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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
PIANO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS IN SAN FRANCISCO.
Publ city Now Tending Toward the Holiday Season and Bringing Good Results in a Business
Way—Photo Player Sales Co. Secures New Quarters—Flexotone Electrelle Featured.
(.Special to The Review.)
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., November 27.—With sev-
eral days of threatening weather, in addition to the
usual holiday feeling experienced during Thanks-
giving week, business has been hardly as active as
it was early in the month. Attention is, in fact,
beginning to turn a litile from pianos and similar
expensive lines, toward small goods, talking ma-
chines and records, etc., that are more in the line
of Christmas gifts, and all the subsidiary depart-
ments are having an exceptionally good run. The
piano line, however, is expected to revive after the
holidays, and from inquiries already received it
would seem that pianos may figure more largely in
the strictly Christmas trade than for several years
past. The idea of working in unison for greater
interest in pianos is taking hold, and a good deal
of advertising is being done all over the Coast,
with some rather striking campaigns even in the
smaller towns.
Some of this is really strong, constructive work;
but there is a good deal not of the highest class;
notwithstanding the strong propaganda against such
methods, a number of "prize" and "puzzle" contests
and the like are running at various points, and a
few weird and wonderful "excuses" for special bar-
gains are advanced.
One of the most attractive and constructive cam-
paigns is that recently initiated by the Coast agents
for the Aeolian Co., Sherman, Clay & Co., and the
Geo. J. Birkel Co., at their various stores, taking
large space in papers all over the territory. The
alluring cuts and the fine style of the reading mat-
ter accompanying the captions: "In My Neighbor's
Garden" and "The Scarf-Dance" have attracted uni-
versal attention and are generally approved as of
a nature tending to upbuild the whole player busi-
ness, though cunningly shaped to emphasize the
Pianola.
Kohler & Chase are keeping up their local cam-
paign, turning now more to Christmas advertising
—a big Christmas tree in a recent ad. being rooted
in "Character," "Quality," "Reliability," etc., with
its fruit labeled Knabe, Kranich & Bach, Behr
Bros., Fischer, Emerson, Kohler & Campbell, Kohler
& Chase, Andrew Kohler, and Shoninger. The cut
really makes quite a fine showing, and the text, be-
sides setting forth the company's preparations for
the holiday season, gives prominence to each of the
lines mentioned. The local store is having a fine
month, and W. R. Ragland, who gives special at-
tention to the wholesale end, says that end of the
business has been even better than the retail. Some
minor improvements are being made in the rear of
the ground floor at present.
The Emporium has started its holiday player-
piano club sale, which is being extensively adver-
tised on both sides of the bay, and Harry Marcus,
the manager, says the large piano shipments re-
cently received are moving off rapidly.
Carstenson & Anson Co. Opens in Ogden.
Last week was Utah Products Week at Ogden,
Utah, and a lot of special display and advertising
work was done, even on pianos which do not grow
in Utah. One of the ads., announcing the opening
of an Ogden branch by the Carstenson & Anson
Co., of Salt Lake City, is rather striking, especially
as it takes two full pages. It is announced that, to
celebrate the opening and relieve congestion at
manufacturers' quarters, $5,000 in jewelry and other
valuable prizes is to be given away; and the text
starts off with the statement, "Everyone knows that
export business has been practically at a standstill
for several months," which seems truly remarkable
in view of current custom-house reports. But, then,
perhaps nobody reads custom-house reports in
Utah. The new Ogden store is located at 2417
Hudson avenue, where G. R. Smith is in charge;
HEINEMAN MOTORS
"The Motor of Quality"
and connected with the sale is A. G. Barnes, a
former Eilers man, who signs himself as "author-
ized factory representative."
Valley Music House Takes Howard Stock.
The Howard Piano Co., of Salem, Ore., has gone
out of business, and the stock has been taken over
by the Valley Music House, C. F. Hull, manager.
Secure Wurlitzer Exposition Organ.
