Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1920 1748

24
PRESTO
RECORD DEMAND
FOR PLAYERPIANOS
the nation was centered wholly on its war purpose.
The making of pianos and kindred products seemed
doomed almost to stop. In fact I know that dozens
of manufacturers were making plans to shut down
their plants and stop production entirely until the
war had ended. Those were the conditions during
the entire year 1918. Few manufacturers saw and
hoped for a change of conditions during 1919 and
even the most optimistic, myself among them, did
not dare picture the remarkable development that
has taken place.
January 22, 1920.
CLASSIFIED AD PROVIDES
TEXT FOR EDITORIAL
Providence, R. I., Journal Writer Conjures Up
Memories of Days with Old Pianos.
Their Manufacture for New Year Will Eclipse
The Providence, R. I., Journal prints the follow-
1919 Output According to A. W. Johnston,
ing advertisement from a Peekskill, N. Y., news-
paper which is used as a text for an editorial by
Who Outlines the Standard Ambitions
a writer with feeling:
for the Future.
Nation Music Hungry.
For Sale—Piano. A little old and tinpanny, but
"The signing of the armistice wrought a magic intact and in tune. Delivered for $25 in advance.
A. W. Johnston, vice-president of the Standard
The Journal writer conjured up a word picture of
Pneumatic Action Co., New York, has returned to change in trade conditions. The government re-
leased raw materials such as lumber, metal, etc., a past day when the "little old and tinpanny piano"
and the nation relaxed in its mighty effort and was tuneful and appreciated. Winter evenings in
turned to music and entertainment after the trying the parlor "where the piano lamp flung its cheerful
strain. Playerpiano demand jumped over night to glow upon the faces of young women who wore
a high level never dreamed of and continued through their hair drawn primly down to the lobe of the
the entire year 1919. Factories increased their out- ear and who were grandly circled in space-defying
put, super efforts were made to meet the new con- crinoline; and upon the faces also of young men
ditions, but even the combined endeavors of en- with hair plastered diagonally across their fore-
tire industry failed to appease the music hunger of
heads and curled long in the neck, and with tiny
the nation.
whiskers, perchance, after the weird prevailing style
"In consequence the piano industry faces the of the time."
dawn of the new year with orders available to take
The writer writes with such feeling that he must
up its entire estimated output for 1920. New facili-
ties are being added to manufacturing plants all have been one of the glad throng on many an oc-
over the country and it is a safe prediction that the casion about pianos in the old days he pictures
production of playerpianos this year will set a new and mingled his bass or tenor in the joyful chor-
uses. There's a sob in his recital:
high mark.
But the memory of it all remains in the minds
Large Production.
of a few older people, and there is a charm about
"The production last year was of course seriously the long-gone era and the old piano that nothing of
curtailed by the strike during October, November these modern times can quite supply. There was a
and December. These three months could have simplicity in the life of that day we have alto-
been counted as the largest producing months of gether lost, mo re's the pity.
the year as increased facilities, new machinery, etc.,
One old piano—up in Peekskill—is now for sale,
were just about swinging into stride when labor
walked out. The Standard Player production dur- and the owner will be lucky if he gets the modest
ing 1919 was 30,080, a remarkable output for only price he asks. It is confessedly "tinpanny." Its
nine months of real operation. Forty thousand the keys are yellow, we suppose, though once they
Standard promise to manufacturers for 1919 would were as white as the skillful hands that moved
easily have been exceeded but for the strike condi- swiftly above them and brought forth the plaintive
tion. However, our factories are again operating sounds of "The Poor Old Slave," "Suwanee River,"
with a promising labor nucleus and we look forward or "My Darling Nellie Gray." Time has worked
to the coming year anticipating the record produc- its ravages upon the ancient instrument, as it has
A. W. JOHNSTON.
tion of both Standard player actions and player- upon the gay generation that once thronged
around it.
that city after a year-end visit to manufacturers pianos.
"'Let's go' and make 1920 the best year ever in
west of Buffalo. He is enthusiastic of playerpiano
NEW ILLINOIS FIRM.
prospects for the coming year and predicts that the piano industry. Standard player actions have
B. G. Davis and others have rented the Hardwick
playerpiano production in 1920 will be greater than done their part in the year just passed and will
