14
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
USED.. PIANO STOCKS CUT IN PHILADELPHIA IN AUGUST
Number of Instruments Carried Into September Lower Than Is Usually the Case-Ramsdell Co.
and Huver Co. in New Quarters-Cunningham Piano Co. Makes Extensive Alterations
PHILADEL.PHIA, PA., September 4.-Labor's holi
day, celebrated in a three-day week-end observa
lion by man y of th e music trade, fittingly re
warded the exertions put forth in the las t of the
~trenuous weeks of special A ugust sales of shop
worn and traded-in pianos, co nduct ed with one
or two exceptions by a ll of the regular deal
ers and the department stores of the city. Those
effor ts entirely were satisfactory. Several of the
firms, notably the Cunningham Co. and the
Gimbel Bros. stores, repor ted larger sales than
for several yea rs past. It was the cons ensus
of opinion that there remain to be carried over
into September le ss used pianos 'than cus
tomaril y is the case. In fac t, mOre than half of
the firm s engaging in this seaso na l drive bu s i
ness reported that they were sold out. The
temper of the trad e on th e eve of the new
month ushering in Fall ac ti v iti es a'nd marking
th e sta rting on the ro a d of the salesmen is
really excellent. Quite a number of the piano
factory salesmen who, durin g the week, visited
the city found it so and wel l-fill ed order books
\"ere their reward. They too were in optimistic
mood as to the futur e and n(·.a rl y all of them
reported that factories we re sold up to the
production. A fe w prophesied s horta ge in the
Fall, therefore advising prompt orders now. In
the gene ral line of musical instruments, wind,
'reed and brass, the past week marked the end
ing of the August lull which this year was not
as pronounced as that of a yea r ago.
The
sheet music trade generally cont inues quite ac
tive' with almost pos itive certa inty of a Fall
scason in excess of any enjoyed during the last
half decade.
Competitors Attend Ramsdell Opening
_\. demons tration of the grow in g comity in
trade circles was given during the week inci
de nt to the opening of th e new s tore of Rams
dell & Sons, at 127 South Twelfth street, cor
ner of Moravian street. The sen ior member of
th e firm is widely known in trade circles as
president of the associatio n a nd sta nds high in
it s regard. vVhen, th erefore, he sent out invi
tations to all his competitor's in the city, an
nouncing the openin g and inviting their inspec
tion, there was quite a gene rous response. He
was the recipient of many cong ra tulation s on
the ta stef ulness di sp layed in the decoration of
t he sto re in mahogany a nd g ree n, s imple but
ri c h, a nd in the effective display of wares un
der a flood of li ght from two st reeb.
G. W. Huver Co. in New Quarters
W hile the G. W. Hu ver Co. yeste rday changed
its a ddress from 1031 Chestnut street, on the
fi rq floor of the ,\lmar Building, to 1013 Chest
nut st reet, in the Victor y Buildin g, no announce
men t was made of the removal to the Almar
Bu ildin g of the Rudolph Wu rl itzer Co., whose
P hil ade lphia manager was the titul ar purcha se r
of the bi g office buildin g. It had not been the
mtention of the Wurlitzer Co. immediately to
remove becau se th ere we re planned extensive
alterations in the A lma I' B uildin g site, includ
ing a private elevator to the secon d floor, a new
bulk window and general renovations.
In
formal but credible informa tion has been given
that the V/urlitzer Co., now loca ted in one of
the sto res on Che stnut s t reet, a bove Eighth
stree t, controlled b y Gimbel Bros., may not
remove from it at all and that a deal involving
a retrans fer of the Almar property is pending.
The fir st vacation in A tlanti c Ci ty for more
th a n a day or two e njoy ed in th e las t twent y
years b y Manager R. S. M cCar th y, of the piano
clepartme nt of the Gimbel Bros. store, came to
a concl usion last week for hims elf a nd his fam
ily with his return to his desk. The Gimbel
August sale was report ed far to have exceeded
th a t of last year, excellent thou g h that was.
