THE PRESTO BUYERS*
OUIDE CLASSIFIES ALL
PIANOS AND PLAYERS
AND THEIR MAKERS
PRESTO
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ONE OF THE MEN
OF THE HADDORFF
Secretary A. E. Johnson, by Whose Erudite
Management the Piano Industry at Rock-
ford, 111., Has Grown Great and Whose
Portrait for First Time Appears.
Tf there is one man in the piano industry who, more
than all others, "doesn't care to have his picture
printed," that man is probably A. E. Johnson, secre-
tary and general manager of the Haddorff Piano
Company, of Rockford, 111. It is nearly twenty years
—just one year short of it, to be exact—since Mr.
Johnson entered the piano business. He was literally
drafted into it when P. A. Peterson, president of the
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE WEEKLY
" c«nt.,- ti.oo « i w
heads of the Rockford industry is still not widely
known. For who has ever even seen a portrait of
P. A. Peterson? And who can recall having seen a
picture of A. E. Johnson? It has been not infrequent
that pictures of Haddorff pianos have appeared, and
of late the call for Mr. Haddorff's picture has brought
that gentleman's features to notice in the trade
papers.
It is, perhaps, characteristic of the officers of the
Rockford industry that they have preferred to re-
main in the background while their products and
their traveling representatives have done the pub-
licity work. But the dealers who sell Haddorff
pianos, and who recognize the high place won by
those instruments, want to know more closely the
men who make them. They have often expressed
that wish to Presto and, no doubt, also, to other
trade papers. It is therefore a satisfaction to pre-
sent a good portrait of the manager of the Rockford
industry whose persistent work and broad vision
have been so largely instrumental in winning suc-
cess for the Haddorff.
Mr. Johnson has proved himself an able and loyal
supporter of Mr. Peterson's liberal enterprise. His
work has been tireless and it would be difficult to
find anywhere in the piano industry a man of more
resourceful attributes, or one who could more read-
ily make his personal ambitions more subservient to
the best interests of the industry to which his life
has been devoted.
At It One Score Years.
Personally there is none more dependable cr force-
ful than Mr. Johnson in all the piano industry. Quiet,
unostentatious and resourceful, he is liked by all his
associates and his views always claim the attention
of the most experienced no less than of the novitiate.
Mr. Johnson was a very young man when he en-
tered the "piano game." He is a young man still—
only nineteen years less young than at the beginning
of the Haddorff's career. May he continue with it
for several times nineteen years more!
A FEW NEWS ITEMS
FROM THE MILWAUKEE FIELD
Another Agency Is Appointed in Wisconsin for
Sale of Miessner Piano.
A. E. JOHNSON.
Rockford industry, decided that he might like the
musical instrument as an article of manufacture and
decided that Rockford was the very place for such an
enterprise on a large scale.
In 1901, therefore, the dominating industrial leader
in Rockford decided that one of his factories should
be converted into purposes of piano manufacture.
Soon Became Reality.
The thought was not long in taking practical shape.
At the time Mr. Johnson was one of Mr. Peterson's
active lieutenants. He was in charge of an extensive
wood working industry, a part of the products of
which was a line of cabinets, and Mr. Johnson took
to the idea of piano making with enthusiasm which
brought about quick results. He has been developing
results in the piano industry ever since.
Very soon C. A. Haddorff was also interested in
the Rockford project and, as a thoroughly drilled
piano maker, he helped to determine the destinies of
the instruments which bear his name. And from
the first the expert acoustician has had the sympa-
thetic support of Mr. Johnson, no less than that of
Mr. Peterson himself. The result is seen in the place
today occupied by the Haddorff Piano Co. and its
splendid products throughout the musical world.
Modest Leaders.
It is sometimes remarked in the trade that, con-
sidering the influence of the Haddorff Piano Co., and
the extent of the distribution of Haddorff instru-
ments, it is remarkable that the personality of the
THE PRESTO YEAR BOOK
IS THE ONLY ANNUAL
REVKEW OF
THE MUSIC TRADES
The Milwaukee Piano Repair Co., 501 Broadway,
Milwaukee, Wis., sustained a considerable loss by
fire on Sunday morning, Sept. 19. Nine pianos un-
dergoing repairs were destroyed, together with tools
and equipment. The business is owned by William
A. Elferes and Albert F. Mueller.
H. F. Nott, 309 West Milwaukee street, Janes-
ville, Wis., is one of the latest additions to the ranks
of retailers of the Miessner, "the little piano with
the big tone," through appointment by the R. H.
