Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1921 Vol. 72 N. 4

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
JANUARY 22,
1921
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
39
REFUTES RUMORS OF REDUCTIONS IN VICTOR PRICES
SEEK CHANGE IN PENNSYLVANIA LAW
Ralph L. Freeman, Director of Distribution of the Victor Talking Machine Co., in Replying to
Inquiry of A. D. Geissler, Shows Why Present Prices Must Be Maintained
Efforts Being Made to Have Amended the Law
Permitting of Seizure of Talking Machines in
Cases of Execution Sales for Rent
Some very interesting and illuminating cor-
respondence has recently ensued on the sub-
ject of prices for Victor records and Victrolas
between A. D. Geissler, president of the New
York Talking Machine Co., Victor wholesaler
of New York City, and Ralph L. Freeman, di-
rector of distribution, Victor Talking Machine
Co., Camden.
Mr. Geissler originally wrote to the Victor
Co. that rumors were persistent among certain
Victor dealers to the effect that a reduction in
the prices of both machines and records was
imminent, and asking if there was any reason
for believing these rumors would prove true.
Mr. Freeman's letter in response very clearly
sets forth the price situation in so far as it af-
fects Victor products, and makes it evident that
no reduction in the price of either Victor rec-
ords or Victrolas is likely at this time. Mr.
Freeman's letter follows verbatim:
"December 31, 1920.
"New York Talking Machine Co.,
New York, N. Y.
"Gentlemen:—Responding to your letter of
December 30, we desire to say that there is ab-
solutely no foundation in fact for any rumors
to the effect that the Victor Co. is contemplating
reductions in its prices for its products, either
instruments or records.
"We have not made any general statement
on this subject for the reason that it appeared
to be impossible to adequately cover in a con-
densed statement the many features which have
enabled the Victor Co. to offset the great dif-
ference between its increase in cost of produc-
tion and the relatively small increase in its
prices.
"On June 29 last, at Atlantic City, our presi-
dent stated that during the war period the
Victor Co. had handled an increase in cost of
labor and material of at least 166 per cent, with
only about 34 per cent increase in its prices.
Since that date we have made no increases in
our prices, but the last figures available, those
for the three months ended September 30, 1920,
show still further increases in cost of produc-
tion, due to the fact that we are now using
materials purchased at higher prices than those
heretofore effective with us.
"One factor that has been most effective in
stabilizing this company's prices during the last
five years has been the strong financial position
which had been developed for the very purpose
of taking care of some such emergency, and
which has enabled the company to purchase its
requirements of materials at better prices than
were generally quoted. A considerable portion
of the difference between increase of production
costs and increase of prices has been taken out
of our profits, but the most important factor in
the whole situation has been the ingenuity of
our organization in devising improved equip-
ment whereby manufacturing costs could be re-
duced without deterioration in quality.
"The policy of the Victor Co. has always
been to do a large business on a moderate per-
centage of profit. Circumstances of the last
few years have reduced our margin of profit to
the point where it cannot be considered satis-
factory or adequate for the maintenance of our
organization. We believe that further advances
in prices may be avoided, but certainly there
can be no consideration of any downward re-
vision in our prices until actual reductions in
cost have been accomplished sufficient to allow
the Victor Co. a safer margin of profit. Pre-
dictions against the future are always hazardous
and we would not care to assume the responsi-
bility of issuing any guarantees or doing more
than give you a frank statement of the situa-
tion as it now appears to us. We cannot see
any possibility of developments which would
enable us to reduce our prices in- the near
future. Very truly yours,
"VICTOR TALKING MACHINE CO.,
'Ralph L. Freeman, Director of Distribution."
P. J. BURNS' NEW POST
Edison Sales Manager Joins Metropolitan
Forces as Sales Promotion Manager
P. J. Burns, until recently sales manager of
the Amberola Department at the Edison Labora-
tories, has resigned that position to become sales
promotion manager for The Phonograph Cor-
poration of Manhattan, Edison jobbers for New
York City and the metropolitan district.
