
round, when by that time the socialistic trend of events might have
its effect upon business.
Well, that's some time ahead, and in the meantime it will pay to
make most out of the present satisfactory conditions, and when the
problems of the future come along meet them. There is no ques-
tion, however, but that radical sentiment is now sweeping over the
country somewhat similar in its effect to free silver agitation of years
ago. It is making toward socialism in some form, and it has been
augmented by the insurance and political scandals, assisted by the
journals who use the muck-rakes and those who condemn almost
every man in public life.
T
HE result of this agitation may be serious, and it may affect the
holders of corporate securities in days to come, but we have
a peculiar way in this country of adopting plans to conform with
changing conditions. And back of it all is the good solid ground-
work of American common sense. The people understand pretty
generally that the real source of this agitation lies with the pro-
fessional "kickers" who are untiring in their efforts to create a feel-
ing of unrest and dissatisfaction in the minds of many.
In a country like ours some would think it impossible that
socialism in any form should generate and expand, but if we figure
the vast tide of emigration which has been turned our way in later
years—a tide which has power in unrestrained force to such an
extent that it is impossible for us to quickly assimilate it—we will
note that a large proportion of these new-comers are saturated with
socialistic ideas to whom liberty is another name for license, so that
it becomes easy to understand why the trend of our times is toward
socialism.
HPHERE are comparatively few people outside of journalists and
JL statisticians who ever stop to figure how deeply this socialistic
sentiment lies, and how systematically it is planned. There is one
publishing house which is carrying on a propaganda which is aiding
W
HEN this sort of doctrine, whiclr borders close upon anarchy,
is encouraged and stimulated in so many ways, it is only
fair to believe that it may develop serious results. Many of our
political economists aid the socialistic wave by exploiting the senti-
ment that there is a great concentration of wealth which must be
broken up. There are a lot of men who seem to think that it is their
manifest duty to reform the United States along socialistic lines.
And probably this ism will have its run and find its true place like
other theories which have come up in the past. It is certain that
many men who advocate socialistic theories have nothing to lose and
everything to gain. Therefore, the rebuttal force must come from
those who have their savings at stake, and it certainly behooves the
readers of The Review in every part of the country to use their influ-
ence to counteract the pernicious doctrines of the men who seek to
redistribute wealth along their own peculiar lines.
A
S a matter of fact a good many people have fallen into the habit
of damning great corporations, simply because they are cor-
porations, and still when we stop to consider it there is hardly a man
in business who is not seeking by concentration of skill and knowl-
edge to gain the best of his business opponent in some manner or
form. This principle exists in private enterprises, and in the great
corporations any man can buy a share of stock or more who has the
price. There is very little said against the men who have invested
in real estate without effort or risk and grew rich through that real
estate being made valuable by other men investing in public service
and corporations. The former are honored and the latter de-
nounced. So have we not really fallen into the habit of blaming every-
thing allied to the corporations and not crediting them with some of
the many benefits which the public secures from them ?
W
HILE we are not sure but some of the corporations deserve
all of the unkind things said about them, yet if intelligent
men, who are looked upon as leaders, follow the examples set by the
ultra type of socialists, will they not, in this way, assist to fan the
flame which may, if unchecked, reach a point where its destructive
element will be pronounced and will be felt in every trade and indus-
try ? The destruction of corporate values will certainly send, busi-
ness down the scale, with a run, and piano merchants who have in-
struments out on leases will suffer with others.
Piano men are known to be good talkers, and instead of indors-
ing the general howl on corporations, or sitting supinely by and
listening to the lurid utterances of others, they would act wisely to
form a rebuttal force. We certainly will have to face changes in
the business world, and in the corporate world just the same, but the
revolutionary methods will hardly accomplish the desired end. In a
country like this, where everybody is free to talk and write what he
chooses, there is a possibility of damage being done, and it would pav
us all to think this subject over, because there is a vital interest at
stake for every man whether he be proprietor, manager or salesman.
r
| "* HE tremendous development of the talking machine industry
X
in this country, which has been chronicled from its very
earliest days in this paper, and more fully recently in "The Talking
Machine World," published by this institution, is exemplified in a
very forceful way by the great gathering of Edison jobbers which
will take place next week at the Waldorf-Astoria in this city at the
invitation of the National Phonograph Co. The affair is wholly pri-
vate, and all expenses are borne by the National Phonograph Co.,
thus displaying an initiative and enterprise that calls for special rec-
ognition. Anyone who would have predicted some years ago that
one company could have as its guests over 240 leading men of this
country, all of them leaders in their respective localities, and all
interested in talking machines, would be laughed at. But the world
does move.
