DECEMBER
29, 1923
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
PLANS ARE UNDER WAY FOR PACIFIC COAST CONVENTION
Expected to Be Held in San Francisco Some Time During the Coming Year-Steinway Duo-Art
for Oakland Broadcasting Station-Prizes for Essays on the Amp·i co Re-enacting Piano
SAN FHANC1SCO, CA L., December 21.-Shermlln,
Clay & Co. have installed a Steinway Duo
Art in the ncw Oakland broadcasting station
of the General Electric Co. This is supposed
to be the largest broadcasting station in the
world.
The first tests in broadcasting the
music of this piano a re being made to-day.
When questioned regarding the type of instru
lIlent installed by Sherman, Clay & Co., Wm.
F. Tatroe, ma nager of the San Francisco retail
department, sa id that it is the type of Duo-Art
used for th e Aeolian Hall, New York. The
station is so pownful that it is believed the
music can be picked up eas ily in Japan, under
favorable conditions. The other radio broad
casting s tat ion of the General Electric Co. is
at Schenectady, N. Y.
Trade Conditions Are Normal for Season
11,1 usic houses report that holiday business
is good. In all lines of holiday shopping, how
ever, bu siness , as a rule, is not running ahead
of other prosperous years. George R. Hughes,
secretary of the \Viley B. Allen Co., speaking
of the holiday trade said: "Shopping is going
merrily on, but all over the country there is not
the snap to Christmas shopping that has been
seen in so me other years." Richard Ahlf, of
Sherman, Clay & Co., stated that business with
that firm is good and quite a number of pianos
have been sold for Christmas gifts. The gen
eral opinion, howeve r, seems to be t ha t this
yea r's holida y s hopping is rather la cking in
enthusiasm, in spite of the volume of sales
having been good.
Pianos Have Narrow Escape From Fire
Between two a nd three hundred pianos in a
wa reho use of the Wiley B. Allen Co. had ' a
narrow escape in a fire at 743-745 Folsome
stree t at 3 a. 1TI. this morning. The fire is
supposed to hav e broken out in the framing
department of a furniture manufacturing com
pany, and spread to a chemical company. Th e
"Viley B. Allen Co. has a piano warehouse in
the three- s tory brick building, but it is believed
that the damage in th e warehouse was not
serious. SOllle of the pianos were slightly hurt
by water and smoke. George R. Hughes stated
that it wa's too early to have an estimate of
the loss.
Plans on Foot for Convention Here
There is a movement for holdin g a Pacific
Coast convention of members of th e mu s ic
trades, including ret ai l deale rs, wholesalers, job
bers, etc., in practically a ll mu sic lines-pianos,
phonographs, band in s truments, sheet music,
etc. I t is held almost certain that the conven
tIon will tak e place during 1924 in San Fran
cisco. For one reason, this city is very central
for deal e rs, both from north and south of the
Pacific Slope.
Organ Now Installed in Italian Room
Kohler & Chase have finished the installation
of their new Smith pipe organ in their Italian
room of the Ampico dep a rtment. H . L. Stoner,
manager of the Ampico d epartment, speaking
of this installation, said: "Vve may ex pect to
~ee in the very near future, included in the
plans for the home, a room for the organ such
as the one now on exhibition in our music
room." Mr. Stoner said that architects in San
Francisco are becom in g keenly interested in th e
Smith organ. Displayed in the beautiful room
with it are grand pianos, the Ampico in Knabes,
Fi sc hers and Franklins.
Prizes for Essays on Ampicos
Anum ber of prizes were offered by Kohler
& Chase for essays on the Ampico, the awards
going to those who gave the best writeups of
this instrument. The first prize of $100 has been
awarded to F. W. Frederick, of Atascadero,
Cal. All essays had to be limited to fifty words.
The first prize runs:
"The playing of the Ampico re-e nacting piano
differs from the playing of a player or repro
ducing piano as a painting differs from a photo
graph. The former has the soul of the original,
the latter is a soulless, mechanical reproduction .
Surely the artist's s pirit sits at the keyboard of
the Ampico."
~he second prize of $60 has been awarded to
Mabel P. Lehre, 1001 Pine street, San Fran
cisco. The third prize has been awarded to
George Allen, El Solano, Vvestwood, Cal. This
award is $40. So many of the other competitors
s ent in essays of merit that all have been
awarded a picture or some other nice Christmas
gift.
Estey Piano Man Comes Home
Charles H. Tracy, Western representative of
the Estey Piano Co., passed through this city
en route from the East to spend the Christ
mas holiodays at his home in Santa Monica, Cal.
