Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
12
PORTLAND, ORE., DEALERS OBSERVE PLAYER-PIANO WEEK
Artistic Window Displays and Special Efforts Along Salesmanship Lines Contribute to Success of
Player Week—Retail Business Very Satisfactory—News of the Week
PORTLAND, ORE., April 9.—Portland piano dealers
did their part to make the National Player-piano
Week a success. Their windows all featured
the players and this, together with liberal ad-
vertisement and aggressive personal work, stimu-
lated the buying of players by the public. The
entire window space of the Sherman, Clay &
Co. store was devoted to the different styles of
players handled by them, but the central feature
of their main window was the beautiful Duo-
Art in the center of an artistically furnished
drawing room. They also featured the artists
who reproduce for the Duo-Art—their photo-
graphs being displayed. At the Johnson Piano
Co. a Chickering Ampico grand, surrounded by
palms and beautiful plants, takes possession of
their window space, while the Bush & Lane
Co. put forward a Cecilian player. Reed-French
display the Apollo reproducing piano, Smith &
Barnes, Sterling and other players.
The piano sales have been very satisfactory
the past week to most of the dealers. Some
thought that the filling of the community chest,
for which the city is raising $850,000, might in-
terfere with the trade, but according to most
of the dealers it has had no perceptible effect
on the trade. G. F. Johnson says it made no
difference with their sales, that the public always
have so much to give to charity and that is all
there is to it. H. T. Campbell, manager of the
Bush & Lane store, is being congratulated on
the fact that his house took the lead in its con-
tribution to the chest. Soule Bros, say that
business is on the increase in both the piano
and the phonograph departments.
March 31 Sherman, Clay & Co. gave a very
enjoyable Duo-Art concert in their concert hall
to a large and appreciative audience. Ray R.
Rugg and Alexander F. Reilly, both of the Sher-
man, Clay & Co. piano department, participated
in the concert, Mr. Rugg in the solo number at
the Duo-Art and Mr. Reilly as accompanist to
Margaret Yost, violinist.
J. H. Dundore, manager of Sherman, Clay &
Co., has announced the appearance of Alfred
Cortot, the French pianist, who will appear in
an invitation concert to be given by the com-
pany in the public auditorium on April 18. The
auditorium has a seating capacity of 3,800, and
the invitations are being sent out to the friends
and patrons of the company.
The G. F. Johnson Piano Co., under the direc-
tion of Frank A. Raymond and Ernest W.
Crosby, of the piano department, gave a very
enjoyable Chickering Ampico concert in the
Opera House at Skomokawa, Wash., on Mon-
day, April 4. They had a capacity audience,
which was very appreciative. Mr. Crosby, who
has a good voice, was on the program for
several numbers, accompanied by Mr. Raymond
at the Ampico.
The Remick Song Shop has made extensive
improvements in its talking machine depart-
FOTOPLAYER
for the finest
Motion Picture
Theatres
The AMERICAN PHOTO
PLAYER CO.
San Francisco
New York
Chicago
ment and, as Taylor C. White, the manager,
says, "Environment is the secret of success."
Mr. White has already proved this in one week
after the magnificent improvements were made
for there were more sales than in any previous
month.
The Liberty Theatre, which is Portland's larg-
est and one of the most popular movie houses
in the city, has started a unique contest to
find out the kind of music the Portland people
most desire. To solve the question the various
local, civic and fraternal and musical organi-
zations of the city have been invited to select
the best program of four numbers to be played
by Henri Keates on the big Liberty orchestral
organ during the weekly Sunday concerts in
the next two or three months. A prize of $500
is to be given to the organization selected by
the public and the contest is to be determined
by the number of admissions to the various
concerts.
APRIL 16, 1921
"My Mammy," "Some Little Bird" and "Brok-
en Moon" are having a big sale at Lipman,
Wolfe's sheet music department, according to
Kathleen Benoit Campbell, in charge of the de-
partment.
Huell Soule, of the Soule Bros. Music House,
has returned to work after being incapacitated
for the past six weeks, having recovered from
a severe attack of pneumonia.
F. W. Grosser, of the Northwest branches
of the Kohler & Chase Piano Co., has had
his tonsils removed and is in a serious con-
dition at St. Vincent's hospital in this city.
Frank M. Reed has returned to his post with
the Reed-French Co., in this city, after a six
weeks' business trip to Tacoma, where he was
with the Silver Piano Co.