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC
that is very far below it in grade, and nine times
out of ten, they purchase a better instrument
than they originally intended to. If the retail
trade would adopt this policy, I am positive they
would find it profitable. The same can be said
of the one price system. I know of a case that
happened in this city only a few weeks ago. A
gentleman was anxious to secure a new piano.
At the first place he went to he was shown a
piano with the price marked on in plain letters
and given a definite price on his old instrument
in exchange. A second dealer had the tags on
his pianos marked in hieroglyphics, and quoted
a smaller price on the exchange. When he found
difficulty in making the sale, he began increasing
the amount offered for the old instrument until
he had doubled his original bid. The buyer went
back to the first store and informed the salesman
oi the amount offered for his old piano, but was
told in a polite but firm manner that under no
conditions could their price be altered, and while
they disliked to lose a sale, a t the same time
they would not breaK an inflexible rule if they
lost a dozen. The buyer, who was a shrewd
financier of national repute, closed the deal at
once, and that night received a letter from the
second house, offering him six times the orig-
inal price for his old piano if he would only con-
sent to purchase theirs. So much for the main-
taining of prices."
OUR FOREIGN CUSTOMERS.
Pianos and Other Musical Instruments Shipped
Abroad from New York for the Past Week.
(Special to The Review.)
Washington, D. C, July 9, 1906.
The following were the exports of musical in-
struments and kindred lines from the Port of
New York for the week just ended:
Amapala—4 pkgs. talking machines and ma-
terial, ?130.
Asuncion—4 pkgs. talking machines and ma-
terial, |213.
Bomtay—23 pkgs. talking machines and ma-
terial, ?558.
Bremen—15 cases music, $1,500; 1 case pianos,
?400.
Buenaventura—4 pkgs. talking machines and
material, $156.
Buenos Ayres—3 cases pianos and material,
$418.
Calcutta—4 cases organs and materials, $266.
Cape Town—19 cases organs, $728; 3 pkgs. talk-
ing machines and material, $74; 6 cases pianos,
$1,000.
Cartagena—5 pkgs. talking machines and ma-
terial, $222.
Colon—3 pkgs. talking machines and material,
$1^9; 4 pkgs. talking machines and material, $129.
Copenhagen—2 cases organs and material,
$105.
Delagoa Bay—2 pkgs. talking machines and
material, $128.
Havana—2 cases piano material, $200; 13 pkgs.
talking machines and material, $272; 12 pkgs.
talking machines and material, $501.
Havre—18 pkgs. talking machines and material,
$844.
Kingston—2 cases piano material, $375.
La Guayra—1 case musical instruments, $235; 1
case organs, $130; 10 pkgs. talking machines and
material, $239; 1 case piano players and ma-
terial, $200.
Limon—16 pkgs. talking machines and ma-
terial, $282.
Liverpool—1 case organ material, $100; 1 case
organs and material, $100; 1 case music strings,
$122.
London—16 pkgs. talking machines and ma-
terial, $704.
Marta—9 pkgs. talking machines and material,
$208.
Para—12 pkgs; talking machines and material,
$458.
Rio de Janeiro—6 pkgs. talking machines and
material, $166.
Rotterdam—7 cases organ material, $260.
Sagua La Grande—15 pkgs. talking machines
and material, $256.
Tammersfors—5 cases organs and material,
$582; 4 cases organs and material, $582.
Upsala—11 cases organs and material, $752.
Valparaiso—6 cases piano players and ma-
terial, $700.
Zurich—2 cases piano material, $750.
RIGHT KIND OF ADVERTISING.
REVIEW
WILL USE MASON & HAMLIN,
Conover and Cable Pianos in Leading Con-
servatories of Music.
Harry Zickel, manager of the Detroit, Mich.,
branch of the Cable Company, has recently made
contracts with two large conservatories of music
in that city to use the Cable Company's line ex-
clusively. The latest of these was the Michigan
Conservatory of Music, who will use eighteen or
twenty instruments, con-sisting of Mason & Ham-
lin and Conover grands and Cable uprights. Mr.
Zickel expects before very long to make important
contracts with other conservatories.
JOINS STEINERT CO.'S FORCES.
C. E. Mitchell, for some time past connected
with the Danbury, Conn., store of the Treat &
Shepard Co., has taken the management of M.
Steinert & Sons' branches in Holyoke and North-
ampton, Mass.
FRANK W. THOMAS' GOOD WORK.
Frank W. Thomas, of Albany, N. Y., agent for
the Haddorff Piano Co.'s instruments, has suc-
ceeded in placing several Clarendon pianos on
Hudson River excursion boats, and has also
placed a number -of Royal pianos made by the
Krell Piano Co. in resorts in the vicinity of
Albany.
MUNN PIANO CO.'S NEW PLANT.
(Special to The Hoview.)
