Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1917 Vol. 65 N. 15

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
4
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
REVIEW
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
President, C. L. Bill, 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Vice-President, J. B. Spillane,
373 Fourth Ave., New York: Second Vice-President, J. Raymond Bill, 373 Fourth Ave.,
New York; Secretary and Treasurer, August J. Timpe, 373 Fourth Ave., New York.
J. B. SPILLANE, Editor
J. RAYMOND BILL, Associate Editor
AUGUST J. TIMPE
Business Manager
Executive and Reportorlal Stall:
B. BMTTAIK WILSON, CARLETON CHACE, L. M. ROBINSON, WILSON D. BUSH, V. D. WALSH,
W M . BRAID WHITE (Technical Editor), E. B. MUNCH, A. J. NICKLIN, L. E. BOWERS
BOSTON OFFICE:
CHICAGO OFFICE:
JOHN H. WILSON, 324 Washington St. E. P. VAN HARLINGEN, Republic Building.
Telephone, Main 69S0.
209 So. State St. Telephone, Wabash 5774.
H. SCOTT KINGWILL, Assistant Manager.
LONDON, ENGLAND: 1 Gresham Buildings, Basinghall St., D. C.
NEWS SERVICE IS SUPPLIED WEEKLY BY OUR CORRESPONDENTS
LOCATED IN THE LEADING CITIES THROUGHOUT AMERICA.
Published Every Saturday at 373 Fourth Avenue, New York
Entered at the New York Post Office as Second Class Matter.
SUBSCRIPTION (including postage), United States and Mexico, $2.00 per year;
Canada, $3.50; all other countries, $5.00.
ADVERTISEMENTS, $4.50 per inch, single column, per insertion. On quarterly or
yearly contracts a special discount is allowed. Advertising pages, $130.
REMITTANCES, in other than currency forms, should be made payable to Edward
Lyman Bill, Inc.
anil
Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
allU
tions of a technical nature relating to the tuning,
n*>n9rfmpnfc
regulating and repairing of pianos and player-pianos
UcJJdl I l l l c l l l s . a r e d e a i t w ; t h f W ,H be found in another section of
this paper. We also publish a number of reliable technical works, information concern-
ing which will be cheerfully given upon request.
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Prix
Paris Exposition, 1900 Silver Medat. .Charleston Exposition, 1902
Diploma.. .Pan-American Exposition, 1901 Gold Medal
S t Louis Exposition, 1904
Gold Medal. .Lewis-Clark Exposition, 1905
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONES—NUMBERS 5982—«983 MADISON SQ.
Connecting all Departments
Cable address: "Klbtll, New York."
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 1 3 , 1917
EDITORIAL
NE of the chief topics of interest in the trade at the present
O
time, or it may be said the topic, is the War Revenue Act
passed and signed last week and the manner in which it affects
the trade interests. At the present time it is a question of watch-
ful waiting until the Treasury Department makes known its inter-
pretation of the various clauses of the bill, and particularly, from
the viewpoint of this trade, that giving the definition and scope
of the term "piano players" used in the section bearing on musi-
cal instruments. Until that term is definitely interpreted, it is
useless to endeavor to forsee what effect the law will have on the
piano industry as a whole. Regarding the tax on talking ma-
chines, records and music rolls, of course, there is no doubt.
The payment of the tax, be it said, offers less cause for worry
to the average piano man than do his problems in meeting the
taxes on excess profits, incomes, etc. Fortunately the retailer
is free of any direct excise tax, which means that the 3 per cent,
tax will be levied on the wholesale cost of the instrument or the
parts thereof, as the Treasury Department may decide.
If the worst comes, and the Treasury Department ruling is
drastic, as it finally stands, there is nothing in the tax that should
upset the trade to any great degree. The tax will, of course,
be passed on from the manufacturer to the retailer, and then
from him to the customer, and should not add enough to the
cost of even the more expensive instruments to seriously affect
retail sales.
Compared with the provisions of the original draft of the bill,
as offered in the House of Representatives last spring, the new
law is a mild measure, and if the changes are due, and they
probably have been in some measure, to the concentrated efforts
of trade associations and individuals, then these interests are to
be congratulated upon the success of their efforts. The excise
tax has not been eliminated, that is true, but it has been reduced
to a point where it can at least be borne without threatening to
bankrupt the industry.
in the music trade industry has shown an upward
B USINESS
trend in both retail and wholesale lines during the past two
weeks, and the general outlook is steadily improving. Increased
employment throughout the country, embracing practically every
member of the family, is bringing into the homes of the people
a larger sum of money, with the result that a share of this is
bound to find its way into the music trade industry—in fact it
is finding its-way now.
Commenting on trade conditions, Dun's in its latest report
points out that "Progress toward better business has been unmis-
takable in some important branches which recently experienced
halting, and more optimistic views of the general situation are
possible. With the gain in actual transactions, which in some
lines has been conspicuous, there has come an increase in the
working force at plants which had been running less actively, or
