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MARCH 12, 1921
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
NEWARK PIANO DEALERS MAKING STRONG BID FOR TRADE
BETTER BUSINESS IN ST. LOUIS
Hahne & Co. to Have Concert by Melodee Artists March 14—Dealers to Co-operate With Music
Week and National Player-Piano Week—Bamberger Piano Department Holds Banquet
March Shows Indications of Quick Revival of
Demand for Musical Instruments—Local As-
sociation Doing Good Work—New Post for
A. H. J. Dickhaus—Many Visitors in Town
NEWARK, N. J., March 7.—The piano trade in
this city is showing a healthy activity these days
and just now dealers are laying plans for big
doings during Music Week and National Player-
Piano Week. At this time special advertising
will be used in all the local papers and concerts
will feature the daily routine of the stores them-
occasion. Among the lines carried in the piano
department of Hahne & Co. are: A. B. Chase,
Mehlin, Premier, Hazelton and Gulbransen
player-pianos.
Steinway and Knabe grades are selling espe-
cially well at the Griffith Piano Co., and Harry
Griffith declares that a noticeable feature of the
Banquet of Members of Piano Department of Bamberger's, Newark, N. J.
selves. While none of the piano men found trade just now is the demand for the better
that trade was so brisk that he had to keep open grade of pianos.
nights, there were no complaints and everyone
Members of the piano department of the Bam-
recognized the fact that business, especially in berger department store, Which features the
the better grades of instruments, was to be had Hardman and Behning pianos, met recently at
if they went after it.
a beefsteak dinner held in Atchelstetter's Cafe
On March 14 the piano department of Hahne and were entertained by a large array of vaude-
& Co. will stage a notable attraction in the ville artists. W. F. Brockhause was chairman
auditorium. Manager W. O. Black has arranged of the. banquet committee and ran the affair off
to have several of the Melodee roll artists pres- in good style. M. J. Connelly, sales manager,
ent and these will give a concert of their pop- and Paul Meinert proved their ability as artists,
ular song successes. Among the artists who the latter using the newly discovered musical
are scheduled to appear are Miss Muriel Pol- saw. Grover Kayhart, of the department, pre-
lock, Cliff Hess, Frank Banta, William White sided at the piano.
and F. Milne. There will be two concerts in
Plans to broaden the use of the piano in the
the afternoon and it is expected that the affair schools, particularly in reference to the Knabe
will be of unusual importance. Special news- with the Ampico, are being worked out by
paper ads have been prepared to inform the Charles J. Hunsberger, sales manager of the
public of all the details. John A. Bliesenick, . Armstrong Piano Co.
manager of the Victor department, is also plan-
At the Doll & Sons warerooms, Leonard J.
ning for a big time during the week of the 14th. Reinhardt reports that business is good with the
1
This will be Victrola Week at the store and Doll instruments and the removal sale is bring-
during this week special terms will be offered. ing in many customers. Satisfactory conditions
It is hoped to secure some Victor artist for the are also reported by the Lauter Piano Co.
PLANNING TO CHECK CANCELLATIONS
NEW POST FOR W. C. HAMILTON
National Association of Purchasing Agents
Seeks to Have Adopted a Standard Form of
Sales Contract That Will Be Binding
State Commissioner for Pennsylvania for Na-
tional Association of Music Merchants Ap-
pointed on Executive Board of That Body
The National Association of Purchasing
Agents with headquarters in New York is now
working on a plan for having drawn up and
adopted some standardized form of sales con-
tract that, while fair and equitable for both
buyer and seller, will still be of a nature to
represent a definite fixed contract that will be
enforceable and serve to check the wave of can-
cellation of orders that has been sweeping the
country.
Various trade organizations are asked to
bring their buyers and sellers together in order
to reach an agreement requiring a contract that
will meet the requirements of both factors.
These contracts in turn will be placed in the
hands of a committee representing the National
Association of Purchasing Agents, and that com-
mittee will endeavor from the several forms of
contracts to evolve a standard form applying
to all lines of business.
