OCTOBER 13, 1923
'rHE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
HIGH GRADES ARE MOVING RAPIDLY IN PHILADELPHIA
Impetus From Beginning of Fall Most Noticeable in That Type of Instruments-Big Starr Cam
paign Development-Ballen's Shop Undergoing Extensive Alterations
PHILADELPHIA, PA, October 9.- The zip and
tang of the snappy October day s experienced
during the la st week gave an impetus to the
buying of new pianos and of other mu s ical in
~truments of the more exp ensi ve kind, for
which the trade has been some time waiting.
Conditions during the preceding fortni g ht or so
were not dull, but they were in clined at times
to become draggy, requiring special sales ef
forts to put over the go od s. J)urin g the past
week, however, there was enjoyed a revival of
interest by buyers and which resu lted in the
placing of quite a goodly a mount of orders,
some for immediate d elivery, but most of them
for the holiday season. There are in th e trade
in this city a few instances of special cut-price
sales, but, in a g-eneral way, the piano houses
have settled into the routine of regular busi
ne ss and into prepara tion [or the holid ay sea
son. Complete confidence everywhere is ex
pressed that it will be goo d. The veteran G. C.
Ramsdell, head of Ramsdell & Son, is one of
-the typical ent husiasts . Said he re ce ntly: "There
exists in my mind not the slightest doubt that
we shall have a season of splendid prosperity
in the piano business . There is no unemploy
ment a nd wages arc high. The public has a
large purchasing pow er-lar ger, I believe, than
many of us estimate-and it is s howing a di s
position to spend money cautiou s ly, perhaps,
but liberally also.
General industrial condi
lions ar e of such character that we in the piano
trade are warranted in lookin g forward with
lar ge expectations."
Proving The Review Is Widely Read
At the C. J. Heppe & Sons store there is like
confidence in ,vhat is ahead and an actual dem
onstration is being giv en by the interests dis
played by mu sic lover" in the Heppe Christmas
Club, now in course of org-anization. Some
reference to this novel sale s program rece ntly
was madc in these columns. To tlte Heppe or
ganization a ~ id e light on th e wide appeal of
The ·Music Trad e H.eview is afforded by th e
fact titat, shortly after publi ca tion of the article
in the se columns, .Manager vVitney was called
on by a number of out-of-town music dealers,
parti cu larl y one from Brooklyn, another from
Chicago and one from far-off Toronto, Canada,
who said that they had become interested in the
Heppe Ch ristma s Club and w ere desirous of
rec eiving further info rmation. This, of course,
cheerfully was extended to them. The Heppe
concern, which is now passing through the
throe s of a reconstruction of its building by the
owner, is making every preparation for a very
larg e hol iday sa le. John Snyder, formerly of
tb e Talking ~lachine Co. sales organization, has
just joined the wholesale department of the
Heppe Co.
Appealing to the Fall Bride
A simple, yet ve ry effective, window display
particularly appropriate to the season is being
made this we ek in the store of Ramsdell & Son.
.\ splendid grand piano occupies the center of
the show window; over it is thrown a broad
band of rich white silk and on one corner stands
a si lver vase containing lilies-of-the-vall ey, with
a pot of fern on the other. A neat placard
contains th ese words: "A su ggestio n for the
Fall bride." The simplicity of the di spla y, and
yet its effect iven ess, attracted att ention and was
dire ct ly res Jlo nsible for several sa les.
The local s tore of the Story & Clark Co. is
preparin g sh ortl y to cel eb rate the sixty-seventh
anniv ersary of that organization and an espe
cially priced offering of pianos is being made
for that event.
A Strong Starr Campaign
Plans for the expa nsion of the piano and
phonograph sales territory for the Starr pianos
and Gennett reco rds are bein g developed by
Ben vVhitman, head of the Whitman Musical
Instrument Co./ 904 Walnut street. New deal
ers will be appointed in the territory included
in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey,
Delaware, Maryland, District .of Columbia, and
contiguous territory. Sev eral carloads of pi
anos have been shipped to two leading Wash
ington, D. c., dealers. Large orders for the
Cumberland player-piano, made by the Starr
Piano Co., of Richmond, Ind ., hav e been li s ted,
as well as for the Starr phonograph a nd piano.
It is through the exten sive advertising in the
Sunday papers that the business is beingdevel
oped. This a dvertising campaign will extend
from now on until the first of the year at inter
vals.
Some New Van Veen Installations
Leon Tobias, secretary of Van Veen & Co.,
Inc., New York, called on the trade durin g
the · week and, incidehtally, paid visits to the
several nearby points where this concern is in-·
stalling equipments for phonographs and piano
demonstrations. Among these is the en tirel y
new player department of the Home Furniture
Co., Trenton, N. J., of which Julius Schaeffer is
proprietor; the Griffith Piano \:0., also in the
N ew Jersey capital, and the piano establish
ment of Charl es H. Godfrey, Atlantic City.
