Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1920 1753

RRESTO
February 26, 1920.
tomers. It won't be possible for the other kind to hang on when
reputable, creditable merchants are waiting for supplies.
And it is not possible to estimate the other reforms that are
being wrought by reason of the abnormal piano trade conditions. The
advertising is better, the methods of sale are better, the death of the
guessfests, coupons, near-checks and prizes is largely due to existing
conditions. Mr. Lawrence is a reliable prophet of the piano trade
when he says that "the best years are ahead."
SELLING SECOND HANDS
Never before was there so good a value in secondhand pianos as
now. We mean to the retail piano dealer. It is probable that there
are thousands of used pianos in the basements and lofts and back
rooms of the piano stores. Many of the dealers have been putting
the used stock in order and selling it. Others do not, even yet, re-
alize the possibilities.
For a long time it was customary to hide away the trade-ins,
and display them only when customers called for some special make
which may have been advertised in the bargain lists. The old pianos
were put away in the basement and in some instances, dismantled,
used as shelves or given away for advertising purposes. All of us
remember the sensation of the Atlantic City convention at which a
lot of good old pianos were sacrificed by fire to make an association
holiday.
Just now things are different. It is a good time for the wise
dealer to pay particular attention to the trade-ins. If they are fairly
good uprights, the service of a skillful repair man and tuner is needed
at once. The old upright can easily be turned into cash—and not a
little cash at that. Even the old squares may be put into playable con-
dition and made to do for a time, or until the supply of new uprights
begins to come in.
Of course the same degree of attention that has been given to
the trade-ins when things were normal is not enough. It is well now
to have the second-hand cases well polished and the original beauty
of finish brought back as far as possible. And the tone regulating
and tuning should have equal care. The tuning pins should be rein-
forced by some such means as the late Mr. Frank Conover's metal
friction shield—simple, inexpensive and effective device. Care
should be given to all of the minor parts of the old piano, and its sale
should involve the agreement to exchange it again as part payment on
the entirely new instrument of high-grade quality when existing con-
ditions subside and the customer feels that the change may be desir-
able. The proportion of buyers who still retain the rebuilt instrument
will prove one of the surprises to the dealer.
No matter how you have conducted the second-hand department
heretofore, don't neglect the opportunities of the trade-ins at this
critical period in your business.
FIRE AND WHAT FOLLOWS
The first big fire of the year in the piano industry came at a
time when the trade could least afford it. With the demand for
pianos largely in excess of the possibilities of supply, flames lapped
up the snug plant of the Chute & Butler Co. at Peru, Indiana, and
destroyed a lot of fine instruments, some ready for the impatient
dealers and many more in process of manufacture. It seemed most
inopportune, and proved again the utter futility of the ingenuity of
man in his struggle to successfully combat the slips of circumstance.
It is probable that nowhere in the entire piano industry is there
a factory much less liable to fire than the one at Peru was supposed
to be. It was equipped with every device of safety, and it was in
charge of men who are noted for thoroughness and caution. Manager
R. H. Bouslog has been in charge of factory properties, and in con-
trol of big industrial plants, nearly all his life. He is a man whose
particular effort has been to safeguard the interests in his care. The
Chute & Butler factory burst out in flames within a few hours of
Mr. Bouslog's return from a short visit to the New York Music
Show where, fortunately as it now seems, there was a display of
Chute & Butler instruments. And the fire was not due, as most
such events are, to a cigar stump in a waste basket, or a lighted match
in a varnish vat, or a defective boiler; nor yet to any suspicion of vin-
dictive labor warfare. It was simply the result of that mysterious and
wholly unavoidable cause "spontaneous combustion." It was as much
a misdirected and fortuitous freak of nature as if the factory had
been struck by lightning.
But the main point now is that, in the face of the shortness of
pianos, one source of production is temporarily shut off. We have the
assurance that the Chute & Butler Co. will smother the sense of
loss and disappointment and at once prepare to build another factory.
There is the satisfaction—the special evidence of good coming from
evil. For, without doubt, the new Chute & Butler factory will be
larger than the old one, and in its construction the advantages oi
experience will insure even more advanced facilities and more com-
plete equipment.
