THE
NOVEMBER 3, 1923
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
OCTOBER PROVES BEST MONTH OF THE YEAR IN DETROIT
Player-Piano
Dealers Are Unanimous in Declaring Month's Volume Has Exceeded That of Any Previous
Month-Grinnells complete Used Piano Sale in Their Forty Retail Stores
M lel{., October 30.-The barometer of
business conditions can always be determined
by collections-whether good or bad. So this
week The Review correspondent visited' some
of the bigger downtown stores and a few in
t he outskirts, located in the industrial centers.
He found that the downtown stores reported
collections were holding up very satisfactorily,
while in the outskirts the reports were not so
favorable. Some of the motor plants and ac
cessory concerns have cut down production for
thc time being, mcn h a ve been laid off and, as
a natural consequence, their families are not so
prompt in mceting- their obligations.
How
ever, the situation is by no means serious. The
lay-off is only temporary and the piano mer
chants affectcd are not the least bit afraid that
they won't get paid in full. It's purely a tem
Jlorary condition.
October, which ends on \Vedncsday night,
will be the best month of the year from the
standpoint of sales. Thi s is the unanimous
opinion of dealers allover the city. There was
a lull at times during the month, but, taking the
sales for the entire thirty-one days, th ey will
exceed that of September and all previous
months.
Used pianos have been selling in abundance
since the first of October. l'ractically every
store has been conducting a sale. The biggest,
of course, was the used piano sale of Grinnell
Bros., which ended this week and which pre
vailed in all of their forty retail s tores. The
Detroit Music Co. is now conducting its thirty
ninth anniversary sale of used instruments. Th e
]. L. Hudson l'vlusic Store made no great noise
DETROIT,
about its used pianos, but it has disposed of
quite a good many. Story & Clark and the
Artonian Co. are among the other downtown
stores which have made a strong feature of used
instrum en ts during the month.
The Christmas Club idea is being ,pushed
quite vigorously by the Peoples Outfitting Co.
and th e Cable J)iano Co., and both report that
the membership is quite large. Manager Red
daway, of th e \Jeoples store, predicts a holiday
business more than double that of last year,
while Harry Zickel, manager oi the piano de
partment of the Cable store, says that the in
crease is certain to be a healthy onc.
The Wolverine Piano Co. has opened a store
on VVoodward avenue, ju;;t north of Montcalm
street, and is fe a turin g the Baldwin piano.
Quarters are on the sec ond floor of the building.
This week the annual drive for the Detroit
Community Fund started and every merchant
and person in the city will be solicited for dona
tions. Monday being the first day, not all of
the donors have been announced, but we notice
that the ]. L. Hudson Co. is listed for $12,000
and that Clayton A. Grinnell, president of Grin
nell Bros., came in pcrsonall.y for a donation
of $1,200. This i, exclusive of the other mem
bers of the firm or the company donation.
The announcement that Henry Ford would
build 30,000 homes on his property in Dearborn,
Mich., to be sold at cost, was good news to
the piano industry and retail merchants look
·upon thi s move as one that will reflect itself
in numerous sales of musical instruments. Ac
tual work on these homes will be started before
Spring.
9
NOTES
FROM THE LAUTER-HUMANA
FACTORY, NEWARK, N. J.
I
PIANO SUCCESS IS
BUlLT ON QUALITY
Lauter=Humana Is Outstanding Example
Dealers Who Feature This Player-Piano Enjoy
the Best Trade in Their Respective Com
munities
Each year a g reater number of piano dealers
throughout the country are coming to realize
that the suc cess ful piano busine<;s is built on
quality. Price slashing, sensational advertising,
extravagant claims, and slip-shod methods are
bein g discarded and the retail piano trad e as a
whole is bein g conducted on a more conserva
tive, bu sinesslike basis than ever before .
======~========
BALTIMORE DEALERS COMPLETING FINE OCTOBER SALES
Business During Past Month Far Ahead of Tha t in October, 1922-D. ]. Trembley Appointed
Manager of the Knabe Studios, Inc.-B oschen Joins]. H. Williams Organization
BALTIMORE, MD., October 30.- Business last
month averaged anywhere from 25 to 100 per
cent ahead of October, 1922, according to a
canvass of the trade here. This is attributed,
to a large extent, to the fact that many of the
dealers held sales of used in s trum e nts durin g
the month and bargain prices in new pianos
and players was generally the rule.
