Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1920 1748

PRESTO
PRESTO
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT 407 SOUTH DEAR-
BORN STREET, OLD COLONY BUILDING, CHICAGO, ILL.
C. A. DANIELL and FRANK D. ABBOTT
Editors
Telephones: Chicago Tel. Co., Harrison 234; Auto. Tel. Co., Automatic 61-703.
Private Phones to all Departments. Cable Address (Commercial Cable Co.'s Code),
"PRESTO," Chicago.
Entered as second-class matter Jan. 29, 1896, at the Post Office, Chicago. Illinois.
•
under Act of March 3, 1879.
Subscription, $2 a year; 6 months, $1; Foreign, $4. Payable In advance. No «xtra
•uarjre in U. S. possessions, Canada. Cuba and Mexico.
- • • - - -
Address all communications for the editorial or business departments to PRESTO
PUBLISHING CO., Chicago, III.
Advertising Rates t=-Three dollars per Inch (13 ems pica) for single insertions.
Six dollars per inch per month, less twenty-five per cent on yearly contracts. Tha
Presto does not sell Its editorial space. Payment Is not accepted for articles of de-
scriptive character or other matter appearing in the news columns. Business notices
will be Indicated by the word "advertisement" in accordance with the Act of August
24, 19*2.
Rates for advertising in the Tear Book issue and Export Supplements of The
Presto will be made known upon application. The Presto Year Book and Export
Issues have the most extensive circulation of any periodicals devoted to the musical
instrument trades and industries in all parts of the world, and reach completely and
effectually all the houses handling musical instruments of both the Eastern and West-
ern hemispheres.
The Presto Buyeis' Guide is the only reliable index to the American Musical
Instruments; it analyzes all Pianos and Player-Pianos, gives accurate estimates «t
their values and contains a directory of their manufacturers.
£ Items of news, photographs and other matter of general Interest to the musts
trades are invited and when accepted will be paid for. Address all communications U<
Presto Publishing Co.. Chicago, III.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 1920.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
PRESTO IS ALWAYS GLAD TO RECEIVE NEWS OF THE
TRADE—ALL KINDS OF NEWS EXCEPT PERSONAL SLANDER
AND STORIES OF PETTY MISDEEDS BY INDIVIDUALS. PRESTO
WILL PRINT THE NAMES OF CORRESPONDENTS WHO SEND IN
"GOOD STUFF" OR ARE ON THE REGULAR STAFF. DON'T SEND
ANY PRETTY SKETCHES, LITERARY ARTICLES OR "PEN-PIC-
TURES." JUST PLAIN NEWS ABOUT THE TRADE—NOT ABOUT
CONCERTS OR AMATEUR MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENTS, BUT
ABOUT THE MEN WHO MAKE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND
THOSE WHO SELL THEM. REPORTS OF NEW STORES AND
THE MEN WHO MAKE RECORDS AS SALESMEN ARE GOOD. OF-
TEN THE PIANO SALESMEN ARE THE BEST CORRESPONDENTS
BECAUSE THEY KNOW WHAT THEY LIKE TO READ AND HAVE
THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR FINDING OUT WHAT IS "DOING" IN
THE TRADE IN THEIR VICINITY. SEND IN THE N E W S -
ALL YOU CAN GET OF IT—ESPECIALLY ABOUT YOUR OWN
BUSINESS.
THE FULL PAGE
Something recently said by a well-posted piano man directs at-
tention to the subject of the development of advertising enterprise in
the music industry. Until comparatively recent years the piano
manufacturers did not display much appreciation, of the potency of
printers' ink in the same ratio that has marked some other lines of
trade.
From the first appearance of the American piano there has been
some advertising done by the manufacturers. When John Jacob As-
tor brought over a few instruments bearing his ancestral name he ad-
vertised them in the primitive manner of the time. And when Jonas
Chickering began to make pianos, a quarter century later, he was the
first to advertise his product in anything like the modern way. He
even went so far into advanced methods as to interest the artists
from abroad in his instruments. He entertained visiting pianists and
singers, and they were glad to avail themselves of the opportunity
to use the Chickering in their concerts.
And in the days of the Civil War, when it might be supposed
that pianos could have no call, the New York weekly papers carried
the Steinway, the Knabe and the Chickering cards, conspicuously
among the few ether announcements cf business nature.
