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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
57
MAKING NOON HOUR RECITALS PRODUCE REAL SALES
How One Dealer Solved the Problem Successfully by Playing Records for Which Requests Were
Made—Special Service Also Has Excellent Effect—Turning Listeners Into Buyers
Talking machine recitals during the afternoon
and evening hours have become more or less
common in every section of the country. The
afternoon concerts serve to attract the leisure
class among men and likewise the women shop-
pers ostensibly with money to spend. The eve-
ning recitals, of course, attract all classes and
may, or may not, bring results according to
the manner in which they are conducted, and
the manner in which they are followed up.
Several stores located in business districts,
however, have adopted the idea of giving noon-
day concerts in order to attract those workers
who have eaten lunch and still have a few
minutes to spare before returning to their desks.
One of the greatest drawbacks to the noon con-
certs, however, from a sales point of view, has
been the fact that a great number of those who
have a few moments to listen* to one or two
selections do not have the time to buy or even
look over the general catalog. They would
come in and spend ten or fifteen minutes and
leave without attempting to approach a sales-
man.
The experiment has been tried of distributing
record supplements bearing the dealer's name
to each one entering the store, to endeavor, by
offering to mail record supplements regularly,
to secure the names and addresses of the visitors
for later consideration, and by having sales-
men mingle with the audience to encourage per-
sonal contacts. In some cases the results of
these tactics were satisfactory and in many cases
the sales were not of a volume to warrant the
expenditure entailed.
One bright talking machine man after watch-
ing the crowds at the noonday concerts and
seeing the same people frequently and observing
that they purchased nothing conceived the idea
that perhaps the program offered, while well
calculated to emphasize the excellence of the
better classes of records, did not appeal to the
majority of those who measured their entire
luncheon period by the time clock. The man-
ager, therefore, installed at the door a sugges-
tion box above which was hung two or three of
the latest record hangers showing the new se-
lections and special hits, with paper and pencil
provided for the visitors, and they were re-
quested to drop into the box the name of any
record they desired played.
While the limited amount of time made it im-
possible to oblige everybody, it was discovered
that there were frequently a large number of
visitors who desired to hear one or two particu-
lar records which were naturally played first,
and then followed in order by records for which
the most requests had been made. The results
were immediately satisfactory, for by playing
just what the listeners wanted to hear and hav-
ing the records immediately available, many of
the noon hour crowd soon cultivated the habit
of going up to the sales desk even while the
record was playing and purchasing that par-
ticular record and perhaps several others listed
on the bulletin. The manager's idea turned what
had been a pleasant entertainment into a sales
producing campaign.
The manager also declared that a number of
those who had failed to buy had hesitated be-
cause they were not prepared to pay for the rec-
ords at the time they were ordered, having, as is
often the case with shop and office workers,
especially girls, brought only enough money to
see them comfortably through the day and meet
normal expenses. The dealer, therefore, had
special slips printed and attached to the sugges-
tion box advising members of the audience tftat
any records selected would be delivered at their
homes the following day on the C. O. D. plan,
and twenty-four hours leeway was given in order
that the purchasers might notify those at home
to accept and pay for the records. Every such
delivery put a new prospect on the book to which
supplements were mailed regularly every month.
On several occasions the order to deliver rec-
ords C. O. D. resulted in an order for a single
record to be sent a prohibitive distance. On
such occasions the dealer explained the circum-
stances to the purchaser and offered to put the
record to one side with the understanding that
the purchaser would come in the following noon
and pay for it.
When the purchaser was employed in a store
having a checking system on outgoing packages,
the dealer sealed the record very carefully, af-
fixed his own label on the wrapper, together
with a special "paid" label to avoid causing the
purchaser any embarrassment in the checking
room.
The result of the campaign has been the de-
velopment of a noon hour trade that exceeds that
of any similar period during the day.
ZITHER RECORDSJW COLUMBIA LIST
Two Recordings by Max Margot, Concert Zither
Soloist, Announced in Recent List—Zither
Accompaniment for Tenor Solo
The recent list of German and German-
Austrian Columbia records issued by the Colum-
bia Graphophone Co. contains a listing of two
zither solos by Max Margot. The selections are
Herzenskonigin (Queen of Hearts) Polka and
Spielende Elfen (Playing Elves). These record-
ings are the first that have been issued by the
Columbia Co. featuring the zither, and dealers
are reporting an excellent demand for the same
from those patrons who are acquainted with
the beauties of this too little-known instrument.
The artist, Max Margot, who is well known in
this country as a concert zither artist, studied
in Berlin and Cologne under the guidance of
such masters of the zither as Professors Hosa,
Herman and Konrad of the famous Berlin
Quintet, and for a number of years has appeared
in this country on 'th'£ concert and vaudeville
stage.
In addition to the above recordings the Co-
lumbia list contains the tenor solo from Das
Edelweiss, sung by Max Bloch, and the Brunn-
steiner Bauern-Truppe, which has a zither ac-
companiment by Margot.
ATTRACTIVE PATHE BOOKLET
A neat and attractive folder featuring all the
models of Pathephones in its line has just been
issued by the Pathe Freres Phonograph Co.,
Brooklyn, N. Y. This folder is intended for
general distribution, and has been made of a
convenient size so that it may be used for en-
velope enclosure.
In addition to presenting clear-cut illustra-
tions of the different instruments in the Pathe-
phone line this folder briefly gives some of the
exclusive features of the Pathephone which
have been responsible for its international suc-
cess. A few paragraphs are also devoted to a
discussion of the manufacturing principles that
form the basis of the Pathe disc, and the folder
as a whole is valuable publicity matter for every
Pathe dealer.
The Pathephones illustrated include Nos. 225,
125, 75 and 50, accompanied by adequate in-
formation as to their respective sizes and
qualities.
NEWARK EDISON SHOP ACTIVE
The Edison Shop, 861 Broad street, Newark,
N. J., has been closing a heavy volume of busi-
ness since January 1. Informal concerts are
given every afternoon and in addition concerts
by invitation are given each Saturday at 3.30
and 8.30 p. m., with usually at least one of the
Edison staff of vocal artists as an added attrac-
tion. On Saturday, March 10, a splendidly
attended concert was given, both afternoon and
evening with a well known soprano, Betsy Lane
Shepard, as the vocal star of the day. One of
the recent feature sales made by the Edison
Shop was an official laboratory model Edison
to Thos. H. McCarter, president of the Public
Service Corp., of Newark.
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