Music Trade Review

Issue: 1927 Vol. 84 N. 19

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
The Music Trade Review
Pittsburgh Association Plans Melody
Way Club and Contest in That District
Special Meeting of Association Unanimously Votes to Have Association Undertake
Plan in Co-operation With Local Newspaper—Association Changes Name
D I T T S B U R G H , PA., May 3.—Enthusiasm
was marked at the special meeting of the
Piano Merchants' Association of Pittsburgh
last night at the Hotel Henry, when the plans
for the operation of the Melody Way Piano
Club Plan and Piano-Playing Contest, as ar-
ranged by the Miessner Institute of Music, of
Milwaukee, Wis., were outlined to the members
and a number of dealer guests from out of
town.
The guests were welcomed by Arthur W.
Armbruster, president of the Association, after
all had partaken of an excellent chicken din-
ner. Mr. Armbruster then introduced Wm. C.
Hamilton, of the S. Hamilton Co., who made
a short reference to the Melody Way Plan and
told of its possibilities if properly undertaken
and sponsored.
Mr. Hamilton introduced W. H. Bowles, of
the Kohler Industries, New York, who told of
the Melody Way Plan and how it could be
made to operate to the best advantage of the
trade. He was followed by George Cain, of
the Miessner Institute, who told of the plans
that had been followed in Milwaukee, Denver,
Kansas City and Omaha, all with excellent
results, stating that to date over 8,000 persons
had been interested in a vital manner in the
plan.
L. O. Rogers, also of the Kohler Industries,
This 2.5 ampere
and trickle charger meets the
needs of the present radio market
The advantages of trickle charging. give the customer a short two min-
But combined with a charging rate ute sales talk on Model J, pointing
high enough to take care of power out its larger capacity, the higher
tubes and to break down battery sul- charging rate, the fact that it was
phation should it occur. The present more than ample for any power tube
day set requires both. The combi- that might be added to the set. The
nation of both these features in the result was that this dealer succeed-
Model J Balkite Charger is rapidly ed, with practically no effort, in
making it the most popular charger converting one out of every three
inquiries for trickle chargers into
in the entire radio field.
The advantages of this charger Model J sales at $19-50 each with a
are so obvious that once they are corresponding increase in sales vol-
pointed out to the customer Balkite ume. In certain territories where
Model J will sell itself. One radio Model J is thoroughly known it is
dealer who had paid little attention being sold almost to the exclusion
to Model J, on finding that its sale of all other types.
You too can increase your sales
was showing a rapid increase, began
pushing it. When a customer came volume and make satisfied custom-
in for a Balkite Trickle Charger this ers by selling a charger that meets
dealer asked which one, the large or present day requirements. Get be-
small one. He then proceeded to hind Balkite Model J now.
F A N S T E E L P R O D U C T S C O M P A N Y , Inc.
Chicago, Illinois
Tiadio Tower Units
THE BALKITE LINE OF ELECTROLYTIC DEVICES IS PROTECTED BY EQOAR
W. ENGLE U. 8 . REISSUE PATENT NO. 16.438; DATED OCT. IS, 1918
MAY 7, 1927
emphasized the need of active and hearty co-
operation on the part of the music dealers
as a unit in order to make the plan a success
in Pittsburgh.
Genuine enthusiasm was evoked by the hearty
approval of the plan as outlined by Wm. H.
Cooper, of Cooper Bros., New Kensington. In
a short yet earnest manner Mr. Cooper told
how the Melody Way Plan had been utilized
in his business, with the result that more than
800 children were enrolled in the school. He
was able to point out specific instances where
actual sales of pianos were made as a result
of a child entering the study classes. It was
decided by a unanimous vote to have the local
Association undertake the Melody Way Plan
with the co-operation of a Pittsburgh news-
paper.
A committee was named to confer with the
newspapers with a view to securing the sup-
port of one of the local afternoon publications.