;
\
Striking the Keynote of Good Salesmanship—
Some Western Publicity—How Prices Are
c
Maintained.
s
'
"The best worded advertisement that I have
seen for a long time," said one of the leading .
retailers in this city to The Review, "I saw in
a paper published in a small city in the West. ..
It read as follows:
" 'We don't push our cheapest piano, but the
finest made to-day by any manufacturer. We
have a nice assortment of
, —
• &
.
You'll be interested if you see them. If you
cannot come, write for our free booklet. It will
interest you.'
"He struck the keynote of good salesmanship
by calling attention to his best stock first. If
he cannot sell that, then is the time to show
the cheaper grades. I have always Instructed
my salesmen to show a customer the best in-
strument in stock first. After hearing such a.
piano, they are seldom satisfied with anything
Walton, N. Y., July 11, 1906.
Work began last week on the new factory
which the Munn Piano Co. are to build in West
Walton. The main building will be 40 by 140
ft., two stories high, and" will be built of concrete.
1* will be completed by the first of December,
and the machinery from the Stimpson plant will
then be moved in. The manufacture of piano
backs, a line of work which has never been done
at the present factory, will be carried on here,
as well as the manufacture of pianos of a cheaper
grade than the output of the other Munn piano
factory.
WILL HANDLE PIANOS.
Williams & Rogers Co., the large Cleveland,
O., department, will in future handle a com-
plete line of pianos under the management of A.
H. Milner. They have taken the agency for the
Decker & Son, Boardman & Gray and other
makes.
A new music store has been opened in Beverly,
Mass., by Tuttle & Downing.
AMER1CANJPIANOS LEAD.
Major J. Harry Estey in an Interesting Chat
With The Review Refers to the Superiority
of American
Over
European
Pianos—
Steadily Augmenting a Reputation Abroad—
Player Piano Not Likely to Become Popular
—English Makers and Their Continental
Competitors—New Estey Connections.
There are many points of interest in the piano
industry of Europe that always appeal to the
American manufacturer, and when an observant
traveler like Major J. Harry Estey makes the
rounds there is sure to be an interesting story
as a sequence. When in the city last Friday he
said to The Review: "So far as a comparison of
European and American pianos are concerned,
the criticism Is all in favor of the latter, from
our standpoint. The cheapest piano made in this
country, so far as construction goes, is the equal
of almost any of the so-called high-grade instru-
ments made abroad, and when it comes to case
work, they are vastly superior. The foreign
makers criticise our instruments because they are
too strongly and well made, and weigh too much,
as well as the fact that we use a too superior
quality of supplies in the mechanism. So far as
improving designs in cases, we are far ahead of
the manufacturer on the other side. As a rule,
they resent any suggestion of an innovation, and
such changes as have been made are to a great
extent due to American competition.
"Ameriean-made pianos are making a good rep-
utation for themselves among the musicians
abroad, and the most eminent artists admit their
superiority in every way over the home product.
We are exporting more instruments every year,
in spite of the disparity in price. The Europeans
have become so accustomed to the small uprights,
particularly those of English and German manu-
facture, that it will require a campaign of educa-
tion on the part of the dealers of American
pianos to popularize them.
"The German makers hold the South American
trade, and this fact is due to the extremely low
price a t which they make and sell their instru-
ments. These pianos are of such an inferior
quality that I doubt if any manufacturer in this
country would be able to duplicate them and do
business. They are also small, and the Latin-
American republics have grown so accustomed to
their designs, that ours seem cumbersome.
"In some respects the English makers and deal-
ers are behind their continental competitor,
while in others they are far more progressive.
So far as case designs and finish are concerned,
they are in the lead, although all of them show
a marked preference to the old sized ebonized
cases. Next comes walnut and Circassian wal-
nut, with a sprinkling of rosewood. Finely fig-
ured mahogany is seldom seen, due perhaps to
the fact that it is expensive, but more likely that
the manufacturers are so averse to innovations
that they do not care to create a demand for any-
thing new.
"In regard to the interior players, I think it
will be a long time before they become popular
on the other side. The people there have a very
deep-rooted aversion to parting with their pianos
for a small sum and paying a big price for one
of these players. The piano player strikes their
fancy, and the American makers, who had a
big stock on hand, are finding an outlet for them
in this quarter. They will be the popular me-
chanical player in Europe for a long time to
come. Of course, where new instruments are
purchased, the probabilities are in favor of the
interior player."
"While on the other side I made a great many
new connections, particularly on the continent,
for the products of our factories. I feel certain
that in time the name Estey will be as fa-
miliar on pianos in Europe as on organs. Our
organ business is splendid, and they have a repu-
tation throughout Europe, and I might say the
world, that is second to none. Our factory a t
Brattleboro, Vt., is being run to its fullest ca-
pacity, and knows of no such thing as a dull
season. Taken as a whole, I am fully satisfied
with the results of my trip.

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