not at all, and further price recoveries are witnessed in certain
quarters where there had been rather sharp yielding."
Further evidence, if it were needed, of the improving condi-
tions of the country are set forth in the monthly bulletin of the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which points out that
"general business conditions in this district are good. Conserva-
tism in buying continues and has had desirable effects, notable
among them being a pause in the upward movement of com-
modity prices and the maintenance of generally satisfactory col-
lections. The general report is that payments are being made
with a promptness gratifying in view of the increased invest-
ments necessary to carry on business under present conditions
and of the firm money rates which have recently obtained. The
volume of business, including Government orders, as measured
in dollars, is above that of recent months and of last year. Cer-
tain industries which experienced depression following our entry
into the war or during the mid-summer period report distinct
revival of business, the automobile industry being a notable
example."
All things considered, there is no reason why the music
trade industry should not incline to a most optimistic viewpoint,
so far as business prospects for the coming winter are concerned.
It is true that the income of a great many people will be cut
down through increased taxation, but money is finding its way
into the homes of millions of people through increased wages who
heretofore had no surplus purchasing power—which means a
new line of piano prospects.
T
HE piano*trade is naturally following out its patriotic duties
and giving its whole support to the floating of the second
Liberty Loan. A number of concerns are calling attention to the
Loan in their regular advertising space in the newspapers and
the various trade organizations have devised plans for getting
subscriptions.
According to reports, however, through the practice of sell-
ing pianos on instalments, the trade is indirectly aiding the Loan
in that direction. The meeting of regular instalment payments
means that the purchaser must adopt a fixed system of saving
and the system persists even after the instrument is paid for.
It is stated that a New York man, who had just finished paying
for a player-piano at the rate of $12.50 per month for forty-six
months, has had the habit of paying montly instalments fastened
on him so irretrievably that he is now paying for $250 worth
of bonds on the same basis.
ACH year witnesses an appreciation of association influence
E
in this trade and a tendency to achieve results along those
lines that have won out so successfully in the larger industries
of the country.
At the last convention in Chicago, as at the State convention
in Ohio, as well as other gatherings recently, there has been
evident a desire to do something more than merely to meet for
a pleasant social time. The aim has been to achieve results
that would inure to the benefit of the music trade industry as a
whole—that would lift it to a higher plane of usefulness to its
members.
A couple of years ago J. Harry Estey, when president of
the National Piano Manufacturers' Association, in addressing the
guests of the New York Association at the banquet at the Hotel
Astor uttered a great truth in discussing the value of an associa-
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
tion to the individual member when he stated that "the benefits
accruing from association membership were in exact ratio to the
benefits that the association received from the member himself."
In other words, the man who pays his dues and then waits for
something to happen very likely will be disappointed.
An association to be successful must be composed of en-
thusiasts and must possess to a marked degree what the French
so aptly term esprit de corps. As a chain is only as strong as
its weakest link, so trade association is just so strong as the
individual members tend to make it. It is a fact to be noted
that the man who most generally complains about the inactivity
of the association and its inability to bring about trade reforms
in a day, is the very man who sits in his office and waits for
something to happen. He doesn't stop to think that it is him-
self and those of similar characteristics who hold the organiza-
tion back. He wouldn't stand for a member of his organization
sitting at a desk all day without making effort to sell goods but
with plenty of time to comment upon the general business de-
pression ; and yet he wants the association to accomplish results
with much dead wood impeding its action.
A man that takes an active interest in an association will
see that it makes progress, and when the progress is not as
great as anticipated he will be in a position to understand the
cause. The officers of the trade association are drawn from the
members. They serve without pay and at times neglect their
own personal business interests to attend to the duties of their
offices. Their sacrifice is at least worthy of a little interest and
co-operation on the part of the individual member. That is
little enough payment for their work.
T
HE labor question is still one of the most pressing that is
facing the piano trade to-day, and there is no immediate pros-
pect of the situation being relieved to any extent for an indefi-
nite period to come. Not only has the call of the military taken
away many men from all departments, but the call of the war