The committee consists of W. Barry Hamilton,
chairman, Wm. C. Hamilton, E. B. Heyser,
Arthur O. Lechner, T. B. Newberne, Theodore
Hoffmann and President Armbruster, all of
Pittsburgh; W. H. Cooper, New Kensington;
H. H. Snyder, New Castle; Ben Reynolds,
Washington, Pa.; P. P. Brooks, Altoona, and
C. P. Hollenbaugh, Latrobe.
By a unanimous vote it was decided to change
the name of the Association from the Piano
Merchants' Association of Pittsburgh to that
of the Western Chapter of the Pennsylvania
Music Merchants' Association. Dues for Alle-
gheny county members were fixed at $30 and
out-of-the-county members at $25. This will
include dues of $10 to be paid to the State
Association and $5 for the National Association
of Music Merchants.
President Armbruster and Mr. Hamilton
stressed the point that the western Pennsyl-
vania district should have a large turnout at
the State Convention, to be held in H a r d s h i p ,
May 9 and 10, emphasizing the point that (he
Pittsburgh Association was directly responsible
for the bringing into existence of the State
Association.
Those at the meeting included W. Barry
Hamilton, of the C. C. Mellor Co.; Wm. C.
Hamilton, Chas L. Hamilton and Burt Henge-
veld, of the S. Hamilton Co.; Theodore Hoff-
mann and H. N. Home, of the J. M. Hoffmann
Co.; Arthur O. Lechner and Homer Schoen-
berger, of the Lechner & Schoenberger Co.;
G. A. Ascherfeld, of Kaufmann's; H. G. Fast,
of the Schroeder Piano Co.; Benjamin Gold-
man, of H. Goldman & Wolf; T. B. Newberne
and J. B. Newberne, of Chas. M. Stieff, Inc.;
Arthur W. Armbruster, of the Henricks Piano
Co.; E. B. Heyser, C. W. Thompson and J.
W. Hoffman, of the W. F. Frederick Piano
Co., and C. C. Latus, executive secretary, all
of Pittsburgh; H. H. Snyder, New Castle;
William Polangin, Farrell; P. P. Brooks, Al-
toona; G. W. P. Jones, Ben Reynolds and E.
M. Reynolds, of Washington, Pa.; Victor Nelly
and H. H. Becker, Carnegie; C. P. Hollen-
baugh, Latrobe; Wm. H. Cooper and John E.
Cooper, New Kensington; Oscar P. Decoster
and August Decoster, of Decoster Bros.,
Jeannette, and C. F. Milleman, of the Milleman
Co., Zelienople; Thomas J. Sullivan, of the
Q R S Music Co.; Charles Cunningham, Ameri-
can Piano Co.; W. H. Bowles and L. O. Rogers,
Kohler Industries, and George Cain, of the
Miessner Institute.
Visuola Demonstration
A demonstration of the Visuola system of
piano instruction was given by John C. Bostel-
mann, Jr., before the music section of the New
York State Federation of Women's Clubs, meet-
ing in convention in Aeolian Hall, 34 West
Forty-third street, on April 28. Mr. Bostelmann
also staged another demonstration of the
Visuola on the afternoon of April 30, as part
of the Music Day program of the Women's
Press Club of New York in the Astor Gallery
of the Waldorf-Astoria.
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
Artist and Artisan
Meet in the Knabe Factory
Principal Artists of the Metropolitan Opera Company, of Which
the Knabe Piano Is the Official Instrument, Visit the Plant of
Wm. Knabe & Co., in Baltimore, and See How Pianos Are Made
A
NOTABLE event during the recent visit
of the Metropolitan Opera Company to
Baltimore, in the course of its regular
Spring tour, was the visit paid by a number
of the principal artists of the company to the
factory of Wm. Knabe & Co. in that city, under
the guidance of Berthold B. Neuer, artist-
they saw in the plant's different departments.
Many of them had accepted the piano as
more or less a matter of course, finding the
results of the piano craftsmen's efforts dis-
tinctly satisfactory to their needs, but knowing
very little of how those results were accom-
plished. The trip through the Baltimore factory
that their time was so limited that they could
not spend several more hours making a closer
study of how good pianos are made.