The piano industry has changed greatly in the last quarter-cen-
tury. The new plant at Peru, Ind., will, without doubt, when com-
pleted, present a fine illustration of what a modern piano factory must
be in order to respond to the advanced demands of the trade and
the discriminating piano buying public. And the pluck of the Chute &
Butler Company will win, in the loyalty of its representatives, all and
more than even so great a disaster must entail at such a time as this.
THE PENDULUM SWINGS
It is a rare piano industry that doesn't now declare that it is
oversold. The demand for pianos is not normal and, in consequence,
it is not a healthy demand. The pendulum of trade swings far from
the center of industrial gravitation and there must inevitably come a
reaction. The pendulum must swing back.
When things in the piano business settle again to something like
normal conditions, how will the manufacturers find themselves? And
how will the average piano dealer be situated with relation to the
manufacturers, and their own possibilities of retail sales? There
are men in the business—many of them—who do not seem to give
any thought to these things.
A few days ago a brainy advertising concern had a full page dis-
play in one of the leading newspapers. The purpose was to inspire
large industries and proportionately large advertisers with the idea
that in such times as the present there is need of the kind of publicity
that lays firm foundations for the future, rather than that aims at
piling up more orders for goods that cannot be delivered. And one
of the points made is this:
A leading magazine publisher ask>s manufacturers:
"Are you well 'oversold'—or badly 'oversold'?"
To book thousands of dollars worth of "straw" orders, placed by shrewd
retailers who over order so that they may be sure of delivery by some man-
ufacturer of the goods they really want—
—to predicate production needs on soap-bubble sales volume that a pin-
prick may puncture—
—to be blinded by the delusion that you are the chosen Child of For-
tune—
—this is to be badly oversold.
To be well oversold means that you are represented by the best job-
bers or dealers or both; that they fully understand and use your advertising
and selling plans; that your sales force enjoys the full respect and confi-
dence of the trade; that your orders are legitimate and capable of imme-
diate increase whenever you have more goods to supply; that you are work-
ing on the established principle thai your product is not really sold until
it is in the hands of a satisfied customer.
If this is your position then you are "well oversold."
Apply that to the piano business and it will be found to fit more
perfectly than to most other lines of industry. Piano merchants are,
•as a rule, a sanguine lot of business men. They are, too often, given
to "counting the chickens before they are hatched." They are blessed
with a faith that is so sanguine it never sees a doubt about the profits
that must follow sales. And if today proves a dead one the piano man
believes that tomorrow will more than make amends. It is that
faith that has built up the piano trade. But it is the same faith that
has resulted in disappointment and even, in rare instances, disaster.
And so the piano trade- is very likely to forget to figure with the
future in its excitement because of the abnormal demands of today.
And the manufacturers who may neglect old customers, and reliable,
in order to win new ones with the cash, may be laying the foundation
of disappointment in the future
For when the pendulum swings
back, and the demand ceases to be so insistent, it will be the reliable
old customers that will still be the most desirable. Many of the newer
ones will fall out, and the factory output will again be greater than
the ready demand.
It is sure to be so. There is no exception to the law of ebb and
flow, and the rule of industrial supply and demand is no less inex-
orable. It is the manufacturer who steadily sticks to the policy of
careful selection of his customers and representatives that will be
on the winning side when the pendulum swings back. And it is the
retailer who sticks to the manufacturer who proves loyal in these
times that will be on the safe side when normal conditions return.
There is another good statement in the same advertisement of
the publicity concern, already quoted, that is well worth considera-
tion. It is this:
When the period of relentless competition returns, the battle for leader-
ship will be fought—not in the work shop—not in the office of the general
manager, but on the firing line—out on the salesman's territory—where
buyers are met and where orders are won or lost.
How many of the piano manufacturers have thought of this?
How many of the retail houses? What is being done to retain the
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).
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I
8
PRESTO
sales organization? Where are the competent salesmen who have
become more than "traveling men" by making themselves personal
friends and practical helpers of the customers of the industries who
employ them? And where are the capable retail salesmen who, by
their success, have proved their ability to "deliver the goods" even
when trade is dull?
We know of many piano salesmen, in both wholesale and retail
trade, who are being retained in their old places, even if only to "clean
up" or to repossess. But we also know of good men who have been
"let out" and have gone into other lines of trade, the automobile
catching some of the best of them.
