Music Trade Review

Issue: 1932 Vol. 91 N. 2

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
Chicagc
E. C. Diggins, head of the firm of E. C,
Diggins & Sons, of San Antonio, was one of
the callers at the Story & Clark headquarters
early in January, when he placed an order
for a number of pianos. He was accom-
panied by his son, George, and by Walter
Svvartz, of their staff.
Mr. Diggins reported the piano business in
his territory as being, on the whole, quite
satisfactory, and said that the outlook was
promising for good sales. He made the com-
ment that as far as the depression was con-
cerned, the people in San Antonio had been
fortunate in having no noticeably bad effects
from it.
ANNUAL DINNER OF
CHICAGO P. & O. ASS'N
The Chicago Piano and Organ Association,
with which the Piano Club of Chicago has
lately been merged, held its annual dinner at
the Union League Club, Chicago, January 28.
There was, as usual, a good attendance,
and a discussion of trade problems, the details
of which will be given in the next issue.
PIANO HOUSES TAKING ON
THE CAPEHART LINE
One of the prominent visitors to Chicago
during the week of January 18 was J. E.
Broyles, general sales manager of the Cape-
hart Corp., of Fort Wayne, Ind. The Cape-
hart Corp. had an exhibit at the Wholesale
Radio Show in the Coliseum, and also main-
tained headquarters at the Congress Hotel.
Mr. Broyles had been on a short business
trip before his arrival in Chicago, and an-
nounced with justifiable pride that the J. W.
Jenkins Sons Co., of Kansas City, and the
J. B. Bradford Co., of Milwaukee, were two
of the latest representative piano houses to
take on the Capehart line, with special ref-
erence to their 400 series, the new model
which was on exhibition in Chicago.
About February 1 Mr. Broyles starts for
the Pacific Coast to make further business
connections for his company, and develop
plans for the spread of what he calls the
"Capehart gospel" throughout the entire
West. The Capehart organization is particu-
larly gratified by the enthusiasm with which
piano dealers have taken on this agency.
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
West
FRANK W . KIRK
Manager
333 NO. MICHIGAN
AVENUE
TEXAS DEALER DECLARES
PIANO PROSPECTS ARE GOOD
iddle
One of the most appreciated compliments
Capehart has ever had was the unsolicited
use of one of the Capehart 400 series, a beau-
tiful Chippendale cabinet, in a large adver-
tisement which the Pebeco tooth paste makers
ran in over fifty representative daily news-
papers recently, reaching millions of people,
and giving hundreds of thousands of dollars'
worth of unsolicited advertising to the Cape-
hart instrument.
The advertising began as follows: "The
most expensive radio in the world. The
Capehart 400 in its beautiful Chippendale
cabinet. It reproduces the original program
with absolute perfection.—But You'll Not
Find It in Ordinary Homes." With that as
the keynote, the tooth paste manufacturers
went on to make an argument for the use
of Pebeco.
J. A. COMPTON A REAL
VETERAN OF THE INDUSTRY
J. A. Compton, president of the Stradivara
Co., Coshocton, O., who recently celebrated
his eighty-second birthday, is believed to hold
the national record for long service in the
industry, having been a dealer in and manu-
facturer of musical instrument continuously
for over sixty years. Incidentally, Mr. Comp-
ton is still vigorous and active in his business
pursuits.
Mr. Compton started his present wholesale
and retail piano business in 1872. In 1904
he became president of the Boston Piano &
Organ Mfg. Co., which company he took over
in 1909 with A. O. Price and formed the
Compton-Price Piano Co., making pianos
until 1914. In the latter year the company
began making the Stradivara phonograph
and continued that line until 1921, when Mr.
Compton bought out Mr. Price and changed
the company name to the Stradivara Co.
Since that time the concern has been building
piano benches and music cabinets as well as
dental cabinets and toys.
For a number of years past Mr. Compton
has been assisted by his son, Fred B. Comp-
ton, who at the present time is secretary-
treasurer and general manager of the busi-
ATTRACTIVE NEW CONOVER
CATALOG IS ISSUED
The newest piece of literature in the trade
coming within our knowledge is a handsome
Conover grand catalog, just put out by the
Cable Company of Chicago. The art work
is particularly striking and highly modern.
The cover, in black and gold, shows the
novel effect of a reproduction in widening
angles of the Ogee shape of the grand cover.
The catalog is embellished by a good por-
trait of J. Frank Conover, the piano genius
who first built it, and photographic reproduc-
tions of typical drawing rooms in which Con-
over pianos are used.
