Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1920 1750

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PRESTO
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT 407 SOUTH DEAR-
BORN STREET, OLD COLONY BUILDING, CHICAGO, ILL.
A. DANIELL and FRANK D. ABBOTT
Editors
Telephones: Chicago Tel. Co., Harrison 234; Auto. Tel. Co., Automatic €1-708.
Private Phones to all Departments. Cable Address (Commercial Cable Co.'s Code),
"PRESTO," Chicago.
Bntered as second-class matter Jan. 29, 1896, at the Post Office, Chicago. Illinois,
%
under Act of March 3, 1S79.
Subscription, $2 a year; 6 months, $1; Foreign, $4. Payable In advance.
•uarge m U, S. possessions, Canada. Cuba and Mexico
No vxtn.
Address all communications for the editorial or business departments to PRESTO
PUBLISHING CO., Chicago, III.
Advertising Ratestr Three dollars per inch (13 ems pica) for single insertion*.
Six dollars per inch per month, less twenty-five per cent on yearly contracts Th«
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 not.ces
will be Indicated by the word "advertisement" in accordance with the Act of August
84, 1912.
Rates for advertising in the Tear Book issue and Export Supplements ol Ttie
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 ancl industries in all parts of the world, and reach completely and
effectually all the houses handling musical instruments of both the Eastern an •ru hemispheres.
The Presto Buyeis' Guide is the only reliable Index to the American Musical
(Instruments; it analyzes all Pianos and Player-Pianos, gives accurate estimate! 9&
tbjeir values and contains a directory of their manufacturers.
? Items of news, photographs and other matter of general interest to the muiit
trades are invited and when accepted will be paid for. Address all communications i*
Presto Publlshlnq Co., Chicago, III.
T H U R S D A Y , F E B R U A R Y 5, 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 DjCfJ'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.
A THINKING TRADE
The influence of the trade paper is no longer challenged by piano
men who really think beyond the shallows of their own prejudices and
preconceived opinions. Every day Presto receives this kind of evi-
dence of this influence that convinces beyond cavil. It is constantly
shown to this paper that when some piano man of prominence says
something publicly, what he says instantly prompts either criticism
or enthusiastic approval in the trade.
The latest illustration of what has been said followed the publica-
tion of an article by Mr. Chris. G. Steger on a subject of interest tran-
scending the customary trade paper discussion. It gave expression
to Mr. Steger's viewpoint of the existing strain upon public resources
and individual incomes. It applied to the piano industry and trade
some of the precautionary principles, the lacking application of which
may lead to chaos.
One of Mr. Steger's assurances was that, so far as concerns the
Steger instruments, there would be no further advance in prices, but
that with the great industry of which he is the head every possible
concession will be made that may contribute to the easing up of the
conditions which now bear upon the domestic life of most of the peo-
ple. As a result of Mr. Steger's article, Presto has received a num-
ber of communications from thinking members of the trade, of which
the following is a good sample:
Newton, Kas., Jan. 23, 1920.
Editor Presto: Without any reflections upon any firm or person, permit
me to say that the article by Mr. Chris. G. Steger, which appeared in Presto
recently, I consider to be the finest, in its intent and purpose, that I have ever
had the pleasure of reading.
Mr. Steger might well be hailed as a George Washington among the piano
manufacturers and piano merchants of the United States, as his words speak
a spirit of fairness and set an example of 100 per cent broad-minded American-
ism that I think is the best I have seen or heard of anywhere.
(Signed)
H. S. DICKEY.
Readers of this paper will remember the article by the piano man-
ufacturer of which the piano man of Newton, Kansas, speaks in such
February 5, 1920.
complimentary words. It appeared in Presto of January 22. And
all will indorse what Mr. Dickey says. But the point now in mind
has to do with the thought expressed in the opening paragraph of
this article. It is that the readers of the trade papers in our line are
men possessed of the capacity to think. They like to read such ar-
ticles as contain substantial suggestions. They do not care so much
about what other men in their lines of work are doing, and less about
what is being done to bring about individual reforms in a business in
which they feel pride and not a shade of anything like shame. The
small trickery of a few hangers-on to the skirts of the trade does not
interest the rank and file of the business. They may, now and then,
experience the annoyance of local competition that is unfair in its na-
ture. But it is something larger that concerns them most.
And the trade papers can find so much good to talk about, and
the leaders in the industry are men of such versatility and strength of
expression, that what they say never fails to awaken new interest and
instructive discussion. It is a pity that more of them do not avail
themselves of the trade papers for purposes such as that of Mr. Ste-
ger's recent contribution.
