Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
June, 1946
Established 1879
REVIEW
Vol. 105, No. 6
T H E
P I O N E E R
P U B L I C A T I O N
O F T H E M U S I C
2797th Issue
I N D U S T R Y
Teen Age Clubs a New and
Steady Market for Pianos
by LALE C. ANDREWS, JR.
UVENILE delinquency is on the increase in America
today. Educators, parents, psychologists, and police
authorities all are alarmed by this rapid rise in juve-
nile crime. And with this alarm, there is a growing
interest in the problems and needs of all teen-agers. For
the time to check delinquency is before it occurs.
What are some of these problems? For one thing, the
average adolescent has difficulty finding a place for himself
in a world that is built primarily on adult lines. At this
time in his life, he is beginning to feel a desire to distin-
guish himself as an individual, but there are few activities
in which he is fitted to compete with older and wiser
people. For this, and other reasons, he generally prefers
to associate with others of his of own age. He likes to
belong to the "gang," and to work and play wi[.h them.
This is a fine idea, except for one thing. There usually
isn't any place in a large neighborhood where young people
can gather day after day to dance and drink sodas and
talk. This situation drives a great number of adolescents
to street corners, and poolrooms, where they are likely to
create what the psychologist calls a "problem."
Value of the Teen Age Club
Because one of the principal difficulties is that of finding
room for juvenile societies, there is one solution which
works very satisfactorily. This is the teen-age club, which
has grown in popularity all over the country, in large and
small towns and cities. It provides a place where young
people can gather to dance, drink cokes, play bridge and
ping pong, or just sit and talk.
The teen-age club solves one of the adolescent's problems,
by providing him with a place of his own in the community.
The second problem is that of directing his energies into
enjoyable and worthwhile channels. -The difficulty of many
delinquents seems to be that they have substituted criminal
and unsocial goals and actions for lawful ones. In their
intelligence and talents, they seem as well equipped to be
good citizens as non-delinquents. And many of the teen-
agers I know, who don't get in trouble, and who have a club
of their own, still ask the old question, "What shall we do
now?" One of the best ways to answer this, is to see what
the average adolescent likes to do, and to encourage him in
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, JUNE, 1946
International News l'hoto
Teen Agers Use f/ie Piano So Much They Can Have a
New pne Every Four Months
the activities he naturally prefers. Most boys and girls
enjoy sports, movies, popular music, and dancing.
The last two are of primary interest to the reader of this
article. Every woman or girl I know likes music in one
form or another. Either they like to dance, to play them-
selves, or just to sit and listen. The music merchant can
satisfy all these demands, and gain many new customers.
Need a New Piano Every Four Months
Because they want music, teen-agers want a source of it
in their clubs. In many cases, this source is a piano. And
in the clubs that have them, pianos get real use. The one
in my neighborhood replaces its instrument every three or