Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1919 Vol. 68 N. 20

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
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
{ 'ourth
Are., New York; Assistant Treasurer, Win. A. Low.
J. B. SPILLANE, Editor
RAYMOND BILL, B. B. WILSON, Associate Editors
Executive and Reportorlal Staff:
CARLKTON CKACE, L. M. ROBINSON, WILSON D. BUSH, V. D. WALSH, Wit. BRAID WHITE
(Technical Editor), E. B. MUNCH, C. A. LEONARD, EDWARD LYMAN BILL,
A. J. NICKLIN, L. E. BOWERS
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under the Act of March 3, 1879.
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Lyman Bill, Inc.
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.
Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Grand Prix
Paris Exposition, 1900 Silver Medal Charleston Exposition, 1902
Diploma
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Gold Medal—Lewis-Clark Exposition, 1905
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Connecting- all Departments
Cable address: "Elblll, New York"
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.
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
MAY
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
17, 1919
MAINTAINING NAME VALUES THROUGH ADVERTISING
(Continued from page 3)
value is something that cannot be established over nii>ht. It must be built up by years of effort and a consid-
erable advertising expenditure. If the value of a name is once lost in the public mind it means an entirely
new campaign to re-establish its prestige. Meanwhile other manufacturers, wiser and more progressive in
their business, methods, with a vision of the future in mind, are going along and developing business with
names the value of which has been appreciated and maintained.
We find the progressive manufacturing concerns in the piano trade not only advertising on a pre-war
basis, but in many cases carrying on expanded campaigns for the very purpose of placirlg their products in a
position where they will be in demand when the present oversold condition may cease to exist. These concerns
are not advertising for to-day's orders, but rather for the orders in the future—the orders that are going to
absorb the increased production of their plants.
In other words, they recognize the fact that there is no such thing in the world of business as standing
still. We either go ahead or we slide back, and these manufacturers who are standing pat—who refuse to
advertise and uphold their name value, who are satisfied with present conditions and with having more orders
than they can fill right now—must change their tactics or be prepared for the skidding process. Competition
does not handle with gloves the fellow who refuses to compete.
G. A. SCOFIELD HEADS N. Y. PIANO MERCHANTS' ASSN.
Elected President at Annual Meeting of Local Organization Held Last Week—E. P. Hamilton,
Retiring President, Tells of Year's Accomplishments—Many Interesting Addresses
Some live business discussions, several excel-
lent speeches and a liberal supply of jazz for
the entertainment of the guests all combined to
make the annual meeting of the National Piano
Merchants' Association, held at the Aldine Club
on Thursday evening of last week, a success.
Following an excellent dinner E. Paul Hamil-
ton, retiring president of the Association, offered
his annual report, in which he told of the organi-
zation of the local association in 1917, the diffi-
culties encountered in getting it under way and
the good work it had accomplished to date,
which had won for the organization compli-
ments from all sections of the country. He
stated that although through the medium of the
association many trade evils had been eliminated
there is still much to do along this line.
One of the most notable accomplishments was
the adoption of the trade-in schedule by the As-
sociation. This schedule had been adopted by
local associations all over the country, and yet,
declared Mr. Hamilton, it was not being ob-
served as it should be by the city where it had
its origin. Mr. Hamilton stated that the only
fair basis for handling trade-ins was to allow for
the instrument only what it was actually worth
as a salable product. To allow more than a fair
value for it meant either a cut into the profits
or increasing the price of the instrument to cover
the allowance, a practice in itself dishonest.
The speaker told how members of the Asso-
ciation had proven that it was not necessary to
make gifts of music rolls, benches and scarfs
with pianos and players in order to make sales,
and expressed the hope that the praxtice of mak-
ing these gifts would die out entirely. Mislead-
ing advertising, he said, still persists in New
York, but has been reduced to a negligible quan-
tify. On the whole, declared Mr. Hamilton, the
piano business in this city was as clean as that in
any city in the country.