Rearrangem en t of the showrooms and the
graphophone booths of Hallen's Modern Musie
Shop, at 2144 North Front street, has been
made for th e purpose of providing better busi
ness efficiency. The four booths hav e been re
moved to th e front and the showrooms for th e
displays of pianos, g raphophones and other mu
sic al instrum ents have been confined to the
rear, giving larger space for this purpose. Ylod
ern electrical equipment provides better liRht
ing facilities and the entire store has ,been re
decorated in attractive color combination s.
Jacob Ballen , head of the firm, is preparinR for
the revival of the textile industry, from which
he largely draws his patronage. The firm has
the agency for the Cunningham pianos and the
Ideal music rolls and features the Century sheet
music.
The Bassallo Music Shop, of Bryn Mawr,
Pa., just outside of Philadelphia, has opened
up a Brunswick phonograph department and is
conducting a campaign among the students at
Bryn Mawr College for sale of the machine and
records.
9
Player-Piano
NOTES
FROM THE LAUTER-HUMANA
FACTORY, NEWARK, N. J,
DUPLEX PUMPER IS BIG
LAUTER·HUMANA FEATURE
Makes for Greater Responsiveness
Device Is Wonderful Talking Point-Cannot
Be Obtained in Any Other Make of Player
piano
While the Lauter-H umana is known through
out the entire piano trade as possessing more
distinctive and exclu sive paten ted features than
any other make of pl aye r piano, probably its
most important single point of superiority is
the device known as the Duplex Pumper.
As will be seen in the photograph, each pumper
in the Lauter-Humana is double, whereas in
other pla ye r-piano s it is single. Thu s, each
pumper in the Lauter-Humana has a capacity
twice as great as that of anyone pumper in
other player-pianos. The advantage of this is
obvious. When the first pumper has functioned
·to it s fullest extent the second pumper takes
up its work. This alternate operating of the
two pumpers creates a larger and steadier
vacuum, which accounts for the smooth and
easy operation.
PREMIER RECORD WEEK SHIPMENTS
Small Grand Factory Makes Total Shipments
of 202 Instruments in Six Working Days
The Premier Grand Piano Corp., New York,
set a record for weekly shipments ·recently when
it shipped to its deal ers a total of 202 small
g rand pianos in seven da ys-or, to be more
exact, six working days . This is a remarkable
record of shipments and a demonst ration of
the way in which the Premier small grand has
rapidly won a hi gh place in the estimation
of the music-buying public of the country.
What makes the record all the more satis
fac tory is that the week was no flash in the
pan nor did it repr ese nt accumulated shipments .
Premier production every w eek has been stead
ily increasing, the output for September re
cently closed being SO per cent hi gher than that
of the same month of the previous year.
MAY CO. REPORTS HEAVY DEMAND
CLEVE'LAND, 0., October 8.-.\ccording to the
s tatement of Harlan Hart, mana ge r of the piano
department of the May Co., of this city, that
firm is doing the largest business in it s his
tory at the present time. The May Co. handles
the Knabe, the Knabe in the Ampico, H. C.
Bay and the We gman lines. The May Co. is
one o·f the most active department store piano
salons.
PhotOY1'aph of D'u/)lc:r: Puntpi"ftg
Device, showin{/ two
p",,,pers. (Pa tented.)
distinct
Dealers are keenly appreciative of the sales
value of thi s feature. The usual procedure, in
selling a player-piano, is to demonstrate the in
strument to th e customer. With the Lauter
H umana this plan is reversed-th e customer is
asked to sit down and play. The re sult is al
ways hi g hly favorable, for, aft er having pumped
the ordinary player-pianos, the cu stom e r mar
yels at the ease with which the Lal1ter-Humana
operates.
In other words, the customer sells himself.
Among the recent orders recei ve d wa s one
from Messrs. M. & G. Salas, repre se ntatives
for the Lauter-Humana in Havana, Cuba, calling
for a substantial consignment of Style 420's.
"The popularity that the Lauter-Humana en
joys in Cuba h as always been very gratifying
to us," said Whole sale Manager A. E. Schmalzi
gan, upon receipt of the Salas order. "Th e tor
rid heat of the tropic al sun, together with the
penetrating dampness of the rainy seasons,
works havo c with most player-pi<\11os. However,
the Lauter-Humana, by reason of its rigid and
lasting construction, has s ucce ss fully withstood
the most adverSe c: lim