Intended for the use either of the Cable
dealers or the public, a new form of pocket
insert in the back inside cover holds detailed
descriptions of five Conover Grands, Styles
Nos. 55, 27, 88, 99 and 77.
. .
FROM TOP
TO CASTER
SCHULZ
COLONY
GRANDS
Are Better Designed
Better Built
Better Priced
We Will Send You
Actual Specifications
to Prove It
M. SCHULZ CO.
Morris Crown, a music dealer at 258
Prairie avenue, Providence, R. I., died sud-
denly in that city on January 13 of a heart
attack. He was 58 years old and is survived
bv a brother and sister.
REVIEW,
February, 1932
711 Milwaukee Ave.
CHICAGO, ILL.
19
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
20
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW,
February, 1932
DONALD V. STEGER
TO RUN FOR SENATE
CHAS. FREDERICK STEIN
UPRIGHTS PLEASE DEALERS
DRIVE TO PROMOTE
RADIO IN SCHOOLS
A recent political item interested many
members of the local trade. It was the an-
nouncement by Donald V. Steger that he
would be a candidate for election to the
State Senate from the Thirty-first Senatorial
District, with the backing of the regular Re-
publican organization.
Mr. Steger is the son of Chris G. Steger
and the grandson of the late John V. Steger.
He is an attorney and a member of the firm
of Enright, Steger & Enright. He is an able
speaker and debater, and quite popular i:i
his district, so success for his ambition seems
to be reasonably certain.
The great Steger piano plant at Steger,
111., is idle, but much interest has been excited
here by the report that Chris G. Steger con-
templated its use again as a piano factory.
The report at the moment seems premature,
as no plans are yet made, and Mr. Steger
himself was not willing to discuss it.
Charles Frederick Stein's new uprights
continue to make a great impression upon all
who test them, either dealer or customer. A
certain dealer in Northeastern Maine ordered
one of the Stein Style 1 colored uprights,
reasoning that it would prove as impressive
as the Stein grands which he has handled.
January 1+ Mr. Stein received from that
dealer a letter as follows: "Well, the little
upright, Style I, arrived January 11 at
2 P. M. I got it on the floor and at 6 P. M.
I sold it to a customer I had been after for
years, but who thought that nothing but a
would do. But he would not pay
the
price so your little style I did
the trick.
"•Needless to say I am delighted with it
and want my order put in at once for another
one, immediate shipment, in mahogany."
The Federal Bureau of Education and the
Radio Manufacturers' Association have ar-
ranged to cooperate in a plan to promote
education by radio and equipment of schools
with radio and sound apparatus. In co-
operation with Dr. C. M. Koon, in charge
of radio for the Bureau of Education, under
the U. S. Department of Interior, plans are
being developed by the RMA to stimulate
installation in schools of radio and sound
equipment.
At the Cleveland meeting of the RMA
board of directors on November 19 a special
committee to work with the federal educa-
tional authorities was authorized. President
Coit of the Association appointed as chair-
man of the special committee Mr. A. C.
Kleckner of Racine, Wis.
FOLDER PRESENTS NEW
HOWARD PIANO LINE
The Baldwin Piano Co., Cincinnati, O.,
has just issued an imposing folder containing
some brief descriptive matter and excellent
photographic illustrations of the new line of
Howard pianos. The folder, of modernistic
design in light green and black, has, inside,
a pocket in the form of a piano keyboard in
which are found the piano illustrations, each
on a separate sheet. The instruments fea-
tured in the new line include four five-foot
grands and three four-foot-seven-inch grands,
in a pleasing variety of case designs, together
with a small upright, only three feet ten
inches high. The folder makes a most val-
uable addition to Baldwin Co. literature.
BUSH TEMPLE OF MUSIC
IN DALLAS IS BURNED
The Bush Temple of Music at Dallas, Tex.
was destroyed by fire on January 22. This
building had been the center of musical
activities in Dallas for the past 25 years,
during which time (up to last November)
it had been the headquarters of the Bush &
Gerts Piano Co. of Texas, the lease having
been executed by William L. Bush, as presi-
dent of the Texas company.
Billings Enters New Field
One of the well-known Cable representa-
tives, Earl Billings, has now left that service
to take on the Kansas City, Mo., representa-
tion of Chil-Aire. This is a portable cooling
system which has already demonstrated its
usefulness in homes and institutions, and Mr.