Mr. Burns has been associated with the Edison
Laboratories in various capacities for miore than
P. J. Burns
a decade and brings to his new position a wealth
of experience gained through close application
to his numerous responsibilities during that
time. Back in 1907, several years before the
advent of the New Edison disc, he joined the
Edison organization to become an office boy
and junior clerk. Promotion "followed rapidly,
and in August, 1919, after having devoted sev-
eral years to various phases of sales promotion
work at the Orange laboratories, he went on the
road to act as territorial supervisor in the Do-
minion of Canada. The Amberola Department,
of which he was in charge during the past ten
months, has shown remarkable results under his
careful guidance.
Asked for a statement, Mr. Burns remarked:
"There is no doubt about the possibilities of the
New Edison in the metropolitan district. The
immense population of this district is in touch
with the best in art and music and it is merely
a matter of time and education before the re-
creation of music is fully recognized. I am
glad that my new duties will provide the oppor-
tunity to co-operate with the local dealers in
serving the music-loving public of New York."
COLUMBIA BRANCH IN TORONTO
The Columbia Graphophone Co. has recently
opened up its first branch house in Canada
serving the retail trade direct. This establish-
ment is located at 204 St. Catherine street,
Montreal, with Hector Garand as manager.
An effort is to be made at the present session
of the Pennsylvania State Legislature in Har-
risburg to have amended the law which at pres-
ent permits of the seizing of pianos, talking
machines and other musical instruments for rent.
The. amendment, which reads as follows, has
Leen introduced through the efforts of the
Music Industries Chamber of Commerce:
"An act to exempt talking machines, phono-
graphs and musical instruments of every descrip-
tion leased or conditionally sold to or hired by
any person or persons residing in or having a
place of business in this Commonwealth, from
levy or sale on execution or distress for rent.
"Section 1. Be it enacted, etc., that all talk-
ing machines, phonographs and musical instru-
ments of every description leased, conditionally
sold to or hired by any person or persons re-
siding in or having a place of business in this
Commonwealth under a lease or contract of sale
reserving title in the owner, lessor or vendor
until paid for, shall be exempt from levy and
sale on execution or distress for rent due by
such person or persons so leasing or condition-
ally purchasing or hiring any such talking
machines, phonographs and musical instruments
of every description, in addition to any articles
or money now exempt by law, so long as the
title thereto remains in the owner, lessor or
vendor; provided, that the owner, lessor or
vendor of such talking machines, phonographs
and musical instruments of every description,
or his or their agent or agents or the person
or persons so leasing or conditionally purchas-
ing or hiring the same shall give notice to the
landlord or his agent that the said talking ma-
chines, phonographs and musical instruments of
every description are leased, conditionally sold
or hired."
Dealers throughout Pennsylvania are urged
to support the measure by writing to their State
senators and assemblymen in its favor. "In my
judgment every help should be given to have
the bill passed," said George W. Pound, general-
counsel for the Chamber. "The present law is
a discrimination against the talking machine and
against music, and the moral effect is bad.
Every music merchant should write to his
legislative representatives in favor of the act."
SECURED VICTROLA ON BAD CHECK
Long Island News Co. Loses Victrola XVII to
Swindler—Trade Asked to Be on Lookout
The Long Island News Co. reports that a
man representing himself as Edward Nostrand,
a resident of Flushing, L. I., called at the store
of the News Co. on December 15 and purchased
a Victrola XVII, Serial No. 8437, in English
brown finish, for which he gave a check. The
check was later returned marked "N. G.," and in-
vestigation proved that in the house where the
machine had been delivered the man had held
a room only two days. The machine was traced
to a tea and coffee store in New York, and
there all trace was lost.
The man is described as being about five feet
five inches tall, smooth shaven, florid com-
plexion, and representing himself as a civil
engineer. Dealers and* repairmen are asked to
be on the lookout for the machine, Serial No.
8437, and to notify the manager of the Flushing
store of the Long Island News Co. at 45 Main
street.
John F. Pentland has opened a new music
store in Toronto, O.