equal and pass all past records during the year building on the corner of Main and Leiper streets,
was thought possible a little over a year ago.
Dixon, 111., and will open an up-to-date music store.
"All dealers and manufacturers will recall, only just born."
Kimball pianos and players and Pathe talking ma-
a short time ago, just previous to the signing of
Indianapolis, Ind.—The Martin Piano Instrument chines will be handled. The company will probably
the armistice, the very indefinite future of the
piano industry," said Mr. Johnston. "Materials were Company, Elkhart, reduced the number of its direc- have their store ready for business by the end of
this week.
curtailed, help was unobtainable and the mind of tors from seven to three.
BETTER THAN EVER
THE 1920 EDITION
of
PRESTO BUYERS' GUIDE
Orders for quantities of 100 or more copies must be placed at once or
we cannot guarantee deliveries.
Single Copy 50 Cents, Post Paid
No Dealer or Salesman Can Afford to Be Without It
PRESTO PUBLISHING CO., 407 So. Dearborn St., Chicago
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/
PRESTO
January 22, 1920.
THE
TALKING MACHINE
News of the Week in the Phonograph Field
PHONOGRAPH STOCK
Last week this paper published the first an-
nouncement of a new issue of phonograph
stock which a New York broker has placed
upon the market. The public will again be per-
mitted to have some share in the profits of a
business which, in the words of a recent writer,
"has gone crazy" in the phenomenal expansion
of its activities. But this doesn't apply to the
particular industry to which the New York
Wall street house has drawn public attention.
That industry is the Pathe Freres Phonograph
Company, a concern already strong in the field,
and already an established fact in the history
of the industry and trade.
It is not long since another great phono-
graph industry made public its statement for
the last month of the past year. And that
statement showed that the Columbia Grapho-
phone Company had made net earnings of
over $100,000,000 during December, the
month's sales averaging $263,000 a day. The
figures are almost inconceivable. They make
a new record in the lines of trade associated
with musical instruments. And they suggest
the possibilities of investment for the public,
even if necessarily speculative in its nature.
The phonograph business is now about a
quarter century old. Until about ten or twelve
years back it was, however, very different in
both methods and production from the present
day aspects. For the phonograph of twenty-
five years ago was a small affair, in which the
old-style cylinder records were used, and the
machine was more a toy than an instrument of
beauty. But it was, nevertheless, a large busi-
ness, even if not at all comparable with the
results of today.
There have been other industries that have
shown great and phenomenal development.
First of these is the automobile industry,
which in volume is, of course, comparatively
large in proportion to the size of the individual
unit of production. But we do not know of any
industry that can show such a margin of profits
as the talking machine, as made and marketed
by some of the larger manufacturers. More
than that, the phonograph industry is even
yet in its opening days. The statement has
been made that there is a waiting demand for
nearly 20,000,000 talking machines. While we
believe that to be an exaggeration, there is no
question about there being a great waiting list,
and an impatient lot of talking machine deal-
ers throughout the world.
The new offering of the Pathe Phonograph
Company seems to be an attractive one. The
name itself is a magnet. The Pathe has won
a good name and a fine place in the talking
machine world. It is a machine of individual-
ity. It possesses some pulling points not pos-
sible to its competitors.
The Pathe stock will find a ready market.
And, together with the latest Columbia show-
ing, it seems to suggest a field of industry and
trade constantly widening and steadily solidi-
fying.
SELL ONLY THE "VICTOR."
Cincinnati, Ohio, Jan. 12, 1920.
Editor Presto: On one other occasion we took
the liberty of asking where you received the infor-
mation that The Werner Industries Co. of 719 Race
street was carrying five different kinds of talking
machines, as per your item in the Presto. The
item is untrue, as we are loyal Victor dealers and
don't care to have any misunderstanding with the
public at large.
Very truly yours,
THE WERNER INDUSTRIES CO.,
By T. C. SHILLITO.
THE ELLIS
Made to Fit Any Phonograph
TALKING MACHINE MEN, INC
Important Meeting at Hotel Pennsylvania,
New York, Listens to Recital of'List of
Evils" and Discusses Same.
The regular meeting of the Talking Machine Men,
Inc., the association composed of the trade of the
states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut,
was held at the Hotel Pennsylvania on Wednesday,
January 21st, at 2 p. m. sharp.
The Reflexo Products Company and the Viking