It's a mistake on the part of any piano manufacturer, to be badly
oversold. The roadmen should look after that. And it's bad for any
retail piano house to be "sold out" along similar lines. It is bad for
either, or both, to permit the organization to disintegrate. "When
the pendulum swings back will it find you prepared to wage battle
with competition—and win?"
AN ENGLISH ESTIMATE
A few years ago there came to this country a mountebank
musician who composed freak dance music for a band of Russian
contortionists, and played his music in public. The musician was
skilled in his art and possessed a slick gift of literary gab. Conse-
quently he found amusement and also some monetary satisfaction,
in writing slanderous letters about "Music in America" to a London
musical monthly. When the wandering musician's slanders became
offensive Presto mildly rebuked the composer of tinkling terpsicho-
rean trash, and hinted that while the snaring of American dollars by
British musicians was well enough the chase should not also include
abuse of the very people who yield up the golden harvest.
And then came a number of very indignant communications to
the office of this trade paper, some of them from writers who are not
supposed to sink beneath the azure-tinted cloudlands of this highest
art. And it was by them indignantly proclaimed that what this paper
had said about Mr. Holbrooke, the English musician, and his letters
to the London "Musical Observer," was the result of a dense and
sinister sort of ignorance.
At about that time the greatest of all countries stepped in to
settle the war—and did it. Of course that was the time in which to
cease criticism of Mr. Holbrooke, and that gentleman realized also
that it was the time for him to cease slandering American musicians
and the American people. Consequently his letters no longer ap-
peared in the London musical magazine.
But Mr. Holbrooke had succeeded in saying things so much more
unfair than anything his countryman Charles Dickens had said, and
apologized for, that he could not be wholly forgotten. Nor has he
stepped writing in a way to stir protest even in his own country,
as the following from the latest edition of London "Music" shows.
This article is headed "Mr. Holbrooke's Humbug."
It is a matter for regret that a journal of any standing should allow its
columns to be abused by printing gross misstatements of fact on music mat-
STANDARD INDUSTRIAL FILM
NOW READY FOR DEALERS
Picture First Presented at the Music Show Now
Being Released for Exhibitions.
The industrial moving- picture film. "Give a
Thought to Music," which had its premier at the
recent Music Show, is now being released for ex-
hibitions by the dealers in their own territory. This
innovation in advertising is still another addition to
the advertising service of the Standard Pneumatic
Action Company to the dealer.
Severat prints of this film are now available and
are being supplied upon request so that the dealer
may have the film shown at his local moving pic-
ture theatre. Those who have seen this picture will
realize that it is one moving picture exhibitors all
over the country will be glad to show. Its master-
ful treatment of the history of the piano and its
instructive revelations of the principals of player-
piano manufacture make this a film which moving
picture spectators will appreciate. Tn addition a
special stereopticon slide, featuring the moving
picture, is being made for use in conjunction with
the moving picture. Dealers all over the country
will realize that this industrial film offers them an
ideal way in which to get some unique publicity.
It affords the dealer an opportunity to present to
almost the entire population of his territory the
desirability of the playerpiano.
The success of "Give a Thought to Music" during
February 26, 1920.
ters by Mr. Holbrooke. Here is one deliberate perversion of the truth in a
diatribe against critics printed in the Sunday Evening Telegram. Says Mr.
Holbrooke: "Another new opera floated not long ago by Mr. Gatty. Not one
word have I read in any journal of the performances." Surely the editor of
the journal mentioned ought to have realized that a statement of this kind
was a grave one to make, and that it was scarcely likely a new British opera
would be ignored by the press. The facts are that nearly every leading pa-
per wrote highly favorable notices of the work. The writer of this page met
the composer a few days after and found him quite delighted with his press
notices.
Now, why does Mr. Holbrooke try to make out that Mr. Gatty was a
victim of the critics' indifference to British music? There are other similar
misstatements in the rest of the article, and I repeat that no decent journal
should print such statements without regard to the known facts.
It hardly seems necessary for "Music" to ask why Mr. Holbrooke
indulges in misstatements. He can't help it. It's not only a habit. He
was born that way. And all of this about a skilled musician might
not seem necessary, or even advisable in a trade paper, if Mr. Hol-
brooke hadn't also mixed up in affairs of the piano itself during his
visit to the United States.
