Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1912 Vol. 55 N. 23

Page 4 Text:

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MU3IC
TRADE
EDWARD LYMAN BILL - Editor and Proprietor
J. B. SPILLANE, Managing Editor
Executive and Reportorlal Stall:
B. BRITTAIN WILSON,
A. J. NICKLIN,
CARLETON CHACE.
AUGUST J. TIMPE,
L. M. ROBINSON,
WM. B. WHITE,
BOSTON OFFICE:
GLAD HENDERSON,
L. E. BOWERS.
CHICAGO OFFICE:
JOHN H. WILSON, 884 Washington St.
E. P. VAN HARLINGEN, 87 South Wabash Ave.
Telephone, Main 6950.
Room 806. Telephone, Central 414
PHILADELPHIA:
MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL:
ST. LOUISt
R. W. KAUFFMAN.
ADOLF EDSTEN.
CLYDE JENNINGS
SAN FRANCISCO: S. H. GRAY, 88 First St.
DETROIT, MICH.: MORRIS J. WHITE.
CINCINNATI, O.: JACOB W. WALTERS.
BALTIMORE. MD.: A. ROBERT FRENCH.
INDIANAPOLIS, I N D J STANLEY H. SMITH.
MILWAUKEE, WIS.: L. E. MEYER.
LONDON, ENGLAND: 1 Gresham Buildings, Basinghall St., E. C.
Published Every .Saturday at 373 Fourth Avenue, New York
Enttted at the New York Post Office as Second Class Matter.
SUBSCRIPTION, (including postage), United States and Mexico, $2.00 per year; Canada,
18.50; all other countries, $4.00.
ADVERTISEMENTS, $2.50 per inch, single column, per insertion. On quarterly or
yearly contracts, a special discount is allowed. Advertising Pages, $75.00.
REMITTANCES* in other than currency forms, should be made payable to Edward
Lyman Bill.
Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
tions of a technical nature relating to the tuning, regu-
lating and repairing of pianos and player-pianos are
dealth with, will be found in another section of this
paper. We also publish a number of reliable technical works, information concerning whick
will be cheerfully given upon request.
Player-Piano and
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Prix
Paris Exposition, 1900
Silver Medal. . .Charleston Exposition, 1902
Diploma. .. .Pan-American Exposition, 1901
Gold Medal
St. Louis Exposition, 1904
Gold Medal. .Lewis-Clark Exposition. 190S
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONES—NUMBERS S982-S983 MADISON SQUARE
Connecting all Departments.
Cable address " "Elblll, N e w York."
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 7, 1912.
EDITORIAL
T
HE player-piano and the small grand are the two big factors
in the retail field these days and despite the rapidly increas-
ing popularity of the former instrument, the small grand continues
to steadily grow in general favor with the public. Manufacturers who
have produced small grands have met with an immediate demand
for them—a demand which has been consistent and expanding.
The fact that the most distinguished manufacturers in the
country have recently placed some very beautiful instruments of
this type on the market, emphasizes that the small grands are fac-
tors of importance with the manufacturers of the highest standard
as well as the medium grade. A great many manufacturers have
recently perfected their factory organization so that they may be
enabled to turn out this particular product in greater numbers than
is possible with their present factory equipment, thus testifying
their desire to meet the demands of their representatives.
Of the player demand it is not necessary to say more than that
the output is' not only growing, but there is a tendency to differ-
entiate in the matter of intrinsic worth as never before. In other
words, pianos of recognized standing in which player actions are in-
stalled are meeting with a large measure of favor. Price is not
the greatest consideration with the buying public—at least those
who desire the best—hence piano merchants handling pianos and
players of a recognized quality standard are enjoying an unprece-
dentedly large trade.
T
RAVELING men in various lines of trade are deeply in-
terested in the new moves proposed by the railways to
increase their revenues by taxing baggage. Claiming that the
Excess Baggage Act is being advanced by railroads solely as a
co ^mercial proposition, and that the enactment of the provisions
contained therein would net the railroads an additional annual
revenue approximating $10,000,000, Samuel Blumberg, represent-
ing a trade organization of this city, summed up his case in oppo-
REVIEW
sition to the proposed legislation, at the hearing before the Inter-
state Commerce Commission in Washington recently.
