Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1926 Vol. 82 N. 6

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
FEBRUARY 6, 1926
Vice-president and General Manager H. Ed-
gar French will leave in a few days, accom-
panied by Mrs. French, to visit the Southern
branch stores and leading dealers in that terri-
tory, after which they will sail, February 22,
Local Dealers Preparing for Good Demand During Present Year—New Mehlin Proving Good from Houston, Tex'., on S.S. Quebec for a
Seller—Schomacker Brings Out New Sized Grand—Ludeke Back to His Desk
month's cruise in the West Indies and to the
Panama Canal. They will return to the United
PHILADELPHIA, PA., January 31.—By the phia, and is manufactured in both walnut and States March 20 and Mr. French will be back
*• time that the January clearance sales have mahogany. The Schomacker Co. has been en- at the factory about April 1. In the meantime,
been completed the trade will again resume ac- joying a very excellent business for its Ampico Jesse French, Jr., will be in charge.
tivities with the new displays of pianos. Visit- models, having introduced these last Fall with
H. Edgar French intends to make the cruise
ing manufacturers are receiving fairly good gratifying results, and continuing its success a business function as well as a Winter vaca-
orders for Spring delivery. There is every evi- into the new year. There now is being made tion. He will take with him a French & Sons
dence of confidence in the coming business cycle a greater number of these to take care of the reproducing grand piano, Style S.G., which is
of 1926 and dealers are preparing accordingly. growth in demand.
to have the place of honor in the main salon of
Having recovered sufficiently to be able to the ship. Talking with a representative of The
Travelers through the up-State regions re-
port the coal section quietly drifting along until travel about, Manager Charles Ludeke, of the Review, Mr. French said: "We have built up an
the disputed anthracite question is settled but talking machine and radio department of the important export trade in that part of the world,
report that dealers in the agricultural belt, the Ludwig Piano Co., 1103 Chestnut street, has and I shall make it a point to see the dealers
steel, soft coal and other prominent industrial returned to his duties. Manager Ludeke, though at every port we stop, giving them a fine chance
centers are preparing for a healthier business back in harness again and a daily attendant to see our piano without the trouble of making
condition than that of the same period of 1925. at his duties here, is not able to be as active a journey. Also, it will be seen and heard by
G. Herzberg & Son, 2042 Chestnut street, as formerly, due to the injuries he received over 200 good American citizens every day, and
among the representative dealers with a high- when a taxicab drove into him while standing this will help, for we are proud of the fact that
many of our sales come from unsolicited recom-
class following, are now enjoying a very active alongside of his own machine near his home.
mendations by pleased buyers to their friends."
market for the new period models in both the
Kranich & Bach and Mehlin pianos. The new-
est of the Mehlins, Style A, a five-foot grand, a
departure in the manufacture of these instru-
ments, heretofore made to measure not less than
five foot six, also has been a popular seller at 1925 Witnesses Largest Volume of Sales in
this season.
Company's History—Factory Being Expanded Auto Pneumatic* Action Co. Announces Com-
pletion of Plans for Imposing'Advertisements
to Provide Additional Facilities
Another house that is having a drive on its
in Leading Magazines Backed by Dealer
period models is the Est^y Piano Co., Seven-
Service
teenth and Walnut streets, just now entering
CINCINNATI, O., January 30.—The Baldwin Piano
upon an extensive and intensive campaign for Co. during 1925 enjoyed the largest volume of
With the mailing of an elaborate portfolio to
its Welte-Mignon and the line of periods that business in its history, according to the report
was brought out late last year. Factory Man- of operations of the corporation, made Tuesday every Welte-Mignon (Licensee) dealer in the
ager Robert H. Cassell, while on his visit to by Lucien Wulsin, vice-president, at the annual United States and Canada, the Auto Pneumatic
Philadelphia last week, talked over with Man- stockholders' meeting. All plants during the Action Co. unfolds its comprehensive plans for
ager Skidmore, who recently took over the guid- year were operated to capacity and a larger advertising nationally the Welte-Mignon (Li-
ing reins of the Quaker City branch, the cam- number of pianos were shipped than ever before, censee) reproducing action in 1926. Beyond a
paign for the exploitation of the Estey in the the statement added. In order to make provi- doubt, this will prove one of the broadest and
coming year. There will be conducted a wide sions for the growing business, it was pointed most extensive campaigns ever inaugurated in
advertising campaign throughout 1926 to include out that an additional floor was being added to behalf of any reproducing piano.
