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manufacturers to do considerably better than they have
been expecting. Of course, if this occurs, the piano busi-
ness may carry on as usual in the fall, and there will be
a better delivery situation than has been anticipated.
There will undoubtedly be a large attendance at the
Convention of the N.A.M.M., which is now taking place
at the Palmer House in Chicago, and after all, dealers
may be able to find out more than they have expected.
However, we do not believe that it is wise to be too
optimistic, and we think dealers should keep themselves
well-prepared if they wish to do a good business this fall.
The
REVIEW
Established 1879
CARLETON CHACE, Editor
Alex H. Kolbe, Publisher
V. T. Cosrello
Associate Editor
NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION
OF MUSIC
MERCHANTS
Alexander Hart
Technical Editor
1HE POOREST
CHUD IS RICH
WIIH MUSK Al
Mary Louise Kauffman
Circulation Manager
Published monthly at 510 RKO Building, Radio
City, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y.
Telephones: Circle 7-5842-5843-5844
Vol. 110
JULY, 1951
No. 7
Business—As We See It
r_ -k|HE piano industry is weathering the storm very
J I well this time, and perhaps it is because as one
^ • " manufacturer put it to us "we have become just
calloused to almost anything that is going on around us."
In other words, the manufacturers and the dealers also
are taking this situation in their
stride and many of them feel that
they are quite well-prepared for
anything that may come in the fall.
Perhaps we may seem a little pessi-
mistic when we say that there un-
doubtedly will be a shortage of
pianos in the fall, and if the demand
is anywhere near normal, which at
the present time seems to be ex-
pected, there will certainly be a
a shortage in spite of the fact that
CARLETOX CHACE
some dealers have stored away con-
siderably more stock than they have ever had at this time
of the year. Now that there is talk of peace in the air,
whether it be temporary or permanent, there is likely
to be some change of heart in controls which will permit
10
Better Situation Than 1942
NE redeeming feature of the situation now, in
comparison to what it was during the last war,
is that the Office of Defense Mobilization is do-
ing its best to keep a flow of critical materials flowing
to non-defense plants for the production of civilian
goods, in such a quantity as to permit a fairly stable
amount of these civilian goods to be manufactured.
From a recent talk which was made by Charles E. Wil-
son, Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization, it
was revealed that although it will be deemed necessary
to continue the defense program irrespective of peace
terms which are to be signed, there will also be much
attention paid to doing everything in the power of the
Office of Defense Mobilization to aid manufacturers in
producing products for civilian use in the interests of
maintaining small business. This, of course, is contrary
to what took place during the last war and perhaps we
may be able to look forward to a situation which pre-
vailed during the first World War, when manufacturers
hardly felt any decline in business and were able to get
practically all the material that they needed. In his
report just published, Mr. Wilson states, "The extent
to which non-defense uses of critical materials will have
to be cut back because of the present military and indus-
trial expansion program, is also becoming clearer. The
heavy, non-defense consumers of these materials—dura-
ble goods such as automobiles and household equipment
and construction—are being cut by as much as one-
third below the pre-Korean levels. On the basis of our
present military program, further major reductions
should not prove necessary." This, of course, was writ-
ten before the peace conference took place. Should peace
be actually declared in a permanent sense, undoubtedly
there will be some relief from present restrictions. Let
us hope so.
Indirect Sales Methods Which Pay Off
HE building of a retail piano business can be
made highly interesting and very profitable, ac-
cording to one dealer with whom we talked re-
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, JULY, 1951