The big snow blockade in New York put a temporary stop to
piano trade activities. In a discussion of the troubles of Gotham, Mr.
Paul B. Klugh, of the Autopiano Company, said that the "greatest
snowstorm since 1888 which New Ycrk has suffered during the last
two weeks, paralyzed all sorts of traffic and particularly the use of
heavy trucks. This situation naturally further handicapped an already
disagreeable complication in the piano district, making it almost
impossible to get goods to the railroad, on top of which for several
days there was a positive railroad embargo." Things are now straight-
ened out, however, and old New York is again all right.
* * *
A concert program from a large western city bears the note that
the instrument used was a Haddorff grand. The line is one that is
becoming quite frequent in connection with artist's recitals. And
members of the trade who are familiar with the Haddorff pianos have
come to realize that a new claimant for the higher order of pianistic
attention has arrived. The Haddorff is a leader in many prominent
piano houses because it possesses the qualities that entitle it to leader-
ship.
New York City has experienced a winter storm of the kind the
great Northwest has been supposed to have something of a monopoly
upon. And, to show how aptly even a blizzard may be turned to good
advertising account, an Ampico display in the Sun and New York
Herald of last Sunday was headed by the line "Music Laughs at
Stormy Days." The adv. is so good that the text is reprinted in an-
other place.
* * *
The name of Cable is now unique in the fact that three large
piano industries exist, each of which is a monument to the energies
and ambitions of one of the three brothers who have passed away,
leaving the results of their genius to posterity. There is nowhere a
parallel!, we believe, in any line of industry.
its rim of the week of the Music Show was satisfac-
tory in every way. It is estimated that nearly 30,000
people saw this picture during the week, which,
considering the weather conditions, is remarkably
good attendance. The theatre in Booth 225 was
crowded continually during the last two days and
many people unfortunately were not able to see the
picture on these evenings.
Dealers selling playerpianos equipped with Stand-
ard Player Action who desire to use this film can
obtain a booking by application directly to the
Standard Pneumatic Action Company, 52nd street
and 12th avenue, New York Citv.
F. F. STORY IN CALIFORNIA.
Frank F. Story, vice-president and treasurer of
the Story & Clark Piano Company, Chicago, left
tor southern California on Tuesday evening of this
week. His family will stay at Pasadena for the
next tw r o months, and Mr. Story will probably come
back to Chicago in three or four weeks and then
return to California for them. E. M. Love, secre-
tary of the company, will be in charge of the offices
during Mr. Story's absence.
ENLARGES PLAYER DEPARTMENT.
The Gardner-Hohlfeldt Music Co., Mitchell, S. D.,
has taken over the store adjoining the one occupied
in the Beckwith Block. The company, which fea-
tures the product of The Cable Co., Chicago, will
install additional rooms for the demonstration of
playerpianos.
J. H. WILLIAMS ENTERTAINS
SALESMEN IN BALTIMORE
President of the Knabe Warerooms, Inc., Ably
Aided by George W. Pound.
The Knabe Warerooms, Inc., Baltimore, Md.,
J. H. Williams, president, tendered their salesmen
at the Baltimore and Washington warerooms a
"banquet recently at the Southern Hotel, which
was attended by upward of iifty men. Following
the feast Mr. Williams gave an interesting resume
of the activities of the warerooms in the two cities,,
in which he showed a remarkable increase in sales
of pianos and other musical instruments during
the last year.
The principal address was delivered by George
W. Pound, general counsel for the Music Indus-
tries Chamber of Commerce, who declared that
the day of opportunity for music and things musi-
cal was at hand and that at the present time no
nation of the world was making better musical in-
struments than was America.
Those present at the dinner were, in addition to
Mr. Williams and Mr. Pound: Edwin Williams,
Leonard Davis, Charles D. Fenhagen, George K.
Dowd, L T. Haebler, H. Kennedy, Charles Sam-
balino, James Boschcr. Stianley Averill, Frank
Tragger, Evan Ulrich, Miles Brinkley, William R.
Sanders and H. W. Matthews, all of the Baltimore
offices, and Maynard Allen, J. Merrill, Glenn Car-
ter, Ray Dow, William Daniels, Richard Montague
and T. W. Terwilligcr, of the Washington offices.
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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