all the nationally advertised magazines, such as the company's new building on Gilbert avenue,
Good Housekeeping, House and Garden,
the Saturday Evening Post, Literary Digest and which will give additional working space of House Beautiful, Scribner's, World's Work, Re-
like publications and newspapers scattered over 26,000 square feet. The officials also made known view of Reviews, Atlantic Monthly, Harper's,
the country, the most extensive ever conducted that a similar addition .will be made to the Chi- Century and the Etude constitute the imposing
since the post-war days.
cago plant, which will give an additional space list of national publications that will tell the
Having spent two weeks on a tropical vaca- of 24,000 square feet. The latter improvement Welte-Mignon (Licensee) story to America in
tion, spent in Cuba, David Jacobs, head of the will be started in the near future. Among the 1926.
This advertising campaign aims to tell in a
Knabe Warerooms, 1020 Walnut street, is back expansions during the latter part of 1925 was
at his desk. Upon his return to headquarters the opening of a retail department in New graphic way the meaning of Welte-Mignon (Li-
here Harry Barron, who recently was appointed York, it was also pointed out in the statement. censee), to impress the headline, "The Master's
sales manager of the company, sailed for Cuba.
Gross sales of the company for 1925 were Fingers on Your Piano," on the reader and to
He will return February 1 to take up his new $15,683,001.99, with net profits" of $1,014,796.36, enhance the desirability of the Licensee Welte-
duties with the Knabe. Herman Jacobs and after deducting Federal taxes and interest. Of the Mignon equipped reproducing piano.
his brother, Bertram Jacobs, associates in the latter amount, $193,978.87 was added to the re- In addition, the Auto Pneumatic Action Co.
firm of S. Jacobs & Son, 1320 Columbia avenue, serve fund. There are now 797 individual stock- has devised a series of unique dealer helps, in-
who accompanied him to Cuba, also are back holders of the company, the report showed. The cluding new and colorful folders, a new idea in
at their desks.
following directors were re-elected: G. W. Arm- circularizing, and powerful dealer advertise-
Having disposed of its piano-moving business strong, Jr., Lucien Wulsin, J. P. Thornton and ments. W. C. Heaton, president of the Auto
to the well-known trade contractors of P. Thomson DeSerisy, of Cincinnati, and H. C. Pneumatic Action Co., seeks, through this ad-
Hughes & Son, the C. J. Heppe & Son Co., Dickinson, of Chicago. At the organization meet- vertising, to reach every reproducing piano
1117 Chestnut street, is discontinuing that fea- ing of the board the following officers also were prospect in the country.
The opening gun of the Welte-Mignon (Li-
ture of its business. In the future all deliveries re-elected: G. W. Armstrong, Jr., president; H.
and moving of pianos for the Heppe firm will C. Dickinson, Lucien Wulsin and Thomson censee) advertising is a four-page color insert
be assigned to the Hughes company. The trucks DeSerisy, vice-presidents; A. J. Schoenberger, in six magazines. Throughout the year pages
and other equipment of the piano moving serv- secretary, and J. L. Sauter, assistant secretary. in full color will be used announcing the acqui-
sition of new artists by the Auto Pneumatic
ice of the Heppe Co. have been acquired by
Action Co.
the contractors and removed to their headquar-
ters at 1326 Ogden street.
Vice-president Charles B. Macintosh, of the
Schumann Piano Co., Rockford, 111., was a
visitor to the local trade this week, calling at Numerous Improvements in Production Facili-
REDDING, CAL., January 21.—J. G. Wade, who
the headquarters of the Philadelphia distrib-
ties Made During the Year—H. Edgar French two months ago became identified with William
utors of the Schumann pianos, N. Stetson &
Off on West Indian Cruise
Rodman in the Rodman Music Store on Marke"t
Co., 1111 Chestnut street.
street, has disposed of his interest to Mr. Rod-
Among the very newest of additions to the
NEWCASTLE, IND., January 30.—The annual meet-
man on account of leaving the city. Mr. Rodman
grands made by the Philadelphia manufactur- ing of the stockholders of the Jesse French & has announced his intention of enlarging the
ers, the Schomacker Piano Co., Twenty-third Sons Piano Mfg. Co. was held here this after- business to include a full stock of musical in-
and Chestnut streets, is that of the Schomaker noon. All the present directors were re-elected struments.
grand in the five-foot-seven size. This is an and at a subsequent directors' meeting the offi-
intermediate size between the two already es- cers were re-elected. The annual report showed
R. L. Berry's Music Shop, of Springfield, 111.,
tablished standards of the makers in the five- a very prosperous condition and outlined a which was flooded with water recently during
foot-two and the six-foot-three, of the grand number of extensions and improvements made a fire in an adjoining store, has reopened for
models. Tt is-produced for and sold by the during the past year, including new motive power business at 511 North Side Lincoln Square, ready
Wanainaker stores in New York and Philadel- and more machinery in the plant.
for sales.
