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THE MUSIC TRADE
10
REVIEW
CLEVELAND PIANO DEALERSjtEPORT EXCELLENT BUSINESS
Previous Records Broken During Past Month, and Shortage of Stock Is the Only Difficulty Being
Experienced—May Co. to Hold Special Sale—Talking Machine Men to Meet
CLEVELAND, O., October 15.—Practically all the
Cleveland music houses report the biggest Sep-
tember's business in their history. The sales
have not been confined to one particular line
of musical instruments, but are divided among
straight pianos, players and talking machines.
Among the music concerns that report rec-
ord-breaking business are the Starr Co.,
Dreher's, Caldwell's, the Eclipse Musical Co. and
the Phonograph Co. Many of the piano dealers
cannot get stock fast enough to keep pace with
the sales. On account of this shortage of both
pianos and talking machines a number of the
merchants have gone to New York this week to
try to push ahead faster the shipments toward
this section of the country.
And, furtherfore, the dealers predict an even
greater business next month and in December.
They say that highly paid mechanics who never
had the luxuries of life to speak of, are now,
with the high wages, spending much money in
musical instruments.
They see the greatest
season ahead for the winter months that they
have ever experienced.
R. E. Taylor, district manager of the Starr
Co., has just returned from a business trip to
New York City.
A letter of appreciation and thanks has been
received by Manager L. T. Dickson, of the Starr
Co., for the talking machines which the com-
pany loaned the soldiers when they were in
camp here recently.
Dan J. Nolan, manager of the May Co.'s piano
department, is planning his October piano sale
which begins next Monday. This is a yearly
event which is looked forward to by the Cleve-
land public as some great piano bargains are al-
ways announced by May's. The sale will in-
clude various types of the Behr piano in the
upright, player and grand models. This is the
third year of this sale at this season of the
year. Last October May's sold forty-six pianos
in one day, which was a record-breaker.
Frank E. Edgar, of the Wilcox & White
Co., Meriden, Conn., was a visitor at May's
piano department early this week. He repre-
sents the Angelus line.
Louis Roemer, of Cable & Sons, New York,
left Caldwell's with a good order for pianos a
few days ago. Mr. Roemer says his house can-
not keep up with orders, so great is the demand
for pianos this fall everywhere.
Caldwell's report they have only one-fiftieth
of the stock of talking machines that they had a
year ago this fall.
The B. Dreher's Sons Co. announce they are
flooded with orders for pianos and talking ma-
chines. They have had the best September busi-
ness in their entire history. Recently this com-
pany sent two piano players to the army canton-
ment at Chillicothe, O., for the pleasure of the
soldiers there.
A. J. Brooks, of the Huntington Piano Co.,
Derby, Conn., was a visitor at Dreher's recently.
Wamelink's salesmen say that business at
their store up to the 15th of this month was
very good, but that it was slower the latter
half of the month. Fred W. Lohr, of Hard-
man, Peck & Co., called at Wamelink's the first
part of the week.
The next regular meeting of the Talking Ma-
chine Dealers' Association of Northern Ohio
will be held October 17 at Hotel Statler. En-
deavor will be made to duplicate the great suc-
cess of the first meeting of the fall season held
September 19 at Hotel Statler, when a dozen
TWIN CITY PIANO TRADE IN FLOURISHING CONDITION
Labor Disturbances Have Slight Effect on Business—Agricultural Conditions Bring Added Pros-
perity—Grand Pianos in Great Demand—Many Travelers During the Past Week
MINNEAPOLIS and
ST. PAUL, MINN., October 15.
—Street car strikes disarranged business pro-
ceedings in Minneapolis and St. Paul last week,
but they were not of long duration, being dis-
posed of through the action of the Minnesota
Public Safety Commission which compelled a
compromise in the interests of public welfare.
The affair hurt trade a little in the Twin Cities
and threatened to become' serious through the
apparent intentions of labor unions* to join in
sympathetic strikes.