Sign Company demonstrated their products at this
meeting. The Membership Committee reported fa-
vorably on the following applications: Rowe's Lyn-
brook Pharmacy, Inc., Lynbrook, L. I.; Harold
Sugarman, 316 Washington street, Hoboken, N. J.
At the last meeting, held on November 19, Messrs.
Kurtz and Davin changed places on the Service
Committee. Mr. Davin is now chairman.
The following letter from a member, Theodore
Arison, Arison's Music Store, 52 West 116th street,
New York, came up for action:
January 15, 1920.
Mr. E. G. Brown,
Secretary Talking Machine Men,
Bayonne, N. J.
Dear Mr. Brown: Some time ago I submitted to
Mr. Davin a "List of Evils" attendant upon our busi-
ness. Chief among them was the "Long Hours of
Business." As nothing has been done in the way of
eliminating or alleviating these evils, I wish to lay
the proposition formally before the Association in
order to ascertain once for all its attitude towards
tha mooted question.
The majority of talking machine dealers in this
city keep their stores open seven days in the week,
in many instances from early morning till midnight.
With the present high cost of service it is almost
impossible to secure a good salesman who will work
two weeks in one. His usual answer is, "Let George
do it" and "George," the proprietor, is doing it with
a vengeance. The present tendency to reduce the
hours of labor in every industry does not seem to
affect our dealers. Their greed for a few extra dol-
lars is so great that they willingly sacrifice for it
health, comfort and ease, being perfect strangers
to that form of spiritual enjoyment which only
leasure can give.
It is interesting to note that most of the dealers
interviewed by me on this subject asserted that they
would be glad to have a little respite, but owing to
the cupidity of nearby competitors they are obliged
to submit to this health-wrecking practice.
Is this form of slavery the only means of attain-
ing prosperity? I think not.
New York is probably the only city where such
conditions prevail. Not only is the "seven-day week"
unknown in other cities, but in most of them the
dealers enjoy their evenings at home. In Boston,
I am told, the dealers made an interesting experi-
ment; they decided to close their stores at noon on
Saturday. In the course of a year they found that
they sustained no loss through that innovation, as
the public soon learned to adjust itself to the new
conditions.
It is obvious that similar results can be accom-
plished here. We should start with Sunday closing.
If the majority of the dealers decide in favor of a
six-day week, the dissenting minority could easily
be persuaded to follow suit. A good argument can
be made of the fact that there is a "Sabbath-breaking
law." As there is a handful of dealers in our midst
who do not and will not see the benefits of a day's
rest, I would suggest that the secretary of the Asso-
ciation send a copy of the resolution to the mayor,
requesting him to see that the law is enforced.
I keep closed on Sundays. I confess, though, that
I am chagrined to see a part of my trade diverted
to the "seven day" fellows, and I fear that the time
may come when I shall have to meet them on their
own ground. I sincerely hope, however, that the
Association will take this question up and see it
through. Then I'll go a step further and strike for
one evening a week, a proposition which would, be-
yond doubt, fill our meeting rooms.
Sincerely yours,
THEO. ARISON.
In producing a Musical Instru-
ment that will serve its intended
purpose, great care must be ex-
ercised as to the alliance of good
and useful improvements; you
will then be assured of a per-
manent and profitable business.
The Ellis will transform
your phonograph into a
Musical Instrument.
Ellis Reproducer Co.
Powers Bldg.
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.
"Hear That Tone"
A MOTTO JUSTIFIED BY
ACHIEVEMENT
The remarkable clarity of tone re-
production which characterizes all
FUEHR & STEMMER
PHONOGRAPHS
is due to the PERFECTED TONE
CHAMBER which, with the in-
genious TONE MODIFIER lifts
these instruments far above other
talking machines.
Write for particulars.
BEAUTIFUL ORIGINAL CABI-
NETS WITH PIANO FINISH.
Make your Talking Machine De-
partment pay.
FUEHR & STEMMER PIANO CO.
Chicago, III.
DETERLING
Talking Machines
Challenge Comparison in
every point from cabinets to
tonal results.
Prices attractive
goods. Write us.
for
fine
Deterling Mfg. Co., Inc.
TIPTON, IND.
NEW INCORPORATION.
Phono Development and Research Corp., Man-
hattan, phonographs, $10,000; A. Taber, D. Wolf,
N. Kurman, 145 West 45th street.
Remington Phonograph Corporation, Philadel-
phia; $1,000,000.
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/

Download Page 24: PDF File | Image

Download Page 25 PDF File | Image

Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).

Pro Tip: You can flip pages on the issue easily by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.