One of the principal points in the summing up was the refusal
by the opposition to accept the statement of the railroads, that
handling baggage exceeding the forty-five inch limit involved delays
in movement, and that the large trunks prevented the maintenance
of aisles in the baggage cars. In reply to this the railroads, through
counsel, stated that, as has been contended by the opposition, the
saving in time in packing and unpacking the wardrobe type of
trunks; the saving in money as a result of not requiring the services
of a packer, and also the material saving the salesman makes in not
being required in most cases' to hire an extra room to show his
goods, where he is supplied with a wardrobe trunk, should make
the traveling man willing to pay the additional tax on the trunks
over the forty-five-inch limit, as required by the proposed ruling.
The case has had the attention of traveling salesmen in all lines
of trade for some months past, and almost without exception the
various travelers' associations, as well as trade organizations, are
opposed to any raising in price whatsoever on the part of the rail-
roads.
The traveling men in the city most affected, should the ruling
go through, are a unit in declaring that the railroads of the country
have had no cause for complaint from the manner in which they
have been treated by the salesman, and furthermore that they are
making plenty of money under the present system.
M
EN, in days to come, will hardly credit the statement, which
is true nevertheless, that a gang of men—not-near-journal-
ists—with frayed morals actually held up the music trade industry
and terrorized it through a long period of years.
It seems almost beyond comprehension that men of reputation
and character should have permitted themselves to be pawns in a
filthy game of hold-up journalism, but it is absolutely true, and a
condition has long existed in this trade which has been a disgrace
to the trade itself, and it has been beyond understanding how an
honorable, respectable, clean-minded lot of business men could aid
and support illicit journalism through fear of business strangula-
tion, and so unclean, so vile its methods, it may be truthfully said
that thuggish journalism has tainted the entire industry.
It has not stopped with debasing the journalistic profession, it
has absolutely stunted the growth of substantial business interests.
It may be said that we are overestimating the power of the not-
near-journalists—no more than we are overestimating the venom of
a rattlesnake—no more than we are overestimating the effect of an
ulcer upon the human system—no more than we are overstimating
the effects of cholera upon a community—no more than we are
overestimating the vile teaching and example of a set of men who
pollute the morals of a locality.
It is true that we have had some men who have stood up
boldly—honestly—fearlessly and have fought this pernicious influ-
ence, but just so long as advertisers continue to support dishonest
journalism, just so long it will exist, therefore we hold that reform
must come from within the industry itself. It must spring from
the hearts of men who demand better things, men who will fight
for the right and who will refuse to support the wrong.
So far as this trade newspaper institution is concerned, for
more than a quarter of a century it has fought impure journalism,
fought it as a principle, never descending from a vantage ground
which should always be occupied by honorable gentlemen.
We have fought degrading journalism as we have unfair
and dishonest business methods, and we are proud that we have
earned the undying enmity of the malignant type of men who
with frayed morals and soiled collars visit warerooms where their
presence is still tolerated.
It is quite natural that such a type of men should manifest
their hatred towards an institution that has stood between them and
their prey. We may expect the same feeling which the housebreaker
displays towards a policeman; there must, of course, be enmity be-
tween the two, and there must be always hostility between corrupt
journalism and decent journalism, and it is a distinct pleasure for us
to know that the pachydermic hides of the not-near-journalists of
a decadent press have been pierced by our weapons; it shows after
all that they have feelings—and we were led to be 1 ieve that a
mass of muscles filled the function of a heart with such
vermin.

