Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC TRADE
It costs more for labor—more for materials—more for every-
thing which enters into piano construction, and as a natural
sequence the manufacturer must get more.
There is no other way out of it.
Nineteen hundred and ten will be the high-water mark in point
of living expenses—in point of price on raw materials and finished
products, yet reached in American industrial history.
Of course, these conditions are not pleasant, but at the same
time we may as well face them—consider them and debate upon
them.
I
T cannot be denied that the player-piano has made substantial
advance during the old year, and 1910 promises to be a year
of fierce competitive struggle for player supremacy.
In the opinions of many it will be a real player battleground
and before its close the position of some of the player concerns will
have been materially strengthened and some of the weaker ones will
have dropped still further to the rear.
Certain lines are being drawn and as a result we may look
for strong competitive struggles for trade position.
New elements are being introduced and new conditions will
arise so that we may at least predict some important changes in
the player field during the New Year.
We have had an opportunity of examining recently some
piano-player mechanism which we are sure will be heard from in the
very near future in no uncertain manner.
Inventive minds are being concentrated upon the solution of cer-
tain problems in the player industry, and the result must be steady
improvements.
A good many seem to feel that we have reached the point from
which it is impossible to make radical steps in advance.
We cannot agree with that statement.
I
T would not be surprising if within the very near future important
announcements were made of a further consolidation of music
trade interests.
If we study the trend of events in this industry for the past
two years it will be seen that there is a steady move towards concen-
tration.
Interests which were formerly antagonistic in a business sense
have been unified and it is probable that the end in this direction
has not been reached.
It is within trade probabilities that 1910 will mark a still further
consolidation of important music trade interests.
Indications certainly point in that direction.
N making the estimate of the total output of pianos for 1909 it
must be considered that during the early months of the year
many piano factories were running on short time and not until the
inspiring effect of Fall trade was full on did the wheels spin 'round
with old-time activity.
It must be considered, too, that some of the larger concerns
have made more pianos than ever before in their history, and we
can name one house in New York controlling three factories the
total output of which will be nearly 18,000 pianos for 1909. That
is going some.
Now, it only takes a few such concerns to make a big total
output for the year, but there are not many of them, and while at
this time we are not stating the exact output for the year, yet it is
safe to say that it did not reach the 300,000 figure which a number
have predicted.
The ridiculous statement has been made in the columns of a
New York paper that there were 180,000 pianos produced in this
city during 1909.
Such an assertion is absurd indeed to those who are posted,
but so long as the public swallow it and evince no particular in-
terest, why the daily papers may go on making such ridiculous
claims regarding special industries.
As a matter of fact there are some factories whose output de-
creased the present year.
This condition is due to poor management and lack of pro-
gressive methods.
The lines are becoming tighter and tighter drawn all the time.
Competition is becoming keener.
Dealers are becoming better educated in piano values and some
I
REVIEW
of the factories which were remarkably busy a few years ago have
lost patronage.
And why?
Because they have failed to keep up with the procession in the
delivery of values.
IN LIGHTER VEIN
A QUESTION OF TIME.—"How much does It cost to get married?"
asked the eager youth.
"That depends entirely on how long you live," replied the sad-look-
ing man.
"Charlie, dear," queried the fair maid at the ball park, "why does the
man behind the hitter wear such a big bib?"
"That," explained Charlie, "is to keep his shirt from getting mussed
when the ball knocks his teeth out."
TAKING PRECAUTIONS.—A young "Briefless" was perambulating
the courts with an air of scarcely being able to find time to do anything,
when his boy tracked him down in one of the corridors.
"Oh, sir!" said the boy, "there's a man at your office with a brief, sir."
"What? A brief! Great heavens!"
And the young fellow began to run through the passages as fast as
he could, for fear the prey should escape him.
"Stop, sir, stop!" cried the boy, who could scarcely keep pace. "You
needn't hurry, sir; I've locked him in!"
USELESS, BUT HARMLESS.—On one occasion a judge gave an
exhaustive decision in a case, after which the lawyer for the plaintiff
rose and questioned it.
"Pardon me," said his lordship, "I cannot allow you to reopen this
case after I have given my final decision. I may be wrong, but that is my
opinion."
The lawyer rudely replied:
"Then, m'lud, I know it is no use my knocking my head against a
brick wall. I suppose I must sit down?"
The judge, adjusting his eyeglasses and looking sarcastically at the
lawyer, said:
"Sir, I know it is of no use for you to knock your head against a
brick wall; but, I may add, I know no one else who could perform such an
operation with less injury to himself than you."—Tid-Bits.
THE EASIEST WAY.—A company of select colored artists were ren-
dering a version of "Othello." The scene between the Moor and Desde-
mona had bee^ reached, wherein Othello demands the handkerchief which
he has given his wife as a wedding amulet.
"Desdemona," he cried, "fetch me dat han'kerchief!"
But the doomed lady only babbled of Cassio, and her liege lord
shouted again:
"I ast fo' de second time to git me dat han'kerchief!"
Still the fair one parried the issue with talk of Cassio, and the lordly
Othello, now thoroughly incensed, bellowed:
"Woman, fo' de third and las' time I tell you to git me dat han'ker-
chief! Away!"
And as he was just about to open his mouth again, a big, leather-
lunged patron in the top gallery shouted down at him:
"Fo' de Lawd's sake, nigger, why doan' you wipe yo' nose on yo'
sleeve an' let de show go on!"
A CONVIVIAL MAN.—At a dinner In Denver Judge Ben R. Lind-
sey told a story about Christmas conviviality.
"There used to be an old fellow of sixty," he said, "who got arrested
about twice a week for conviviality. He was always haled before Magis-
trate Blank, and, as the magistrate was about sixty, too, a queer kind or
comradeship, almost friendship, arose between the two men.
"In the late autumn the toper was called away from Denver. He did
not return until Christmas time. The convivial Christmas spirit in the
crisp Denver air was, of course, too much for him, and the day after his
return he was haled before the usual magistrate on the usual charge.
"The magistrate, in the green-festooned court room, felt kindly and
forgiving.
" 'Well, George,' he said to the prisoner, 'you are here again, at
last, eh?'
" 'Yes, your honor,' said old George, humbly.
" 'You've been away some time, haven't you?'
" 'Yes, your honor; nigh onto three months.'
" 'And how many times, George, did you get drunk during that
period?'
" 'I don't like to say, your honor,' old George faltered, 'before all
these here people.'
"So George wrote, and the paper was passed up to the magistrate,
" 'Well,' said the magistrate, 'take paper and pencil and write it down.'
who looked at It and said:
" 'Ah, well, it's the Christmas season; and since you were away three
months, George, and only got drunk sixteen times, I'll let you off.'
" Thank you judge,' said old George, as he left the dock. 'You looked
at the paper upside down, though.'"
J