Music Trade Review

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THE
MU3IC TRADE
REVIEW
women in moving the piano benches or stools
from place to place get their fingers on the bot-
tom of the seat of the bench and if their fingers
Member of the Music Trade Says Credit Sys-
are damp they rub off a portion of stain on the
tem in Vogue Is One of the Reasons Why
bench and when they play the piano the stain
American Manufacturers Are Not Properly
rubs off on the keys. In a short time the keys
Working It—An Interesting Chat.
began to change color and it is not long before
"It is all very well to talk about export busi- the entire key is a pink and the color gets
ness and the development of trade in the Span- deeper each day.
J. Henry Ling is advertising .and conducting
ish-American countries," remarked a piano manu-
facturer to The Review the other day, "but the an exhibition and sale of duplicate samples
way business is doue there does not always ap- shown at the convention at Richmond.
William R. Farrand, general manager of the
peal to our way of doing things. To be sure, as
Farrand
Co., who is an enthusiastic golfer, has
is well known, the banking interests are almost
wholly in European hands, with the Germans in now joined the Detroit Motor Club.
Frank Burns, the scarf manufacturer, was in
the long lead and the English second. I under-
stand, however, that an American bank is about Detroit this week. He has just returned from a
being established in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and trip to the Pacific Coast and he declares that
business in the West was never better than this
another in Buenos Ayres, Argentina.
spring.
He says piano dealers in the West are
"Possibly these institutions, when they get
going, will help matters, but at the present time having a steadily increasing trade owing to the
our concern, while striving industriously to employment of labor and circulation of money.
Glenn Mills, manager of Grinnell Bros, branch
study the Spanish-American markets and sell all
store
in Kalamazoo, has resigned and accepted
the pianos, players, roll music, etc., they can, are
rather tired of the credit system in vogue in a position as traveling representative of the
those countries. Here things are done on a Cable-Nelson Piano Co., of Chicago. Ernest E.
quick turn and it is for this reason the people Smith, formerly president of the Smith & Miller
here do not care a whole lot about opening ac- Piano Co., of Cincinnati, has been engaged as
counts so far away, with peculiar laws as to col- manager to succeed Mr. Mills.
Clough & Warren Co. are having trouble in
lections to contend against. As it is. while we
are constantly soliciting trade we much prefer to keeping up with their orders, according to a
have it done through our European connections. statement made by Auditor Essex. The orders
"I suppose you know that in not a few Euro- are coming in so fast that they are hard pushed
pean countries bills are carried for a year, and to manufacture pianos fast enough to keep even
there is an annual settlement day. What do with them. J. B. Mclntosh, vice-president and
you know about that?" queried the manufacturer sales manager of the company, made a business
with twinkling eyes. "Some dealers are hard trip to Saginaw and Owosso this week. He re-
enough to collect from as it stands, but a yearly ports a large trade throughout the State.
E. F. Walters, of the Schaeffer Piano Co., of
settlement day! Not for us. Well, as I was say-
ing, the South American trade is all right, but Chicago, called on the Detroit dealers this week,
you must be in a position to handle it, and as and received several good-sized orders.
the Europeans are accustomed to credits long
drawn out, why, let them do business in those
NEW MANAGER AT LOESER'S.
countries. We are not discouraging the develop-
ment of that trade, but our domestic business is E. P. Hamilton Now in Charge of Piano De-
partment—Planning Many Improvements—
so much more satisfactory from every point of
Women Prospect Chasers—Take on Bjur
view that doubtless that is the reason why the
Bros. Line and Get Long Island Agency for
North Americans, if you please, are not breaking
Gulbransen-Dickinson Co. Player Actions.
their necks to cultivate closer business relations
with the South Americans.
There has been another change in the manage-
"Doubtless in the course of time these condi-
tions may change, and then you will find the ment of the piano department of Loeser & Co.,
hustlers in the United States go after the South Brooklyn. J. R. Richards, who was in charge
and Central American trade with a vim. In for several months, having been succeeded by
Mexico our interests are larger and constantly E. P. Hamilton.
Mr. Hamilton has already planned and is carry-
expanding, simply bscause the Mexican commer-
cial methods are akin to those observed and fol- ing out a number of changes in the department,
lowed here. This is also true of the West Indies. and by fall expects to have several more separate
Another thing, with few exceptions the Spanish- parlors installed and the entire warerooms re-
American merchant is rather a ceremonious decorated. There will also be some changes in
proposition, and that is one other reason why the talking machine department, which is under
the Yankee has no patience in looking after that his management.
Loeser & Co. have recently taken on the Bjur
kind of business. The exceptions are men who
Bros,
line of pianos and player-pianos, and with
have either lived or been trained here, and with
them it is a pleasure to do business, for they the Kranich & Bach, their leader, and the Krell
have learned that life is short, which means a line, have a strong trade-winning combination.
Negotiations have been completed for the exclu-
whole lot."
sive Long Island agency for the Gulbransen-
Dickinson Co.'s player actions, and these will be
DETROIT TRADE GLEANINGS.
installed in any make of piano desired, in Loeser
& Co.'s own piano shop on Schermerhorn street.
Business Better, but Conditions Poor—Mystery
Mr. Hamilton has planned to augment the sales
of Ivory Piano Keys Turning Pink Solved—
force considerably and has introduced an innova-
Mills with
Cable-Nelson
Co.—Clough &
tion in employing women for following up
Warren Report Great Activity—Other Items.
prospects. They have thus far had flattering
success, and Mr. Hamilton claims that they are
(Special to The Review.)
insured an audience and more courteous treat-
Detroit, Mich., May 31, 1910.
Most of Detroit piano dealers report trade sat- ment than is frequently accorded men.
Mr. Hamilton was a member of the Loeser
isfactory during the past week, but collections
are not what the dealers think they ought to be sales force for some time before being made man-
ager, and has had much experience selling pianos,
with everybody in Detroit working.
J. Henry Ling declares he has solved the mys- both in this country and abroad.
tery of ivory piano keys turning pink. A num-
Laurence Kirby, manager of the Kirby Piano
ber of his customers have complained of their
piano keys changing color and during the past Co., Louisville, Ky., who handle the Weaver and
year he has spent much time and money in try- York pianos with great success, has arranged
ing to solve the mystery. He believes that he for the opening of a complete sheet music de-
has finally solved the problem by varnishing the partment about July 1 in order to meet the
bottom of all his piano benches and stools be- heavy demand for music on the part of his
fore they are delivered. According to Mr. Ling, customers.
THE SOUTH AMERICAN MARKET.
When the piano
business is dull
Victor sales go on without
interruption. That's what
makes the Victor business so
desirable for piano dealers to
handle. Even when there is
a rush on pianos, both lines
tun along smoothly together.
There is at least as much
money for you in selling the
Victor as in pianos. And
there isn't so much capital
required, because sales are
more frequent and profits are
turned quickly.
We keep on advertising
the Victor regularly month
after month in magazines,
newspapers and farm papers
reaching millions of people,
and awaken an interest that
makes sales easy for dealers
in all parts of the country.
It must be self-evident to
you that handling the Victor
fits in nicely with your piano
business.
Why not let us send you
full particulars ?
Drop us a line to-day. •
Victor Talking Machine Co.
Camden, N. J., U. S. A.
Berliner Gramophone Co., Montreal,
Canadian Distributors.
To get best results, use only Victor Needles
on Victor Records.