Page 5 Text:

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
Name Protection a Vital Necessity.
N
AME protection and price maintenance are of vital interest to
the creative and distributive forces of every industry.
A court has already decided that the maker of a breakfast
food is entitled to protect the product against price cutters and is
entitled to treat them as infringers where the box in which such
breakfast food is sold is patented.
Manufacturers of packed goods of every kind, therefore, can
secure protection by marketing their products in a patented carton
or other container to invoke the patent law against the price cutting
infringer.
If an article packed in a patented container with a patented seal
affixed is sold at a reduced cost it will make the retail merchant
an infringer of the patent. To stop price cutting on shoes all that
is necessary is to pack them in patented cartons.
In fact, all articles of merchandise may be subjected to this
plan in order to stop price cutting.
In some trades the retailers have removed the well-known
products from cartons and boxes and have repacked them with
other kinds of merchandise not "so well known and presumably
much inferior.
In other words, there has been such trading on names and
reputations that the Government presumably will afford more ample
protection in the future than it has in the past.
Price maintenance and name protection constitute a subject of
vital interest to men in all industries.
So far as name imitators are concerned, in every trade there
have been some men who have borne the same patronymic as the
founders of great enterprises, who have sought to profit by a name
reputation which they in no manner assisted in building up.
The courts have viewed many of these cases as constituting
rank piracy and recent decisions show that there is an obvious de-
sire on the part of the courts to recognize name value as a distinct
and individual part of a business.
Then, again, there is also the manifest desire to protect the
public.
As a matter of fact it is not only the manufacturers who are
to blame, but they place in the hands of dishonest dealers products
with which they may deceive the public, oftentimes through mis-
leading advertising.
The public is led to believe that it is buying originals in many
cases instead of a most offensive imitation.
The piano industry in common with others has suffered. We
have had during the past few years a number of sporadic attempts
to trade upon the reputation of old-established houses.
We have had instances-as well where men bearing the same
family name have put forth instruments which have caused con-
fusion with old-established enterprises and which have enabled deal-
ers to use them in an unfair competitive sense.
Now, every piano merchant, no matter where located, is in-
terested in having certain principles maintained which are vital to
the stability of piano selling.
If men who have labored for many years to build up a name
reputation are not afforded adequate protection, then what does
human endeavor in a special field amount to?
What protection have stockholders in any enterprise if men
bearing the same patronymic can embark in business to-morrow at
half a dozen places and put forth products which are alleged to be
as good, if not better, than the original?
What encouragement is there for a man to invest his capital
in an enterprise if its value can be depreciated to-morrow through
the creation of kinds of competition which are destructive to busi-
ness stability?
It seems perhaps imposing a hardship upon men by prohibit-
ing them from entering certain lines of trade on account of the
existence of family names as trade-marks. True, but a name
reaches such value that it becomes an asset to a commercial enter-
prise, and citizens of this Republic who have invested money in a
corporation one of the assets of which is a name value, are entitled
to protection by the courts and presumably they will receive it.
For many years past at various intervals we have seen adver-
tising put forth by piano merchants in certain sections of the
country reeking with misrepresentation and fraud. We have seen
slurs upon great names of piano history, we have seen many false
statements made, w T e have seen names used very similar to estab-
lished names, with a deliberate intention of deceiving.
All of these things are know r n to the trade, and it is but fair
to assume that the courts of this country will protect the rights
of all. Name protection by all means should be maintained.
Rearrangement of Instalment Terms.
T
O those who hope or look for a rearrangement of instalment
terms in the piano trade, the recent move of a New York
furniture house in reducing length of credit in that particular
should point the way to better conditions.
In the furniture trade the average instalment terms call for
full payment of the accounts in less than two years, and the prices
of the furniture is generally advanced to a point which cover the
cost and bring some profit. And yet the terms have not been satis-
factory to the dealers in many cases.
In the piano trade the term of instalment payments extends
to between three and four years, in many cases with little added
to the price of the piano with the exception of interest, to cover
the tying up of the money for that long period.
The furniture house in question has changed its terms from a
couple of dollars down and two dollars per week on a hundred to
not less than one-third down at time of purchase and the balance
on notes for three and six months, respectively.
The argument is presented that under the new plan the pur-
chaser has the account cleaned up sooner than by the old way and
is not bothered by collectors or by the necessity of visiting the store
weekly to make payments. The point is made that the new terms
apply to all lines handled by the house and cover all special sales.
Why cannot the piano merchants sell pianos on a substantial
initial payment and on a series of notes maturing at periods within
the year? The plan appeals to all those with business instincts' and
elevates the time payment practice to a higher commercial level.
Too many piano buyers pay in instalments not because they
have to, but because such a method is possible and is made simple
for them. They could pay off more rapidly and just as easily if the
proposition were presented to them in a different light.
Getting Results From Holiday Trade.
R
EPORTS from Review correspndents in widely separated sec-
tions of the country are a unit in declaring that business
with merchants everywhere is in excellent shape. Our export and
import trade has now mounted up into tremendously large figures
and the nation's trade for the year will exceed four billion dollars,
Our farmers and stock raisers are blessed with good prices for
their products, mechanics arc enjoying good wages and people in
all lines of effort are accumulating a surplus,
Taken all in all the outlook is most encouraging for the piano
merchant in this the closing month of the year. In view of the
holiday trade he should just at this time paste the word "hustle"
in large type in his office so that he can observe it early in the
morning. And it should not be hidden from the gaze of his staff,
for we are facing an active and prosperous winter, and the men
who put strenuosity in their work will corns QUt at the right end
of the business cafnpajgn this year,

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