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OCTOBER 17,
1925
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
Philadelphia Dealers Participating
Lavishly in City's Local Music Week
Don Rockwell, Local Q R S Represenative, Returns From Abroad —Stieff Welte-Mignon
(Licensee) Presented in Elaborate Concert—Widener's to Close Local Store
PHILADELPHIA, PA., October 13.—The
South Ninth Street Talking Machine Shop,
general music dealers, with Joseph Carolei at
the head of the firm, is expanding its lines to
the radio stocks and has just completed the
installation of the R C A and Fada sets.
Having recently installed a musical instru-
ment department in the store at 1710 Chestnut
street, in the Presser Building, the J. R. Wilson
Co. has placed in charge of the business Ed-
ward V. Berger, formerly manager for the Talk-
ing Machine Co.'s establishment at German-
town and Lehigh avenues. There will be car-
ried in the Chestnut street branch of the J. R.
Wilson chain the Buescher band instruments,
along with the Victrola. Miss Marian Mills,
who has been supervising the business, will
continue the management of the record depart-
ment.
Don Rockwell, who represents the Q R S
Music Co. in this city, with headquarters in tKe
Weymann Building, 1108 Chestnut street, has
returned from an extended trip abroad with
many adventures to relate. Early last Summer
the trip began with the first stopping-points in
northern Africa within a ten-mile radius of the
Riff uprising, then crossing to Spain, a sail
along the Mediterranean Coast to the Riviera
and Monte Carlo, stops in Italy and back to the
Algerian frontier and visits to towns in the
Jugo-Slovakian country and other places un-
spoiled by tourists. While in Damascus there
was an uprising against the French which
threatened to exterminate the party with which
Manager Rockwell was touring and in which
300 loyal French veterans of a single regiment
were the means of saving the lives of the trav-
elers. After escorting the party in safety, under
arms, to the Coast the regiment continued to
the desert and was entirely annihilated by the
Riffs. Completing the trip through the Pales-
tine region and up the Nile, the party then
made for the Lombardy Coast and the lakes of
northern Italy and on to the Swiss land over
the Alps and by airplane to London, Paris and
other European capitals. The last adventure
took in the seamen's strike at London and
delayed the embarking several days. In some
lands visited the music rolls were displayed
and proved to be a great curiosity, the natives
having never before seen them.
Stieff Welte Concert
An elaborate musical program is to be de-
voted to the exploitation of the Stieff Welte-
Mignon (Licensee) reproducing piano and other
Stieff pianos through the present plans of the
local managers of the Philadelphia branch un-
der the direction of James A. Spencer, and
located at 1717 Chestnut street. There are to
be held throughout the Winter radio broad-
casting entertainments in "Stieff Hour" sched-
ule, with prominent artists at the "mike,"
through Station WWAP, Wright & Wright,
2210 North Broad street, and concerts at Stieff
Hall will supplement the air program. In both
programs prominent artists will be engaged and
there also are scheduled to appear the artists of the
Welte-Mignon (Licensee) recordings. Weekly
the Stieff broadcasting program will be heard
throughout the two months preceding the holi-
day in recitals. The concerts are to be held
weekly in the hall at headquarters here and will
be along the same lines as the air entertain-
ments. Among the recent visitors to the
Quaker City branch was Miss Olive Robertson,
Welte-Mignon pianist, who was entertained by
Mr. and Mrs! Spencer at their home. Miss
Betty Spencer, well known to the patrons of
the Stieff store as a musician, returned from
a tour of Europe extending over the Summer.
Piano Row music houses participating in the
activities of Music Week, from October 12 to
17, have arranged for special musical programs
to be held in conjunction with the celebration.
The music dealers, at their own expense, pro-
vide concerts for both inside and outside, con-
tributing extensively to the funds used for this
festive occasion of the trade and its outside
affiliations in musical circles of the city. The
main activities of Music Week were arranged
by the Philadelphia Music League, with the
Quaker City trade adding a goodly share to the
entertainments of the seven days' programs.
