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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
DOES MAGAZINE ADVERTISING PAY?
Some Interesting Facts Regarding Some Busi-
ness Concerns in a Kindred Trade—A Mel-
ancholy Procession.
the Ladies' Home Journal and the Delineator,
but the experience of these manufacturers is not
conclusive that the investment pays.
Russell owed $50 for rent on one instrument,
had damaged three pianos loaned the opera com-
pany to the extent of $53.50, and owed $1.20 for
merchandise purchased.
SOUNDING BOARD OUESTION.
People are asking, Does magazine advertis- Manufacturer Complains of Faulty Boards—Has
ing pay? Does it? That is a mighty important
Our Eastern Spruce Given Out?—Talking of
question.
Substitutes—Are
the Complaints
Well
In this connection it may be well to reproduce
Founded?—Who Is to Blame?
the following article, which is from the Furni-
ture Journal, of Chicago, a paper which has de-
The sounding-board question has become of
voted considerable space in a recent issue to as- such a serious nature that the manufacture of
sertions that there is not now so much furniture the higher grades of pianos are almost at their
advertising in the large magazines as there used wits' end to secure an ample supply that will
to be. A pretty good melancholy mortality bill meet the stringent requirements which they de-
is made out:
mand in the construction of their instruments.
"The trade knows of the melancholy fate which While a sufficient number are being received the
overcame Fred Macey, who did some mighty quality falls below their standard. The superin-
good advertising, but who died a bankrupt. A tendent of one of the leading factories in this
long line of furniture mail order houses followed city said to The Review the past week: "I
in Mr. Macey's wake, but the only present imita- opened a case containing fifty sounding boards
tors are the Bishop Furniture Co and the Furni- yesterday, and out of the lot found only two
ture Manufacturing Co., of Grand Rapids, which that were suitable for our instruments. The bal-
are much the same thing, and the Grace Furni- ance I returned. If this is to be the proportion
ture Co. Mr. Bishop is doing much less advertis- for the balance of the season, we will be unable
ing than he did, and the Grace Furniture Co., to meet our demand. I believe that we will have
while still in some of the magazines, has to be to turn to California for wood for sounding-
hunted for long and earnestly, so limited is the boards, as those that have come from that State
amount of advertising which this company is are far superior to most of those coming from
placing, and its ads. are only to be found in nearby points. The best qualities of Eastern
some of the cheaper mediums. The Globe-Wer- spruce seems to have been used up, that now put
nicke Co. is still the largest user of space in out is off color, and in many cases knotty.
the magazines, but the policy of this company is Spruce has always been considered the only wood
so well understood, it protects the retailer so suitable for sounding boards for all musical in-
thoroughly, has so large a plant and does so ex- struments, but the time is not far distant when
tensive a business that there has never been a a substitute of some sort will have to be con-
suspicion attached to this advertising. The com- sidered. There are undoubtedly other woods that
pany seems to have done the best advertising possess its vibrating qualities, combined with its
done.by any maker of furniture—and it should tensile and lateral strength."
be remembered that it was the pioneer in the ad-
Other manufacturers have been having much
vertising of a specialty. The Gunn Co., Lund- the same experience, and while the makers of
strom, and some others are still in the field. Of sounding-boards have undoubtedly been doing
course, Ostermoor, who was among the first of their best, at the same time the piano manufac-
the manufacturers to use advertising space free- turers feel that a better understanding and feel-
ly, and who has since been compelled to modify ing would exist if the makers of this product
his plan of selling direct to the consumer, by would meet the issue fairly, and let their cus-
using the retailer to distribute goods, still occu- tomers know the exact state of affairs. If they
pies full-page spaces in the majority of the will be unable to meet the demands made upon
magazines, but he is no longer in preferred space. them when the rush season arrives, the manufac-
He has succeeded in establishing the felt mat- turers feel that they should be informed in ad-
tress and selling the product of his factory at vance so that they can govern their orders ac-
high prices, although the fact that every other cordingly.
bedding manufacturer of the country now makes*
a better article and sells it at less money must
DEATH OF JOHN H. HINTERMEISTER.
have made inroads even upon the business of Os-
termoor. The Hastings Table Co. and the Tyden
John Henry Hintermeister, aged 72, well
Lock have dropped out of the magazines, the
Grand Rapids Furniture Manufacturers' Associa- known in the world of music, is dead at his late
tion no longer indulge in trade-mark advertising, home in Commercial avenue, Aspinwall, Pa. He
although the Berkey & Gay Furniture Co. have was born in Switzerland and came to this coun-
been trying it out during the past year with its try when 16 years old. He was for many years a
own trade-mark helped by a pretty generous teacher of music at Harvard University. He
amount of advertising in most of the periodicals. left that institution to engage in the manufac-
Oscar Onken and his Shop of the Crafters has ture of pianos and organs, establishing a fac-
come down from half-page space to quarter tory at Oil City. He moved his plant to As-
pages, and is not found in as many magazines pinwall nine years ago. He gained considerable
as in previous years. Of course, one of the ex- prominence as a composer of music. He was a
planations of why the manufacturers are less member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of
in evidence may be that they have had so much Aspinwall. Surviving him are a widow and
business that they do not find the necessity for five sons—Henry, an attorney of St. Paul, Minn.;
large expenditures. The C. F. Streit Manufac- Frederick, a piano manufacturer of Scranton,
turing Co. is still using quarter-page spaces for Pa.; Otto, Otis and William T., of Aspinwall.
