Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
MAY
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
9, 1925
43
SUPPLY BRANCHES OF THE INDUSTRY
The Important Part Which High Class
Veneers Play in Selling Pianos Today
Piano Manufacturers, Say Veneer Men, Not Nearly So Careful in Their Choice of Veneers to
Meet the Public's Taste as Are the Manufacturers of Better Grade Furniture
T T HAS been mentioned before in these col-
umns, and demonstrated so far as possible,
that an excellent source from which the pro-
gressive piano manufacturer may draw fresh
ideas for finishes and case designs in his newer
models is the decorative furniture trade. Super-
intendents and wood-working foremen in piano
factories have nearly always endeavored to do
this, realizing, especially in the case of expen-
sive art styles, that the piano which does not
blend suitably in line and finish with the furn-
ishings of a period room will be outclassed by
the piano which has been designed intelligently
and correctly.
Nevertheless, one hears certain manufacturers
criticized by the supply merchants, not because
they do not know what is what in the matter
of finish, but because they are obstinate when
it comes to paying the fractionally higher costs
for the kind of veneers which make possible
superior effects. By so doing, say the supply
men, the piano makers are defeating their own
purposes. The ultimate salesman of the instru-
ment, the retail piano merchant, does not share
the furniture dealer's advantages of having a
really luxurious finish assist him in selling his
merchandise. The salesman handling many
lines of pianos therefore has recourse to the
well-worn line: "Styles of finish don't change
much in pianos."
Some manufacturers excuse their lack of
variety and their standardized finishes on the
grounds that the piano industry completed its
evolution during the nineteenth century and
that by this time certain mahogany and walnut
finishes have been found adequate to suit the
bulk of the public and have consequently been
MESSAGE
FOR YOU
Are you still wasting your time and
going to the expense of scraping off old
varnish and shellac to eliminate the
checks and cracks in order to secure a
smooth surface for refinishing?
Use Behlen's Varnish Crack Eradi-
cator.
It saves time, trouble and, incidentally,
expense, at the same time giving you as
fine a body surface for the new finish
as you could possibly wish for.
A sample can for trial awaits your
request.
H. BEHLEN & BRO.
Anilines
Shellacs
Stains
Fillers
accepted as standard. Such men disregard the
fact that the furniture industry, a much older
one, is still in process of evolution. There
have been developments of excellent taste in
the various periods of the past, but the present
era is not treated by furniture makers as one
only of imitation. They are constantly striving
to create something new and improve.
This desire is of course shared by many
piano makers as well. The widespread adapta-
tion of the period modes in the past few years
has proved that the piano manufacturing in-
dustry was alive to its opportunities in supply-
ing the public with_ something more than a
wooden box, varnished according to an un-
changing formula.
It stands to reason of course that it would
not be practicable for a piano manufacturer to
list in his catalogue all the possible varieties
of finish and tone-contrast. His output would
suffer to an extent not balanced by an increased
demand for his variety of styles. It is absurd,
however, to believe that case-finishing reached
its final goal in about 1890. Certainly many
manufacturers have attempted little variation
from the practices of staining and polishing of
those days.
These opinions were expressed to a Review
representative recently by a veneer salesman,
who calls on furniture manufacturers as well as
piano makers. He stated that the former
bought all of his expensive veneers in order
to be enabled to get the best possible effects
of finish on the manufactured product. Cost,
within the limits of prevailing market values,
is never spared by the furniture men, if it can
be shown them that their product will make a
better appearance than that of the next man.
"They do not find this an extravagant habit,"
said the veneer salesman. "It pays because
he public pays more than the extra cost to
get away from the ordinary thing.
"Most piano manufacturers buy veneers cost-
ing 10 to 15 cents less per foot than the furni-
WHITE, SON CO.
Manufacturers of
ORGAN AND PLAYER-PIANO
ture people," he went on. "They generally
pride themselves on the results they get with
the cheaper veneers. They do get by, but when
one considers that the extra cost for the best
possible veneers would not exceed $10 per piano
it seems somewhat ridiculous to go on working
with inferior wood. I am willing to wager any
manufacturer that an instrument having an ex-
pensive veneer will list for more than the $10
extra cost. The few manufacturers putting the
best woods into their pianos add at least five
times as much to their price, and get it. There
is no need to ask the question, 'Does it pay?'"
P. G. Oetting Goes Abroad
Philip G. Oetting, vice-president of Philip W.
Oetting & Son, New York, exclusive distribu-
tors of Weickert piano felts for the United
States, sailed for Europe on the Leviathan
Saturday, May 2. On arriving at Cherbourg,
France, within a week, Mr. Oetting will go di-
rect to Leipzig, Germany, to visit the Weickert
factory, which has been represented by the
Oetting house and its predecessor, Richard
Ranft, for about forty years. He will manage
his affairs so as to be able to return to the
United States in time to attend the music in- ,
dustries convention in Chicago in June.
Linseed Oil Rates
WASHINGTON, D. C, May 3.—Prospects for a
reduction in the duty on linseed oil have, been
brightened by the action of President Coolidgc
in referring the report of the Tariff Commission
to the Agricultural Department, according to
John R. Gordon, representative of the Bureau of
Raw Materials for American Vegetable Oils
and Fats Industries, the applicants for ilic
change in the rate. He takes the position that
Secretary Jardine will see no objection to a
lower rate on linseed oil.
Lumber Output Figures
WASHINGTON, D. C, May 3.—Production of
lumber in the United States last year decreased
4 per cent as compared with 1923. This is
shown in data collected by the Department of
Commerce in its annual census of forest prod-
ucts taken in co-operation with the Department
of Agriculture. This census covers the lumber
out of 769 large sawmills, each saving 5,000,000
feet or more in either year. The total lumber
cut in 1924 was 16,210,107 thousand feet, board
measure, as against 16,910,026 the preceding
year.
LEATHERS
Sell The
"ART LINE"
and
Increase Your Profits
Write for Catalog.
530-540 Atlantic Avc, BOSTON, MASS.
PHILIP W. 0ETTING & SON, Inc.
213 East 19th Street. New York
10-12 Christopher St., New York
Sole Atfents for
WEICKERT HAMMER AND DAMPER FELTS
GRAND AND UPRIGHT HAMMERS
N«»r 6th AT*., and 8th St.
Made of Weickert Felt
STYLK NO. 125
168 Rolls
For over 25 years Specialists
in high grade Piano Cases
The Art Novelty Co.
Goshen, Ind.
Paterson Piano
Case Co.
PATERSON, N. J.