The C. J. Heppe & Son Co., 1117 Chestnut
street, has provided for the series of concerts
to be held in the high schools of the city with
a schedule of seventeen concerts. Prominent
artists have been secured for these concerts at
a cost of many thousands of dollars to the per-
sonal account of Florence J. Heppe, head of
the firm, with such well-known talent as Myra
Reed-Skibinsky, pianist; Mae Ebrey Hotz,
soprano; Emily Stokes Hagar, soprano; Clar-
ence Furhman, pianist; Alexander Skibinsky,
violinist, and Robert Armbruster, pianist.
Percy Scholes, well-known British musical au-
thority and lecturer, will talk before the girls
in the Normal School and at the University of
Pennsylvania on "Music Unfettered."
The local distributors of the Steinway, the
N. Stetson Co., 1111 Chestnut street, are giving
a series of concerts indoors at the store with
prominent artists contributing to the entertain-
ment. The windows are appropriately adorned
with the photographic reproductions of the
celebrities of the music world of the old mas-
ters groups and modern composers and artists.
The Stetson Co. also contributes to the funds
of the Music League in providing for the musi-
cal festivities that will be held throughout the
week.
Others adding to the week's entertainments
are H. A. Weymann & Sons, Inc., the.Estey
Piano Co., and the department scores.
This year the trade is taking more active
participation in the Music Week celebration,
the occasion having been held over for the Fall
in order to give the dealers an opportunity to
derive some business benefits through the fol-
low-up of prospective customers whose interest
has been aroused through the exploitation of
the music arts.
Widener's to Move
As soon as the stocks now on hand in the
Philadelphia branch of Widener's have been dis-
posed of the local store will be closed and the
firm withdrawn from the Quaker City trade.
The store is located at 1109 Chestnut street
in the heart of Piano Row, and is under the
management of H. L. Abels, who is now super-
vising the closing out of the stocks on hand.
Most of the present merchandise in the store
consists of Brunswick and Columbia phono-
graphs and records and these are offered for
cash purchases in the closing sale. The Estey
Piano Co., which formerly occupied floor space
on the premises, has withdrawn its stock from
this central city distribution center. No defi-
nite date has been set for the closing of the
local store, but it is understood that it will be
but a short time before present low stocks are
cleaned up.
9
New Wurlitzer Building
DETROIT, MICH., October 12.—Plans have been
announced by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Co. for
the erection of a modern ten-story building for
its local branch, which is now located at 339
State street. The structure will be built on
Broadway, near Grand Circus, which is the
city's best business section. The building will
be thirty feet wide, 110 feet long and will be
devoted entirely to music interests. The Wur-
litzer organization will occupy the first four
floors and basement and the remaining six
floors will be designed as music studios.
Hopper-Kelly Chartered
TACOMA, WASH., October 9.—Incorporation
papers for the Hopper-Kelly Co., of this city,
were filed here recently in order to make the
local branch of this music house separate from
the Olympia branch. The officers of the com-
pany are C. H. Hopper and E. P. Kelly. The
Tacoma branch will operate with a capital stock
of $50,000.
Indianapolis Dealers Meet
INDIANAPOLIS, INIX, October 13.—The first Fall
meeting of the Indianapolis Music Dealers' Asso-
ciation was held to-day at the Athanaeum and
brought out a very satisfactory attendance. W.
J. Baker, president of the Association, presided
and a number of problems of general interest
to the trade were discussed.
Consult the Universal Want Directory of
The Review. In it advertisements are inserted
free of charge for men who desire positions.
Pratt Read
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Mrs. J. H. Troup Dies
PRATT, READ & CO.
HARRISBURG, PA., October 14.—Letters of sym-
pathy have been sent by the trade in this vicin-
ity to John H. Troup, proprietor of the J. H.
Troup Music House, of this city, on the oc-
casion of the recent death of his wife, Mrs.
Elizabeth Swiler Troup. She was sixty-three
years old and had been a resident of Harris-
burg for twenty-five years. Mrs. Troup is sur-
vived by her husband and four children.
THE PRATT READ
PLAYER ACTION CO.
Oldest and Best