Mr. Steger's purpose, in writing the article which has stirred
many thinking piano men in the retail trade, was to help along the
turning back of the tide of unrest over the seemingly reckless increase
in the selling prices of everything the people need or want. He de-
clared plainly that, so far as concerns the products of the great Steger
factories, there would be no further tax upon the piano buying public.
It is not strange that what Mr. Steger said created uncommon in-
terest of a kind to direct attention to the principles and purposes of
the house in the progress of which he is the dominating figure. Presto
welcomes articles of the Steger kind, for they are what the thinking
piano trade wants.
ALL ROLLED UP
Once in a great while some piano man, of the single-track mind
school, will tell about the hopelessness of the trade papers. He will
present "proofs" of the correctness of his conclusions, and chief
among them will be that he has seen the publications "all relied up"
on some other piano man's desk. Without doubt the charge is truth-
ful, and the pessimistic piano man has at some time witnessed the
damning evidence! But he might go further and tell of other things
that also present a sort of "rolled up" appearance in the same connec-
tion. And, again the condition may even apply to the effices of some
very wide-awake and well-informed man of affairs. He may have
been absent from business, or he may have been so crowded with
pressing duties as to have been forced to permit the trade papers to
remain "all rolled up" for the time being.
In any event, the condition may not be so very strange. It might
shed light upon the subject, also, to know what trade papers are thus
"all rolled up." One great writer has somewhere said that "no man
can read with profit that which he can not learn to read with pleas-
ure." Applied to the trade paper, that means that if the contents sug-
gest the weight of the wisdom of Solomon, or the dullness that Schil-
ler called the "stupidity the very gods fight invictoriously," no man
could do else than let it remain "all rolled up."
If the trade paper can succeed in keeping its readers awake during
the hours of respite from work, or in the times of relaxation after the
store closes, then it will not be long in its wrapper after it reaches
its owner's hands. And that suggests another awful possibility.
It is too often the wasteful and senseless custom with some trade
papers to intrude themselves uninvited upon the merchant. And in
such cases it is right that the "free" trade paper should remain "all
rolled up." Having no such "free list" Presto has little knowledge of
the condition under discussion. But it does know that Johnson was
right when he wrote that "the way to spread a work is to sell it at a
low price. No man will send to buy a thing that costs even sixpence
without an intention to read it."
'
We all know how true that is. The trade paper that drops in
regularly without cost is not welcome. If it had a value it would be
paid for. Presto has readers who have been paying their subscrip-
tions regularly for more than a quarter century. Some time we ex-
pect to publish an interesting story of the oldest Presto readers, in
point of continuous loyalty. And we'll wager a life subscription, and
more, that the oldest subscriber never permitted the paper to remain
"all rolled up" an hour after its arrival!
We have a notion that it is an insult to the trade to charge that
the trade papers remain "all rolled up" to any such extent as the un-
comfortable critic may imply. We know that it is not true. We
know the music trade well, and every issue cf this paper disproves any
such affront to the intelligence of the piano dealers. The denial is
seen in the departments of this paper which, week after week, con-
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/
R E S T O
February 5, 1920.
tain the names, comments and suggestions of scores of alert piano
men, aggregating thousands of direct communications during the year-.
Of these features the "Where Doubts Are Dispelled" alone has pre-
sented several columns in a single week with as much more crowded
out. And, better still, is the evidence that comes in the results to
advertisers who have faith' in their trade press and use it accordingly.
It is the mind of the individual croaker who would depreciate the
trade paper that is "all rolled up." And any attempt to unroll such a
mind, straighten it out and set it going along the ways of progress,
would entail a task far exceeding the subscription price, or any prop-
aganda of publicity possible to an intellectuality of that kind.
MUSIC STORE CHANGES
It will not be very long before marked changes will take place
in the aspects of the general music stores where sheet music has been
a large feature. In time the familiar boxes containing the "wrappers,"
which separate and protect the countless publications, will give
place to orderly compartments, extending from floor to ceiling, and
reaching in long avenues, or tiers, the length of the store rooms. And,
in all probability, there will be no "counters" such as have been in
use from time immemorial. There will be free access to the aisles,
on either side of which will be the almost endless rows of classified
and plainly tabulated music rolls.
For the music store of the future will carry the kind of music
that "feeds" the playerpianos. They will continue to sell the sheet
music, as of old, but the room accorded to the printed sheets will be
small as compared with that given over to the more modern means of
musical expression. And the stores will carry the music rolls of all
manufacturers. They will possess modern means for wrapping up
the rolls by mechanical methods, and in every music store there will be
playerpianos with operators, for the sole purpose of "trying over" the
new music—-just as is already done in some of the progressive stores.