industries, with their inflated wage offerings, has also met with
generous response not only from piano factories but from fac-
tories in every other peace industry.
The advisability of employing women is being considered
with more seriousness each week, not necessarily from any idea
that women are superior to men in handling the work, but sim-
ply from the necessity of having some form of human labor to
carry on the work at all.
One of the piano action factories has been forced to employ
female labor in several of its departments, and the experiment
has not proven wholly a success, from the simple fact that
efficient methods of control have not been devised. The foremen
had been used to bossing men for years and did not know just
how to handle women. They did not care to "bawl them out,"
as the common expression goes, and yet to reason or plead with
them would display'weakness. The result was that, between
the two extremes, the foreman was practically compelled to let
things slide and the work naturally suffered both in quality and
quantity. It is reported that the dropping of a bolt at one end
of the room would be sufficient to detract the attention of a
score of girls'from their work. Then there was the usual fac-
tory gossip to be indulged in, and on the whole the plan did not
work out at all satisfactory.
It is probable that the house in question will adopt the plan
of placing a forewoman over the girls and have her responsible
to the foreman, the woman to control the girls and the foreman
to lay out and pass upon the work. But the experience thus far
should serve to guide other manufacturers who expect to utilize
female labor.
T
HE action of the Federal Government in fixing the price of
the present wheat crop at $2.20 a bushel is now known
to be the first of a series of similar definite price fixing measures
which will be put into effect by the administration. While the
price fixed by the Government is not quite as high as some of
the farmers had expected to obtain, it is safe to assume that the
interests of the farmers generally have been conserved, and
that on the whole the producers of wheat will receive a fair profit
on their season's output.
This automatic fixing of a standard price for wheat will also
mitigate the chances of exorbitant prices for flour and other
wheat products later, as the speculators will find themselves
shorn of much of the power they formerly possessed to corner
the market and send prices skyward.
Aside from the fact that this act on the part of the Govern-
ment assures the farmer of a fair price for his product and also
assures the consumer that he will not have to pay an unfair
price for flour and bread later on, there is a psychological effect
pertaining to the procedure, the value of which must not be
underestimated.
There are still many people who have an inherent fear of
war time conditions, and despite the fact that the experiences
of both England and Canada have shown that war times, at
least in this day and generation, are prosperous times, there has
been an undercurrent of unrest distinctly noticeable in the minds
of many people. This unrest has not been due to a lack of faith
in the ultimate future of the country, but has been due to the
more or less uncertainty with which the future has been shrouded.
The action of the Government in definitely fixing the status
of the wheat market, easily one of the most important markets
in the country, should do much towards lifting the veil of ob-
scurity, so far as the future is concerned, thereby bringing to
those in need of it a more definite feeling of assurance that this
nation can safely weather the stress and strain attendant upon
the conflict in which it is now engaged.
GETTING DOWN TO PLAIN PLAYER FACTS
The education of the public along player lines is a necessity for the expansion of the player business.
There is no doubt of that; and education of the piano merchants and salesmen is also a vital necessity,
because through them will come a powerful force in the education of the public; and right here we wish to
remark that we have produced a line of books upon the player-piano which comprehensively covers the
entire player situation.
In this respect this trade newspaper stands alone, for it has been the principal source from which player
information has been available for piano merchants and salesmen for a period of years. Our latest book,
"The Player-Piano Up to Date"
is the best of the series. It contains upwards of 220 pages of matter bearing directly upon the player.
Every piano merchant and piano salesman should have a copy of this book within easy reach. It
gives to readers a fund of information not obtainable elsewhere.
It contains a series of original drawings and a vast amount of instructive and educational matter, as
well as a detailed description of some of the principal player mechanisms.
It costs $1.50 to have this book delivered to any address in the United States, and your money will be
refunded if you are not satisfied with the book after examination. No one yet has availed himself of this
opportunity. Foreign countries, 15c. to cover extra postage, should be added.
Estate of EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Publisher
373 Fourth Ave., New York

Download Page 4: PDF File | Image

Download Page 5 PDF File | Image

Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).

Pro Tip: You can flip pages on the issue easily by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.