Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
taxes anyway. So it looks more than ever that the OPA
boys are just trying to string out their power as long as
possible in order to hold their jobs. And, here again is
where the Congress comes in as boss of the situation. Con-
gress wants people employed. Piano manufacturers and
dealers want to employ people but they certainly won't
employ many under the present conditions.
Progress Being Made Toward New Tuners
o
NE of the most serious situations which has been
facing the piano industry for years has been that
of interesting men in the piano tuning profession.
The situation became so acute that the National Piano
Manufacturers Association finally took the matter seriously
and has created widespread interest throughout the coun-
try by promoting the establishment of schools which are
now teaching many students. In order to promote them the
association has now distributed 25,000 posters where they
can be seen by home-coming veterans and others and is
having news stories used in local newspapers and house
organs where they will do the most good. Not only is this
publicity stirring up interest in students but it has also
caused an interest of many who have been tuners for
several years to start teaching others. This is manifested
in the establishing of a new tuning school, the announce-
ment of which appears in this issue. We believe that much
progress will be made along these lines as time goes on,
particularly now that it can be pointed out that the tuning
profession can be made into a business which pays well.
They're Commencing
to Come Back
Y' ]f ^ HE old saying, "once a piano man always a piano
II man" seems to be holding true in these times.
"^- During the past few months we have had numerous
letters and visits from some of the old timers who have
been compelled to seek other sources of livelihood during
the war period as well as from some who have been
out of the business even longer than that. The fact is, in
spite of no new pianos having been manufactured, there
has been a tremendous demand for pianos during the war
added to which is the publicity which the piano has been
getting recently has promoted renewed interest of many
who left the business through force of circumstances but
who considering it their first "love" still want to get back
into it. Let's hope that will be soon.
The President's Reconversion
W
Plan
ELL, after sitting around waiting for Hirohito
to crawl down off of his white horse so that
Admiral Halsey could ride it, hearing all kinds
of celebrations over the radio and watching tons of paper
float by the window here in Radio City we came to the
conclusion that we had better finish this editorial and
say something about President Truman's five point plan
for reconversion. We are fortunate to have a man in the
White House who came up the hard way, and when he
said that private business be given "every opportunity to
exercise its ingenuity and forcefulness in speeding the
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, AUGUST, 1945
resumption of civilian production" we knew he meant it.
The two main reconversion principles he set forth were
(1) that WPB has a clear grant for authority to use its
wartime priorities to help crack any bottlenecks that may
develop to impede consumer goods production and (2)
that in removing production and materials controls the
agency should make sure that such action will have no
adverse affect on the price-wage stabilization program.
Specifically, the president directed WPB to expand produc-
tion of scarce materials needed for the war or civilian
goods, limit manufacture of products for which materials
are in short supply, prevent speculative hoarding of mate-
rials, and to use priorities to break civilian production
bottlenecks.
WPB had contended that its function was to eliminate
controls as soon as supply warranted, OPA said, in effect,
that controls must stay in any case where removal would
be a threat to the price line.
However, OPA officials did not see the President's order
as a clear cut victory for the agency. They noted that it
applied only to "scarce materials" necessary for "low-
priced items."
The latter sounds good from the standpoint of the piano
industry as under the present conditions no agency will be
able to class a piano as a "low priced item."
Halsey Can Now Ride the White "Hoss"
ND, now, just as we start this paragraph at 7.02
P.M. August 14th, 1945, the flash comes over
the radio that President Truman, with that in-
fectious smile of his, has announced that Hirohito has
finally crawled down from his white "hoss" and World
War II has finally come to an end. All we can think oi
just at this time is "Praise God from Whom All Blessings
Flow." When the first flash came at 1.49 A.M. Tuesday
morning it took us back to the morning of November 11.
1918, when at two A.M. the whistles commenced to blow
and a wee little voice in the next room sleepily said, "Papa,
what are the whistles blowing for?" "The war is over,"'
we answered. "Now Santa Claus can come, can't he papa?"
came the quick reply. That was on that little fellow's
mind because someone had told him that due to the war
Santa Claus wouldn't be able to get to him that year. This
year Christmas will be more Merry for many and also
sadder for others whose dear ones have given the supreme
sacrifice, a sacrifice which we hope will be rewarded by
a better world to live in, one of eternal peace, comfort
and prosperity. To have it otherwise will only be a tragic
miscarriage of the world democracy for which they fought
and died and for which we here in America have strived
as well as a mockery to those whom we shall have to leave
some day to carry on in the future.
EDITOR
II