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AUGUST 23, 1924
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
Stieff Branch in Philadelphia Will
Shortly Occupy New Warerooms There
Building at 1717 Chestnut Street Now in Course of Completion for House—P. J. Cunningham
Buys Timber Tract in Maine—Ramsdell & Sons Employes Hold Their Annual Outing
PHILADELPHIA, PA., August 19.—With
the cooler days of the past week there was
noted a betterment in inquiries for the piano
trade in the more prominent central city estab-
lishments in that section of Chestnut street
known as "Piano Row." The cooler days, no
doubt, have turned the thoughts of returning
patrons from the seashore, mountain and other
Summer resorts to the preparation of the home
for the coming Fall, anticipated to be an early
one, because of the sudden turn in temperature
to lower degrees. While the present attitude
is merely that of making inquiries, it has its
hopeful side in the return of public interest
which will materialize into sales when the
September days have come, and dealers are
now beginning to open up active sales cam-
paigns. The large dealers are receiving new
stock, initial shipments having come in during
the week in the majority of the stores, and
taking up the space made vacant through the
clearance sales held throughout the earlier
Summer months.
The wholesale trade for string, brass and
small instruments is fairly active and with it
the accessory trade has shown a little more
life.
New Local Quarters for Stieff
There is now in course of completion the
remodeled and modernized building to be de-
voted to the Philadelphia home of the Chas.
M. Stieff, Inc., and located at 1717 Chestnut
street. For some time the Stieff Co. has occu-
pied the building, maintaining a store and sales
office in a portion of it, but under the extension
plans the entire structure with its five floors
will be devoted to the display, sales and re-
pairing of the Stieff pianos. Modern building
and sales devices for the conduct of an up-to-
date piano establishment will be used in the
reconstruction of the structure, including
sound-proof display and salesrooms for the
Stieff reproducing pianos. This reproducing de-
partment will be located on the second floor
of the building, while the fifth floor will be
given over to the repair and work rooms, with
the main floor set apart for the display of the
grand pianos and the general sales and busi-
ness offices. The other floors are to be used
for the sales and exhibition of the full line
of Stieff uprights and other models of instru-
ments. The new home will be ready for occu-
pancy on October 15, when there will be held
a grand opening with a musical program and
other ceremonies adapted to the dedication of
a first-class piano store. There will be installed
luxurious furniture to harmonize with the mod-
ernized and attractive reconstruction plans and
providing an artistic setting for the display of
the Stieff instruments. The building arrange-
ments are being carried out under the direction
of the Philadelphia manager, James A. Spencer,
under whose able supervision the local house
of Stieff has grown so rapidly that it was found
necessary to secure the larger home. The
local offices were visited during the week by
Vice-president Fred Stieff and Secretary C.
J. Roberts, who came over from Baltimore to
look after the progress of the building program.
P. J. Cunningham Buys Lumber Tract
An option on a vast tract of forest lands
has been taken by P. J. Cunningham, head of
the Cunningham Piano Co., who just has re-
turned to Philadelphia from a trip to Winter
Harbor, Maine, where he went from his Atlan-
tic City Summer home after spending some
time with his family at the Chelsea. While in
Maine Mr. Cunningham made a tour of the
3,000 acres of woodlands in the Maine forests
and there made an estimate of the timber values
of the land, thickly covered with oak, maple,
spruce and other trees of valuable lumber im-
portance in the industry and outside fields.
It is the intention of Mr. Cunningham to cut
down and turn into lumber much of the timber
on the land for his own use in the manufacture
of the Cunningham pianos, made in the Phila-
delphia factory at Fiftieth and Parksidc. He
will dispose of part of the timber or lumber
to outsiders, either in the trade or in other
industrial enterprises into which the use of
lumber enters. The large acreage of timber
will provide the Cunningham firm with lumber
for a long period of years. Since taking over
the newly erected home at 1312 Chestnut street
the Cunningham Co. has been making rapid
progress in the extension of its business, the
larger space in the huge sixteen-story structure
providing ample room for this increased
business.