Zinke Music Co., 425 Milwaukee street, Milwaukee,
wholesale distributor of the line in the Wisconsin
territory.
The engagement of Raimund Wurlitzer, son of
Howard Wurlitzer, head of the Rudolph Wurlitzer
Co., Cincinnati, O., to Miss Pauline Pabst of Mil-
waukee, is announced. Miss Pabst is the daughter
of Frederick Pabst, whose father, the late Capt.
Frederick Pabst, founded the great Pabst Brewing
Co. in Milwaukee. Mr. Pabst, for about ten years,
has devoted most of his time to breeding pure-bred
horses and cattle. His large farm at Oconomowoc,
Wis., is considered one of the largest as well as
the model stock farm of the Middle West.
LAPHAM ORGANIZES CLUB.
E. F. Lapham, of the retail piano house of Gros-
venor, Lapham & Co., Fine Arts Building, Chicago,
this week organized the Ohio Harding Club of
Chicago. He was elected executive secretary of the
club as soon as it was organized. The names of
those who have joined as charter members are a
representative lot of Chicago business and profes-
sional men.
NEW DES MOINES MANAGER
N. A. Lilja has been made manager of the Had-
dorff Music House, Des Moines, la. He was
formerly with the Rockford store of the company.
T. W T . Perkins, formerly manager of the Haddorff
house in Des Moines, resigned to take up work with
Lyon & Healy, Chicago.
CHAMBER ASSESSES
MUSICAL SUPPLY ASSN.
Industry Divided Into Nine Classes from
Which an Appropriate Quarterly Fee
Will Be Expected.
At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the
Musical Supply Association held in New York Tues-
day afternoon, September. 14, plans were decided
upon for the raising of a $25,000 assessment of the
Supply Association for the work of the Music In-
dustries Chamber of Commerce.
The members of the Supply Association will be
divided into nine classes, based upon volume of sales
to the music industry, and for each class there will
be a fee which will represent approximately one-
twentieth of one per cent of the gross sales of the
typical firm in that class. These classes, with the
fees, are as follows:
Fee
Class
Sales
A
$4,000,000 and over
$2,500
B
3,000,000 to $4,000,000
2,000
C
2,000,000 to 3,000,000
1,500
D
1,500,000 to 2,000,000
1,000
1,000,000 to 1,500,000
750
E
F
500 000 to 1,000,000
500
G
250,000 to
500,000
250
H
100,000 to
250,000
125
I
100.000 and less
50
It is planned to put this system of financing into
effect beginning October 1 of this year. Each mem-
ber of the association will be asked to state in which
classification it falls, using the sales for the twelve
months ending October 1 as a basis. The classifica-
tion form was decided upon in order not to require
exact reports of sales from members. The fees will
be payable quarterly, upon the first of October,
January, April and July.
More details of this plan of financing will be
given later. It is also planned to get up a small
booklet to be distributed to the supply trade, giving
a concise statement of the benefits of membership
in the association and the reasons why every mem-
ber of the association should contribute under the
plan agreed upon.
Each member of the Supply Association who con-
tributes under this plan will be furnished with a
stamp which is to be printed on his invoices, show-
ing that his firm is a contributing member of the
Supply Association toward the work of the Cham-
ber. This plan of financing was adopted by the
Directors after a report made by a Special Com-
mittee on Assessments, which met several times for
the purpose of deciding upon the best method. The
method of classifying members of the association
and establishing a fee for each classification was
adopted after careful consideration of all possible
methods, including the placing of stamps on in-
voices, and the straight assessment of each mem-
ber according to volume of business.
ALFRED DOLGE PAUSES
ON HIS WORLD TRIP
Familiar Character in the Industry Visits Rockford
Before Starting for the East.
Alfred Dolge, founder of the American piano felt
industry, builder of two piano towns, and famed
for years as the leader in the musical instrument
supply industry, was in Chicago one day this week,
before going to Rockford, 111., to visit the Haddorff
Piano Co., in whose interests he has been traveling
for several years. Mr. Dolge is as active and re-
sourceful as he was when at the head of the big
house which bore his name, with headquarters on
Thirteenth street, New York; when he made weekly
trips from the metropolis to Dolgeville, in the
Adirondacks; or even when he toiled and dreamed
in the old Mathushek factory at New Haven, Conn.
Mr. Dolge will sail within a few days from New
York to Rotterdam, as has already been told in
Presto. He expects to visit nearly every country
of the Old World, and probably will return via
Japan and Hawaii to San Francisco. It is his first
trip abroad since he joined the forces of the Had-
dorff Piano Co. several years ago.
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