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REVIEW
THE
VOL. LXXIX. No. 22 Published Every Saturday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 383 Madison Aye., New York, N.Y. Nov. 29, 1924
Single Copies 10 Cents
$2.00 Per Year
How Sohmer Sells the Period Grand
Retail Division of This House Considers the Period Model Grand a Regular Part of Its Line and Its Ad-
vertising and Selling Campaigns Are Developed Accordingly—A Retail Advertising Cam-
paign in New York Which Has Produced Surprising Results
H E story of the period style grand lias
often been one of disappointment for both
the manufacturer and dealer. For being
instruments of exclusive type they could not
be merchandised on a paying basis under ordi-
nary circumstances and their turnover was not
rapid enough to make really worth while their
production. This condition has been overcome
in a certain measure by various concerns that
have given the matter a proper amount of
thought, but there are still those who find the
period styles more or less of a burden from
the sales angle.
Some manufacturers have incorporated sev-
eral period styles into their regular lines of
standard instruments, and by special campaigns
have developed a market for those instruments.
There are likewise dealers who have also made
the period grand an instrument of direct inter-
est to all buyers through intelligent handling
instead of the goal of the few.
T
paper advertising the Sohmer grands in several
period styles have been presented in a manner
which has served to interest the average buyer
through arousing his sense of the artistic and
The new series of advertisements presents the
period models not as styles separate and apart
from the regular line of pianos, but as instru-
ments which show what may be obtained in a
grand piano so far as case design is concerned.
The opening sentence of one advertisement, for
instance, reads: "There is a Sohmer for every
home, no matter how modest or pretentious,"
and the Pembroke design in proper surround-
ings used to illustrate the advertisement em-
phasizes that point.
The copy of the new series in a sense is what
is termed institutional, telling what the Sohmer
name means and stands for in piano construc-
tion and the popularity of that instrument in
New York where the campaign is being carried
on.
In each advertisement a different type of
instrument is used for iljustrative purposes, and
no effort is made to emphasize the fact that the
riiL. imnie SOHMER on youi piano has a very
definite significance to you. It is the family name
of a group of individuals who by inheritance,
environment and experience have mastered the
art of fine piano building.
All those qualities which the most exacting de-
mand in a puna are found in the SOHMER, it5
lurpassed
atisfa*
Its cost is but httle more while the
it giv
cable.
The purchase of a SOHMER involves but a small
cash outlay—ten percent —and the balance in
thirty-six months. Your present piano taken is
part payment
Catalog Mtilrd o*Rti*t*t
31 W E S T 5 7 T H S T R E E T
ofpnerpana
by impressing upon him that he could secure
a grand piano case that would harmonize with
the surroundings of his home.
Only recently Sohmer & Co. launched a big
newspaper campaign in which the most popular
of the recognized period styles produced by
There are more SOHMER pianos in use in
that company were presented, including the
Greater New York than any other artistic
make. This success has been achieved by
Pembroke model, the simplest and probably the
artistic merit alone, ano without the aid oi
subsidized artists or purchased testimonials,
most popular of the series; the Queen Anne
The experience of musical New York Tor
more than fifty years with the SOHMER
model, likewise simple, but authentic in design;
piano is the surest guarantee of the utmost
the Florentine model, carrying out in every de-
satisfaction to the present-day purchaser.
tail the decorative spirit of the Italian Renais-
The purchase of a Sohmer involves but a
small cash outlay—ten per cent—and the
sance, and the Early English model, reflecting
balance in thirty-six months Your present
piano taken as part payment.
the decorative tendencies of the Jacobean pe-
riod. All these instruments have been designed
SOHMER & CO.
with a thoroughness that is in itself impressive.
31 WEST 57TH STREET
The craftsmen have not been content simply
Few if any concerns, however, have been with carving legs or placing a bit of filigree
as successful as Sohmer & Co. in the exploita- here and there. Instead they have carried the
tion of the period style grand, both in the spirit of the design throughout the case of the
wholesale and retail fields, and for years this instrument, even to the music desk and the
company has handled a surprisingly large vol- accompanying bench, all of which has an effect
ume of business in instruments showing indi- upon those who are appreciative of what is
viduality in case design. In magazine and news- authentic in decorative treatment.
SOHMER PIANO
There u a SOHMER for every hom . however mod*
pretentious Upnghu
vie. The famous SOHMER Cupid Grand, the hrs!
and unly artistic small Grand
Larger Grandi,
Players. Reproducing Players. Also Period Models
to harmonize with individual tastes in furniture. All
hear the SOHMER name and guarantee and all are
of one quality — the best
They COM but little more but are immeasurably
greater in satisfaction Terms of payment—ten per-
cent cash and the balance in thirty six months —
your present piano taken as part payment
SOHMER & CO.
31
WEST
57TH
STREET
model shown is a particular feature of the line.
There is sound logic in this for the reason that
the average well-to-do person has learned that
the term "authentic period model," whether ap-
plied to furniture or any other article of value,
often indicates a price increased to a point that
in itself represents exclusiveness. Not that this
(Continued on page 5)