And in time came the music trade papers. That was the begin-
ning of real piano publicity by printer's ink in this country. For a
long time the small cards filled a modest page or two. Then the
"displays" began to appear. But the first of the "full page" out-
bursts were in the interest of reed organs rather than pianos. The
reed organ makers were for seme years the more liberal advertisers.
But when the piano manufacturers did open up with the big guns,
some of them went at it "right."
One of the largest believers in trade paper "space" in the old
days, was the late Hugo Sohmer. He wanted good display and had
a habit of contracting for ample room for his trade mark "across top
January 22, 1920.
of back cover." No one can doubt that Mr. Sohmer's enterprise as a
trade paper advertiser is largely responsible for the place the Sohmer
piano still holds, notwithstanding that today its sale is chiefly a local
New York retail business. And there never was a keener piano man
than Hugo Sohmer; he was a fair match for other great piano mak-
ers of his day, in New York, including William Steinway, Albert
Weber, F. G. Smith, and the Haines Brothers.
Today, the trade-paper full page display is not a novelty. Many
of the ambitious younger industries and some of the older ones, also,
appreciate the power of the printed argument as it impresses the
trade and, in turn, inspires the public. For it is the retail dealer
who is, after all, the greater advertising influence. Start him by
means of the trade paper—give him the ideas and the impetus—and
he will wear out his high-priced shoe-leather, and exhaust his mental
energies, passing along the word to the public. And that's the ulti-
mate end of all advertising.
Nor is the "full page" any longer the final proof of printer's ink
ambition on the part of the piano manufacturers. Today the "spread"
—the two-page argument—is not infrequent in the music trade paper.
Not long ago a representative of the younger school of piano energy
told, in a readable article, why his house believed in the trade papers.
He declared his faith in trade paper publicity. And Mr. C. C. Con-
way is proving the earnestness of his words by the manner in which
the instruments of his industry are being promoted. And no one who
thinks at all will doubt that the results of his enterprise will be
adequate.
There was a time when some piano men hesitated about entrust-
ing the fame and fate of their instruments to the trade papers. To-
day only the class of piano manufacturers who are known as "dead
ones" take that view of it. And there never was a time when trade
paper advertising could contribute such a many-sided influence to
good pianos as the time in which we now live and do business.
CHANGED CONDITIONS
The proportion of piano men who proclaim the national prohibi-
tion enactment a blow at personal liberty is such that, had the prob-
lem been left to them, the result would have been a deadlock. And
for once the anti-booze law has afforded a case where the drys have
found no fault with the wets and the wets have had little open com-
plaint against the drys. It has been a big question mark with think-
ing men and, whatever their personal opinions, most of them have
seen somewhere a moral salve for the physical and "spiritual" self-
denial.
It has not even been said, so far as we have observed, that there
seemed to be a return of the laws of Augustus of Rome. Not even
the Vox Poppers in the daily newspapers have compared the stern
prohibition to the ancient sumptuary laws of three hundred years
before the Christian era. The piano men, in fact, seem to recognize
a reform which, even if edged in a dull grey and a dimming of the
social side of things, may result in large compensations. They see a
betterment in the home life of the people by which music may be
even more universal than before. They see a larger proportion of
the people enabled to enjoy the instruments of music, and thus an
even still greater distribution of pianos and kindred things.
And so very many piano men stifle their complaints and, to the
American loyalty to the nation's laws, add their faith in increased
material prosperity. They believe that large sums of money which
have heretofore gone across the mahogany bar may now go into
mahogany-cased pianos. And so comes compensation to the piano
dealers, to which some of the manufacturers add a sense of satis-
faction in the thought of better conditions in the factories. They
believe that the workers will be possessed of more steady hands and
more contented minds.
Whether the individual reader shares in the cheerful viewpoints
just expressed or not, they are the right ones to accept under the
circumstances. The fact that a new law has been added to the na-
tion's constitution is all the argument now needed in favor of pro-
hibition. When slavery was declared illegal there were many who
opposed the change. It would be folly to hope that any law based
upon moral principles, real or assumed, could be accepted unani-
mously. But in business a reform that turns the glittering side up
must be considered favorably, even by its enemies.