AI. L. Quinn, Pacific Coast manager for the
Q R S Music Co., has returned from a ten
days' visit to Los Angeles and other points in
southern California. He brings back a good
account of business conditions.
MORITZ ROSENTHAL AND THE AMPICO
Famous Pianist Arranges to Record His Play
ing Exclusively for the Amp-ieo Library
It was announced this week by the American
Piano Co., throu~h the medium of large adver
tisements in the daily papers and also through
other channels, that Moritz Rosenthal had
agreed to record his playing exclusively for the
Ampico. The announcement represents a dis
tinct tribute to th.a t instrument for the reason
that Rosenthal is recognized as one of the great
est pianists of the day and steadfastly refused
to play for any reproducin g piano until he heard
the Ampico and r(".alized it s possibilities. His
first recordings will be issued shortly after the
fir st of the year..
~r . Rosenthal will also use the Knabe piano
exclusively in all his concerts in which he will
appear in this country as soloist with leading
orchestras.
NEW DEPARTMENT FOR DALES CO.
Akron, 0" Music Store Will Put in Full Line of
Musical Merchandise and Sheet Musie
.\ KIWN, 0., December 24.--George S. Dales, head
of the George S. Dales Co., announces that he
plans to open a ge neral musical merchandise
and shee t music department to be operated in
dependently of the present talking machine and
piano departments. The new department will
be opened in the Spring when the store is re
modeled, and will be locat ed on the South How
ard street si de with an en trance on that thor
oughfare. The act ual work of remodeling the
company's stor e and also the newly acquired
building to th e north will begin immediately
after the first of the year.
9
Player Piano
NOTES
FROM THE LAUTER-HUMANA
FACTORY, NEWARK, N. J.
QUALITY BUSINESS IS
THE MOST DESIRABLE
How One Lauter-Humana Sale Makes Another
The piano dealer who wastes his efforts on
cheap player-pianos, with sensational advertis"
ing and ridi culously low terms as induc eme nt s,
will be interested in reading the following para
graphs.
Last week a committee frol11 the Salaam
Temple, ::'If obles of the Mystic Shrine, Newark,
N. ]., visited th e Lauter warerooms to select
a gift for their retiring potentate, Colonel
George Buttle. After a thorough inspection
of all the variollS sty le s they decided upon the
420 Lauter-Hul11ana.
On the evening of the ceremonies Colonel
Buttle invited a number of his friends to his
home, where the Lauter-Humana had been
placed . He sat down and played the instrument
himself. To say that he was highly pleased is
putting it mildly. He was very proud to receive
such a gift-and his associates were proud to
give it. The incomin g potentate smilingly re
marked that "he wouldn't mind getting a Lauter
Humana when hi s term expired."
One of th e guests was so impressed with the
Lauter-Humana that he asked Colonel Buttle
if he thought there was any possibility of get
ting the same model for his own home for
Christmas. Colonel Buttle replied that he knew
that there was a shortage of Lauter-Humana
player-pianos, but volunteered to phone to the
manager of the Lauter warerooms and the sale
was made over th e phone.
This in cide nt is just one more tribute to the
high quality of the Lauter-Humana. Our best
advertisements are the thou san ds of instrumen ts
that are makin g hom es happy all over the world.
The large numb e r of orclers that come to o,ur
dealers without solicitation are evidence of the
complete satisfaction that th ey are giving.
It is inconceivabl e that this incident could
ever have occurred with a cheap player-piano,
The Lauter Co. will be please d to receive in
.quiries regarding the Lauter-Humana from deal
ers who are interested in building a quality
business. Address: 591 Broad s tr eet, Newark,
N. J,
AKRON STORE REARRANGED
Earl Poling Music Co. Quarters .Rearranged to
Provide Better Facilities for Business
AKHON, 0., December 24.-Rearrangement of the
store of the Earl Poling Music Co., Howard and
Mill streets, has been completed and the con
cern now has one of the most up-to-date music
stores in Greater Akron,
A number of new re cor d booths have been
installed on the east side of the store, these
bein g finished in ivory to conform with the
other appointments. The office has been placed
adjoining the record sales booth and is now
more conveniently located. It has been built
along similar lines of the booths and is of the
same type.
The small goods department is to the left of
the main store entrance,
Itin eraries are now being planned for A. W .
Musser, New England representative, and Frank
T. Bloom, Southern representative, for the first
trips of the ne w year. A. E. Schmalzigan,
"vholesale manager, will also visit a number of
Lauter dealers in January,
The demand for Lauter instruments continues
unabat ed and the factory reports that produc
tion for the month of January is well taken up,
LAUTER· HUMANA
HThe World's Finest
Player Piano"