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THE
MUSIC
TRADE
KEVIFW
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc
President and Treasurer, 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; Assistant Treasurer, Wm. A. Low.
J. B. SPILLANE, Editor
J. RAYMOND BILL, Assoclate^Edltor
Executive and Reportorlal Staff:
B. BKITTAIN WILSON, CARLETON CHACE, L. M. ROBINSON, WILSON D. BUSH, V. D. WALSH,
W M . BRAID W H I T E (Technical Editor), E. B. MUNCH, A. J. NICKLIN, L. E. BOWERS
BOSTON OFFICE:
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CHICAGO
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P.
OFFICK:
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Building,
Telephone, Main 6950.
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N E W S SERVICE IS S U P P L I E D WEEKLY BY OUR CORRESPONDENTS
LOCATED I N T H E LEADING CITIES THROUGHOUT AMERICA.
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under the Act of March 3, 1879.
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Lyman Bill, Inc.
PIovoi*
PI an A on
• lajCl-riaUU
dllU
Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
tions of a technical nature relating to the tuning,
regulating and repairing of pianos and player-pianos
p
a r e dealt with, will 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 Medal. .Charleston Exposition, 1902
Diploma.. .Pan -American Exposition, 1901
Gold Medal.... St. Louis Exposition, 1904
Gold Medal..Lewis-Clark
Exposition, 1905
LONG DISTANCE
Vol. LXVII
TELEPHONES—NUMBERS 5982—6983 MADISON 8Q.
Connecting all Departments
Cable address: "Elblll, New York."
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 21, 1918
No. 25
EDITORIAL^
T
HE big question before the industrial world today in its pro-
gram of readjustment is that of labor, and the importance of
the question is generally recognized. Practically all the problems
that are immediately apparent in the work of readjustment depend
entirely or almost entirely upon the labor situation in one of its sev-
eral phases. The reallocation of labor into peace industries is
expected to be a long job that must be handled carefully, and the
inability to get labor in sufficient quantities is going to hinder many
industries in getting back to a normal basis, for even with plenty
of men available it is not always possible to find a sufficient number
properly trained in the lines desired, and to train the unskilled not
only takes time but costs money.
Then comes the question of wages, and there is no denying the
fact that wages are going to be kept at a high level for some time to
come as a matter of sheer necessity and to enable the worker to
provide the necessities of life for himself and his family under
the existing high prices.
Scarce and costly labor means that production expense will be
kept up to a high level until some general and country-wide adjust-
ment takes place, after the war is well out of the way and things
begin to get back to a normal basis. Meanwhile, the labor question
is going to be responsible for keeping material prices at a high
level, although perhaps not so high as during the actual war period,
and the result is that piano manufacturers must continue to get
substantial prices for their finished products.
There are, of. course, those in the trade who, being a little over-
optimistic perhaps, or lacking authoritative information, felt that
the signing of the armistice would immediately bring a reduction in
wholesale piano prices as a natural consequence. Some have in
good faith actually advertised reductions in the retail prices of their
pianos in anticipation of wholesale cuts, and others not in good
faith have accepted the excuse for slashing prices or at least adver-
tising sensationally to create that impression. Such tactics revert
directly to the disadvantage of the industry, artc| \i persisted in will
serve to shake public confidence.
REVIEW
DECEMBER 21, 1918
Now is the time to sit tight, to wait until conditions justify
price reduction, before being overanxious to announce the fact.
Piano men cannot in any sense afford to get back to what represents
approximately a peace time price schedule with every other industry
in the country getting the proper return for their profit. It would
mean bankruptcy.
N both retail and manufacturing fields the demand for player-
I Orders
pianos the closing month of the present year is unprecedented.
by wire are being received by manufacturers from ;piano
merchants in all parts of the country asking that players be shipped
to them by fast express, a rather impossible accomplishment in view
of the fact that the majority of manufacturers, in the East at least,
are sold out on player-pianos, preference being given naturally to
those merchants who had the foresight and good judgment to place
their orders early.
A great many piano dealers claim that they did not expect the
war to end so quickly, and, therefore, did not deem it wise to
place their orders for such a number of instruments as are now
demanded, and maintain that in view of this manufacturers should
be reasonable and co-operate with them to the extent of making a
part shipment of their orders.
This request would be all right and would doubtless be honored
were it not for the fact that manufacturers have not the instru-
ments in stock. Only last week there was an inquiry at this office
from a retailer as to where he could buy twenty-five player-pianos
for cash. After a careful investigation we were unable to find any
establishment that could satisfy this demand.
Year after year, around the Christmas holidays, dealers in-
dulge in the practice of wiring for stock, forgetting that pianos or
players cannot be made in a few weeks; that the operation of
turning out a first-class piano involves a great deal of time and
expense. Every manufacturer who has pride in his product natur-
ally sees to it that his instrument is not only made right but is in
satisfactory shape when it leaves his factory.
Dealers should be able to get a fair idea early in the year as to
their requirements for fall and should place their orders with man-
ufacturers early. Pianos and players are not perishable, and it
is much safer for them to carry an overstock rather than lose trade.
ARDLY had the Victory Number of
reached sub-
H
scribers last week before there began to be received at this
office from prominent members of the trade messages of apprecia-
THE REVIEW
tion and congratulation regarding the character of the issue and
the fact that it reflected so strongly the importance of the industry.
It was one of the largest issues ever put out by this organiza-
tion, and the amount of work devoted to its compilation is amply
repaid by the reception accorded the number by the trade.
Most favorable comment was made upon the fact that every
special article and every interview in the issue had a direct and
timely bearing upon the trade situation, or upon the trade future,
with nothing put in simply to fill space, without regard for the fact
that it might be of no interest to piano men. The symposium of
reports on business conditions and prospects from the State Com-
missioners made a special appeal that should prove of inestimable
value to manufacturers and others in mapping out sales exploitation
campaigns.
To those who have been so generous in their commendations
and support the staff of THE REVIEW express their thanks and ap-
preciation.
HE reoccurrence of the Spanish Influenza epidemic in a number
T
of cities in the Middle West is having a most discouraging
effect on business of all kinds in those districts, especially where
the health authorities have found it necessary to issue strict regu-
lations banning advertising calculated to draw crowds, limiting the
number of people who can be in a mercantile establishment at one
time, forbidding demonstrations of various sorts calculated to
attract crowds, and otherwise making it difficult for business men to
conduct their affairs on a normal basis.
Coming at a time when the signing of the armistice left the
way open for business development, and when the approach of
the holidays appears to offer music men the opportunity for making
up for any loss of business earlier in the year, the epidemic proves
particularly distressing,