Music Trade Review

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THE
The Technical Department
(Continued from page 13)
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
JANUARY 3,
1925
Two Interesting Holiday
Popular Pianists Insist
Sales by Weaver Piano Co.
on Story & Clark Piano
As I have recently showed at length in this
department of The Review the piano business Eighty-seven-year-old Man Buys Weaver Re- Phil Ohman and Victor Arden Insist Upon
Larger Platform to Accommodate Instru-
producing Piano for Aged Wife and Mother
is moving away from the condition of bench
ments Used in the Show "Lady Be Good"
and
Father
Almost
Buy
Two
Grands
for
One
craftsmanship into that of mechanical produc-
Daughter
1
tion. In the course of the transition there is
An interesting anecdote relative to the two
coming into view a very complex question.
YORK, PA., December 29.—During the Christmas Story & Clark small grands being used by Phil
How, in effect, shall we obtain the services of
men trained to understand the tonal design and holidays the retail department of the Weavet Ohman and Victor Arden in the musical show
Piano Co., Inc., here, had two very interesting "Lady Be Good," running at the Liberty Thea-
principles of the piano?
sales.
A York upright reproducing piano with tre, New York, was told this week by L.
Engineers Not Mechanics
The piano industry suffers from a weakness Welte-Mignon (Licensee) reproducing action Schoenewald, New York district manager of the
which is often not mentioned but is always and was sold to Herman Sauppe, who is 87 years Story & Clark Piano Co. "The original ar-
painfully present. The industry is badly organ- old and decided to purchase this piano to cheei rangement was that two of our pianos were to
ized on the economic side, and consequently the himself and Mrs. Sauppe in their declining be used by the show when it opened in Phila-
earning powers of the individual workman are years. Mr. Sauppe is active for a man of his delphia," said Mr. Schoenewald, "but an error
too small for the work he does. This is the years and his wife has been a music lover all on the> part of the stage carpenters resulted in
building of the special moving platform too
fault of small production, and of the incom- her life.
small
to hold them.
The other sale was to Mrs. H. W. Linebaugh,
pleteness of the change from craftsmanship to
"Although they had requested Story & Clark
mechanization. It will cure itself, of course, but Dover, Pa. Mrs. Linebaugh came into the store
meanwhile it is producing a very difficult con- the latter part of November and pledged the grands, Ohman and Arden were compelled to
dition of affairs. It is keeping the young men salesman and Secretary P. G. Mundorf to ab- play their duet numbers on two 4 feet 8 grands
out of the trade of piano making, and when the solute secrecy regarding her intention to buy of different make during the Philadelphia en-
older men have all retired or have died off who a Weaver grand piano as a Christmas present gagement. They were not satisfied with the
will take their places? If the industry were for her daughter. The piano was to be deliv- tone of these pianos, so on coming to New
entirely mechanized the difficulty, of course, ered on Christmas morning. So carefully were York Victor Arden prevailed on the manage-
would be much less severe, for machine tending the details handled that the deposit made by ment to enlarge the platform to hold our 5
is both simple and well paid, when an industry Mrs. Linebaugh was entered in the "unknown" feet 2 inch grands. It has afforded the Story
is on a mass production basis. Unfortunately account of the company without any name to & Clark Piano Co. much pleasure to realize
the piano business is in no such condition. it. On Monday, December 22, Mr. Linebaugh that our pianos are held in such esteem by two
It still needs, and always will need, skilled came into the store and told Mr. Mundorf that •such talented pianists as Phil Ohman and Vic-
workers who must learn their trade somewhere. he wanted to buy a piano for his daughter for tor Arden."
How to attract young men into the trade is, a Christmas present. Mr. Mundorf had never
then, one big question. How to train them is met Mr. Linebaugh and proceeded with the sale
another; and how to keep them in the trade of the instrument until he found that it was
when they have been trained is still another, Mrs. Linebaugh's husband. Leaving Mr. Line-
KKI) BANK, N. J., December 29.—A new local
baugh for a few minutes he 'phoned to Mrs.
and by no means the least important.
branch of the Lauter Co., making the sixteenth
Linebaugh, who advised that under these cir-
The Only Solution
retail store of this company in this State, has
The only solution is going to be found, one cumstances he should be told and- the piano just been opened here at 40 Monmouth street
delivered
at
once.
thinks, in the establishment of a co-operative
in the new Manee Building. The store will be
system of technical training, to be supported b>
managed by Frank T. Bloom, who is also in
the united efforts of the industry. We have a
Consult the Universal Want Directory of charge of the Lauter store in Asbury Park. A
Chamber of Commerce and thus are in posses- The Review. In it advertisements are inserted full line of Lauter pianos and player-pianos is
sion of the machinery needed to inaugurate an\ free of charge for men who desire positions. carried.
such effort as is here envisaged. The need, as 1
have said, is more for what may be called tonal
engineers than for old-fashioned piano mechan-
ics. These latter are being crowded out by the
gradually progressing mechanization of the in-
dustry, and the future belongs not to them but
to the engineers yet to be developed. These
engineers are the men we want, tonal engi-
neers; men trained in tone production and able
to devise machines for doing the finishing, reg-
ulating and other assembly processes which now
require so much hand labor of a highly skilled
character—hand labor, moreover, which does
not enable the skilled mechanic who docs it to
earn an adequate income according to modern
ideas.
Co-operative Action
It should seem that among the very big tasks
which the coming year presents to our notice
is the task of studying this question with a view
to attaining sooner or later to co-operative com-
mon action upon it. Of course, it is a matter
for the Chamber of Commerce, which has mem-
ber associations among whose members the
work of investigation might well be divided.
It is a question which even now presses for
solution and of which the solution must not
be forever postponed or avoided. Sometime
and somehow it has to be taken up. There is no
When dosed the aluminum trays nest together over the large compartment, which
u u u r e i 13H"x6*x4*. The two left hand trays measure IZH"X2*A*XIM"
*nd the
time like the present.
two right hand trays l3H"x3)i''TilH''-
The partitions in right hand trays are
Yes, the coming year has in store for us a
adjustable and removable instantaneously. Case is covered with seal grain imitation
leather and fitted with very secure lock and highly nickel-plated hardware trimmings.
great deal of constructive technical work. The
Outside Dimensions: 1554" long, 7" wide, 8" high. Weight: 6^4 pounds.
quicker we take it up and make an effort to
dispose of it the better it will be for the whole
$13.00 each, F.O.B. New York.
industry. It is a subject that merits the imme-
diate consideration of everyone in the trade.
Lauter Branch in Red Bank
Our New
Tuners' Case No. 150
Light, Compact and Serviceable
HAMMACHER, SCHLEMMER & CO.
Correspondence
is solicited and should be addressed to William
Braid White, care of The Music Trade Review,
Western Division, 209 South State street,
Chicago.
Piano and Player Hardware, Felts and Tools
New York—Since 1848
L
4th Ave. and 13th St.