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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
REVIEW
EDWARD LYMAN BILL - Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
Executive and Reportoiial Staff:
L. EJ. BOWEBS,
QBO. B. Kw"m.
W. H. DTKHS,
R. W. SIMMONS.
AUGUST J. T u r n .
B. BRIT-TAIN WILSON,
A. J. NICKLIN,
BOSTON OFFICE:
CHICAGO OFFICE:
BBMBMT L. WAITT, 69 Snmmer St.
PHILADELPHIA:
R. W. KAUVFMAM,
B. P. VAN HARLINQBN, Room 806,156 Wabash Aye.
Telephone, Central 414.
MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL:
ST. LOUIS:
ADOLF EDSTBN.
CHAS. N. VAN BURIN.
SAN FRANCISCO: S. H. GRAY, 88 First Btreet.
CINCINNATI, O.:
JACOB W. WAI/THBS.
BALTIMORE, MD.: A. ROBERT FRENCH.
LONDON. ENGLAND: 69 Baslnghall St., B. C. W. LIONBL STURDT, Manager.
Published Every Saturday at 1 Madison Avenue, New York
A good many piano merchants put forth some alluring cut rate
announcements which are well calculated to give the public the
idea that great bargains are in store for them.
Bargain time seems to take a mighty strong foothold after the
holidays, for it is impossible to pick up a paper in these times with-
out seeing announcements made of almost any kind of merchandise
which carry with them cut rates which are surprising in some in-
stances.
There is no doubt that shrewd merchants take advantage of
this season to work off a lot of stock which is unsalable in the guise
of bargains, but in the piano business there is no stock which is
vastly depreciated.
This trade is entirely different from many of the other lines of
merchandising.
While case designs may change there are no losses inflicted
thereby upon retail merchants.
Therefore, there is no shrinkage in goods going out of date.
No matter how much a dealer may emphasize this fact to draw
trade, yet he knows in his own heart that he is not losing any
money on discontinued styles of stock which has been for some time
on his wareroom floors.
T
HE cost of living interests everyone and business men while
discussing the possibilities of trade in special industries do
SUBSCRIPTION. (Including postage). United States and Mexico, |2.00 per year;
not hesitate to say that the increased cost of living must necessarily
Canada. $3.50: all other countries, $4.00.
ADVERTISEMENTS, $2.00 per Inch, single column, per Insertion. On quarterly or
cut into the sales of articles of luxury, including pianos, talking
yearly contracts a special discount is allowed. AdTertislng Pages, $60.00; opposite
rending matter, $76.00.
machines, etc.
REMITTANCES, in other than currency form, should be made payable to Edward
These specialties are not absolutely necessary to existence—
Lyman Bill.
An Important feature of this publication is a complete sec-
^Ls>s**tls*l11
they
may be conducive to happiness, but they hardly compare with
t i o n devoted to the interests of music publishers and dealers.
bread and clothes so far as purchases arc considered by the average
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
individual.
Brand Prim
Paris Exposition, 1900
Silver Medal. Charleston Exposition, 1902
Diploma. Pan-American Exposition, 1901
Qold U edal.... St. Louis Exposition, 1904
Now, when are we going to stop climbing the Alps of high
Gold Medal
Lewis-Clark Exposition, 1905.
prices?
LONG DISTANCE TELE PHONES-NUMBERS 4677 and 4678 GRAMERCY
That's what many a man is asking himself all over this land, and
Connecting all Departments.
.ill
over
the world for that matter, for it is a mistaken idea to be-
Cable a d d r e s s : **Elbill, N e w York."
lieve that the advanced cost of living is confined wholly to America.
NEW YORK, JANUARY 15, 1910
If you have traveled in Germany during the past year you
will realize that prices there have advanced at hotels and restaurants
and general living expenses quite as much as they have in this
country.
EDITORIAL
There is no telling where this is going to end.
In this connection it might be well to note that the present cost
of
living
is actually less in this country than in many others.
N nearly all retail establishments throughout the country Jan-
At
any
rate, the cost is less for students from other countries
uary is looked upon as a dull month from a sales point of view.
living
among
us. That is the conclusion reached by the National
Merchants have worked the sales end to the limit and the people
Association
at
Paris, and just published in our daily consular re-
have purchased as liberally as their requirements and funds per-
ports,
the
point
of inquiry being, in the language of the report, to
mitted, and so a lull naturally follows.
show
"the
cost
of
living in the several countries for a young man
There is usually plenty of activity inside the store and work
acquiring
the
language
while studying abroad."
enough for all hands when the annual inventory is taken in January.
In New York the cost of boarding per month, lunch and wash-
Stores must be whipped into shape and other preparations made
ing not included, is given as from $30.88 to $38.60, making an aver-
in order that the stock taking may be disposed of in the quickest
age of a little less than $35. This sum is exceeded in about half the
time possible.
world cities cited. London cuts under it with a total of $29.20;
Of course, the real reason for the sales dropping off is that the
Madrid with from $24.15 to $28.75; Rome with $28.95; Florence
weeks preceding Christmas brought with them the busiest times in
with the extremely low total of $15.44, and Montevideo with from
trade for the whole year, and it follows as a natural sequence that
$29.15 to $31.08. But boarding costs $35.70 a month in Berlin,
peace and quiet should follow after days of business turmoil.
$40.60 in Vienna, $38.60 to $52.11 in St. Petersburg, $36.67 in
The cessation of trade naturally affords a splendid time to take
Moscow, $52.11 in Odessa, $42.50, including washing, in Mexico
inventory.
City, and $57.90, not including washing, in Argentina. Thus it
In such lines as pianos and musical instruments it does not take
costs the student a little more to live in Berlin than in New York,
long to conclude stock taking as compared with great dry-goods
a good deal more in Vienna, and 50 per cent, more in St. Petersburg
emporiums, but every dealer realizes that he faces business stagna-
and Odessa, while in Argentina it costs him nearly two hundred
tion after the holidays, and that some radical move must be made
dollars more a year.
to win trade and that right quick.
These figures will cause some surprise.
The remedy for this seems to suggest itself off hand in the
In general they seem to show that the older a city the less it
shape of special bargains or some kind of alluring offers to interest
costs to keep alive there.
the somewhat subdued buying spirit on the part of the people.
Now, either rents in New York are not so steep in comparison
r
with
other world capitals as many had supposed or else the board-
-1 ^HERE are a good many people who wait for just such bargain
ing-house
mistress of Gotham is deserving of special laurels for her
J. announcements.
superior
ability
in systematizing her business in catering to the
They have been trained that way and the average person knows
wants
of
her
customers.
enough about merchandising and the operation of any kind of a
As a matter of fact this country is hit no heavier in the cost
store, whether general or special, to realize that after weeks of
expense
than many others, but when will the pendulum swing
excessive shopping and trading the dealer's stock should be depleted,
backward
?
and that in order to clean up there is always some offers made which
That's
a question which interests many thousands of people.
carry with them large exceptional values.
Entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Matter.
I