Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
10
The Music Trade Review
Philadelphia Establishes Adult Night
Classes in City's Melody Way Campaign
Dealers Already Reporting Substantial Sales of Pianos Traced Directly to Campaign
—Window Displays Play Effective Part in the Work
PHILADELPHIA, PA., August 1.—With
some 3,000 children and quite a number of
adults enrolled in the Melody Way classes now
being conducted by piano dealers of Phila-
delphia, the value of this plan in increasing sales
of pianos is being proven to the general satis-
faction of the retailers. Sales of a substantial
number of new pianos are directly credited to
the Melody Way work and an even greater
number of parents have purchased used pianos
for their children to practice upon with the pos-
sibility that they may be persuaded to buy new
instruments when their youngsters have demon-
strated their talents as pianists.
Although children make up the classes that
are held in the afternoons in the various show-
rooms and other places provided by the dealers,
the demand for instruction by adults reached
a point some time ago where it was found de-
sirable to establish night classes for the grown-
ups, among whom are being found a sizeable
proportion of piano buyers. What some dealers
are doing in connection with the Melody Way
work is indicated in the case of Ramsdell &
Sons, 127 South Twelfth street, the head of the
company, G. C. Ramsdell, being president of
the Philadelphia Piano Trade Association. In
this store alone some 400 Melody Way pupils
arc enrolled for the juvenile day classes and
the adult night classes. The company has
AUGUST 6, 1927
taken this opportune time to display the Mil-
ton Tom Thumb uprights, only 41 inches high,
of 59 note range, and finished in a variety of
bright colors as well as in mahogany. The in-
struments are designed particularly for the use
of children.
C. J. Heppe & Son took advantage of the
Melody Way campaign to arrange a series of
effective window displays that have attracted
wide attention. The Heppe windows are so
constructed as to give a clear view of the in-
terior without shadows, and during the past
week there was held in the window practically
every hour a Melody Way class, with each
child provided with a keyboard desk for finger-
ing exercises. The instructions given by the
teachers were relayed to the crowds on the
sidewalk by special radio loud speaker devices,
and at the conclusion of each class and before
the assembling of a new one, concerts were
given on the Orthophonic Victrola. The result
was that Chestnut street in front of the Heppe
Store was jammed each day by those watching
the classes and listening to the concerts.
N. Stetson & Co., 1111 Chestnut street, local
distributors for the Steinway and Schumann
pianos, are having the interior of their stores
remodeled and redecorated. Two new fire tow-
ers will be erected in the rear of the building,
and the entire interior will be decorated in
white and French gray. No steps have yet been
taken for the election of a successor to the
late Frederick T. Steinway in the directorate of
the Stetson house.
Better Salesmen Made in
Los Angeles by School
IN
1900
American Perfected Piano Wire, by winning the
Gold Prize over the whole world at the Paris
Exposition, shattered once and for all the popu-
lar belief in the superiority of foreign wire.
Since that time, Perfected Piano Wire has con-
stantly maintained its superiority. Today it is
used in every leading American make of piano.
This finest wire, absolutely guaranteed against
breakage, is the most economical you can use.
Cheaper grades of wire, with their frequent
breaking and inability to hold tonal qualities, are
far more costly in the end.
For over sixty years, American Perfected
Piano Wire has met every test of strength, reso-
nance and endurance. We welcome your inquiry
for detailed information.
Services of our Consulting Acoustic Engineer always available—free.
American Steel & Wire
Company
Sales Offices:
Chicago, New York, Boston, Cleveland, Worcester, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh,
Buffalo, Detroit, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Wilkes-Barre, St. Louis, Kansas City,
St. Paul, Oklahoma City, Birmingham, Memphis, Dallas, Atlanta, Denver,
Salt Lake City
Export Representative: U. S. Steel Products Co., New York
Pacific Coast Representative: U. S. Steel Products Company, San Francisco.
Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle
L
(Continued from page 3)
as to whether $4,000 was a large sum of money
or not—and lost the sale. A successful sales-
man admitted it was a large sum and
immediately pointed out more perfections and
refinements contained in that glorious instru-
ment—and sold it.
Five dollars or $10 for an idea! If so, some
got $1,000 worth. And then all those men of
the firing-line from the different regiments
or stores—a few girls, too, whom we'll call
the red cross girls, fighters in the battle of
sales of musical instruments, whose only op-
ponents and real competitors are the salesmen
of automobiles, ice-making machines and trips
to Europe, etc.,
Finally, the ten courses in salesmanship
were the means of bringing together the sales-
men and sales managers from all the different
stores. Competitors met with a common object
in view, a constructive one, and by the time
the courses were over they were calling each
other by their first names and realizing that
they were all united in the great effort to put
music in the homes in advance of and before
washing machines, new automobiles and real
estate investments.
Outing of Employes of
Garwood Plant of Aeolian
The annual outing of the piano department
of the Garwood, N. J., plant of the Aeolian
Co. was held on last Saturday, July 30, at Bel-
vedere Beach, N. J., the members of other
departments joining in and enjoying the shore
dinner at the Casino and the field and aquatic
events which preceded it. There was a base-
ball game between the piano department team
and the general factory team, and won by the
former; various kind of races on land and in
the water, a tug-of-war and other interesting
contests. - E. Vail, superintendent of the piano
department, acted as toastmaster at the dinner,
with W. Darroch, former Mayor of Garwood
and production manager of the factory, as one
of the speakers, he praising the committee for
the excellence of the arrangements throughout
the entire day.