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THE
MUSIC TRADE
11
REVIEW
Piano Business Moving Along at Normal Gait Since First of Year—Manufacturers Enjoy Good
Volume of Orders—A General Summary of Quaker City Trade Conditions.
(Special to Tbe Review.)
makes they sell they can use leading names.
Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 11, 1910.
Now that business prosperity has returned,
The piano business has brightened up since the would it not be the part of wisdom of some of the
first of the year, and is now running along at a big piano firms to try if some method could not
normal gait, considerably better than it was last be devised whereby they could have a decent and
January. There is a life to it that is very notice- honest representation in Philadelphia. I know
able in comparison with this time last year. of several big pianos here that are represented
Then business was very dull, and there was along the one-man idea—by that I mean are sold
nothing bright in the outlook. Now the dealers through a practically one-man effort. It would
are doing a good, paying business and there is stem to me that the uniting of a few men would
every evidence that it will increase through the be of advantage not only to the house but to the
remainder of the winter and spring, and every- piano sold.
one is anticipating a very good year.
The Bellaks had a very fine holiday trade.
The Philadelphia manufacturers are again get- They report having had particular success with
ting things in good running order. They were the Melville Clarke player-piano, and that their
practically sold out of stock when the first of the business last year was much better than antici-
year arrived. During 1909 the Philadelphia man- pated. Leopold Bellak has been on the sick list
ufacturers had a much better business than the for a week, and when he recuperates sufficiently,
retailers. There are many orders already booked he will go with Mrs. Bellak to Florida. The
for January shipment, and from all indications Bellaks report having had an excellent holiday
the factories will be kept busy to their capacity trade in Victrolas, Mr. Egan being in charge of
this year.
that department of their business.
The Lester Co., with their recent improve-
The Estey Co. will open a two-manual organ
ments, are in a position to fully handle all the in the Methodist Church at Marcus Hook, N. J.,
business that may come their way. Last year this week. The court has not yet handed in a
the Cunningham factory was seriously handi- decision in the suit of the Estey Co. vs. Mrs.
capped in the getting out of their player-pianos. George Dick and the Columbia Storage Co.
With the new wing addition to their factory, Much interest is centered in this decision, for it
completed only a few weeks ago, and which will will decide a question of the Pennsylvania law
be devoted almost exclusively to the manufacture that has been very annoying to the piano men
of the player, they are in a position that is very for a long time. Most of the piano firms in the
much more to their advantage than a yjear ago.
city have lent the Estey Co. financial support in
The Schomacker factory of the Wanamaker this trial to make a test case of the law.
house, working full time, as it is doing at pres-
I. W. Irwin, advertising manager at the Heppe
ent, is able to get out enough Schomacker pianos house, has removed his offices from the rear of
and Schomacker Angelopians for the Philadel- 1117 Chestnut street to the front of 1119 Chest-
phia and New York stores by hard pushing, but nut street, where he is very much better fixed to
they are unable to get any stock ahead. Plans handle his end of the business. Ambassador
are already in hand for considerably enlarging Evans, of the Krell-Prench Piano Co.. was a
this factory, but owing to the labor troubles at visitor to the Estey house this week.
the rebuilding of the Wanamaker store it is not
H. A. Weymann & Sons report that they had
likely that anything definite will be done before a very good holiday business on pianos. They
fall. During the fall and holiday season the have received word from the Baldwin Co. that
Wanamaker firm had a splendid Chiokering busi- the factory has shipped to Philadelphia one of
ness. The Chickering is a piano that has been their finest grand pianos to be used this week
so long established here that there is a constant by Pepito Arriola, who will be the soloist at the
inquiry for that instrument in spite of whether two concerts to be given by the Philadelphia
any publicity is given to it or not. In the Chick- Orchestra at the Academy of Music on Friday
ering ads this week the Wanamaker firm say: and Saturday of this week.
"The extraordinary enthusiasm evoked by the
playing of Busoni at Carnegie Hall, New York, THIRTY-TWO PIANOS FOR SCHOOLS.
last week, was not wholly attributable to the
marvelous technique of the artist, but largely to Contracts for Twenty-One Grands and Eleven
the astonishing wealth of the tonal resources de-
Uprights Let—Those Securing
Awards—
veloped by the new Chickering concert grand
More Instruments to be Purchased Later.
piano, which proved a revelation in the way of
pianistic orchestral possibilities. It seems odd
The New York Board of Education recently let
to reflect that this new giant of the concert stage contracts for furnishing twenty-one grand and
should have been produced by the same dis eleven upright pianos for use in the public
tinguished house that demonstrated the artistic schools of the city, the houses securing the
tonal possibilities of the quarter grand—the awards being Wm. Knabe & Co., Sohmer & Co.,
smallest grand piano in the world. But really, Paul G. Mehlin & Sons, Hardman, Peck & Co.,
the ability to make the one was a guarantee of George Steck & Co., J. & C. Fischer, Francis
ability to produce the other—provided it were Bacon Piano Co., Pease Piano Co., I.awson & Co.
possible. It was the full grasp of the situation— and Walters Piano Co.
the entire mastery of the grand, piano problem—
The prices paid for the pianos will range from
that enabled Chickering & Sons to construct an $225 to $475, and it was noticeable that no square
artistic piano of the size of the quarter grand pianos ut $200 or more were contracted for, the
despite the previous seemingly authoritative con- exposure of two years ago causing the city offi-
tention that it was an impossibility."
cials to be very careful in placing contracts.
As I noted before, a piano like the Chickering More instruments will be bought when the funds
piano cannot be buried, no matter where it is are available.
placed, nor how little publicity is given to it.
There are other great pianos that seem to be less
AN IMPOSING VOLUME.
fortunate. They are not so easily accessible as
at the Wanamaker store. I can think of half a
At hand is The Presto Year Book—a publica-
dozen great pianos which have what is considered tion which reflects great credit upon the organi-
a fair representation, at least in Philadelphia. zation putting it forth. It is a large and im-
These pianos—and I will not name them—are pressive volume of nearly 200 pages, replete with
placed in houses where they are never shown, historic information and chronological tables
where no attempt is made to sell them, and no covering the principal events of the past year,
publicity is ever given to them. Then why keep and without doubt it will be referred to many
them in stock? The reason is that when a firm times on account of the valuable data, which it
js brought to the point of being asked what great contains,
The Keys
of a
Piano
The keys of a piano require
as much care and attention in
their manufacture as does the
action.
Rough edg^es on ivories or
sharps hurt the fingers of the
musician, black joints spoil
the looks and poor workman-
ship or material destroys the
effectiveness of the keys and
makes them costly to the
manufacturer.
When
Strauch
Bros,
started the manufacture of
keys they determined to make
a
"quality"
key such as
would be in keeping with
their actions.
The same attention is paid
to the keys as to the actions
both as to the quality of ma-
terial, workmanship and fin-
ish and the same high stand-
ard maintained.
Strauch Bros, have con-
sistently and faithfully fol-
lowed
out this policy of
quality so that to-day the
Strauch keys enjoy the same
high
reputation
as
the
Strauch actions in every part
- of the country.
This position
has been
gained by painstaking care
and a strict adherence to the
quality standard.