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THE
MUSIC TRADE
VOL. L X . N o . 23 Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman BUI at 373 Fourth Ave., New York, June 5, 1915
A Many Sided American.
T
HERE are in the music trade a host of sincere mourners for Elbert Hubbard. That I know,
because I have met many of them personally and discussed with them the writings of "The
Fra," as he liked to be called by his friends.
Elbert Hubbard was a unique personality in the literary world—unlike any other in
many particulars. He was eccentric in various ways, strongly original in his literary tastes and had
won an army of readers who loved his peculiar style.
His epigrammatic sentences, his cutting sarcasm, his originality in sentence building, appealed
to them.
He was a many-sided man. While he was not an orator, yet he had few rivals in his ability to
interest and hold the attention of his audiences. He knew nothing of the elocutionary art, and his
voice did not vibrate with passion or run the scale of tonal expression. He understood no tricks of
speech to gain the applause of his hearers. Earnestness seemed to be his sole resource to hold an
audience, for he talked easily, in a voice that had a fair carrying power, and his audience was
invariably of the most attentive kind.
But with the pen Hubbard was most fascinating. Probably he was the most facile writer in the
periodical field.
He had an unusual memory and was able to quote readily from almost any author he had ever
read. His style was individualistic and attractive.
He wrote epigrams as easily as most people write commonplace sentences.
He was a self-advertiser and possessed an unusually magnetic personality. He affected long
hair, flowing black neckties and broad-brimmed hats for advertising purposes only, because there
was nothing of the effeminate about Hubbard. He was in every respect a clever advertising man.
He had written up different enterprises at various times in a most entertaining manner. Some
of the leading piano houses of this country have been interestingly pictured with his flowing pen.
Just before he departed for Europe, perhaps the last letter that he ever wrote was to the head
of an advertising company soliciting some special pages, and the letter itself was true to the Hubbard
models. It was clever, witty, and the man to whom the communication was addressed sent him the
desired order just before he left these shores on the ill-fated "Lusitania."
One of his business-building plans was to work up in his original and piquant manner some of
the peculiarities of special products. In this way he commanded a large price for his work, and filled
the pages of his periodicals with publicity at good prices.
Hubbard was a believer in the trade press. In an article from his pen written for The Music
Trade Review he said:
"The trade paper mirrors the mind of the progressive thinker and breathes the spirit of the age.
Its pages are filled with instruction and information, the result of specialized knowlege and research.
The editorial department of the trade paper is in the hands of experts who have their fingers upon
the pulse of human thought and activity.
"Its pages are full of facts—facts that bring home truths—facts that expose falsehoods—facts
that spell success.
"The trade paper does not deal in superficialities. It does not merely scratch the surface, it digs
deep down into the heart of things. It is intensely practical, and has quality, tone and depth.
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(Continued on page 5.)