Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1920 1776

Page 4 Text:

PRESTO
PRESTO
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY AT 407 SOUTH DEAR-
BORN STREET, OLD COLONY BUILDING, CHICAGO, ILL.
C. A. DANIELL and FRANK D. ABBOTT
Editors
Telephones, Local and Long Distance, Harrison 234. Private Phones to all De-
partments. 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 extra
charge in U. S. possessions, Canada, Cuba and Mexico.
Address all communications for the editorial or business departments to PRESTO
PUBLISHING CO., 407 So. Dearborn Street, Chicago, III.
Advertising Rates:—Five dollars per inch (13 ems pica) for single insertions.
Complete schedule of rates for standing cards and special displays will be furnished
on request. The Presto does not sell its editorial space. Payment is not accepted for
articles of descriptive character or other matter appearing in the news columns. Busi-
ness notices will be indicated by the word "advertisement" In accordance with the
Act of August 24, 1912.
Rates for advertising in Presto Year Book Issue and Export Supplements of
Presto will be made known upon application. Presto Year Book and Export issues
have the most extensive circulation of any periodicals devoted to the musical in-
strument 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.
Presto Buyers' Guide is the only reliable index to the American Pianos and
Player-Pianos, it analyzes all instruments, classifies them, gives accurate estimates
of their value and contains a directory of their manufacturers.
Items of news and other matter of general interest to the music trades are in-
vited and when accepted will be paid for. All communications should be addressed to
Presto Publishing Co., 407 So. Dearborn Street, Chicago, III.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 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.
NO STENCIL ADVS.
A somewhat remarkable fact, in connection with the retail piano
trade, is the almost total absence of stencil advertisements in the local
newspapers. There was a time when almost every other piano house
in the country announced some strange and parentless instrument,
with the printed assurance that it was not only a work of art but the
biggest bargain on earth. Today that has all changed. There are
comparatively few stencils in the trade—that is, the old kind of
stencils that pushed the legitimate instruments aside with rude shove
and persisted in boisterous claims to being just what they were not.
How do you account for the purification? Is it that the public
has become "wise," or is it that the dealers have become virtuous and
the manufacturers too proud of their products to permit of disguises
designed to more or less deceive? Whatever the cause, the change
is a good one and the trade is better for it as is, of course, also the
innocent public.
Of course the stencil is, or was, a child of misfortune, the same
as all illegitimates are. It came into the world as the result of a lack
of business conscience, and it was intended to deceive. It was made
up to resemble other pianos, and bore names identical with, or nearly
the same as, some pianos of genuine power and distinction. There
was a time when the old New York house of Decker Bros, found it
necessary to institute lawsuits in several cities to restrain the use
and abuse of their name. The house of Steinway was in a similar fix
because, in more than one part of the globe, conscienceless manufac-
turers were willing to turn out "Stienway" instruments, of uncertain
parentage and Very certain mediocrity. And many other famous
pianos were similarly imposed upon, dealers even going so far as to
have stencils made and changing the names in their stores—back
where the callers couldn't see the nefarious work.
But the point now in mind is the comparatively clean character
of the piano dealers' local advertising. Instead of loud-mouthed
braying about some strange stencil, the retailers are sticking to
facts. They are promoting legitimate piano names, and they are
August 7, 1920.
thereby building up for permanency and profit. In more than a hun-
dred advertisements in local newspapers throughout the country, the
exchange editor of Presto found but four stencil names, and some of
them were in lists of second-hands.
Work is now in progress upon the 1921 edition of Presto Buy-
ers' Guide, "the book that sells pianos." A feature of that book, as
most piano men know, is the list of trade mark instruments, the origin
of which is not positively known to the editors. There was a time
when that chapter was characterized as the roll-call of the stencils.
The word "stencil" has been almost eliminated, but the list remains,
to characterize the comparatively few pianos whose makers will not
make themselves known. If all the makers of popular grades of in-
struments would let us know what names they employ, it would be
easy to give their products the correct classifications. And it would
not be necessary to tell the trade, and public at large, where the in-
struments come from. It would be enough to know their origin, for
that would at once indicate the character of the instruments, because
the piano manufacturers and their claims and capacities are familiar.
