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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
REVIEW
PUBLISHED BY EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Inc.
President and Treasurer, C. L. Bill, 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Vioe-President,
T. B. Spillanc, 373 Fourth Ave., New York; Second Vice-President, Raymond Bill, 373
Fourth Ave., New York; Assistant Treasurer, Wm. A. Low.
J. B. SPILLANE,'Editor
RAYMOND BILL, B. B. WILSON, Associate Editors
CARLETON CHACE, Business Manager
Executive and Reportorial Staff
WILSON D. BUSH, V. D. WALSH, W M . BRAID WHITE (Technical Editor), E. B. MUNCH,
L. M. ROBINSON, C. A. LEONARD, EDWARD LYMAN BILL, A. J. NICKLIN, L. E. BOWERS
BOSTON OFFICK:
JOHN
H.
WILSON,
324 Washington
CHICAGO O F F I C E :
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P. VAN HARLINGEN,
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Building,
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209 So. State St. Telephone, Wabash 5774.
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NEWS SERVICE IS SUPPLIED WEEKLY BY OUR CORRESPONDENTS
LOCATED IN T H E LEADING CITIES THROUGHOUT AMERICA.
Published Every Saturday at 373 Fourth Avenue, New York
The State Association, on the other hand, is in a position to give
more or less particular attention to distinctly local conditions, and,
therefore, fills a definite purpose.
The convention of the Piano Merchants' Association of Ohio,
in Cleveland this week, may in itself be accepted as proof positive of
the growing importance of State organizations. The Ohio Associa-
tion has brought together the leading music merchants throughout
the State, and not only have they been able to discuss conditions as
they apply to trade in Ohio itself, but they have had the advantage
of being able to listen to opinions from prominent members of the
industry from all sections. In the matter of attendance alone the
Ohio meetings usually take on the appearance of a gathering of
national character.
There are other State Associations that are steadily gaining
ground, such as the Indiana Association, for instance, and that newer
body, the Wisconsin Association of Music Industries. There is
room for more organization work along the same line, as there are
many States in which an association of music merchants should
thrive and produce results. It is hoped that the work of the officers
of the national association, together with local influences, will serve
to bring about the establishment of such organizations throughout
the country.
Entered as second-class matter September 10, 1892, at the post office at New York, N. Y.,
under the Act of March 3, 1879.
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ADVERTISEMENTS, $4.50 per inch single column, per insertion.
On quarterly or
yearly contracts a special discount is allowed. Advertising pages, $130.
REMITTANCES, in other than currency forms, should be made payable to Edward
Lyman Bill, I n c . •
•
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ICCnillCdl liepdriniCIIlS
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
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. . . .Pan-American Exposition, 1901
Gold Medal
St. Louis Exposition, 1904
Gold Medal— Lewis-Clark Exposition, 1905
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONES—NUMBERS 5982—5983 MADISON SO,.
Connecting all Department*
Cable address: "Elbill, New York"
Vol. LXIX
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 13, 1919
No. 11
MUSIC AND THE CHILD
N prevailing upon the National Child Welfare Association to issue
for general distribution the booklet "Music and Childhood," C.
M. Tremaine, director of the National Bureau for the Advancement
of Music, has accomplished something worthy of more than ordinary
attention and comment.
The Bureau itself has sent out a great mass of literature, as
the trade well knows, but for an organization outside of the trade
to take up the cause of music for the child cannot but have a distinct
influence on the general public—an influence that will result in profit
for those members of the retail fraternity who have a proper realiza-
tion of the possibilities offered.
The booklet in itself is available to the trade for general distribu-
tion at a distinctly nominal price, and owing to the standing of the
National Child Welfare Association it should serve to arouse the
interest of those members of the public in whose hands it is placed
by the retailer. Those members of the trade who have attended the
recent Music Shows or who have been in touch with the various
displays made in different sections of the country by the Child Wel-
fare Association have become familiar with the series of ten panels
prepared by the Association under the auspices of the National
Bureau for the Advancement of Music which set forth graphically
the part that music plays in the life of the child from birth to ma-
turity. The text of the book just issued simply expands upon the
thoughts set forth in the various panels, but those thoughts are most
convincing. Dealers generally should see to it that their fall cam-
paign provides for the distribution among selected prospects of
copies of the booklet "Music and Childhood."
I
THE INCREASE IN ASSOCIATION ACTIVITIES
L
OCAL and State associations are steadily gaining in importance
as factors in trade development, both through co-operation with
national bodies and of themselves in their own particular spheres.
The National Association must naturally be broad in scope and
handle the various trade problems on a basis that will make any
action taken apply with equal strength in all sections of the country.
SEPTEMBER 13, 1919
AN ILLOGICAL MEASURE
T
O the man on the street who hears and reads so much just
now of food and clothing profiteers, and others of the same
ilk, and who in his purchases has paused to wonder just how
much of the increased cost is tacked on by the retailer just because
he feels that the traffic will bear it, there is at first glance some
merit in the Siegel bill now pending before the Interstate and
Domestic Committee of the House of Representatives, which pro-
vides for the attaching of sales tickets to all articles sold at retail,
the tickets to show the wholesale as well as the retail price of the
articles. Were the turnover of all commodities the same, and
were all goods sold in the same way and on the same basis, there
might be some logic to the Siegel bill.
Where there is such a vast difference between the turnover and
the selling costs of various articles, some classed as necessities and
others as luxuries, what would be eminently fair in one instance
would be just as unfair in another. If the bill were designed to
cover only food and clothing well and good, but to place pianos on
the same par with sugar, for instance, the latter being bought by
the retailer at 9 l / 2 or 9^4 cents per pound, and retailed at eleven,
is not calculated to give the piano merchant anything like an even
break.
There can be no one panacea for all ills, neither can there be
one piece of legislation to check all profiteering. Conditions must
be considered first, and then a remedy provided for those con-
ditions. There is no question but that the opposition to the Siegel
bill that has already developed will result in its being killed.
ADVERTISING AS AN ASSET
O
NE would think in this age of enlightenment and intelligence
that it would be unnecessary to advance any arguments to dem-
onstrate that advertising is not an expense to a business, but is as
necessary a concomitant as a high-class manager and sales staff.
The value or good will of an advertised name was well demon-
strated during the war in that those who kept their names and
products before the public, irrespective of the condition of pro-
duction, reaped a justifiable reward when peace was declared—they
found their name known, and their products in demand; while those
who got frightened during the war and cut out advertising so as to
save money and economize had to start a new campaign of pub-
licity to reintroduce themselves to the buying public.
The other day Fame (an advertising publication) told of a
man who died not long ago and left an estate of several millions, a
considerable part of which was the value of good will attached to
his name. To merely leave a worthy name to posterity is altogether
commendable, but when the name includes a money-value in the
nature of a million or two that's even more praiseworthy—as your
heirs will readily admit.
Advertising built good will around that man's name—as it has
for many another—and thus contributed toward his estate a burglar-
proof, fire-proof, moth-proof asset.