Wants Pianos Classified
Among the suggestions made by Mr. Hamil-
ton was one to the effect that pianos of all makes
be given a definite value for the guidance of the
trade and public—that is, a schedule be drawn up
showing that certain pianos should be sold at
between $300 and $350, others between $400 and
$500, etc., and this schedule used as the basts for
making trade-in allowances.
Mr. Hamilton read a letter from one of the
trade papers suggesting that the scope of the As-
sociation be broadened in order that all those
engaged in the retail music business might be
eligible to membership, whether they sold talk-
ing machines, musical merchandise or sheet
Mr. Hamilton and several other members of
the Association expressed themselves as being
in favor of the all-embracing Association. The
question was left in the hands of the Executive
Committee to find ways and means for bringing
the various interests together. He suggested
that the members of the local association be-
George A. Scofield
come members of the National Association
of Piano Merchants under the plan originated a
year or two ago by Edmund Gram, which sug-
gestion was laid on the table.
New Officers Are Elected
At this point the Nominating Committee of-
fered the following list of officers for the com-
ing year, the entire slate being elected unani-
mously. The new officers ^are:, .George A. Sco-
field, Behning Piano Co., president; Berthold
Neuer, William Knabe & Co., vice-president; Mil-
ton Weil, Krakauer Bros., treasurer, and Albert
Behning, secretary.
The Executive Committee is made up of E.
Paul Hamilton, Fred W. Lohr, E. J. Winterroth,
William Ryan and Thomas F. Fletcher.
Major L'Esperance Tells of the War
One of the interesting speakers of the evening
was Major David A. L'Esperance, of the Three
Hundred and Sixty-ninth United States Infantry,
formerly the Fifteenth (colored) .New York Na-
tional Guard. The major, who addressed various
groups of piano men on several occasions re-
cently, gave an interesting talk on his experi-
ences on the battlefields of France, where his
regiment was under fire for 191 days.
Another speaker was Major William J. Mona-
han, in command of Debarkation Hospital No. 3,
in the old Greenhut Building, New York. This
is declared to be the largest single hospital build-
ing in the world, containing over 600,000 square
feet of floor space. In describing the work done
at the hospital, Major Monahan stated that over
28,000 sick and wounded soldiers had been re-
ceived at the institution since November 24, and
that there have been received on occasions as
many as 2,235 wounded men in one day. He told
of the great care taken of the sick and injured
soldiers, and how every effort was made to see
that they were comfortable and happy. In tell-
ing of the necessity for floating the Victory Loan
in order to pay for the care of thousands of dis-
abled soldiers, Major Monahan made the inter-
esting statement that the expenses of his hos-
pital alone amounted to $8,600 per day.
Gold Pen For Hamilton
The session closed with the induction into of-
fice of the new president, George A. Scofield,
who upon taking his chair took occasion to com-
pliment Mr. Hamilton, in the name of the Asso-
ciation, upon the success of the administration,
it being largely through his efforts that the body
was guided through its early days so success-
fully. In appreciation of Mr. Hamilton's work
he was presented with a handsome gold fountain
pen by the Association members.
Scofield Talks of the Future
Mr. Scofield declared that the Association
wished and desired to push ahead and work to
solve the various problems that come up in the
trade, and expressed the hope that the organiza-
tion would continue to progress until it was ac-
cepted as a model for all other associations in
the country. He urged every member to give
thought to association matters and to be free
with suggestions as to what could be done for
the benefit of the trade as a whole. He also ex-
pressed himself as being in favor of letting down
the bars to all music dealers, particularly talking
machine dealers, in order that the local Associa-
tion might present a united front.
Mr. Scofield also made the interesting sugges-
tion that the Association establish a clearing
house for salesmen where managers desirous of
securing salesmen of a certain caliber might file
notice of the fact, and thus be put in touch with
salesmen who, on their part, have filed applica-
tion for a new positron.
SCOTTI OPERA CO. DOING WELL
News received from the Scotti Grand Opera
Co., now on tour in the Southwest, tells of the
gratifying reception accorded this organization
in the cities of Memphis, Shreveport, Houston
and San Antonio, as attested by sold-out houses
in each of these cities. The Kranich & Bach
piano is the official instrument of this opera
company.
•,

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