^William C. Hamilton, president of the Piano
Merchants' Association of Pittsburgh and State
Commissioner for Western Pennsylvania of the
National Association of Music Merchants, has
been elected to membership of the executive
board of the national body to succeed Harry
Wunderlich of Kansas City.
Mr. Wunderlich submitted his resignation
several months ago, stating his inability to give
the attention to the duties of the office which he
felt they deserved.
The new member of the Merchants' Execu-
tive Board is known as an active association
worker, nationally and locally, and has been
an active factor in promoting the proposed
Pennsylvania association. He is president of
the S. Hamilton Co., Pittsburgh, which was
founded in 1870 by his father, S. Hamilton, and
which has achieved an enviable success during
the last fifty years.
ST. LOUIS, MO., March 7.—March is starting off
fairly well, seemingly disinclined to be outdone
by a short month like February, which did a
little better than January in spite of its short-
ness. Dealers report an increasing steadiness in
the demand and there appears to be a better
distribution of the business than in the recent
past. All of which, it need hardly be said, is
symptomatic of a more healthy condition than
the jump-by-jerks situation which has hereto-
fore prevailed. This does not mean that there
are not inequalities in the distribution of the
sales, but these do not seem to be greater than
can be set down to inequalities of effort. In
other words, those who are going after the busi-
ness with the greatest energy are getting the
greatest results.
Dealers who have not heretofore been con-
nected with the Music Merchants' Association
of St. Louis seem to like the manner in which
that Association is taking hold of trade troubles
and threshing them out. Since the last meeting,
at which a number of problems were unraveled,
two unsolicited applications for membership
have been received by Secretary Ditzell. These
will be acted upon at the next meeting.
The finishing touches, somewhat overdue, are
being given to the Famous & Barr Co. music
salon. Draperies were placed during the past
week which relieve attractively the glassy glare
of the booths and demonstration parlors, and
new lights are to be installed next week.
Music for music's sake is to have a week of its
own, the week of March 14, at the Scruggs,
Vandervoort & Barney auditorium, under ar-
rangements being worked out by Manager Rus-
sell Elam of the piano department. Concerts
are to be given every afternoon from 2 to 4:30
by local artists, vocalists, violinists, pianists, cel-
lists and harpists. The Sohmer piano will be
used in the programs and Sohmer literature will
be distributed and there will be a campaign of
newspaper advertising.
A. H. J. Dickhaus, for seven years with the
Famous & Barr Co. music salon, resigned last
week at the expiration of his contract and has
taken a position with the Scruggs, Vandervoort
& Barney piano department. Mr, Dickhaus'
sales last year are said to have been greater
than any ever made by a salesman in the his-
tory of the house.
It can no longer be said that buyers have to
go to the factories and beg on bended knees
for pianos. There were enough factory rep-
resentatives in St. Louis last week to hold a
convention. Some of them were S. T. Betts,
Jr., Chickering Bros., Chicago; Mr. Mansfield,
of C. Kurtzmann & Co., Buffalo, N. Y.; William
Allen, of the Kohler Industries, New York; K.
W. Curtis, manager of the Chicago branch of
Kohler & Campbell; I. Simpson, sales promoter
of the Kohler & Campbell Co.; Mr. Peters,
of Steger & Sons Piano Co., Chicago; John J.
Buttell, Packard Piano Co., Fort Wayne, Ind.
William Conroy, formerly with the Famous
& Barr Co. music salon, has resigned.
Phil Lehman, president of the Lehman Piano
Co., was in Chicago on business last week.
Rudolph Ganz, Duo-Art artist, was visiting
conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orches-
tra at its concert last week.
P. E. Conroy, president of the Conroy Piano
Co., will return in a few days from Miami,
Fla., where he has been spending several weeks.
The Harris-Douglas Furniture Co., of Boul-
der, Col., has opened a talking machine de-
partment in which it is featuring the Victrola
with great success.