As a rule, men of music do not wear their hair long as a sign
of their spiritual or moral predelictions. If their hirsute adornment
happens to be conspicuous it may be because they are expert pianists
who can play Liszt without the aid of music rolls. And, if we must
be truthful, there have been evidences at the annual conventions, and
even at the daily piano clubs, of a tendency to personal liberty in the
pleasures of the desert. It is perhaps fair to say that the caw of
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/
RESTO
January 22, 1920.
Old Crow, the ripple of Green River, the comfort of Canadian Club,
the sparkle of Cascade, the inspiration of Hunter and the rest of the
delights, from Bronx to Manhattan and back to Annheuser-Busch,
are as familiar to the average piano man as to any other voyagers
in life's vale. And we believe that next month's meeting in New
York will show some of the effects of this month's arrival at Sahara.
Nevertheless, we are as willing as anyone can be to take a sober
view of things and join in the effort to prove that the passing of
what has been a bad thing to many may be a good thing to all.
And so let's go to it and be happier than ever by doing more work
and better work, with bigger results.
HADDORFF.
When an astronomer discovers the far-off flicker of a new star,
the world is stunned by the announcement. When the world of music
is told of the rising of a particularly bright star in the firmament of
industrial art, there may be no greater commotion than one of skep-
ticism until some authority confirms the lasting luster of the new-
comer. It is because the star which may not shine with effulgence
has been reaching its brilliancy by slow stages. Things of mundane
perfection do not come at a bound.
'
But the arrival of a really great piano is not a "discovery" at all.
It is, rather, a matter of development, of evolution, of the unfolding
and refining of the results of special skill, and the kind of care and
patience that makes both men and things great.
In the piano world no one expects to find surpassing excellence
in comparatively new instruments at frequent intervals. There are,
even yet, only a few really great pianos. Because of this, it was, some
time back, the more satisfying to add to the list the name of Haddorff.
From its first inception, nearly a quarter century ago, the piano
from Rockford has been recognized by its undeniable merits. It has
from the first been far more than just a good piano. Steadily it has
advanced. Almost daily, for years, some new authority has named it
as one of the "coming" pianos until at last it fully "arrived."
Today there is none who knows who will deny to the name of
Haddorff a secure place among the American pianos which have long
been called artistic, above ordinary criticism and deserving of the
kind of commendation that permits of no dissenting voice. Haddorff
is a name that has so grown in upon the vernacular of the trade and
industry that wherever it is spoken those who know what art in pianos
means, recognize it. It is no longer necessary for salesmen to tell the
informed buyer that Haddorff is a name that signifies the highest
excellence, refinement of tone and boundless ambition. The Haddorff
name is recognized as that of a profound student of acoustics, and
the creator of flawless methods in tone production with relation to
pianos. Mr. Chas. A. Haddorff is now known in scientific piano cir-
cles for what he has done rather than for anything he has written or
said. His personality is bound up in his piano and his aim in art is
a secret divulged in his accomplishments.
And this is why the Haddorff piano has grown steadily, rather
than to have burst full-made in its marketable characteristic upon
the musical world. It is a piano that has gathered momentum by its
merits. It is now the pride of some of the foremost piano houses and
it is in such demand that to secure its representation requires a kind
of negotiation and solicitation not unlike those known in diplomatic
circles.
Haddorff is a name that has been steadily coming for nearly
twenty years. It has now fully arrived, and it has taken its place
with the comparatively few really great ones, old or new, by which
the standard of highest quality is welcomed. For the Haddorff is
really a great piano.
A TRADE PAPER'S LIMITATIONS
A contributor who has done some of the strongest writing that
has appeared in, the trade press, sends to Presto an article of so much
general interest that we hesitate. It is an article bristling with sug-
gestion and alive with political significance. To publish the article
would be to stir discussion and to attract attention to this paper
outside the regular field of its appeal.
But Presto is published for specific purposes. Its aim in life is
to help a special department of industry and trade. It can not deny
interest in politics, religion, art, pins, pickles or polemics. Its col-
umns are sometimes used for purposes of giving expression to views
only collaterally concerned with pianos and other musical things.
But, being a trade paper, devoted to affairs which in themselves are
large and of wide scope, we haven't room for many other things.
We do not expect to throw a deciding vote in* the electing of a
president. We do not hope to change any of the constitutional amend-
ments. We do not care to discuss any forms of faith other than those
by which music and the instruments of music may be made still
greater influences for good in the world. Consequently we hesitate
about publishing even so powerful an article as has come from a
favorite contributor on subjects touching governmental control, and
individual littleness and inadequacy in large places.
