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THE
RMIW
ffUJIC TIRADE
VOL. XLVIi. N o . 1 4 .
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at I Madison Ave., New York, October 3,1908.
SINGLE COPIES, 10 CENTS.
$2.00 PER YEAR.
HOW FAIRS HELP THE PIANO DEALER.
Results Derived from Attractive Exhibits Made at County and State Fairs or on Other Public Oc-
casions—Net and Gross Returns—The Country Dealer Especially Benefited—Some Exhibits
Sold Out on Grounds—Amount of Free Publicity Obtained—Prizes Won by Piano Houses.
With the close of September the "Fair" season
is practically over and piano dealers, together
with other exhibitors, are busy figuring out just
what has been gained. Piano houses in several
of the larger cities have refrained from exhibit-
ing at State and county fairs this year, claiming
that the expense was out of proportion to the
benefits derived from such a display, but. dealers
in the smaller communities, who have been in
the habit of exhibiting at such fairs, have with-
out exception followed their usual custom.
Frankly, it is the dealer in the small town
who derives the most benefit from displays at
fairs for they afford him an opportunity of reach-
ing a large portion of the rural population who
do not visit his town during the year, or if they
From the South and Middle West, however,
come reports of dealers in large cities shipping
pianos to remote sections of the State and hav-
ing exhibits at the county fairs where country
people will be attracted. A. Hospe & Co., Omaha,
recently sold out their entire exhibit of a car-
load of pianos at the State fair in Lincoln, Neb.;
Boardman & Gray, of Albany, had a similar ex-
perience at the Fair Haven, Vt., fair, where they
had to replace almost their entire exhibit from
the factory before the fair was half over. Other
piano houses in all parts of the country have
found their exhibits equally paying.
Of course an attractive booth and a well se-
lected line are essential to success. We illus-
trate in this connection the exhibit of C. S. York
BABX> BROS.' BOOTH AT WEST VIRGINIA STATE FAIR.
S. C. YORK'S BOOTH DURING HOME-COMING WEEK, BRAZIL, IND.
do are in a hurry and do not care to stop and
inspect pianos. At the fair, with pianos and
player-pianos being operated almost continuously,
the dealer has unexcelled attractions for draw-
ing the crowds and it is very rarely that a live
manager, aided by hustling salesmen, cannot
land enough sales during fair time to pay all
expenses of the exhibit and allow a nice margin
of profit without considering the goodly number
of live prospects listed and the moral effect of
advertising.
In the larger cities, of course, the local and
neighboring population have much greater op-
portunities for examining pianos and are more
readily reached by prospect, getting schemes
throughout the year. The piano offers no special
p.ttraction for them at fair time and they do
not therefore buy to any extent or enough to
make it a paying investment. Naturally dealers
in the cities are shy about investing any large
amount Of money with such a poor outlook.
during the celebration of home-coming week in
Brazil, Tnd., when pianos were shown, and also
the booth of Bard Bros., the talking machine
dealers, of Wheeling, W. Va., at the annual
State fair, as an example of what can be done
with such a line. Of course some of the booths
and exhibits made by the large music houses are
far more elaborate but the cost is also heavy and
hard work is necessary to cover expenses and
come out ahead.
The growing importance of "Old Home," or
"Home-Coming Week" as a festival period is
brought to mind by the York exhibit. Many States
and numerous cities and towns have set aside
a certain period as a time when natives who
have drifted to other sections of the country
may return and meet those who have wanflpml
in other directions. The celebrations in connec-
tion with these meetings give the music dealer
an excellent opportunity to exhibit, if a fair is
held, or at least to decorate his store in a way
that will attract attention and also prospects.
There are special occasions that should be and,
truth to say, generally are, taken advantage of
by the wide-awake dealer such as Founders'
Week in Philadelphia and the sesqui-centennial
of the founding of the city of Pittsburg, etc.
P.oth the celebrations named have appealed
strongly to the piano trade in those cities and
some very elaborate displays and decorations
were the result.
And, lastly, a piano exhibit holds a high place
in any fair or exposition, and it never fails to
receive special mention in the newspapers as
well as good prize awards. When S. Hamilton
& Co. displayed the Fischer "Horseshoe Curve"
piano at the Pittsburg, Pa., fair they received
column after column of free publicity. At a
local fair Frank C. Storck, of Redbank, N. J.,
won first prize; Phillips & Crew, Atlanta, Ga.,
won first prize for a talking machine float in a
Labor Day celebration, and dealers too numer-
ous to mention have received high awards and
much free publicity through making attractive
exhibits on various occasions.
To sum up, it behooves the dealer to grasp
every opportunity to get before the buying pub-
lic in his locality. Even if the cost is say $300
and the direct results only $250 it does not mean
$50 wasted, for a close study will show where
indirectly, through the listing of prospects, gen-
eral attention attracted and free publicity ob-
tained, the exhibit has brought results worth
many times the cost even though the cash re-
turns fall below, which, we are happy to say, they
verv seldom do.
DEATH OF ELIHTT H. SMITH.
Elihu II. Smith, a traveler for the Mathushek
Pianc Manufacturing Co., New Haven, Conn., and
a veteran piano man, died suddenly in Albany,
N. Y., just after having started from the factory
on his fall trip. Mr. Smith was sixty years of
age and well known throughout the trade, es-
pecially in the East. He was. buried in Brook-
lyn, his former home,