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
40
THE MUSIC TKADE REVIEW
JANUARY 22, 1921
BAERWALD TO VISIT PHILADELPHIA
THE NEW COLUMBIA CO. PRESIDENT
TO MAKE EXTENDED CONCERT TOUR
Eastern Sales Manager of General Phonograph
Corp. Finds Improved Attitude in Trade—
M. E. Schechter on New York State Trip
Van Horn Ely a Man of Wide Experience in
Business Management of Large Institutions
Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds, Widely
Known Through Her Okeh Records, Has Ar-
ranged to Make a Coast-to-Coast Tour—It
Promises to Be a Big Success
Paul L.. Baerwald, Eastern sales manager of
General Phonograph Corp., New York, left the
early part of the week for Philadelphia, where
he will visit the manufacturing trade. Mr. Baer-
wald informed The Review representative that
orders and inquiries are becoming more numer-
ous of late, and that all of the trade with which
he has come in contact has undergone a decided
change in mental attitude for the better. The
worries which have been prevalent with most
companies during the last sixty or ninety days
have given place to working out ideas for cur-
rent business, which is now available in cases
where aggressive efforts are being made.
M. E. Schechter, of the motor division of the
General Phonograph Corp., New York, left the
early part of the week for a trip through New
York State and Pennsylvania. He will be gone
in all about a week, during which time he will
call on the manufacturers in this territory.
Van Horn Ely, who was recently elected
president of the Columbia Graphophonc Co.,
New York, is a man of wide experience in the
business management of large institutions. In
A LIVE COLUMBIA DISTRIBUTOR
Tampa Hardware Co. Celebrates Twenty-first
Anniversary With Twenty-page Supplement
to the Tampa Daily Times of January 8
The Tampa Hardware Co., of Tampa, Fla.,
has won national celebrity for its progressive-
ness, and a further proof of its just claim to this
title is to be found in the issuance of a twenty-
page supplement to the Tampa Daily Times of
January 8, devoted entirely to the twenty-first
anniversary of the founding of this institution.
Twenty pages devoted to one single subject
as a section of a daily paper is something unique.
It was inspired by W. C. Thomas, the guiding
genius of the Tampa Hardware Co., and one
of the big farseeing business men of Florida.
The real purpose back of the stunt was not
so much to tell of the rapid growth and won-
derful success of the Tampa Hardware Co., but
to recall to the business men of Florida the
economic soundness of the State at a time when
optimism can be capitalized. Incidentally the
retailer was offered helpful suggestions intended
to aid him in making legitimate profits at a time
when the market is no longer soaring.
Mr. Thomas remarked: "When the section
was first proposed to some of the biggest manu-
facturers in America they came back with letters
praising the idea enthusiastically—many of them
thinking so well of it that they authorized ad-
vertisements of their own to appear in the spe-
cial section. In fact, the demand for space
caused an early readjustment of the original
plan to publish a six or eight page section, the
final capitulations demanding a twenty-page sec-
tion."
The Tampa Hardware Co. has long been a
Columbia distributor, and has a strong organiza-
tion for the exploitation of the Grafonola and
Columbia records, under the able direction of
J. A. Bryan, Jr., throughout a large territory.
This company handles everything in the line
of hardware and agricultural implements in ad-
dition to the Columbia line.
NEW POST FOR BERKLEY
H. D. Berkley, who for many years has been
connected with several Victor organizations,
both wholesale and retail, and who more recently
was assistant general manager of the Enterprise
Music Supply Co., recently was appointed man-
ager of the Victrola department of Blooming-
dale Bros., Inc., New York City.
OCCUPY NEW QUARTERS IN TORONTO
The Columbia Graphophonc Co. has recently
moved to new and more attractive quarters at
347 Adelaide street, West, Toronto, Can.
Van Horn Ely
addition to being president of the Columbia Co.
lie is president of the American Railways Co. of
Philadelphia, which concern operates twenty
electric light, power and trolley companies
throughout the country.
He has maintained a close contact with the
talking machine industry through his close af-
filiation with Francis S. Whitten, the former
president of the Columbia Co., who is now chair-
man of the board of directors.
In a recent letter to the Columbia trade, H. L.
Willson, general manager of the Columbia Co.,
refers to Mr. Ely as follows:
"Jan. 7, 1920.
"To Columbia Service:
"Gentlemen: I announce with sincere regret
that, on account of ill health and consequent
enforced absence from active association with
the company, Mr. Francis S. Whitten has been
compelled to retire from the presidency of the
company, and was yesterday relieved of his
former duties and elected to the chairmanship
of the board of directors.