Some Trade Visitors
A commentary on th e exce ll en t conditions in
the trade is found b y many in the announce
ment made by N. Stet so n & Co. th a t, beginnin g
September 1, prices . on three s izes of Steinway
gra nd pianos were advanced from $50 to $75
eac h. T he a dva ncin g marke t considerably s tim
ulated bu yi n g.
William R. Gullett, of the Schubert Piano
Co., New York, callin g on th e trade at the
en d of the week, reported bett er business than
for the last two years, with Jun e and Jul y sales
at th e factory in excess of thos e of last N ovem
be r an d December. It is filled up with orders.
Sidney M. Mayer, of Roth Bros., New Y ork,
was among the week's trade ca ll ers. Another
was Ed wi n Milton Boothe, of J acob Doll &
Sons, N ew York. George W. Allen, pr es id ent
of the Milton Piano Co., v is itin g th e city, re
ported th e factory filled up with o rd e r s. John
H . Pa rnh am, former presid ent of Kohler &
Campbell, vi sited many- of hi s lon g-time friends
in the t rade here while on a social trip.
There began this week a two weeks' auto
mobil e tour through Pennsylvania a nd New
York States by C B. \t\'ian, floo r manager in
th e piano department of Strawbrid ge & c:Io thier
and wi de ly know n by reason of his nineteen
years of co nnection with that es tab li s hment.
Redecorating Cunningham Building
Assistant M4Ina ge r T. A. Patton, of th e Cun
ningham Co. , left this week for a sojo urn to
Cape May, where his family is Summering. E.
P . Myers, of the sales organizat ion, is on a
motor trip to Williamsport, Fa., and E. T.
SEPTEMBER 8, 1923
Sackett, anoth er mem ber of thesales forc e, left
,(:sterday for a n exte nsive automobil e vaca
tion. Despite the fact that the Cunnin g ham Co.
has in course of erection its own mod ern build
in g on Chestnut street, below Broad st reet,
which it anticipates occupying early ne x t year,
ve ry extensive im proveme nts are bein g made to
the loca tion at the north west corner of E leve nth
and Chestnut streets, so long occ upi ed by it. T he
entire exterio r brickwork is being giycn a coat
of cream paint, and th e doors and window s are
being decor a ted w ith a bronze gold effect. Other
renovations a lso are being made. That s uch
large expend itures s hould be made und e r th e
circum s tan ces is exci tin g particular int erest in
trade circl es and some sp eculation rega rdin g
the futur e plans of the company. Mr. Cunni ng
ham, ho weve r, is keeping hi s own co un se l.
Wilde's Mu sic Store, of She nandoah, .i:'a. , one
of th e mos t pro g ress ive up-State es tabli s hm e nts,
has just taken on a nd will handle exclu s ive ly
the Brunswick line of talking machines and
records.
An all-d ay out in g of the business fam il y of
Theodore P r esse r Co. is being planned with
Burlington I s la nd Park as the place and Octo
ber 19 as th e time. W. E. Lamson, of the
order depar tment, is sc heduling race s and other
conte sts s uit able to yout hs a nd grownups, w hil e
other arrangement s for e ntert a inment are und er
the more immediate c har ge of John \ V. Drain,
advertisin g and publicity mana ger.
)[ews come s from Stroudsburg, 1'a., that the
plant of the New Yo r k Piano Stool Co., in
East Stroudsburg, has been sold to the Ther
apeutic Devices Co .
NEW HEAD FOR SEIBERLING-LUCAS PIANO DEPARTMENT
C. Jellison Appointed Manager for That Division of Store-So J Scrivens Joins Local Sherman,
Clay Organization-Louis P. Bruce Dies-Laraway House Takes Kimball
PORTLAND, ORE., August 3L- P ortland has had
an unu sual amount of hot wea th e r durin g the
past week o r so, but deal e rs all r epo rt it having
the effect of stimulating busin ess ra ther than
slowing things up as was feared. People are
still go in g off on camping trips and w eek-e nd
vacations, a nd all dealers report a continued de
mand for th e portable machines. Record sales
are also way a bove the avera ge.
C Jellison has been placed in charge of the
piano d epartmen t of the Seiberling-Lucas Mus ic
Co. s tore, a nd comes to Portland with th e hi g h
est of recomme ndation s as an expe rt organizer
of piano d epa rtments.
