THE
OCTOBER 13, 1923
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
WILEY B. ALLEN CO. CELEBRATES FIFTIETH BIRTHDAY
Old Pacific Coast House Gives Historical Review of Concern's Development-Serge Halman
Oregon Sherman , Cla y Piano Sales Manager-A New Use for Music Rolls That Fails
SAN FHANClSCO, CAL., Oc tober 4.- Starting
simu ltaneo usly in eve ryo ne o f th e e ig ht s tor es
of the vViley B. :'l. lle n circ uit , on Oc tob er 1,
t he firm began its fiftieth anniversary sa le, com
memorating a half .c entury of se rvice. From
San Diego to Portl a nd, Ore., the adver ti sing,
window dis pla ys and ~pec i a l goods offe red were
id e ntical.
The windo\\·s have go ld-colored
la mp s a nd other li g htin g;, wit h ye ll ow di sp lay
ca rd ~, to ty pify the "golden" anniversary. Th e
advertising, which is still running, ca rries pi c
turrs of the eig h t Wiley. H. A llen stores, with
s ugges tions of prair(e sc hooners, drawn by
oxen, fillin g in the backgro.und. The page ad·
ve rti se me nt runs, in pa rt :
" In ~hy , 1847, th ere set out from Sp rin gfie ld,
1,,10., sevrnty prairie schooners and three hun
dr ed resolute pioneers. Slowly, painfully, aver
a g ing on ly about seven m iles a day, thi s train
c rawled westward. The tra in follow ed the old
O regon tra il into Oregon, making the trip in
seven months. Prominent in this train was th e
forebear oi \Viley B. A llen, who was born in
what is now Silverton, forty miles so uth of
Portla nd ."
The s tor y goes on to te ll how \ iV il ey B. :\llen
es ta bli s hed t he first \ Vil e)' B. A ll en store in
San Jo se!, Cal., in 1873. "This bu,ines devel
oped and en larged through many changes, al
ways g ro\;ving until, forty-ei g ht yea rs a fter th e
es ta bli s hmen t of the fir s t W il ey D. Allen s tore
in Sa n Jose , the newe s t Wi ley B. A lle n store
was opened at Fresno, Ca l. , mak in g a c hain of
eight lllusic houses, second to none on the
Pacilic Coast. Never before ha , the vV ile y B .
.". ll en Co. h eld an anniversary sa le. Th is is th e
fir s t of it s k ind."
New Sales Manager
Whi le in the Pacifi c Northwest, from wh ich
he r ece ntl y returned, P. T. Clay, president of
Sherman, Clay & Co., insta ll ed Serge H alma n
,IS sale~ manager of th e piano department for
Orego n. G. W . Bate s, comptroller for S he r
m a n, C lay & Co., w ho was wi th Mr. Clay in the
Northwest a nd returne d some days later, state d
t ha t condi tions look very good in W ash ington
a nd Oregon. The heavy demand for lumber,
e,pecia ll y from Japan , is g ivin g quite a boos t
t o the lum be r indu str y and crops a re good in
both States. The farmers are 110t receiving
goo d prices for their bi g crops, but t hey are
getting enough to brin g exce ll en t business con
ditions to the "Korthwest.
Unique in Marketing
Somet hin g uniqu e in musical merch a ndising
was di scovere d thi s week by A. L. Qu in n, Coas t
manager of the Q R S Mu sic Co. O n Market
st reet, nea r Ei g hth street, th e re is a big open
air market, where fa rm ers brin g thei r produce
on th e "dire ct -to-the-consumf>r" hasi s.
Near
mounds of vegetables a nd m e lons Mr. Quinn
rea d , with surprise, the notice: "S hee t music
given away with eve r y SO-cent purchase." The
dealers were Italians an d Mr. Q uinn dr ew
nearer to exami ne their offerings, findin g them
to co nsist of long exce rpt s from gra nd o peras,
on th r top of the pile be in g "0 Mio· F erna nd o,"
Irom Do ni zetti's "La Favorita." "W e have no
bananas, but we give away sheet m usic w ith
vegetab les," mused Mr. Quinn.
