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THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
President and Treasurer, C. L. Bill, 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Vice-President,
. B. Spillane. 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Second Vice-President, Raymond Bill, 373
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(Technical Editor), E. B. MUNCH, C. A. LEONARD, EDWARD LYMAN BILL,
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anil
Departments conducted by an expert wherein all ques-
alltl
tions of a technical nature relating to the tuning,
TfcpnArtmPnfe regulating and repairing of pianos and player-pianos
V c p d l UllClllS are dealt with, will be found in another section of
this paper. We also publish a number of reliable technical works, information concerning
which will be cheerfully given upon request.
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Vol. LXVIII
No. 20
NEW YORK, MAY 17. 1919
EDITORIAL
ITH the successful closing of the Fifth Victory Liberty Loan
W
the country is now settling down to an earnest consideration
of business and its development. Prospects were never brighter, and
in the musical instrument industry, as well as in every branch of
trade throughout the country, there is a most optimistic feeling pre-
vailing. This can be attributed in a large measure to the rapid
reorganization of business since the armistice, and the agricultural
prospects, which are unprecedented. We are presently to garner
the greatest wheat crop in our nation's history. All Government in-
dications point to a harvest of over 900,000,000 bushels of winter
wheat alone, whereas before a total yield of that volume would
have been close to record-breaking proportions. It is pretty cer-
tain that our spring wheat crop will total 250,000,000 bushels as a
minimum, so that we should have in our granaries before the fall
1,150,000,000 bushels, for which the farmer will receive a guaran-
teed price of $2.26 a bushel.
!
It is not difficult to realize what this means. The farmers of a
certainty will have $2,500,000,000 coming into their hands from
one crop alone. This is certainly sufficient to start in motion the
greatest domestic purchasing power the country has ever known, to
say nothing of that which the outside world will supply.
Pianos and all kinds of musical instruments will be purchased,
as well as automobiles and a thousand and one other essentials to
modern comfort, and the wheels of industry will necessarily hum.
The outlook that spreads before us is certainly cheering. There is
nothing in the horizon to dim the picture. It is not the time for
faint hearts, but for courageous action on the part of manufacturers
in preparing to their utmost to meet the demands of the trade, which
are going to be unprecedentedly large this year.
T the recent conference of the New York Piano Technicians
the fact was again brought most strongly to mind that the
A
present vogue of the grand piano, and particularly the small grand,
is something less than six years old—that only six years ago
the grand was looked upon as something beyond the reacfc of the.
•x-
REVIEW
MAY
17, 1919
average citizen, something to be admired in some cases, but not
purchased, the result being that at that time there were about 9,000
grands produced annually. This tremendous demand in grand popu-
larity within a few years is a distinct tribute to the men who saw
the possibilities of making a small grand on a basis that would
permit of it being sold at a popular price, and still offer a genuine
grand quality and value to the ultimate purchaser.
The grand piano was not new to the trade, but it took broad
visioned men to see that it was being permitted to lie dormant to
a greater or less degree, and it is to these men through their adver-
tising, and particularly through their willingness to develop their
plans to specialize in small grand production, that the trade owes
this new factor of demand. A decade ago the man who had the
courage to declare that the sale of grand pianos would in the near
future equal, if not exceed, the sale of straight uprights would
have been considered more or less foolish, yet to-day, due in some
measure, of course, to the development of the player-piano, the
demand* for the straight grand runs a close second to, if it doesn't
equal, the demand for the straight upright. It is doubtful if the
industry has ever seen such quick results as those which have arisen
from the foresight and the faith of the grand advocates in the cor-
rectness of their convictions.
tonic effect that advertising has on the advertiser's organiza-
1 tion formed the basis of some comment in a recent issue of
Printers' Ink that is very timely and of interest to our industry. In
speaking of the influence of advertising it was pointed out that pub-
licity braces up the whole force, making everybody from the stock
boy to the chairman of the board feel prouder of their organization
and inclined to step a little more lively in their work.
The explanation of this is that advertising exposes the situa-
tion to public view, and makes clear that any sort of negligence and
inefficiency can no longer be hidden. Where advertising is properly
sold to the organization it makes those connected with it realize
that they are serving the public, and it gives them pride in serving
it well.
It is this spirit that makes the real workman proud of his calling
and proud of his skill. It is this spirit that makes him see that every
detail of a piano or a player is absolutely perfect, that nothing leaves
the factory that would reflect on the name which appears on the
piano, or on the men who make it.
The more widely recognized the standing of a musical instru-
ment the more every one connected with the institution labors to
maintain that prestige. It is a logical—a psychological—develop-
ment, for every one desires to upheld the dignified position held by a
product in public esteem.
The stimulating influence of advertising rarely escapes any part
of a business. It creates an esprit de corps that solidifies
the aims and aspirations of all departments of the adver-
tiser's business—it establishes a closer union between the workbench,
the wareroom and the public—it creates the desire to live up to the
claims made, for advertising is the gonfalon around which every
one rallies.
much attention has been centered on legislative acts in Wash-
S ness O ington
that members of the trade, and for that matter busi-
men generally, have frequently neglected to give proper thought
to what is taking place in the various State Legislatures, where any
bill that seeks to place additional tax burdens on either manufac-
turers or individuals appears to find ready favor.
It does not appear hard to pass any act that will burden busi-
ness, because business is centered in the larger cities and the As-
semblymen and Senators from the outlying districts feel that they
are perfectly free to favor any measure so long as it does not react
on their own particular constituents. It is only by strong opposi-
tion that business men can prevent the passage of bills that threaten
to tax them into bankruptcy.
It would seem that both national and State legislators are tax
crazy. Until the armistice was signed they used the war as an
excuse for the various tax measures. Now they have no such
excuse, but still they continue on their merry way. It is time that
organized business endeavored to call a halt, and the piano men,
through their National and State associations, should be among those
actively interested in the protection of industry against unnecessary
financial burdens.