Won't the manufacturers respond to this invitation, and so insure
proper classification? And won't the retailers give us the names of
any trademark instruments they may handle, for the same purpose?
The day has gone when the piano business could be done on any basis
of concealment. Any piano that is good enough to sell is good
enough to be openly recognized—and advertised.
THE FARMER'S PIANO
There has been a good deal printed of late about the influence
of music in the factories. Proof has been presented that a number of
large industries have introduced pianos, or other musical instruments,
for the refreshment of the workers and to stimulate them in the
rhythmical motions of their toil.
Of course the plan is a good one—to a degree. Unless carried
too far—to the point familiar to popular hotel parlors—the piano
may be a very useful adjunct to the workshop. It depends upon the
management of the place. And there are other instruments which
may serve equally as well, and are doing so to some extent. Mr.
Tremaine, of the Advancement of Music Bureau, has made good use
of the proposition, and by his influence, no doubt, factories have
tried the music-while-you-work system with good results.
But there is another department of human toil and strain to
which not much attention has been directed, but where the soothing
influences of music seem to be fully as much needed, if not more.
We mean the farm—often away off from musical centers, where the
only sounds resembling music are the twittering of the birds, the
ripple of the streams, the lowing of the herds and the hum of the
harvester.
;
In the country, away from the urban excitement, the brass bands
and the cabarets, the sound of music is needed more than almost any-
where else. And the piano dealer in any small country town under-
stands why, and knows that his best "prospects" are off somewhere
in the fields and woods. He makes it his business to hitch his horse
to the wagon, or to attach his Atwood Loader to his flivver, and
travel over the dusty roads to the distant farm houses, where the
people are charmed, and even amazed, at the wonders of the player-
piano. There are both duty and the delights of the missionary. The
farms need the pianos more than big factories. The silence of the
broad acres need the stimulating strains of music with which to soften
the monotony and to hold the young ones at home.
And all this was better said in a recent article in a farm paper
called the "Prairie Farmer." The editor, no doubt, saw the effort that
has been made to establish music in the city factories. He appealed to
the class of readers to which his paper is devoted. The result was a
lot of entertaining letters by the mothers on the farms, who told just
why music is essential and how it helped the workers in the fields.
Every retailer in the smaller places understands the value to him of
the farmers' trade. He can understand the arguments of the women
who wrote to the "Prairie Farmer," even if he can't see the force of
the promotion of music in the noisy factories of the big cities.
i
TURN ON THE LIGHT
Turn on the light for more production at the piano factories.
Turn on the light for more prompt orders from the dealers, so that
manufacturers may know how much they are expected to produce.
Turn on the light for prompt service from the supply houses. Turn
on the light in explaining to customers just why initial payments
must be larger than ever before and the rest of the payments exactly
on the date the contracts call for.
Light gives liberty, and liberty in turn enlightens the world.
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/

Page 5 Text:

August 7, 1920.
Better pianos are produced in a well-lighted factory. Better instru-
ments are produced by enlightened workmen; better instruments are
sold by enlightened salesmen. ,-•
The best farmers as well as the best manufacturers are paying
more and more attention to profits from light. Even hens lay more
eggs when their poultry houses are lighted with electricity. And
they lay more of them in winter when they are in greatest demand
and bring the highest prices. This has been proved by actual experi-
ment in the Pacific Northwest, and also was verified by experiments
at Cornell University. But the illumination must not be in the eyes
of the b^rds; the floors must be well lighted.
Caution must also be used in enlightening piano customers—do
not dazzle them with statements about the manufacturers' ability to
get goods made. Manufacturers all tell a different story about that;
they say it is still very hard to get all the parts of a piano together.
No dealer would want his piano minus its casters, or with its sound-
ing board missing. All the parts but one is just as bad as if the whole
instrument did not exist.
TALKING MACHINE TERMS
It is interesting to notice that the latest of the essentials asso-
ciated with music is following precisely in the footsteps of its elder
brethren. The phonograph dealers are already adopting the precise
methods which prevailed in the piano trade for a great many years.