Practically every house holdin g clearance
sales reports good re sults and many of th em
have disposed entirely of every used in s trument
in stock. The outlook for Fall and Winter
business is good, according to the best-posted
men in the trade here, and this is based on the
fact that there is practically no unemployment
in Baltimore at present, with all indu s tries
working full time.
A movement is on foot and negotiations have
already been started for bringing to Baltimore
to conduct the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
at one of the mid-Winter concerts Siegfried
Wagner, son of the great composer, Richard
\"Iagner, and himself a composer of rank.
One of the features in musical circles last
month was the appearance at the Lyric of the
young American pianist Henry Souvaine, who
appeared with Madam Louise Homer.
Mr.
Souvaine, who appeared here last seaso·n,
also played at the Rotary and Civitan club s
and at the .\"Iestern High School and State
Normal schools. He made an address before
the Rotary Club, in which he expressed the
opinion that .'\merican business men need more
music in their daily lives. :Mr. Souvaine also
declared that the majority of popular composi
tions are excellent.
E. Paul Hamilton, president of Chickering
Warerooms, Inc., through whose courtesy M r.
Souvaine appeared before the club, received a
personal letter of thanks from the president as·
well as the following notice in the "Spinning
Wheel," the official organ of the Rotary Club of
Baltimore: "Our C lub is greatly indebted to
E. Paul Hamilton, of the Chickering Ware
lAUTER-HUMANA, 5TYlE 420
room s, for the appearancc Tue sday of the dis
tingui s hed pianist and composer, Henry Sou
The best materials and the IlIost skilled work
vaine, of New York. We were given a rare
men are employed to produce the Lauter-Hu
treat and our guest, Mr. Souvaine, proved a de
mana, and the finished product is a delight to
iightful speaker and an excellent artist at the
hear and behold.
It is "the world's finest
piano."
player-piano" and several hundreds of the best
. F.. Paul Hamilton, who left to-day for New
dealers from coast to coas t are recommending
Yo rk to attend the me eting of the B oard of
it as such.
Direc tors of the Music Industries of the Cham
ber of Commerce, has just received notice from
Illustrated is Style 420, the most popular
Matt J. Kennedy, secretary, of his appointment
Lauter-Humana made. This instrument ha s
by President Robert N. Watkin as a member
gained world-wide fame because of its many
of the Kational Association's Speakers' Bureau.
features, foremo st among which is the Duplex
Harry H. Juelg, a piano salesman, has filed
Pumper. This device has resulted in an ease of
application in the l.-nit ed States District Court
operation that is unequalled. Other exclusive
for the benefit of the bankruptcy law. He has
features are the pressure gauge, the suction
$102 assets and $12,010.77 liabilities.
pump, the back bolt and the electric light on the
D. J. Trembley, formerly of the Collins Pi . inside of the spool box.
ano Co., of New Orleans, has been made man·
ager of the Knabe Studios, Inc. , succeeding
The wisdom of establishing a business on a
Louis C. Dederick, who becomes treasurer of
(luality basis was demon<;trated during the re
the Chickering Warerooms, Inc. Harry How,
cent period of d epression. While the piano
who was secretary and treasurer, will continue
trade as a whole wa s very s low, Lauter Humana
as secretary of the company and, in addition,
sales were pra ct ically undiminished.
will devote time to the sales force in the future.
E. D. Cameron, head of the Cameron Piano
John F. Boschen is again with J. H. Williams,
Co., Allentown and Lansford, Pa., visited the
Inc., as inside salesman.
The Peabody Piano Co. is featuring daily 111
l.auter-Humana factory during the past week.
VVhile 1!fr. Cameron ordered quite heavily for
formal afternoon con ce rts on the Henry F.
this Fall, his trade has been so brisk that he
1·Iiller reproducing piano.
finds himself short of Lauter-Humana player
Hildebrandt', have made some extensive im
pianos. He made inquirie<; about the possibility
provements to their store, where they are fea
of securing additional in s truments.
turing the Tonk piano and players.
NEW ARTISTS USINO HARDMAN
Two new Metropolitan Opera artists, who will
use th e Hardman piano as their official instru
ment in both studio and recital work, are Vin
cenzo Ballester and Miguel Fleta .
V.' holesale :\1anager _\.. E. Schmalzigan is !)ow
on a Western trip and last Saturday was in
St. Louis. .'\.. \"1. Musser is sending in orders
from various parts of Pennsylvania, while Frank
T. Dloom is again in the South. Lauter dealers
report business as being uniformly good.