the advertising of its specialties and the Hey-
wood-Wakefield Co. has been a pretty generous
MORRISSETTE NOW MANUFACTURING.
user of space in a number of periodicals. Of
course, the retail establishments like the Tobey
H. Morrissette, who has been manufacturing
Furniture Co. and the Robert Mitchell Furniture
pianos in a small way in Fall River, Mass., has
Co. are still advertisers in the magazines. S.
been very successful finding a ready sale for his
Karpen & Bro., who for a time were the largest
instruments at retail. Mr. Morrissette contem-
advertisers of furniture, have considerably re-
plates increasing his output at an early date and
duced their space, although they are still using
enter the wholesale field. He was a retail piano
a few of the highest priced mediums. They have
dealer in Fall River for seven years before he
been resorting lately to other methods which
began manufacturing.
seem to have proven quite as efficacious. Since
G. P. McDougall & Son discovered that money
for advertising could be spent faster than it
GRUNEWALD SUES OPERA CO.
could be gotten in from the sale of goods they
have, of course, been out of the magazines. The
The L. Grunewald Co., New Orleans, La., re-
Hoosier Manufacturing Co. and the Blwell cently filed suit for the sum of $104.70, and an
Kitchen Cabinet Co. are still using mediums like attachment against Henry Russell, manager of
the French Opera Co. The piano company claim
Better
Weather
Helps
Business—Kimball
Branch Occupies New Building on Nicollet
Avenue—Cable Co. Report—Dyer's Good
Sales—The General Situation Healthy and
Trade Outlook Considerably Improved.
(Special to The Review.)
Minneapolis and St. Paul, Feb. 18, 1907.
Milder weather brought out more callers last
week and business was reported quite satisfac-
tory for the first half of February.
The Kimball branch in Minneapolis moved last
week from the quarters on the second floor on
Fifth street, which it has occupied since last
summer, to a new building which has just been
completed on Nicollet avenue, between Eighth
and Ninth streets, occupying the first floor and
basement. The new location is a much more sat-
isfactory one from every point of view. "We are
feeling highly pleased over the change," said F .
J. Hill, the manager. "Though we haven't got
anywheres near settled yet, we have had a great
many more callers than we did in the former lo-
cation, and done some pretty good business dur-
ing the week. The outlook certainly seems good."
David McKee, of the Cable Company, reports
trade for the first half of the month as very good.
"Our trade for February has been fine," he said,
"and mostly all high-grade business. Sales have
included Mason & Hamlin grands, Conover up-
rights and several Kingsbury inner players."
"Trade has been running along nicely for this
season of the year," said W. J. Dyer, of W. J.
Dyer & Bro., "and the average has kept up pretty
good. We have made a few Steinway and Kran-
ich '& Bach grand sales this week, and business
in the Pianola department has kept up unusually
good."
"We are pretty well satisfied with results so
far this month," said A. O. Foster, of Foster &
Waldo. "We have made some very satisfactory
sales in higher grade instruments, including the
Mehlin, McPhail and Krakauer pianos, and expect
to round up a good month for this season of the
year."
"Though sales have not been large compared
with busy seasons, yet for this time of the year
we feel we have been getting our share," said
S. W. Raudenbush. "We have done particularly
well in our player department, the Cecilian prov-
ing a winner every time."
J. Kalscheuer & Co. reported satisfactory re-
sults for the first two weeks of the month, sales
being mostly for the better grade of instruments,
and particularly in their Kurtzmann and Behr
Bros, lines.
A POETIC P00LE PIANO AGENT.
Reveling in the art atmosphere of the Poole
pianos and of a natural poetic temperament,
Gad Robinson, who handles the Poole pianos
in Brockton, Mass., announced the opening of
his new store by a poem of twelve verses, begin-
ning with the following:
My name is Gad—it's real;
Gad Robinson, and nothing more.
I am at 38 West Elm street,
In my new piano store.
I sell the Poole pianos,
Made above here twenty miles.
I have very artistic cases
In many different styles.
ESTEY PIPE ORGAN MUCH ADMIRED.
The new Estey pipe organ recently erected in
the store of Strawbridge & Clothier, Philadel-
phia, and referred to in The Review at some
length, has attracted much attention from musi-
cians, especially church organists. The organ
was built for the exposition of the industries of
Philadelphia, now being held, and is an up-to-
date and model instrument in every particular.