We refer now to the methods of retail selling.
For a long time the phonograph demand was such that the
trade gave no thought to "terms" in making sales. It was a cash
business. The output was not equal to the call for the more favored
machines, and the manufacturers were firm in their exactions, mak-
ing rules, not only as to where and how orders would be filled, but
fixing the retail prices, with conditions as inflexible as the law of the
Medes and Persians. Today all that is being changed. Competition
has set in, and the trade is learning that people who buy phonographs
are not different from those who buy other things, and especially
those who buy and have already bought pianos.
As an indisputable evidence of this change in the selling customs
of phonograph dealers in the retail trade, are the countless advertise-
ments in the local newspapers urging people to buy on the old piano
plan.of "no money down," or, still easier, "machine delivered on pur-
chase of six records." That certainly is easy enough. But, after all,
it isn't any easier than the terms pianos were once sold on. When
the dealers advertised to deliver the piano on payment of the cost
of delivery, the limit was reached. Even the "dollar down and same
every week" was "faded," and a reform became absolutely necessary.
Of course the talking machine may be sold on easier terms than
the fine piano. The first cost is not so large, and the initial profit is
proportionately more. But it is still problematical as to how far the
retail selling terms can follow on down to the zero mark and still
be safe. People are not usually sure that they want the things which
seem so ready to come to them as to be offered, with a prize at-
tached on terms of "nothing down." If the phonograph trade starts
that kind of thing, there will be no bottom to it, and the only com-
pensation will be that the multiplication of cheap talking machine
industries will stop.
,
. ]
Our advice to the phonograph dealers in the smaller cities and
towns is to sustain both prices and terms as long as possible. In the
large cities the powerful retail houses may attract trade by offering
the nothing down term, and there is no way by which to stop them.
They, no doubt, will come to regard the phonograph as an article
most useful to draw trade to other departments. And eventually
they will kill the exclusive "talking machine shop." And, more than
all, they will in time bring a stop to the cheap talking machines, for
people will not buy that kind on long time installments and keep up
their payments.
But sustain the dignity and the value of the fine phonographs.
And try to maintain the kind of phonograph business that is worth
having just as long as possible. The way to do that it to represent
a really good line of machines, direct from the manufacturers and,
by building up a local name and fame for it, which in time must
possess an asset worth having and protecting.
Milwaukee holds her own as the possessor of more complete
music stores than any other city—isn't it so? Boston once had the
honor; so did Cincinnati, and Frisco. But today the Wisconsin
city can probably claim a larger number of exclusively retail all
'round music houses than any other. An addition is recorded this
week.
thority of the state and legally responsible to others
for their conduct and that of their agents.
5. To develop, with due regard for the health,
safety and well-being of the individual, the required
output of industry is the common social obligation
of all engaged therein. The restriction of produc-
Chamber of Commerce of U. S. Formulates tive effort or of output by either employer or em-
ploye for the purpose of creating an artificial scarc-
Platform and Principles Designed to Avoid
ity of the product or of labor is an injury to society.
Strikes and Other Industrial Troubles,
6. The wage of labor must come out of the prod-
No department of industry has had more recent uct of industry and must be earned and measured by
reason to desire relief from the worries of strikes its contribution thereto. In order that the worker,
than the piano industry. The troubles of the New in his own and the general interest, may develop, his
York piano manufacturers, last winter, served to up- full productive capacity, and may thereby earn at
set all schedules and cost the industry and trade mil- least a wage sufficient to sustain him upon a proper
lions of dollars. The strike in the piano factories standard of living, it is the duty of management to
has been known intermittently for nearly fifty years, co-operate with him to secure continuous employ-
and the annoyance and inconvenience to the dealers ment suited to his abilities, to furnish incentive and
has often been a serious affair. It will therefore be opportunity for improvement, to provide proper
good news that a systematic effort is to be made to safeguards for his health and safety and to encour-
age him in all practicable and reasonable ways to
obviate strikes in the future.
increase the value of his productive effort.