John M. Laufer, assistant manager of the
talking machine department of the Music
Master Corp., dealers in radio supplies to the
trade, Tenth and Cherry streets, is receiving
the congratulations of trade friends upon the
addition to his family, John W., Jr., who made
his debut into the world on the eighth of the
month.
Outing of Ramsdell & Sons Staff
Old scenes of childhood memory and old
friends of those days were reviewed and re-
newed in the Summer outing of the entire
membership of the firm of Ramsdell & So"ns,
127 South Twelfth street, spent in the moun-
tains of New Hampshire by G. C. Ramsdell,
head of the company, and his sons, Carter and
Cassius Ramsdell, associated with him in the
business. All journeyed to the old home last
month and in the delightful cooling shadows
of the New Hampshire Hills spent many a
pleasant day among the acquaintances of the
happy long ago when they lived in that section
of country where the old homestead still stands.
The return trip was made last week and there
is now under way the plans for the opening
of the Fall activities for the Ivers & Pond and
the Laffargue pianos in this territory.
Ampico at Summer Session
of University of Oregon
Ampico in the Checkering Proves of Great
Value as Illustrating Medium in Course Con-
ducted by Prof. F. W. Goodrich
PORTLAND, ORE., August 14.—The Chickering
with the Ampico was an important factor in
the annual University of Oregon Summer ses-
sion held in Portland, June 23 to August 1.
Three hours a day for six weeks Prof. Fred-
erick W. Goodrich gave a series of lectures on
music, which he demonstrated with the aid of
an Ampico grand, loaned for this purpose by
the G. F. Johnson Piano Co., Portland repre-
sentative of the Ampico in the Chickering. Over
two hundred Ampico rolls were used by Prof.
Goodrich, a new set being supplied each week.
The music classes were among the largest at-
tended in the school, students and teachers
coming from all over the State. His knowledge
of his subject is without a doubt thorough and
he imparts his knowledge in a most interesting
way. He says, "Without the aid of the Ampico
my work would have been hampered to a
marked degree and it was of inestimable value
to me in my course and made my demonstra-
tions clearer." Music in the schools and col-
leges of Oregon is an official recognized study
with credits allowed toward graduation.
The following letter was received by Mr.
Johnson at the end of the session from Mr.
Goodrich and thirty-six of his students:
"Dear Mr. Johnson—We, the members of
11
the class in History and Appreciation of Music
of the University of Oregon Summer School
now being conducted in Portland, wish to con-
vey to you our gratitude for your kindness and
generosity in providing us with the Chickering
Ampico and records for our class work. As
teachers and students we appreciate the neces-
sity of advance methods of education, methods
which will interest, inspire and instill into the
minds of all the desire for that which is sublime
and beautiful and which leads them toward
greater, grander and nobler thoughts and to
love music, that art which has no peer. We
are grateful to you for the assistance you have
rendered to us and to the community in making
these things possible, and we wish to congrat-
ulate you upon the performance of your won-
derful Ampico and to assure you that it was a
pleasure and a privilege to have had the benefit
of it in our work. Our conception and appre-
ciation of the best in music has been increased
by listening daily to the invaluable reproduc-
tions of the masters. Thanking you for the
kindly interest you have always taken to main-
tain the high standard of music in this city,
we are
"Sincerely yours,
(Signed)
"Frederick W. Goodrich
and Thirty-six Students."
At the opening session Mr. Johnson ad-
dressed the class, his subject being "Music."
Opens Piano Store in Scranton
George F. Green has opened a piano and
talking machine store at 1831 North Main ave-
nue, Scranton, Pa. He has for a number of
years been engaged in piano tuning and repair-
ing in that city. The new store is attractively
fitted out.
Pratt Read
Products
Piano Ivory
P i a n o Keys
Piano Actions
Player Actions
Established in
1806
at Deep River, Conn.
Still There
Standard Service and Highest Quality
Special Repair Departments
Maintained for Convenience
of Dealers
PRATT
PRATT, READ & CO.
READ PLAYER ACTION CO.
Oldest and Best