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NOVEMBER 23,
THE MUSIC TRADE
1918
REVIEW
PITTSBURGH PIANO MEN DOING GOOD SUBURBAN TRADE
Agricultural Territory Surrounding Pittsburgh Proving an Excellent Field for Sales of Musical
Instruments—Harwood Signs for Another Year With Kaufmann's—News of the Week
PITTSBURGH, PA., November 18.—General satis-
faction was expressed on all sides in the piano
trade here over the timely and very helpful
editorial expression in the recent issue of The
Music Trade Review dealing with "The Farmer
as a Customer for Musical Instruments." The
hint was made that "the dealer who is not selling
player-pianos to the farmer is neglecting the
most profitable line that can be imagined." Pitts-
burgh piano men are agreed in expressing them-
selves in full accord with the very suggestive
salesmanship editorial expression, and some deal-
ers point to the fact that while the Pittsburgh
district is primarily an industrial section wherein
agricultural pursuits take a more or less reduced
position, there is within a radius of 100 miles
of this city a rich agricultural section where
farmers to-day are reaping golden harvests of
coin due to the high prices of farm products.
And these selfsame farmers are not only in the
market for classy automobiles, but are excel-
lent prospects for high-grade pianos as well as
player-pianos and phonographs.
To cater to the trade of the farmer the
Schroeder Piano Co. recently opened a branch
store at Butler, Pa., right in the heart of a rich
farming community.
Peyton Harding is the
manager in charge and fine lines of musical in-
struments are on display, including the Kurtz-
mann, McPhail, Hazelton, Autopiano and Pian-
ista as well as the New Edison phonograph,
the Columbia Grafonola and the Sonora phono-
graph. Sales at the Butler branch are reported
quite brisk. At the Pittsburgh store the past
week a special sale was held which was pre-
ceded by newspaper publicity. The sales more
than justified the special efforts put forth.
The W. F. Frederick Piano Co. in catering to
the farmer have established branch stores at
Youngstown, O., Greensburg, New Castle and
Butler. While these centers are practically in-
dustrial locations, where hundreds of persons
are employed in mills and shops, there are in
the back country a goodly number of tillers
of the soil who are sharing in the wartime pros-
perity. Some of the farmers have temporarily
left the plough to handle the lathe and will,
when the war orders are suspended, go back to
the farm.
CHARACTER
"Admirable Quality; Acknowledged Reputation"
—{Standard DitUonary)
PIANOS
Manufactured by
Smith, Barnes
As an example of the demand for musical in-
struments and the eagerness of prospects to buy
on cash terms a notable instance was revealed
the past week,of a drug store proprietor in
Pitcairn, a railroad town a few miles east of
Pittsburgh, who some years ago placed a few
talking machines in his store as a sideline to be
cared for when he felt like looking after it. To-
day the phonograph trade has overshadowed the
dispensing of prescriptions, and within the past
month over $6,000 worth of talking machines
have been disposed of in the little shop, while
the number of records sold mount up into the
hundreds. The Victor, Grafonola and Starr
lines are carried.
Edward F. Harwood, the well-known manager
of the piano department of Kaufmann's (The
Big Store), has announced that he will direct the
destinies of the department for another year,
having signed a contract with the firm to that
effect. Mr. Harwood has made a splendid rec-
ord in the sales of pianos the past year, and in
a statement to The Review representative he
pointed out that the sales of pianos thus far
in November had far outstripped sales for the
same period a year ago. "We are doing a very
satisfactory business," said Mr. Harwood, "and
we find that people who want to purchase pianos
are eager to purchase high-grade instruments.
It looks very much as though the day of the
cheap piano has passed. The sale of player-
pianos is continuing very nicely, and we feel
that this is but the forerunner of a very brisk
Christmas season." Mr. Harwood has a large
and commodious display room on the eleventh
floor of the Kaufmann store, where the Mehlin,
Stultz & Bauer, Behr Bros., Shoninger, Jacob
Doll & Sons and Milton pianos as well as
player-pianos are on exhibition. A feature of
the past week was the sale of Jacob Doll &
Sons pianos and player-pianos.
G. W. Remensynder, sales manager of the
Schroeder Piano Co., was confined to his home
the past week with a severe cold.
W. C. Hamilton, of the S. Hamilton Co.,
spent a week in New York and Boston on a
business trip.
The C. C. Mellor Co. held a very successful
sale the past week of used pianos. As a result
of the newspaper publicity concerning the sale
letters from many points remote from Pitts-
burgh were received making inquiries concern-
ing the purchase of the pianos on sale. Prices
ranged from $150 to $245 for upright pianos;
$545 to $925 for player-pianos, and $465 to
$1,200 for grand pianos. The latter included
some Decker Bros., Steinway and Hazelton.
W. C. Clifford, of the Independent Piano
Bench Co., Chicago, was in Pittsburgh on a
business trip.
D. F. Cordingley, of the Aeolian Co., New
York, was a recent caller on the trade here.
Dawson Brothers report brisk sales of Chase-
Hackley pianos. The firm are much gratified
over the prompt shipment of these pianos from
the factory. Shipments from factories in the
East are more or less subject to delay.
= = ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ = s and = ^ ^ = : = ^ =
Strohber Co.
have for 33 years
justified their right
to be called
Pianos of Character
Victrola XVI, $225
Victrola XVI, electric, $282.50
Mahogany or oak
Other styles $22.50 to $950
"Will there be a
Victrola in your home
this Christmas?"
That is the question
being put before the en-
tire country in the[exten-
sive Victor advertising.
That is the question
which is going to be
settled in thousands of
homes.
That is the question
which will help the
Christmas business of
Victor retailers every-
where.
Victor Talking Machine Co.
Camden, N. J., U. S. A.
" V i c t r o l a " „ the Registered Trade-mark of
tht Victor Talking Machine Company designating
the product! of this Company only.
W a r n i n g : The me of the word V i c t r o U
upon or in the promotion or tale of any other
Talking Machine or Phonograph product* it mit-
leading and illegal.
Important Notice. Victor Records and
SECURES JULIUS BAUER AGENCY
A. H. Meyer, piano dealer, of Holland, Mich.,
recently secured the agency for the Julius Bauer
& Co. line of instruments. The deal was con-
summated by Mr. Meyer during his recent visit
to Chicago, and he is now planning to feature
the Julius Bauer line in an appropriate manner.
Victor Machinef are scientifically co-ordinated
and tynchronized in the processes of manufacture,
and their use, one with the other, is absolutely
essential to a perfect reproduction.
CELEBRATES 75TH ANNIVERSARY
FACTORIES
North Milwaukee, Wis.
Chicago, 111.
OFFICE
1872 Clybourn Avenue
Chicago, 111.
William W. Sturtevant, a well-known music
dealer and musician of Keene, N. H., recently
celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday at his home
in that town. Mr. Sturtevant has been in the
music business for many years, and is an accom-
plished violinist as well.
"HIS MASTER'S VOICE"