"Mr. Van Horn Ely, who has been a director
and member of the executive committee for sev-
eral years past, was elected president to succeed
Mr. Whitten. M'r. Ely has been an intimate
friend and associate of our former president for
years, and has been in close touch with the
talking machine industry and the past policies
of our company, and therefore does not come
into the organization as a stranger to the busi-
ness or to the coYnpany's chief executives.
"I have assured Mr. Ely of the same loyal
and hearty co-operation that you have so splen-
didly shown during Mr. Whitten's administra-
tion.
"(Signed) H. L. WILLSON,
"General Manager."
FRANK J. COUPE HONORED
Sales Manager of Sonora Co. Elected Vice-
president at Annual Meeting Last Week—
Present Officers of Company Re-elected
At the annual meeting of the board of direc-
tors of Sonora Phonograph Co., Inc., New York
City, held the second week in January, all of
the present officers in this prominent institu-
tion were re-elected. They are as follows:
George E. Brightson, president; L. C. Hasell,
vice-president; John Herzog, second vice-presi-
dent; Joseph Wolff, treasurer; E. H. Jennings,
secretary and assistant treasurer; A. C. Valeur,
assistant treasurer.
A new addition was made to the officerial
board in the person of Frank J. Coupe, sales
manager of- the company, who was elected to
the office of vice-president.
Mamie Smith and her Jazz Hounds are an-
swering the unanimous demand for personal ap-
pearances by going on concert tour. Under the
management of the Standard Amusement Co.,
with offices at Suite 502, Yanderbilt Avenue
Building, New York, a coast-to-coast tour is
being scheduled.
The company is to be known as "Mamie Smith
and Her Jazz Hounds Revue." There will be
added features to the original Jazz Hounds,
as Mamie Smith will carry a varied company
of well-known entertainers. They will give a
full evening's performance. The popularity
Mamie and her Jazz Hounds have won on Okeh
records has assured her managers of record-
breaking audiences. The engagements she has
already filled in a number of Eastern and
Southern cities were played to capacity-filled
houses.
The program which will be offered on tour
will consist of recent selections released on
Okeh records made by this organization as well
as other late Broadway jazz and Blues hits. The
attraction will be booked only in large audi-
toriums where there is sufficient seating capacity
to accommodate the crowds.
SELLS FACTORY TO WATERMAN CO.
General Phonograph Corp. to Concentrate Motor
and Tone Arm Business in Elyria, O.—To
Continue Record Making in Newark
The factory on Thomas street, Newark, which
the General Phonograph Corp., New York, has
owned for some time past, has recently been
sold to the L. E. Waterman Co., makers of
fountain pens.
In referring to this transaction, Otto Heine-
man, president of the General Phono. Corp.,
informed The Review that the sale was made
because in the future all of the motor and tone
arm business of the company will be concen-
trated in the factories at Elyria, Ohio. The
plan of concentrating all of this end of the busi-
ness in one city will make for greater efficiency
in manufacturing-.
Okeh records will continue to be manufactured
the same as heretofore, in the Newark plant,
and for this purpose a large portion of the
factory to which the Waterman Co. now holds
title has been leased. The Okeh record busi-
ness continues to grow in a very substantial
manner.
L. K. LINCOLN VISITS PITTSBURGH
Advertising Manager of Sonora Phonograph Co.
Finds Trade in That Section in a Generally
Satisfactory Condition During Visit There
L. K. Lincoln, advertising manager of Sonora
Phonograph Co., Inc., New York, has just re-
turned from a trip, during which he visited prac-
tically all the retailers in Pittsburgh and en-
virons.
In chatting with The Review, Mr. Lincoln
stated that he found the retail merchants, in
every case, imbued with a thoroughly optimistic
spirit regarding the opportunity for increased
business in the very near future. He called on
dealers representing practically every make of
instrument and found that the machine business
has been holding up quite well since the holiday
season, though it does not run as well propor-
tionately as the record business.
Mr. Lincoln spent a considerable portion of
his time with the new Sonora distributors, the
Schroeder Piano Co. of Pittsburgh, which con-
cern is promoting the Sonora line in a most
vigorous manner throughout this section of the
country.

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