Mr. J elliso n is well
known th ro ug hout the co untr y, a nd th e Sei ber
lin g-Lu cas Co. co nsi ders itself fo rtunate in se
curin g h is services. A large sh ipme nt o f Gul
bransen players is on the w ay a nd is eage rly
awaited by prospective buyers. Orde r s have
alr eady been taken for several which are on
the way, an d the Seiberling-Lucas Co ., which
has recently take n over the Portl an d
th e Gulbransen line, anticipates big business
wi th it.
F. W. Stephenson, of Sherman, Clay & Co.,
San Francisco, was a rec ent visitor, ca llin g on
J . H. Dundore, mana ge r of the P.ortla nd branch.
Mr. Stephe nso n was accomp a m ed by his family
and was returning to San Franc isco fr~m a trip
throu g h the Yellowstone Park.
S. ]. Scrivens, formerly of th e phonograph
departm ent of the Fitzgerald Mu s ic Co., of Los
Angeles, an d lately in the music business in
V ancouver,. B. C, has been add ed to the sales
for ce o f the Victrola departm e nt of Sherman,
Clay & Co.
Elm er Hunt, manager of the wholesale de
partment of Sherman, Clay & Co., a nnounces
]. G. McKay, of Raini e r, a nd Arthur W. B urton,
of Powers, Ore., as newl y established Victor
de a lers.
M. Dav is, di strict manager of the Brunsw ick
Balke-Collender Co., was visit ed by A. ]. Kend
rick, of Chi cago, general sales manager of the
Brunswick phonograph division. Mr. Kendrick
was making a Coast trip and vi s it ed a ll deale'rs
in thi s district with Mr. Davi s. H e reports find
in g splendid conclitions, a nd says he is more im
pressed th an eve r with the future of th e Pacific
Northwest a nd loo ks for a tremendoll s Fall a nd
\Vin te r bus in ess. The Vernonia Dru g Co., of
Vernonia, has been adde d to the list of Br un s
wick deal ers in O r ego n. Vlilliam Folger is in
charge of th e depa rtm e nt.
Louis P. Bruce, fo r many years identifi ed with
Portland lllu s ic hOllses, died August 24, after a
week's illness, at St. Vincent's Hosp ital.
At the time of his dea th he was sec reta ry
trea surer a nd a lso manager of the \ Veste rn
Dia tomit e Co., thi s ci ty. Mr. Bruce was bo rn
in St. L o ui s, :vIo., in 1874, and came to Portland
in 1890 where he made hi s home eve r s in ce.
He was well kn own to the Coast mu sic trad es,
and was for several yea rs mana ger of the
Aeolian Co. branch, a nd for many years in
charge of the pianola department of the tilers
Music Co . He was later identified with the
piano departm e nt of th e Wiley B. Allen Co. He
is survived by his mothe r, :vIrs. ]. E. Bruce, who
is eight y-n ine years o ld, and five sisters.
Seth Laraway, of the Larawa y Mu sic H o use,
Eugene, Ore., has bee n a ppointed State di stribu
tor of the Kimball piano.
A. T. Eri ckso n, former manager of th e phono
g raph depa rtm e nt of Murgittroyd's Drug S to re,
of Spokane, Wash., has taken charge of th e
Victrola d epartment of the Powers furniture
store to r ep lace P. J. Heinz who, after three
years' servi ce, in this department, resi g ned to
join the sales force of the furniture depart me n t
of Powers.
DEATH OF FRANK WHEELER
Frank VI' hee ler, head of the piario ha rdw are
manufact urin g busi ness of Frank Wheeler &
Son, Meriden , Con n., di ed la s t wee k a t Stony
Creek, where his Summer home is loc ate d. Mr.
Vv'heeler was born in Cromwell, Conn. , in 1837,
and, aft er learn in g th e machinist trade, went to
Meriden in 1857, where he established a piano
hardware business some years later.
Consult the Universal Want Directory of
The Review. In it advertisements are inserted
free of charge for men who desire positions.