Philadelphia Music Merchants Placing
Fair-Sized Orders for Spring Delivery
Baldwin Piano Go. Reports
Record Business for Year Great Ad-Campaign for
Welte-Mignon (Licensee)
Jesse French & Sons Go.
Has a Prosperous Year
Sells Out to Rodman
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
FEBRUARY 6,
1926
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
The Miniature Upright Player-Piano—
Its Cost and Its Design
Small Upright, So Popular at the Present Time With the Piano-Buying Public, Has Not as Yet Come
to Make Any Great Impression on the Player End of the Industry—Reduction in Size Does Not
Necessarily Mean Reduction in Cost—Some Considerations on This Instrument's Design
MONG the most interesting of the recent
developments in the piano industry has
been the very small upright, meaning by
that the miniature of less than four feet high.
Originally started as a piano for schools, the
little upright has gradually found a place for^
itself in the city home, in the children's nursery
or playroom, in the music studio and in many
other places. It is already a definitely estab-
lished feature of the piano industry, and as such
has a place all its own.
Now the question of putting a player action
into the miniature upright has often been raised
and some work has been done along this line.
Nevertheless, in general the idea has not caught
on with any great rapidity, so that the minia-
ture upright has hardly yet come to make any
great impression upon the player end of the in-
dustry. Yet for a good many reasons, it must
be evident that there is a great deal to be said
for a player-piano of this relatively tiny size.
The commercial considerations may be briefly
discussed and dismissed. They rest mainly up-
on the obvious fact that a small piano fits in
best in the contracted living quarters of city
flats in which to-day so many millions live.
There is also the considerations of bulk and
handiness. In fact, although the larger up-
rights will continue to sell and probably will
always have the lead in the player field, there
should be a place for the very small player. The
question now is whether the technical problem
of design thus put before us is really too dif-
ficult.
Cost
Speaking first of cost, no one need suppose
that the reduction in size will necessarily in-
volve any reduction in cost. The small piano
looks a good deal less than the larger one, but
in fact the only saving is in the quantity of
lumber and of wire used. Action, soundboard,
hammers, are much the same, and the work of
assembly is not in the least lessened.
Design
On the other hand, with the installation of the
player action there spring into being several
problems which otherwise have no existence
at all. The first of these relates to the bellows
system. It will at once be evident of course
that the pneumatic stack of the little player
must have just about as much power as the
stack in a larger player. In other words, it is
not possible to have the pneumatics any smaller
unless they are to be operated at higher pres-
sure. On the other hand, the pneumatics re-
quire valves and the valves in turn call for
chambers and air passages. These all can indeed
be cut down to a certain extent, and in one way
the necessity for compressing and compacting
everything has its advantages. When every-
thing has to be reduced to the smallest com-
pass, there is every reason for watching the
sizes of the air passages and the chambers.
Since these latter are, pneumatically, no more
than holders which entrap a quantity of air that
is of no use but which has to be moved, it is
evident that any reduction which can be made
in size furnishes in itself very much of an ad-
vantage. Thus, the small player action may
even have advantages over its larger brother.
Since, however, the bellows must also be small
in proportion, the question of producing a de-
sign which shall combine power with the neces-
sary small size of the units is vastly important.
Nor is it one of those questions which can be
A
settled merely by inspection. There is a great
deal of it which can only be completely settled
by experiment. For instance, it is evident that
if the size is to be smaller, the pressure capacity
must be larger. It is likewise evident that if
the pressure capacity is to be greater the leakage
margin inust be cut down before anything else
is done. This means non-porous material and
tight joints throughout. That in turn means
increased cost.
Again higher pressure involves better design,
with a view to moving more air in a given time,
or with a given number of strokes of the pedals.
Mainly the question of how much air can be
moved in a given time is a question of the size
of the units; but also it may be a question of
the size and placement of the air passages in the
walls, of the tightness of the flap valves and
of other parallel matters.
