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DECEMBER 17, 1927
The Music Trade Review
Oakland, Cal., Retail Piano Trade
Plans Piano-Playing Contest There
Contest to Be Conducted Under the Auspices of the Oakland Public Schools—
O. F. Harris Talks Before Local Brunswick Dealers—The Ampico Symphonique
CAN FRANCISCO, CAL., December 9 —
^ Nearly all the piano trade of Oakland was
represented at a luncheon meeting, held at the
Athens Athletic Club, Oakland, on Tuesday, De-
cember 6, to discuss the matter of having a
piano-playing contest in Oakland. The piano
trade of the trans-Bay city, as a whole, was
enthusiastically in favor of holding the contest.
They underwrote it to the extent of $2,600.
Shirley Walker states that the contest will be
conducted under the auspices of the Oakland
public schools. Glenn C. Woods, supervisor of
music in the public schools will be chairman of
the piano-playing contest committee. All the
awards will consist of cash prizes. Full details
will be announced on February 1, and the finals
will take place in connection with the nation-
wide observance of Music Week, May 6 to 12,
1928.
O. P. Harris Gives Sales Promotion Talk
O. P. Harris, from Chicago, of the Brunswick
sales promotion department, gave a talk on the
high-priced Brunswick models, at the retail
store of Sherman, Clay & Co., on Monday
evening last. The talk which began at 7:30
P. M. was attended by Sherman, Clay & Co.'s
salesmen, and by visitors from other music
houses. For over two hours those present
listened with keen interest to what Mr. Harris
had to say about selling high-priced instru-
ments. Speaking later of Mr. Harris' talk,
Harold Pracht, manager of the piano depart-
ment at the retail store of Sherman, Clay & Co.,
said that all the Brunswick sales promotion
speaker said was just as applicable to pianos
as to phonographs. The talk was interesting
and enlightening.
Three Firms Advertise New Piano
The Wiley B. Allen Co., Kohler & Chase and
Lee S. Roberts, Inc., all advertised the new
Ampico Symphonique in last Sunday's papers
and put the piano on display on Monday.
Kohler & Chase are featuring it in one of the
two main windows which are gay with Christ-
mas trimmings.
All three houses are emphasizing the price
of this creation of the American Piano Co. The
Wiley B. Allen Co. is holding public recitals
and demonstration of the Ampico Symphoni-
que at the company's store every evening this
week. Members of the public are invited to
attend and bring their families.
At Last G. A. R. Schiller Leaves for North
It is quite a joke at the retail store of Sher-
man, Clay & Co. here that G. A. R. Schiller,
Coast representative of the Aeolian Co., tried
for two weeks to leave for a business trip to
Portland and Seattle and something always
came up, just at the last minute, to make him
defer his trip. During most of the time his
trunk was either at the depot, or in charge of the
expressman who took it to the station every day
and returned it back to Schiller's residence at
night. As he expected to leave again the next
morning his trunk remained packed. At last
Mr. Schiller and his trunk have left for Port-
land, and round the store it is mentioned as an
interesting piece of news: "Yes, Schiller's left
for the North at last."
Seattle Store Installs Organ
Sherman, ("lay & Co. announce the successful
installation of an Aeolian pipe organ in the
large Rhodes department store, Seattle.
Baldwin House Sells Many Period Grands
The Baldwin Piano House here has sold a
number of period models of grand pianos re-
cently. Morley P. Thompson, Coast representa-
tive of the Baldwin Piano Co., stated to-day
that there has been a big demand for period
models of this class, and the Baldwin factory is
making a special feature of period grands.
E. E. Searles, who was for a long time in the
piano sales department of another San Fran-
cisco music house, has just joined the piano
sales staff of Sherman, Clay & Co., at their
retail store here, where Harald Pracht is the re-
tail piano sales manager.
Six Hundred Shriners to Hear Ampico
F. L. Hanna, who is lecturing and exhibiting
the Branson de Cou pictures, synchronized with
the Ampico, under the auspices of Kohler &
Chase, will give the performance next Wednes-
day for six hundred Shriners. A number of
clubs and other organizations have seen the pic-
tures and heard the Ampico accompaniment re-
cently, both in this city and in Oakland, and in
both cities a great deal of interest has been
shown.
Music Publisher Called Back Suddenly
Miss Karen Frederickscn, president of the
Gold Leaf Publishing Co., was called back sud-
denly by two deaths in her family before she
could establish even one of the two Eastern of-
fices she was planning to open. Her offices
are in the Kress Building, where most of the
music publishers do business.
Watson-Reicken Co,, Bellingham, Wash.,
Displays the Franklin Period Grand
Kimball Instruments for
Philadelphia Theatres
New Carmen Theatre Latest to be Equipped
With Kimball Grand—Numerous Organ In-
stallations Scheduled for Next Year
PHILADELPHIA, PA., December 12.—When the
new Carmen Theatre is dedicated in the holi-
day week there will be placed in the amuse-
ment place another Kimball grand piano which
will be used on the stage and in the pit. Several
other theatres will open after the new year
and will have similar instruments installed
through the local distributors of the Kimball
pianos, the W. W. Kimball Co., Inc., 3808 N.
Broad street. There will be five Kimball or-
gans installed in the first weeks of 1928 in as
many theatres. The new Oxford Theatre which
just has been opened also has a Kimball organ
A four manual organ has been installed by
the Kimball Co. in the remodeled St. Stephen's
Roman Catholic Church, Broad and Butler
streets.
The Kimball grand piano is being used for
the accompaniment of all programs that are
featured daily over the Frankford Radio Broad-
casting Company station recently removed to
its new and larger home at 4844 Frankford
avenue, and which will be reopened January 1st.
The W. W. Kimball Co. has been disposing of
a large number of Kimball phonographs, and
several stores in the local trade also have
added the Kimball phonograph since its intra-
duction here a few weeks ago with good re-
sults in sales volume.
Wanamaker Department
Moved to Auditorium
As an emergency measure through the holi-
day shopping period, the piano department of
the John Wanamaker store in New York has
been transferred to the Wanamaker auditorium
on the first gallery, just east of the customary
piano display space. Recitals have been sus-
pended in the auditorium until after the first
of the year, and the seats have been removed,
affording a spacious showroom for pianos ex-
clusively. A most attractive display of Chickcr-
ing, Knabc, Mason & Hamlin and other grands
has been sit up here and an elaborate Chickcr-
ing art model in walnut is gracing the stage
in the room.
Buys Stallsmith Store
R. E. Mickley has purchased the stock and
fixtures of the Stallsmith Music Store, located
on York street, Gettysburg, Pa., from P. W.
Stallsmith, founder of the business.