Billings anticipates great success in his new
field. He is a Cable Piano Co. veteran, hav-
ing been in the wholesale department as a
traveling man; also a Cable representative in
Florida and Minnesota.
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Co., Cincinnati,
O., is this year celebrating the seventy-fifth
anniversary of the establishment of the busi-
ness, the occasion being marked by dinners
and other celebrations at the headquarters of
the company and its branches throughout the
country.
Weidelman Music Co. Moves
Edgar C. Smith
The Weidelman Music Co., Houghton,
Mich., has moved from 315 Fifth street to
One of the most widely known members of
the trade, Edgar C. Smith, died in the Wes- new quarters at Oak and Fifth streets, that
ley Memorial Hospital on January 20, fol- city, where increased facilities are available
for the display and sale of musical merchan-
lowing an operation.
Mr. Smith was 71 years of age, and had dise and pianos. A special music room for
resided at Long Beach, Ind., since his retire- the use of teachers and clubs is a feature of
ment from the W. W. Kimball Co., in whose the new store.
service he had spent more than fifty years.
For a long time he had been general man-
ager of the retail department of the Kimball
company and had also been a member of the
board of directors.
His passing was greatly regretted by his
old associates and other members of the in-
PIANO TRAVELER WANTED by
dustry, and he was highly respected for his
prominent Eastern manufacturer to
ability and general character. He is survived
cover New England and Eastern states.
by a widow.
Opportunity for energetic producer.
Give age, experience, etc. Box 3436,
Music Trade Review, 420 Lexington
PIANOS AGAIN COMING
Avenue, New York.
THE REVIEW'S
WANT DIRECTORY
INTO THEIR O W N IN BELGIUM
The following very interesting item from
Brussels, Belgium, appeared recently in the
New York Times, and, as various members
of the trade have remarked, it is to be hoped
that the new influence finds its way across the
ocean and has a similar effect here.
The .report read: Pianos of the old brand,
played by hand, are coming into fashion
again, after a bad slump. Merchants say they
are selling them easily, at good prices, in spite
of the competition of the mechanical piano,
radio and phonograph. Musicians, thrown out
of work by the new inventions, are taking
heart again, as this Winter's mode is old-
fashioned music, whether for dancing, con-
certs, in cafes or other kinds of entertain-
ment.
The slump in the demand for pianofortes,
a leading pianomaker says, was really due
to bad teaching. Instead of learning to inter-
pret the sentiments of the composers, begin-
ners simply regarded piano playing as a
mechanical exercise, something like writing
on a typewriter, and they were encouraged
in feats of endurance by their teachers. Hard
times have induced teachers and pupils to
take more pains.
The M. Earl Clark music store, Monroe,
Wis., is moving to a new location in the
Syndicate block, on Eleventh street, a block
west of the former store.
PIANO TRAVELER WANTED for
high-grade manufacturer.
Write and
state salary and experience. Address
Box 3433, Music Trade Review, 420 Lex-
ington Avenue, New York.
POSITION WANTED—Salesmanager; IS years'
retail experience with Aeolian, Steinway and
American Piano Companies' lines in N. Y. C.
Clean record. Highest recommendations. Now on
coast.
Will go anywhere.
Address Box 3434,
Music Trade Review, 420 Lexington Avenue, New
York.
RADIO SERVICEMAN, PIANO TUNER and
REPAIRER, will buy half interest or a tuning
route. Prefer Western States. Address Box 3435,
Music Trade Review, 420 Lexington Avenue, New
York.
WILL RENT space in our music store for a
sheet music department—only one other such de-
partment in city of 300,000.
Excellent oppor-
tunity. Address Box 3427, Music Trade Review,
420 Lexington Ave., New York.
POSITION WANTED—Wholesale Representa-
tive, by man of 35. Can produce. Willing to
accept compensation based on results. Employed
now but have excellent reasons for changing.
Address Box 3430, Music Trade Review, 420
Lexington Ave., New York.
POSITION WANTED^-Tuner, who can do
minor repairs for outside work in Yonkers, N. Y.
Steady work; state lowest salary, etc.
Address
Box 3428, Music Trade Review, 420 Lexington
Avenue. New York.
POSITION WANTED—Piano tuner, fully ex-
perienced. Age 42. Tuning, repairing, case re-
pairing and finishing. Pianist. Available now
anywhere.
Single.
Address Box 3426, Music
Trade Review. 420 Lrxineton Avenue, New York.

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