But before long those conveniences and helps to more business will
be the rule and not the advanced exceptions.
The playerpiano has forced a change in the entire business. It
has changed the demand and it has changed the systems of selling. It
has, to a large extent, revolutionized the sheet music department and
it has greatly broadened the possibilities of the trade, enlarging the
scope of the industry and bringing in a new department which is des-
tined to force the sheet music counters out and to take the leading
place in the retail stores.
Already the music roll industry has developed into a magnitude
never known to the sheet music publishing business in its best periods
It will not be long, furthermore, before the music roll will give to the
public its first hearing of compositions of importance. Today all of
the music rolls are cut from printed sheets, or arrangements specially
made from printed sheets. How long before the composers will bring
to the music roll manufacturers entirely new compositions, arranged
for the operation of cutting the paper, ready for the machines by
which supplies are produced as quickly as the presses were once wont
to reproduce the printed sheets from the hand-power presses? And
will that reversal of the birth of original music work good or evil
to the cause of art?
It will doubtless serve to greatly lessen the flood of utter inanity
that now issues from the top-story publishers. No music roll manu-
facturer would consider the production of one-third of the stuff that
now fairly jams the floodgates of Hit Alley. Without merit no com-
position could pass the machines of the makers of perforated music
for playerpianos. No master sheet would be produced that lacked
the kind of claim that promises permanency. And so the playerpiano
may serve as a filter for the long-prayed-for purification of popular
music.
Already the intimated changes have in some degree taken place
in the music stores. All of the larger ones now have well equipped
music roll departments. For most of them those departments are
still secondary to the old-fashioned sheet music counters, with their
cluttered up collections of prints and classified "folios." But, even
so, there is a marked change in the manner in which the printed sheet
music appears. The needlessly large pages, with lavish waste of
white margins, are disappearing. The size of the sheet is being re-
duced and there is a new grace about the title pages. Where, before,
it was deemed essential to spread the piece over from six to nine pages,
it is now considered better to condense into from three to five pages.
The result is good.
As has been said, the old-fashioned sheet music business is des-
tined to experience an entire revolution. And the change will bring
the music roll into prominence of which the already great industry of
THE STAY=AT=HOME'S IMPRESSION OF NEW YORK
today is scarcely more than a foretaste. It will pay music dealers to
consider this matter and to arrange fcr the changing conditions in
their business.
We have also received some criticism of the recent article by Mr.
C. G. Steger to which reference is made in another column this week.
But they come from piano travelers who seem to think that what the
piano manufacturer said may have a tendency to make the salesmen's
work harder. They think that if one powerful industry puts up the bars
to raising prices, the representatives of other industries may have an
almost impassable embargo to their own progress. But price is not
the chief argument in good piano salesmanship. The subject is an
interesting one. However, we feel sure that Mr. Steger had substan-
tial ground for his own stand, and doubtless others are no less for-
tified.
Suppose you had been born in the first half of the nineteenth
century, instead of well along in the last half. You would now be
selling a piano or two a month, and a sheet of music, a fiddle or ?.
fife and drum, at long intervals. Instead of clamoring for a carload
lot of pianos you would be sending drafts at long intervals for two
or three, at prices exceeding by double your best retail prices today.
A hundred years in the piano business covers about all of its history.
:|: :': *
"Musicians should talk, boost and sell music the same as other
things are sold," said Charles Berg of the Portland Chamber of
Commerce in his talk before the Musicians' club at its fortnightly
luncheon on Tuesday at the Multnomah Hotel. "More music," con-
tinued the speaker, "will mean more work for musicians and each
musician would get his share." That's what Mr. C. M. Tremaine says.
The enforced absence from New York of President P. E. Conroy,
of the N. A. of M. M. was a misfortune. Regrets that the "flu" should
have attacked the piano dealers' energetic president at the critical time
were heard everywhere. It was the cause of very general regret, and,
if the well wishes of many can have benevolent effect upon one, Mr.
Conroy's recovery was expedited.
The annual convention is an inspiration all through the year.
It isn't altogether what is said and done during the week. It's more
what the seeds then planted may bring forth when the dealers are at
home in their stores, or on the wagons and cars delivering the goods.
Nothing could be better at the convention than the crowds of dealers,
except bigger crowds.
In accordance with the custom of this paper, there is no "special"
convention number. But Presto gives all the news succinctly, avoid-
ing the "fat" issues and keeping within the bounds of the time and
patience of the busy piano trade.
:',:
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:;:
It is too early yet to say positively whether the Music Show paid
the exhibitors largely or just a little more than the investment. Br.t
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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