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NOVEMBER 2,
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
1918
DEALERS IN PORTLAND, ORE., DOING EXCELLENT BUSINESS
Sales for October Greatly in Excess of Totals for Same Month Last Year—Labor Conditions Help
Stimulate Business—Local Piano Men Well Stocked for Holiday Trade
PORTLAND, ORE., October 25.—Portland piano
and talking machine dealers are almost unable
to account for the excellent business of the past
month which has been so far ahead of October,
1917, that comparisons are ludicrous. Despite
the Liberty Loan, in which Portland went "over
the top," dealers found business going right
ahead and the one cry from all was for more
stock.
Sales of pianos were probably never as great
in one month as in the month just ended. High-
grade pianos especially seem in demand, and
many of the sales reported are for 100 per cent,
cash, and all dealers say that the contracts on
an average are far better than those made out
a year ago.
Frank Case, manager of the Portland branch
of the Wiley B. Allen Co., offers an explanation
of the condition which seems to fit in with.the
big sales. "The labor situation in Portland is
such that business cannot be otherwise than
good," said Mr. Case. "We have here 45,000
workers in the shipyards, two-thirds or three-
fourths of whom have come in from the outside.
These men are all employed at exceptional
wages. They have brought their families with
them, and the result is an addition of possibly
125,000 persons to the population. Every house
in Portland is rented at high rents. That makes
the landlords prosperous. Merchants are pros-
perous in their business relations with these
prosperous workmen and that makes the mer-
chant as well as the landlord and the workman
a good live prospect for a high-grade piano sale.
"We have been particularly fortunate in get-
ting stock. The big Westward movement of
empty freight cars for handling the big East-
ward movement of crops, airplane lumber and
airplane parts has made the cars available to
the manufacturers in the East. While some
parts of the country have been suffering for
lack of stock because of transportation diffi-
culties, we on the Pacific slope have been more
fortunate. Of course, the limitations of the
factories have been such that we have had to
get along without much stock that we feel we
could have handled, but all in all we have been
able to turn over more pianos and talking ma-
chines than has been usual in this section."
The Wiley B. Allen Co. has been particularly
fortunate in piano sales. G. V. Taylor, head
of the piano department, has an active force of
live young salesmen, and many Mason & Ham-
lin, Apollo players and Cable line instruments
have been placed in Portland homes. Paul B.
Norris, head of the talking machine department,
has been able to dispose of all the Victrolas and
^disons which he could get.
Bush & Lane, in the building formerly occu-
pied by the Eilers Music House, has found the
downtown location a great stimulus to business.
Thomas Wilkinson, manager of the Bush &
I.ane Co., says that trade has picked up mar-
velously since the move, especially in the piano
department, where the demand is in excess of
the supply of Bush & Lane pianos. The phono-
graph department has kept pace with sales in
the record department, says James L. Loder,
the manager. Sales of Sonoras have picked
up marvelously, and the firm has also disposed
of a great quantity of Victor and Columbia ma-
chines.
Piano sales have been more than good at the
Lipman, Wolfe & Co. store, where W. A. Er-
v/in, manager, has been vindicated for his fore-
sight in putting in what seemed like too large a
stock last summer. The keen business meth-
ods of this house have brought many fine sales
of high-grade pianos, demand having been espe-
cially large for the knabe and Behning pianos.
G. F. Johnson, president of the G. F. Johnson
Piano Co., is another prominent dealer whose
business worries seem to have vanished with
Portland's untoward prosperity. A live force
of salesmen has kept the manager hopping to
get stock to fill the orders and at both stores—
one in Portland and the other across the Co-
lumbia River at Vancouver, Wash.—sales of
Mehlin and Packard pianos have been extraor-
dinary while customers are waiting for arrival
of further shipments of Victrolas.
Many pianos and talking machines have been
sold in the last few weeks by the Wakefield
Music Co. C. Guy Wakefield, manager, is en-
thusiastic over the outlook, and is especially
pleased with the way stock has been coming
from the factories.
KROEGER GRANDS FEATURED
CHARACTER
"Admirable Quality; Acknowledged Reputation"
New Booklet Just Issued Devoted to Three
Leading Styles of Kroeger Grand Pianos
and
The Kroeger Piano Co., Stamford, Conn.,
have issued an attractive eight-page folder, well
printed and illustrated, and devoted entirely to
their three leading styles of grands, all of the
five foot two and a half-inch type, and listed as
Styles C, B and G. Full specifications regard-
ing the different instruments accompany the il-
lustrations, and the basis of Kroeger quality is
set forth in the text. The designation of the
three styles as C, B and G is a compliment to
President C. B. Garritson, of the Kroeger Co.,
representing his initials. A complete catalog
covering their entire line will be issued by the
Kroeger Co. at the first of the year.
Strohber Co.
VISITING CANADIAN TRADE CENTERS
—{Standard Dictionary)
PIANOS
Manufactured by
Smith, Barnes
have for 33 years
justified their right
to be called
Pianos of Character
FACTORIES
North Milwaukee, Wis.
Chicago, 111.
OFFICE
1872 Clybourn Avenue
Chicago, 111.
TORONTO, ONT., October 26.—E. C. Scythes, vice-
president and general manager of the Nordheim-
er Piano & Music Co., Ltd., this city, is on a
business trip through the West in the interests
of Steinway and Nordheimer pianos and the
Aeolian-Vocalion. Mr. Scythes, to whom the
trip will be like visiting home, has an extensive
acquaintanceship in the Western centers, both
in and out of the trade, he having resided in
Winnipeg for several years during and previous
to which time his territory contained all the
country west of Winnipeg.
Do your "two bits." Get another Thrift Stamp.
Why Hardman
Pianos are so
strongly favored by
Lodges and Clubs
When good fellows, Odd Fel-
lows, and fellow-men generally,
"get together" for musical enter-
tainment, they know and are
guided by the 75 years' repu-
tation of Hardman-made instru-
ments, no matter how little they
may know about pianos.
And the more they know about
pianos, the more they appreciate
that the artistic superiorities of
H a r d m a n Pianos are deep-
founded on a durability of con-
struction that withstands long and
hard usage—and which makes
their tonal sweetness and reso-
nance all the more worth-while.
This phenomenal durability
and these pronounced artistic
qualities are found throughout
the Hardman line, which com'
prises six instruments: the
Hardman, the Harrington, the
Hensel, the Autoione,
the
Playotone, and the Standard
Player Piano—in a range of
prices that are further assur-
ance of their popularity and
profit to you.
Hardman, Peck & Co.
Foundid 1842
HARDMAN HOUSE
433 Fifth Ave., New York
Chicago Office and Warerooms, where there is a complete
stock, Republic Building, corner of Adams and State Street*.