Grain is moving much more freely than was
the case a month ago, and as a result there is
more ready money in circulation in the rural
communities. The country trade is excellent,
according to all reports, and undoubtedly will
keep the pace for some months. Disturbances
through the aggressions of the I. W. W. and
other disloyal elements are handled with such
promptness and vigor that the people generally
feel confident that the Government has the situa-
tion well in hand.
The outstanding feature of the piano trade is
Dealers! Do Your
Xmas Shopping Now
For several months we have been preparing to
meet the big 1917 holiday business, and desire to fill
every dealer's orders promptly and in full.
We ask you to co-operate with us by placing your
orders at once for every instrument you can use be-
tween now and January 1st.
LUDWIG &
Willow Ave. and 136th St.
people made speeches following a banquet and
the activities of the association were launched
for another year.
E. B. Lyons, of the Eclipse Musical Co., is
at Tiffin, O., for a week. There is a clam-
bake on there at the invitation of the Elks, and
a number of the talking machine jobbers were
invited to the feast.
C. K. Bennett, manager of the wholesale de-
partment of the Eclipse Co., is in the East
hunting up machines to keep pace with his
large orders in this city.
Business is booming at Edison's phonograph
headquarters here. The store is selling many
machines for Christmas delivery.
There will be a concert at the phonograph
offices to-morrow night when Ciccolini, the
operatic baritone, will sing his own records, ac-
companied by the Edison machine playing the
same records to bring out the correctness of
the Edison recording device. A limited number
of cards have been issued for the concert. Other
concerts will follow in October and November.
The Whiteman Piano Co. have taken the
agencies for the Sonora, Bluebird and Eufo-
nola talking machines. Harry W. Jones has
left the employ of this concern to become as-
sistant manager of the Parlett Co., claim agents.
NEW YORK
the continued demand for grands.
Sales of
these instruments no longer are exceptional, but
are daily events even with some of the smaller
houses.
Both the Metropolitan Music Co.,
Minneapolis, and W. J. Dyer & Bro., St. Paul,
the Steinway representatives in the Twin Cities,
report a steady and constant output of Steinway
grand pianos. The R. W. Bonyea Piano Co.
sold two Kurtzmann grands last week, one to
S. J. McDonald, manager for Mannheimer Bros.,
and the other to Fred Lovell, a former piano
man. A number of Knabe grands, likewise, have
been disposed of by Raudenbush & Sons.
It was reported by a former salesman for the
Schimmel piano factory at Faribault, who en-
tered the employ of the house of Raudenbush
last week, that the Schimmel plant has been
closed because of the difficulty in obtaining sup-
plies. It is believed that the shut-down will
be but temporary. The other piano works in
tnis territory, the Raudenbush plant, St. Paul,
and the Holland plant, Menomonie, Wis., are
running full blast.
W. A. Lawton, direct from New York, is in
charge of the St. Paul store of the P. A. Starck
Piano Co. He is an old piano man in the East,
but believes that he will like the West. Mr.
Krier, former manager, will remain with Mr.
Lawton for some time.
Taking advantage of the good shooting in the
Northwest this fall, A. F. Smith, secretary of
the Holland Piano Mfg. Co., and George H.
Redel, sales manager, took down their guns last
week and headed for some good passes located
east of Pine City, Minn. The reports are not
in, but they are in a country full of game.
Hearkening back to the matter of grands let
it be recorded that the Cable Piano Co., when
this was written, had only two grand pianos in
its entire stock. There were no Cables, no
Conovers, and only two Mason & Hamlins and
their tenure was most brief.
The Twin Cities might almost have been taken
for a mobilization point of the traveling mem-
bers of the fraternity last week, because of the
numbers who registered there. We record the
names of D. F. Cordingley, of the Aeolian Co.;
A. Dalrymple, of the Estey Piano Co.; W. S.
Rich, of the McPhail Piano Co.; Reinhard
Kochmann, of the Sterling Co.; Charles Briggs,
of the Briggs Piano Co.; Major Robertson, of
the Tonk Co.; Fred Colber, of Wm. Knabe &
Co.; E. C. Johnson, «of the J. A. Schaff Co.
And there may have been others. The consen-
sus of opinions in this group was that the gen-
eral situation was quite satisfactory and some-
what better than a year ago.