Among the recent visitors to the Portland
branch of Sherman, Clay & Co. was J. A. B.
Shiller. of San Francisco, Pacific Coast man-
ager of the Fotoplayer.
G. H. Adams, of the piano department of
Bush & Lane and a prominent organist of the
city, was married in the Trinity Episcopal
church March 6 to Miss Mina Riggs, a well-
known teacher of the Portland public schools.
RETAIL TRADE IN BUFFALO SHOWS MUCH IMPROVEMENT
Normal "Conditions Generally Stimulate Retail Demand for Musical Instruments—Kurtzmann Rep-
resentatives Visit Headquarters—Hoffman Bowlers Win New Laurels
BUFFALO, N. Y., April 12.—Improvement is gener-
ally noted in the piano business here. Many of
the dealers were taking a much more optimistic
view of things last week than they have for
some time. Although there is a large amount
of unemployment here, business appears to be
getting back to normal once more. The piano
dealers report that the number of sales have
increased and they seem to be gradually swing-
ing back into the old stride. One dealer re-
ported that the business of his store during
March was even greater than that of the holi-
day season.
Player-piano Week helped in many cases to
add to the business of the stores, many of the
dealers reporting sales as a result of the spe-
cial displays which they had arranged in their
windows.
The matter of living costs may be one of
the things taken up at the next meeting of the
music group of the Buffalo Chamber of Com-
merce. Living costs, it is pointed out, have
reduced considerably during the past year and
the discussion of the matter will be with a view
to meeting any demands of employes for in-
creased wages this Spring. A definite date has
not yet been set for the meeting.
A new department has been opened at the
Wurlitzer store here. It is a department where
instruments on which special sales are being
held will be handled.
"Business is increasing," is the report of
Jacob H. Hackenheimer, president of the C.
Kurtzmann Co. "We are very busy at our
plant," Mr. Hackenheimer reports. "Our work-
ing force is now operating on a full-time
schedule."
A number of out-of-town Kurtzmann dealers
have paid a visit to the Buffalo plant and placed
good-sized orders. Otto Muehlhauser, of Muehl-
hauser Bros. Co., Cleveland, was in town last
week, arranging for a fine stock of Kurtzman
pianos for the company's new store in Kuclid
avenue, which opens April 15. This will be one
of the finest piano stores in Cleveland. J. W.
Tyler, who is opening a new store at Hunting-
ton, W. Va., was also in town, and selected a
fine stock of Kurtzmann pianos for the new
shop. Another visitor who placed a good-sized
order was O. Stramiburg, of Jamestown.
The Utley Piano Co. had a fine window dis-
play for National Player-piano Week. Q R S
music rolls and the Sterling player-piano were
featured.
That piano manufacturers should do more ex-
tensive national advertising if they want to
boost business is the opinion of Albert F.
Koenig, of the Koenig Piano Co.
"I do not think there is enough national ad-
vertising by the manufacturers," said Mr. Koe-
nig. "And I believe that is what will be a
great help in bringing the business back to nor-
mal. I have seen concrete examples of what
national advertising does for the music busi-
ness locally. The Saturday Evening Post of
two weeks ago carried double-page advertise-
ments of Q R S music rolls and the Columbia
Graphophone Co. We felt the effect imme-
diately. There was an increased business in the
music rolls and in Columbia goods. That is
what should be done for the piano trade also."
The bowling team from the Hoffman Piano
Co. is adding to its laurels every week. Last
week it took into camp the team from the Elli-
son store in Grant street. Four out of five
games bowled on the Goodell alleys went to
the Hoffman two-man team. Charles F. Hoff-
man and Ray Smith bowled for the Hoffman
store, while Lawrence Ellison and Ray Ot-
tinger appeared for the Ellison store. The
Hoffman team this "week will line up against
the Goold Bros, team, which it defeated in a
match a week ago.
E. J. Hartman, president of Chase & Baker
Co., was a caller in town last week. Another
caller was Alex Shoninger, of the B. Shoninger
Co.
Wood & Brooks, manufacturers of piano
keys, are going to add a new line to their busi-
ness. They are going to manufacture ivory
cigarette tubes, they announce.
NEW CORPORATION IN OLEAN, N. Y.
The Houghton & Rungle Music Co., Olean,
N. Y., has been incorporated under the laws
of New York State to do business in talking
machines and other musical instruments. The
capital is $10,000 and the incorporators are J. V.
and L. A. Houghton and H. P. Rungle.