According to Emerson "duty grows everywhere—like children,
like grass." Therefore it might be said that a trade paper has a
duty in the spreading of any gospel designed to remedy evil and to
do good to the world. But another philosopher—Thomas Carlyle—
also says that "our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at
a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand." And that seems to
apply to the trade paper.
We are of the opinion that a music trade paper can do more
by attending to the business to which it is closely devoted, than by
attempting to usurp the toils and turmoils of the political editors,
the king-destroyers and the ones who make the world safe for de-
mocracy and unsafe for the lovers of "good stuff."
The music trade paper has a field large enough. It cannot cover
one-half of its own chosen domain, and its possibilities for doing the
greatest good within its power rests in its ability to inspire higher
principles among the men who sell pianos, and a better degree
of ambition in some of the men who make them. If we can do this,
and still live in this arid wilderness of a world, we will be fairly
well satisfied.
Nevertheless, such writings as our contributor has sent in create
a temptation to break through the circumscribed lines of "trade jour-
nalism." If Presto could have a circulation like that of the Saturday
Evening Post, or some other almost like it, things would be different.
But with less than a million regular subscribers, there is no hope of
changing the ways of the world outside the limitations of the field
allotted to musical instruments. And so we can only hope that, by
our own self denial, the whole world may have the opportunity of
reading our favorite contributor's really powerful and logical argu-
ments in behalf of better business, better politics and better condi-
tions throughout the universe, and especially in the Western Hemis-
phere. Should the article appear elsewhere, Presto will draw atten-
tion to it, saying when and where.
WHERE YOU SHOULD MEET NEXT MONTH
/"Continued from page 5 )
state associations. He is right. We have said it a
thousand times. But better still is this suggestion
by Mr. McDonald:
"Credits in the schools for music is after all a
local matter, and a subject to which local associa-
tions might well address themselves. Mr. Warren
Whitney, of the A. B. Chase Co., could give invalu-
able hints to local associations on this subject."
That is worth while. If the prominent piano man-
ufacturers and merchants will step to the front and
give their views, and fix practical plans by which to
aid the associations, and help the individual mem-
bers, something great may be done. The talk about
"betterment" of something, in a vague way, doesn't
go far enough. It only makes good reading.
* * *
It is remarkable that certain cities loom large in
association work while others are hiding their lights
under the same little old bushel.
Milwaukee, Wis., is an example. More association
matter comes from the city made famous by some-
thing that is now outlawed, than elsewhere, save
possibly New York. Perhaps it is because of Mr.
Dennis having his residence in Milwaukee. Also
because of Mr. Netzow's lending his versatilities to
the propaganda. Also because the local association
is enthusiastic. A paid secretary to the local or-
ganization is the latest.
Cincinnati, on the other hand, once aspiring to be
the leading musical city in America, is quiescent.
Perhaps that's because Frank Beinkamp is too busy
with his music rolls.
St. Louis is pretty well to the front because Mr.
Conroy is an association president and he is active
and resourceful.
* * *
One more thought. It is remarkable that of all
the associations or organizations in the interest of
trade industry and commerce, no other of the na-
tion's commercial activities shows such energy, such
persistent wakefulness, such individual energy, as
those sustained by the music trades. What does it
point to? With the call for pianos far exceeding the
possibility of supply, just now, doesn't it suggest
that when things assume normal conditions the
piano business will be the purest on earth?
Can there ever again be any accusing finger pointed
at the manner in which pianos are sold? Will we
ever again find it necessary to publish long ed-
itorials, and precautionary cartoons, to cure the evil
habits of any of the piano dealers?
Probably not. The world is getting better. And
the piano men are doing their share to make it
better.
Nevertheless, go to New York next month, if you
possibly can. There will be a big convention.
There will be a big Music Show. You may miss a
sale or two, if you live in a small town. But, even
if your stay-at-home competitor gets them he will
employ only ethical methods of sale and the result
won't hurt you at all.
"Live and let live" is a very old maxim. And you
can't live much if you stay at home all the time,
even if you have the misfortune to live long. In any
event, whatever you do, read next week's Presto, and
know in advance just what you will do in New York,
if you go, and what the others will do who do go.
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/

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