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News Number
THE
VOL. 88. No. 4
REVIEW
Published Weekly.
Federated Business Publications, Inc., 420 Lexington Ave., New York, N. Y. Jan. 2 6 , 1 9 2 9
8|I
*{S.£•&• l°e aC r ent9
Los Angeles Adopts Campaign
of Piano Promotion
Trade Cooperates With Prominent Newspaper in Giving Instruc- West Virginia May Tax
Music as a Luxury
tion Over Period of Ten Weeks, Together With
State Department of Education Back of Bill for
Elaborate Advertising Displays
Ten Per Cent Tax on All Luxuries and In-
cludes Musical Instruments in the List
OS ANGELES, CAL., January 18.—After a good deal of preliminary planning and discus-
sion a big piano publicity campaign has been launched through the co-operation of a num-
ber of members of the piano trade and the Los Angeles Evening Express.
A ten weeks' campaign of piano playing instruction will be carried out in a number of studios,
especially rented for this purpose, in the Music Arts Studio Building on Broadway, the lessons
being given by a number of competent teachers.
It is being conducted primarily by the Los creased making of contracts with resident musi-
Angeles Evening Express in conjunction with cians in concert and opera.
a three months' subscription to the newspaper.
E. A. Geissler, vice-president and general
In other words, the Los Angeles Evening Ex- manager of the Birkel Music Co., in thanking
press proposes to give away free with every the speaker for her address, declared that the
three months' subscription, which costs $1.80, a music trade collectively is very anxious to do
course in piano instruction which will be adver- everything toward the encouragement of young
tised as "Learn to Play the Piano in One Hour." local artists as well as the many nationally and
The co-operating dealers are subscribing four internationally known artists who have taken
thousand dollars toward the expense of main- up their residence here. He stated that in the
taining the studios and paying the instructors, loaning of concert grand pianos and their cart-
the remainder being borne by the newspaper, age and tuning for local concerts the music
which, in addition, undertakes to use a display trade donated the equivalent of at least $25,000
advertising of no less than ten full pages, ten annually.
half pages and ten quarter pages together with
news stories, editorials and other newspaper
publicity. In addition the Los Angeles Evening Three More Retail Stores
Express, which owns the 5,000-watt broadcast
Added to F. A. North Chain
station KNX, will tell listeners-in full particu-
lars of this free •course of piano instruction dur-
PHILADELPHIA, PA., January 21.-—With the addi-
ing the ten weeks.
tion of three more stores the F. A. North Co., with
It is estimated that at least thirty or forty main establishment at 1306 Chestnut street, starts
thousand dollars' worth of piano advertising and the new year cycle with a chain of twelve houses
publicity will be released through the news- operating in the Philadelphia territory. The new
paper columns and radio broadcasting durinp stores that have been added since the holidays are
this campaign.
located in Richmond street, Kensington; Ortho-
dox street, Frankford; and Main street, Manayunk.
Co-operation Between Dealer and Artist
The old proverb in regard to the lack of The stores are being made the headquarters for
honor in his own city was the subject of Isobel the respective sections for crew workers connected
Morse Jones, well-known music critic of the with the North chain. There has been a heavy
Los Angeles Times, in her address to the mem- demand for the new Lester grand and small-size
bers of the Music Trades Association of South- upright, both finished in Duco antique effect.
ern California at their January meeting, and it
had reference to the many musicians who in
To Retire from Business
increasing numbers are making southern Cali-
fornia their home. The speaker stated that it
The Keten Furniture Corp., operating a large
is her opinion that a chapter of distinguished musical instrument business in its retail store at
musicians resident in southern California, could 543 Ridge road, Lackawanna, N. Y., is going out
well be affiliated with the Music Trades Asso- of business in the near future and is closing
ciation of Southern California and she urged out its stock prior to this act, which is the
that every effort be used to further the in- result of loss of its lease.
L
CHARLESTON, W. VA., January 21.—It is reported
on good authority that the State Department
of Education is to advocate a bill before the
present legislature calling for a ten per cent
State tax on the sale of all luxuries, the funds
to be used in part for the promotion of educa-
tion activities.
Officials of the Department refused either to
affirm or to deny the report. According to the
program outlined, included in the taxable ar-
ticles are all musical instruments, radio sets,
talking machines, pianos and organs as well as
jewelry, fur goods, cosmetics and candy of all
kinds including chewing gum. If the proposed
bill is made into a law, it is estimated that
approximately $10,000,000 would be raised an-
nually. If the luxury tax plan is accepted, it is
said, the State levy and the gross sales tax
might be abolished.
Expenditures for luxuries in West Virginia
in 1924, the last date for which figures have
been tabulated, aggregated $88,457,316.23.
Syracuse Music Merchant
Leaves $500,000 Estate
SYRACUSE, N. Y., January 21.—The will of
Lazarus Leiter, prominent musical instrument
dealer of this city, has been filed. It reveals
that Mr. Leiter, who came to this city as a poor
German immigrant boy in 1853, amassed an
estate worth more than $500,000 in 65 years of
residence in this country. Harry N. Leiter, son
of the former Syracuse merchant, A»ho was asso-
ciated with his father in the business, receives
the bulk of the estate because of the help given
in this connection, the will states, although
$75,000 is bequeathed to each of two other sons.
Opens Radio Department
PHILADELPHIA, PA., January 21.—Eugene M.
Goldman has opened a radio department in his
piano store at 928 Spruce street, where he is again
engaged in the piano industry trading as the Piano
Manufacturers' Show Rooms.