This is believed to have been the first in-
stance in which practically all the principals
of an opera company have taken occasion to
visit a piano factory in a body, for the purpose
Metropolitan Opera Company Artists at Wrn. Knabe & Co. Factory in Baltimore
1—C. P. Vogt, Superintendent of Knabe Factory, Explaining One of the Operations to Intent Listeners, Who Are—Left to Right: Louis Hasselmans, Mme. Hasselmans, Louise
Lerch, Vincenzo Bellezza, Armand Tokatyan, Leon Rothier. In the Rear Can Be Seen Mr. Neurer and Mr. Reed. 2—Minnie Egener (Mrs. Louis Hasselmans), Metropolitan
Soprano, Preparing to Autograph Knabe Grand. 3—Maestro Vincenzo Bellezza, Conductor of Metropolitan Opera Company, Autographing Knabe Baby Grand. 4—Armand
Tokatyan, Metropolitan Tenor, in Role of Cameraman. Grouped Around the Piano: Mme. Hasselmans, Louise Lerch, C. P. Vogt, Mme. Bellezza, Leon Rothier, Louis Hasselmans
and Vincenzo Bellezza. 5—Louise Lerch Selecting a Piano for Her Use at Allentown While at the Knabe Factory. Miss Lerch Is the Young Singer of Allentown Who Made
Such a Deep Impression at the Metropolitan This Season.
manager for Wm. Knabe & Co. and also man-
ager of the New York warerooms. The
purpose of the visit was to permit the artists
to witness the actual processes connected with
the production of those instruments which have
been adopted as the official pianos of the Met-
ropolitan Company and are used by the artists
of that organization.
Several of the artists frankly regarded the
trip to the factory as more or less in the line
of a courtesy, and very busy, as is usually the
case when the company is on tour, they set
aside some twenty minutes for a hurried trip
through the Knabe plant. The fact that the
visit lasted some two and a half hours affords
the best evidence of the interest and enthusiasm
aroused in the singers in the various things
gave several of them their first opportunity of
seeing pianos in the actual course of production
and they were amazed at the many details that
must be so carefully watched and handled if
the complete instrument is to measure to
artistic requirements.
Special interest was
shown in the work of the many veteran em-
ployes of the Knabe factory and many of them
were asked to explain in detail the more, or
less intricate phases of their work.
The assembling of the various parts, the in-
stallation and adjustment of the action and
particularly the amount of attention given to
the hand carving of the period models held the
attention of the visitors to a remarkable degree.
They asked questions and marveled and sev-
eral of them took occasion to express regret
of seeing the wheels go around, as it were, and
those of the Metropolitan Company, who have
in the past enthused freely regarding the tonal
qualities of the Knabe", were even more en-
thusiastic when they actually saw the care and
attention given to the smallest detail in the
production of those instruments in order that
each one might prove a worthy representative
of the company whose name it bore.
Mr. Neuer and Manager Reed of the Knabe
Warerooms in Baltimore accompanied the opeia
stars to the company's factory, where C. P.
Vogt, the superintendent,
escorted them
through the plant and explained the various
operations. Some of the visitors expressed the
desire to make a tour of the plant again at a
later date when their time was not so limited.
University Shop Opens
rett, Fred B. Helms and E. J. Hanson, all of
Charlotte, are the incorporators.
the Knabe with the Ampico, the Fischer, Wur-
litzer and Davenport-Treacy lines of pianos.
New Branch in Salinas
Consolidated Stores Chartered
SALINAS, CAL., April 30.—The Anderson Music
Co., of San Jose, has opened a branch store here
in the Postoffice Building, West Gabilan street
and Lincoln avenue. The store, which will be a
permanent establishment in Salinas, will handle
The Consolidated Music Stores, Inc., Cin
cinnati, O., have been incorporated recently with
a capital stock of $30,000. The incorporators
are: F.. 1- Purcell, Edward F. Peters, Edward
A. Gruncr, R. I«. Hinds and S, Geismar,
The University Music Shop, of which Wilbur
T. Collins is manager, has been opened at 1652-4
North High street, Columbus, O., featuring
phonographs, sheet music and music rolls.
The Piedmont Music Co. of North Carolina,
Charlotte, N. C, has been incorporated recently
with a capital stock of $-10,000. George T. Gar-
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