Mr. Leathbury, local manager for the Rudolph
Wurlitzer Co., has been getting some very substan-
tial orders of late, the most important of the week
being from the Turner & Dahnken Theatrical Co.,
which will ins'.all in one of its theatres the big VVur-
litzer-Hope-Jones unit orchestra now at the expo-
sition. Just which of its places will receive this
instrument is not announced. The Turner & Dahn-
ken people have also recently ordered two of the
most expensive Photo Player instruments.
New Quarters for Photo Player Sales Co.
Notwithstanding the extensive improvements late-
ly made in its quarters on Kearny street, the Amer-
ican PhocO Player Sales Co. has found its store in-
adequate for the growing needs of the business and
has been quietly looking for a more suitable loca-
tion for some time. It has now closed a lease for
the second floor of the Film Exchange Building,
Jones street and Golden Gate avenue, in the heart
of the moving-picture supply district. This will
give much larger space for stock and demonstration
than has formerly been used, and the opportunity
will be taken to fit up a room for demonstration
with films in use. More attention also will be de-
voted to pipe organs. The company expects to
move in January, and at the same time it will again
take over the Auto Orchestra Co. and the Manu-
facturers Piano Co. This will involve special ar-
rangements for the featuring of the Seeburg play-
ers and other instruments.
Geo. J. Jackson, Western representative of the
American Piano Co., has just returned from his
Eastern trip.
How the Flexotone-Electrelle Impressed.
All the employes of the Electric Bungalow in the
Manufacturers' Building at the exposition, includ-
ing Frank Weems, demonstrator for the American
Flexotone-Electrelle, had a Thanksgiving dinner
Wednesday evening; all food was prepared by elec-
tricity in the bungalow. The Flexotone-Electrelle
is now being prominently advertised by the McNeill
Music Co. at Stockton, Cal., and the Hockett-Bris-
tol Co. at Fresno, and it is believed that this is
only the beginning of a general campaign on this
line. An interesting story has come out about the
electrelle exhibited in the Electric Bungalow. It
seems that there was some delay in having it
judged by the jury of awards, as it was not in the
Liberal Arts Building; but finally the jury came in.
Frank Weems was demonstrating, and one of the
jurors (an eminent musician and head of a musical
school in New York), who acted as spokesman,
came at him with a long list of questions in regard
to the many claims made for the electrelle. He
wound up with a quiz on its educational value; and
Frank produced the goods to such effect that on
completion of the demonstration, without waiting to
•pronounce judgment as to the prize, the spokesman
ordered one of the instruments immediately sent to
his New York establishment.
A. L. JEWETT VISITS NEW YORK.
A. L. Jewett, president of the National Piano
Co., Boston, Mass., spent several days in New York
last week in conference with dealers from the East-
ern territory. Mr. Jewett states that the percent-
age of sales in favor of the Briggs and the Briggs
metal Air-O-Player is steadily growing, thus at-
testing to the condition that people have consid-
erable money and are spending it for good things.
In order to select pianos and talking machines,
P. C. Johnson, of Blue Island, 111., recently visited
Chicago. Mr. Johnson, who is a brother of H. G.
Johnson, superintendent of factories of the Hol-
land Piano Manufacturing Co., opened a new store
last week in Blue Island.
Increase Your
Income
Piano merchants, who
have not investigated
the talking machine
field, will find that the
subject is one of deep
interest to them and
they will also learn that
talking machines con-
stitute a line which can
be admirably blended
with piano selling.
The advance that has
been m a d e in this
special field has been
phenomenal and every
dealer w h o desires
s p e c i f ic information
concerning talking ma-
chines should receive
The Talking Machine
World regularly.
This is the only publi-
cation in A m e r i c a
devoted exclusively to
the interests of the talk-
ing machine, and each
issue contains a vast
fund of valuable in-
formation which the
talking machine job-
bers and dealers say is
worth ten times the cost
of the paper to them.
You can receive the
paper regularly at a cost
of $1.00 a year and we
know of no manner in
which $1.00 can be ex-
pended which will sup-
ply as much valuable
information.
EDWARD LYMAN BILL
Publisher
373 Fourth Ave.
NEW YORK