In designing the bellows unit for work in
such difficult circumstances it is necessary
nearly always to envisage a smaller unit and
probably one can find room only for a single
equalizer bellows. If possible, and in order to
make room, the motor governor and the ex-
pression governor too, if there be one, should
be placed above the key bed on top of the pneu-
matic stack. This will help in making room
for an equalizer of the appropriate size.
Economies Possible
All sorts of small economies can indeed be
made, when one resolutely sets out to make
them. For instance, the large and power-con-
suming sustaining pedal pneumatic should defi-
nitely be abolished and in its place should be
installed a simple lever connection from the sus-
taining pedal rod of the piano action to a finger
plate on the key-slip.
It is always difficult to understand why man-
ufacturers should listen to the bleatings of deal-
ers who say that the public wants buttons in-
stead of levers on the key-slip. Buttons mean
pneumatics and pneumatics mean expenditure
of power. There is never any power to spare
on a pedal driven player-piano nor, for that mat-
ter (though this does not enter into the present
question), in the electric driven instrument
either. To waste power deliberately is in the
highest degree foolish. As for the purchasing
public, if dealers had not deliberately cultivated
fads like the fad for buttons, no such nonsense
would ever have been heard of. The public
would never have had the wit to think of any
such thing. Moreover, the lever is certain, sim-
ple and just as easy to operate. Why argue?
There is another point of course in this
question of design. The depth of the piano case
cannot be so great in a very small player in-
strument because if it were, the design would
have a dreadfully dumpy appearance. Some-
thing must be done to preserve the lines of the
case, and this means in effect that the pneu-
matic stack must be as shallow as possible.
More concretely it means that the spool box
must be set back, preferably above the ham-
mers. This should not be irritating to the eye
of the user, and constructionally need not be
difficult. One has to be careful to keep the two
sets of spools as near to each other as may be.
The very small player-piano then calls for
careful design, but it is not necessarily either
unpractical or inefficient.
Standard Player Actions
Stand Up in Australia
Nicaragua, New Zealand, Portugal, Porto Rico,
Peru, Philippine Islands, Switzerland, Spain,
Scotland, Sweden, Trinidad, Tasmania, United
States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Wales.
Interesting Letter Describes Manner in Which
Standard Player Action Has Responded to
Service Demands in That Country
Becker Bros. New Catalog
Becker Rros., New York, old-established
The spreading popularity of the Standard piano manufacturer, has just issued its com-
player action, made by the Standard Pneumatic plete new catalog illustrating and describing the
Action Co., New York, is being attested con- various styles of pianos both grand and upright,
stantly by letters received by the company as well as players and reproducing instruments
from foreign countries. Among the recent let- manufactured by that company. The catalog
ters of praise for this action is one from Charles is of a convenient size for insertion in the ordi-
H. Cooling, of Melbourne, Australia, who nary envelope and should prove of value to the
writes in part as follows: "About a month ago dealer in his contact with prospects.
I was demonstrating at a country show a
Through the medium of the Peabody Piano
Davenport-Treacy with your action and played Co. of Baltimore, twenty-one Becker Bros, up-
same for two days. I can honestly say not a rights were sold to the school authorities of that
hitch occurred. I may mention the player was city recently for installment in the public schools.
in no way specially prepared, having been taken
out of a local music shop, where it had been
played for ten months prior to my using. That
speaks pretty well for the Standard Pneumatic.
Papers of incorporation have been filed re-
It was a single valve."
The Standard Player Monthly, house organ cently by the Dorfman-Heitler Musical Instru-
of the Standard Pneumatic Action Co., has for ment Co., New York, which has an authorized
some months been featuring a series of articles capital stock of $3,000. E. Heitler, H. Dorfman
on "Countries Where the Standard Player Ac- and M. H. Schneider are the proprietors.
tion and the Standard Player Monthly are
Known and Esteemed." Fifty countries are
listed: Africa, Australia, Argentina, Alaska, Bar-
bados, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Can-
Hermann Irion, of Steinway & Sons, will leave
ada, Canary Islands, China, Colombia, Chile, this week for a fortnight's stay in Florida
Cuba, Denmark, Dominica, Egypt, Ecuador, where his wife, Yolanda Mero, the noted pianist,
England, Finland, France, Germany, Guate- has arranged to give a series of recitals in
mala, Hawaii, Holland, India, Ireland, Italy, Florida cities under the auspices of S. Ernest
Jamaica, R. W. I., Japan, Mexico, Norway, Philnitt the prominent music dealer.
Dorfman-Heitler Chartered
Hermann Irion to Florida

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