THE
AUG UST 4, 1923
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
PHILADELPHIA DEALERS AHEAD OF LAST YEAR'S SALES
First Three Weeks of This July Equal Entire Volume
d
July , 1922-Sesquicentennial Meeting
With Opposition--Oeser Co. Dissolves- Lang PianoC'o. to Open Another Store
-- - - - -
PH rLAIJP,LL'H1 1\, PA" Jul y 3 1., -,'\cttral figures from
the acco untin g- rooills of il ll the dealers a long
th e piano row and ;,s well frolll rep rese n tat ive
·neighb o rinc:; linll s ' con firm in ind is putable forlll
the sta teme nt s of sa les managers lll adc at in·
t erva ls during th e mo nth that it. will pass int o
hi s t o r y as decidedl y b e tter th an .t he corr es pond
in g period of a year ag o and as a Illatt er of
fact on ly a little s hort of t h e la r ge expect at io n s
enj oyed early in the yea r, but at that surpa ss in g
tho se r evis ed wh e n th e month be gan, Re cords
of Ol1e of the most actively advertising pian o
firms of t h e c it y sho w th at it s busin ess up t o
and includin g Jul y 23 wa" ju st e qual to that of
a ye ar ago a nd th at a ll that was don e after
that period r e presented just that much gain.
On the eve o f the spec ia l sales to b e co n
du cted during t h e m o nth bv thos e firms w hi c h
ha ve not alre ~idy lau n c h ed their l nid- ~ lnll mer
dri ve:, o n shop wo rn ' and u sed ,-,oo d s and spe c ia l
lot orf ering·s, ther e is con fidence 'that .this year
there w ill be less t o be ca rri ed over than th ere
h as b een for sOlll e yea rs back, Tn the ea rlier
buying of new piano, t here was less olel sto ck
to be exchan ged and traded in to begin w ith
an ll th is cOlldition SUJlplr l11l· nt ed by the large r
bu y in g removes all p ossibi lity of s urplu s, ac
cording to th e \ ie\\" held by eve n th e c onserva·
tive,. Du rin g th e las t \\' eek the re stead ily was
l'la intaill c d the ea rli er activ it ies in th e buyin g
of r ep rodu c ing' an ll o r , 1 1(, higher priced pianos,
indi ca ting to the trade that pur c h "s in g po wer
exists and tha i it LCcd on ly be p roperl y ap
pea led to to bring' r esu lt s, Sheet ]l ,dsi" "a ll"
both in st nllllent al a nd voca l, arc mov in g along
ve r y sat isfact ori ly,
lnquiri es for ,\ utul11n for
Fall d c li \·cr\' arc quite liv ely, bill orders arc still
a littl e behinel,
Rumors Regarding Girard Estate Plans
Rep orts that thc C irard F,tate, owner o·f
nlany piano p ropert ies, co nter11plat es ,\l an ea rly
dat e ra z ing these stru \t ur c", sup[J la ntin g th e lll
w ith a modern office building, a ga in a r e in c ir
c ula tion, but onl y \'a ' ~ue l y
trade not d te n ant of th ese properties,
Th e
fi rnh dir ec tl) affected ar c not i n receipt o f any
aut h or it ative intor rnat ion. As a matt e r of fact,
til e es tate r ece nt ly h as been making inlprove
ments in ,Ill-Ost of the buildings occ cuJli ed by
pian o firllls, not so mu c h fo r sake of appearancc
as (or uti lity, Througilout the row builcHn gs
a r c b ei ng strengt h e n ed by the in sta ll at ion of
iron girder s, VI/hill' this fact Illa y have causeci
reports of c h a n;; e:; bv t h e es tate to bc put into
ci r c ulatio n, those a t inte rest po int to the illl
[HOYe1l1ent sug'geSl in :' tha t th e\' arc an eiTcc tivc
cont radiction .
Oppo sit ion to Sesquicentennial
Th e n o -parkin g orde r issue d by th e poli ce ;)nd
ap pl ying to th ( , I : o Jl\, : I',~ ,', ' lIt er, a lo n g C hestnut
a nd Vv a l nut qr eets , wh ere a maj ority of th e
cent r all y
located
pia no
esta blishments arc
hou s ed, is looked o n w ith entire fa vo r b y the
merchants. T h e r e is not an equa l concord as
respects th e Sesqu icenten ni a l ce lebration of
Phil ade lphi a urged b y :;O Ill C to COlll lllClllor ate ill
1926 th e on e hun dre d and fiftieth anniver s ary of
the founding. I n th e trade sOlne believe th at
pra ctic a l ir11prO\'Cnl c nts of eve r y -d" v l1~C \\'0111d
be mor e b e nefici;l1 c,-penci itur e of fund s fo r
th e ce lebrat io l'.