Ar rivin g at
Q R S headqua rters he to ld th e story to H . L.
L yons, his ass is tant, a nd le a rn ed that the same
It a lians had been besieging M·r. L yo ns fo r a
job lot of Q R S rolls to give a way as premi
um s. In this attemp t they had been un s uccess
ful , but they are s till doing a la nd -office busi
ness in gra nd opera selection s.
Four Duo-Art Concerts
Four Duo-Art concerts, a rr a nged by She r
man, Clay & Co. for the prese nt month, are all
a rous in g much interest. At the r:a lifor ni a Club,
on the ninth, Mr. and Mrs. Uda Waldrop are
feat ured wit h the Duo- _\rt ; the Bus in ess a nd
Professio na l Women's Club, on th e sixteenth,
will hear th e Duo-Art in con jun ction with the
so loists, Miss H elen O ' Neal and Mrs. Wrig ht, .
the same performers appearin g in Sa n Jose on
th e se venteenth for the Sciot s, while th e Mu
11
tual Busine ss Men's r: lub wi ll hear th e Wal
dr ops w ith th e Duo-Art at th e Palace Hot cl o n
the twe nty-fifth. Sherma n, Clay & Co. s tate
th at busin ess is good , b ut it is dif-ficult to ob
tai n enough hi g h-gra de goo ds for the demand.
W . B. Marshall Arrives
W. B. Marsha ll, of K rakauer Bros., has ar
rived and is paying visi ts to a ll th e Sherman,
Clay & Co. branc hes with in easy access of the
city. Fred Ch ristianer, of Story & Cla rk, is in
town.
TARLETON IN NEW VORK ·BRANCH
A. E . Tarl eton, who has been utili zed as a n
outsi d e canvasser for th e Story & Clark Piano
Co., N ew York, in Long I sla nd territory durin g
th e pas t S ummer, has been promoted to the
position of full salesman and will work out of
the main Thirty-second s treet branch, acco rd
in g to an anno uncement made by Ma na ge r L.
Schoenewald this week. :\1r. Schoenewald has
been e nt e rt a inin g John Dwyer, of th e D \\·yer
Piano Co., New Orleans.
~e~eral
RADIO
helps the Phonograph Dealer
HE beauty, finish and workmanship of
Federal radio sets place them on ' a par
with the finest phonographs made. And
just as piano dealers, years ago, learned that
the sale of phonographs stimulated their busi
ness- ·phonograph dealers today have learned
that the sale of Federal radio sets helps their
business to an even greater degree.
T
Phonograph dealers also know that the day of
experiments in selling radio has passed. They
may now, with assurance and safety, take on
the unqualifiedly guaranteed Federal line.
Today the Federal Telephone and Telegraph
Company has an offer of great interest to
dealers who can qualify. It is suggested that
dealers who are interested write to the Federal
Telephone and Telegraph Company at
Buffalo, New York .
Reliable
.~~E».C»
G c> c> d.s
11rbrrnl wrirpqnur nub wrlrgrnp4 ([n.
It's Easler to Sell RELIABLE Goods
\~ E'I. yon r eQ uiP'TI C'nt f rom a. h on se of established repu
tnlion . R ic . (:f>lnolClu stock of SCI$. parts. and su pplies
rrom A nk ri (' a ' ~ l ea.di n ~ ra.dLo ma.nu fa·~t.u rers.
Depend
abl e: goods only. Immediate d e-lh'cry all pa.rts of coun
trr.
l.atest r":ltnlog shows all tested and approved
anpu ratu s.
" ' ril e for it at once,
Ask for di scoun t
:;hect, No\\r l
JULIUS ANDRAE &. SONS CO.
Mlh"Bukee, Wis.
118 Michigan St•
.A.
~
N D
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A.
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Bu ... if1"... .r
$i"1:,,/860
BUFFALO. N. Y.
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