Overwhelming approval of a platform setting up
7. The number of hours in the work day or week in
twelve principles of. industrial relations has been which
the maximum output, consistent with the
given by the membership of the Chamber of Com- health
and
of the individual, can be main-
merce of the United States in a referendum vote, the tined in a well-being
given
industry
should be ascertained by
result of which was announced by the committee and careful study and never should
be exceeded except
the vote, in part, as follows:
in case of emergency, and one day of rest in seven,
1. Every person possesses the right to engage in or its equivalent, should be provided. The reduction
any lawful business or occupation and to enter, indi- In working hours below such economic limit, in or-
vidually or collectively, into any lawful contract of
der to secure greater leisure for the individual,
employment, either as employer or employe. These should be made only with full understanding and ac-
rights are subject to limitation only through a valid ceptance of the fact that it involves a commensurate
exercise of public authority.
loss in the earning power of the workers, a limita-
2. The right of open-shop operation, that is, the tion and a shortage of the output of the industry
right of employer and employe to enter into and de- rind an increase in the cost of the product, with all
termine the conditions of employment relations with the necessary effect of these things upon the inter
each other, is an essential part of the individual right ests of the community and the nation.
of contract possessed by each of the parties.
The referendum on public utilities employment
3. All. men possess the equal right to associate carried the recommendations of the Chamber's Com-
voluntarily for the accomplishment of lawful pur- mittee on Public Utilities. These were two in num-
poses by lawful means. The association of men, ber, and arc given as follows:
whether of employers, employes or others, for col-
"The committee recommends that strikes by em-,
lective action or dealing, confers no authority over, ployes of all public service corporations peforming
and must not deny any right of, those who do not public service essential to the lives, health, security,
desire to act or deal with them.
comfort and well being of the people should by law
4. The public welfare, the protection of the indi- be explicitly prohibited.
vidual, and sound employment relations require that
associations or combinations of employers or em-
Peristency is essential, but impudence is nonessen-
ployes, or both, must equally be subject to the au- tial and kills the virtue of persistency.
PLANS TO PREVENT
LABOR DISTURBANCES
C. B. BAKER OTTUMWA, IA.,
MADE INSTRUCTIONS CLEAR
And the Nature of Same Delighted the Husband of
an Intense Housekeeper.
C. B. Baker, head of the Baker Piano House, Ot-
tumwa, Iowa, recently sold a piano to an old friend.
At least the old friend paid for the instrument but
in the matter of choosing it or indeed deciding any-
thing of importance in the domestic menage he
humorously admitted he was a cipher minus the rim.
The good wife of Mr. Baker's customer is famed
far and near for the scrupulous cleanliness of her
house and her vigorous use of mop, soap and scrub-
bing brush is a habit well known to Mr. Baker as
well as to everybody else in the township. To
friend husband Monday is a fearsome day of sudsy
activities in the household. On that day he is gen-
erally reported a. w. 1. He is a good-natured Ger-
man, naturally neat in his habits, but the peace-up-
setting rule of the scrubbing event palls on him.
The day the piano was delivered Mr. Baker rode
out to the customer's house to see that the instru-
ment was properly installed and to give a few items
of instruction. He made them "dont's" in view of
the better half's character for soapy strenuosity.
"Now, you've got to be careful in the care of this
piano," said Mr. Baker. "Remember, you are to put
no wet cloths, sponges or scrubbing brushes on it
Don't attempt to scrub it with water.
"You hear that mother?'' spoke up the delighted
husband. "You gotta haf that biano dry-gleaned."
THE LADY AUDITOR TRAVELS.
A strenuous trip through the wild and almost in-
accessible parts of eastern Oregon has just been
made by Mrs. Eva Poynter, of the Wiley B. Allen
Co., Portland, Oregon, who spent two weeks visit-
ing the various agencies of the company in these
out-of-the-way districts, taking stock and doing
auditing work.
STORE HAS NEW NAME.
The Music Shop Co. is the new name of the firm
in Augusta, Me., of which C. A. Brown is owner. M.
S. Workman is the new manager.
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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