In the H eppe establi s ilin ent ,
for inst anc e, the r e i ~ di s playcd a placard w hich
tersely 'iavs "Fo r get th e Sesqui ce ntennial and
pav e the qre e t s ."
Th erc ha'i ju st been p laud in th e Ph ilad e lph ia
headqu arte rs o[ t he Estey 1'iano Co, t h e newe.st
dC'iign of the yVelte repr oduc in g pi a no. Th e
latest m ode l of cahinct is so arr anc:; ccl t h a t it
wi ll fit an v ,t,· k of p i;L II O, gl';111ci Or upright anLl
i, much Sl1l
signs a nd ca n he reaciily a
cabin et fornl l'O l11C~ in ~1 rt Jllah o ~!any anu. h a~
a variet y of q yles of th e perio d furniture t y pe'
w hich makes it adaptable to any piano ca bin et
des ign. A s tock of the se pla yer cabinets are to
b e carr ied b egi nning Aug ust I an d the advanc e
sa les, frol11 the first showi n g in t il e terri tory,
of the model'i of sampl es di"playec1 during th e
latter part of .Jul y g ive evidenc e of the ir p roving
o n e of the i1ttra e ti ve off erings for th e c omin g
·~e asonal demand,
F. S. Powe r s, buildin g man
"ge l' of th e Es tey Co., is o n a lwo w eeks' v aca
ti o n a t Hi g h 1.'oin t, N, J-, while .I- E. Morrisey,
o f the sale s force, is recreating at th e Delaware
I 'Vater Gap.
Oeser Auto Piano Co. Disso lved
Owing to th e dual death of th e proprietors
of the Oeser A ut o Pian o Co"
1642 Nort h
E:Jc venth st re et, the bU'iine ss of that co n ce rn
h as been diss olved
b y sa lc in sett leme nt of the e state . Special i7 ing
In ele ctrical pianos, the Oeser Co. WitS headed
by ~'recle r ick Oes er, who found ed the bu siness
7
fift een years ago and \vh o pa5'e d into rest la>t
Mar c h, at the age of for ty-snen yea rs , foll ow
ing a long illness. iVIrs. Oeser , wh o co ntinu ed
the business aft e r the death o f h er hu sb and,
succ umb ed to it vea r', illn (,>5 du e to a cor11
pli ca tion of disease s,
The business wa s elis
pos e d of by the m other of the founder o f the
firm, lvlrs. E li 7a heth Oeser , 'who i.s st ill eng-age d
in tlte pian o bu s iness at IS'>I No r th Tw e l fth
st r eet.
New Store for Lang Piano Co .
Anoth er' sto re is to be acqu ir e d under th e
o:pa nsion plans of the Lan g Piano Co., 1204
C olumbia aven 1l(', and for th at purpos e there
has becll leased the property at 2140 f~ id gc ave
nu e. III th e Il ew property ther e w ill h e carried
a lar ge s to ck of Victor, Voca li o ll and C:OIU111bi ;l
talkinc: 111 achines an d r ecords a nd pos s ibl y a lin e
of S c hub e rt pi
c ie!ee! u pon the make of instr umen t wh ich it
"i ll st ock.
The Lang Co. cond\lcts a large
r e tail sto r e on Coluilibi a avenue, wh ere it h
becn estah li " h cci fo r o\·er eig·h t \' e ar"
Superior Quality for
Seventy- three Years
This is the record behinrl
SHONINGER
Pianos and
Player-Pianos
TodaYl in new modern case designs, these instrum ents refle ct in eve ry
detail the high ideals of th e founder. Id ea ls which prompted th e
creation of instruments which won the commendation of leading
musicians throughout the world, highest awards at international
exhibits and the confidence of a host of representative dealers,
some of whom have handled the Shoninger successfully for over
fifty years.
k)~ilZ(e
1850 the Shoninger h ru ai'lcap
been a profi table lin e f or the deal er . We
invit e correspondellce from interested
dealers.
SHONINGER PIANO
Executive
CO.,I~C.
Offices
N E W YORK
749· 7S 1 East 1,Sth Street
OFFICES and FACTORY
NFW YORK - NEW HA VEN