Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1920 1787

PRESTO
PRESTO
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY AT 407 SOUTH DEAR-
BORN STREET, OLD COLONY BUILDING, CHICAGO, ILL.
Editors
C. A. DANIELL and FRANK D. ABBOTT
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, OCTOBER 23, 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—E&PECIALLY ABOUT YOUR OWN
BUSINESS.
This week Presto starts a series of practical articles on piano
tuning. Playerpianos will, of course, have special attention. The
writer of the articles is a practical tuner and expert who knows what
he is talking about and possesses the verbal facility to give expres-
sion to his ideas.
VIGILANTLY VIRTUOUS
The line that divides right from wrong in the "marked prices"
of a piano seems so slender and obscure that, as Shakespeare says, it
sometimes seems that "virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied."
And this has just had a new illustration in the action of the Federal
Trade Commission in reproving the Holland Piano Co. for placing
prices on its products which do not meet the views of "competition"—
the same as many other piano industries have been doing almost
from time out of memory. Just what is meant by "competition" in
the retail piano trade need not be told here. It seems that some one
discovered, or assumed that he had discovered, that figures in excess
of the average selling prices of Holland pianos had been found upon
the inside of the instruments from Menomonie, Wis. And some
pussyfoot of the piano trade had "entered complaint," which resulted
in the "disclosures" just referred to.
Now, isn't it terrible? We ask you seriously isn't it a fearful state
of things that a reputable piano industry should place good prices
upon its instruments, and that some dealer, somewhere, should have
been convicted of selling the same pianos at prices below the figures
that gleam in golden letters upon the shining case?
And then consider that the same custom has been in vogue ever
since your grandmother bought her little square piano ! And, through
all the years of awful wickedness, the crime has never before been
detected, and pianos have been sold to happy people for less than they
were worth, and the poor manufacturers and dealers have had trouble
to pay their rent! Isn't it perfectly awful—we ask you! And when
the trade commission, sitting in solemn conclave for the purpose of
correcting the corruption of industry, vied with the Volstead com-
October 23, 1920.
mission in its fight against that twin evil, rum, how did the secret
of the piano prices become exposed? Did some rival dealer of the
one who had been cutting Holland prices rise up in his outraged sense
of virtue and enter the complaint? If not, how did the trade com-
mission find out that here was a discrepancy between the printed
prices and the "prices at which they are usually, sold"? And what
are the prices at which pianos are usually sold? Does the trade
commission know that the catalogue prices of pianos have never been
anywhere nearer the actual selling prices than are the prices of most
other manufactured articles? Is there any consciousness that if pianos
were advertised at what the trade commission probably considers a
"fair profit" the dealers would have to shut up shop within a week or
two?
The margin of profit in any commodity must be very largely
regulated by the rule of supply and demand. Piano profits are seldom
sufficient to create a bay of safety in the sea of commerce. * It is
easily possible for the merchant to exist on a small margin of profit
in the sale of the essentials to life. In the sale of some other things
the same proportion, or per cent, of profit, would mean starvation for
the merchant.
There is a broad question as to how much good the so-called
"vigilance" committees are doing in the business world. The fact
that business must be done honestly has little to do with the prices
of a high-grade and ethically conducted business house. And the
danger of listening to the voice of disgruntled "competitors" may
easily lead to injustice where half-baked information moves an au-
thoritative force to action. The character of the Holland Piano Co.
is not questioned. If that company has placed figures upon its
pianos, there has been no divergence from a custom almost as old
as the instrument of music itself.
The way to correct such evils as doubtless the trade commission
is after, is to investigate the retailer who will buy pianos as cheaply
as he can get them and sell for as much as his customers will pay,
irrespective of real values. Happily some pianos are now sold on the
one price plan. That is fine. It may be so all through the trade in
course of time. But until then there will be a question as to the pro-
portion of good accomplished by any pussyfooting in the piano indus-
try as compared with the possibility of harm. We are firm believers
in correct trade methods, and have consistently advocated the re-
forms by which the piano business has been made better. But it
isn't often that "reforms" enforced by half-baked information and
pussyfoot methods really help in any respectable business. There
seems some danger that the "vigilance" committees in industry and
trade may overdo their virtuous activities.
A CHANGE IN SIGHT
Whether the change in piano prices comes soon or is long de-
layed, one thing is certain. It is that the turning in the road is just
ahead—the bend in the highway of trade events and conditions. Al-
ready we know that the feverish anxiety to "get the goods" has sub-
sided. No more is there a clamor for instruments that cannot be
satisfied. And, while the stocks in the stores are still small, there is
no such fear as of late lest shipments be so long delayed as to threaten
danger to the dealer.
All this means that the trade is getting back to something like
its old-time condition. It means that the effort which was formerly
inseparable from the business of selling pianos must soon be resumed.
It means that the fiction of a heated demand by the public for pianos
is finding fruition in fact and that to prosper the habit of trusting to
the man at the door can no longer be relied upon.
And this means, also, that some of the former customs of the
trade are about to come back. We have so long been accustomed to
picture large rolls of cash In the hands of eager buyers from distant
places, that it isn't pleasant to banish the vision from the factory
offices. We don't like to believe that the eager dealers who were
wont to haunt the factories, begging to be permitted to place their or-
ders, have settled back into their old places ready to write their
notes, with renewal privileges. That isn't what the industry wants.
The cash looks even better as it fades away, like a movie film, than
it did months ago when it was a reality. But, as long as "business is
business," such things will be. And it is the part of wisdom, in both
factory and wareroom, to anticipate events.
The retailers need not pull in the signs and safeguards by which
they have been made fairly prosperous and happy. They need not
announce to their friends and customers that cash is really no object,
and that it will be a joy to sell pianos at a dollar or two down and
half as much now and then! That was the way far back in the days
of antiquity. Today the change should be permitted to come about
gradually. And the retailers will find that the manufacturers will
not like them the less because they adhere to the better business
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/
October 23, 1920.
PRESTO
methods as long as possible. There was never a time, since Daniel
Crehore began business in Milton, Mass., when the piano manufac-
turers felt that the retailers were too reasonable in their demands.
And the dealers who start a clamor for low prices and long time
settlements are the ones who are liable in the future to feel the chill
of a bad spell in the finest kind of weather. For after years of bad
systems, and a ceaseless succession of risks and doubt, the piano
manufacturers will not look with delight upon any attempts to re-
instate the loose methods which prevailed in the days before the war.
The retailers have been having the best of it during recent years.
The piano manufacturers hav^ been slow to increase prices to the
extent justified by conditions. The public has been stuffed full of the
fodder of big wages and high prices, until the augmented cost of
pianos has not prevented sales, but rather increased them. The
trouble has not been so much a shortage in the supply as in the en-
larged demand and sale. The dealers have made their profits, or if
they haven't they are themselves to blame. And now they should
profit still more by maintaining business along business methods
and keeping up the better way, selling as nearly for cash as possible,
and making returns to the manufacturers in like manner.
The piano trade lost a representative member in the death
of Mr. Fred. W. Chickering, whose loyal and consistent adherence
to ideals has had much to do with the upbuilding of one of Chicago's
thriving industries. Mr. Chickering was devoted to the work in life
for which he was, by temperament and education, peculiarly fitted.
He had grown from early manhood, in the association of the piano
makers of Chicago, and before coming westward he had graduated
from one of the distinguished piano industries in the East. He was
a hard worker, a man of unchallenged integrity and a loyal friend.
No words could say more to the honor of any man. His death leaves
a gap in the ranks of the artistic western piano manufacturers and
socially he will long be missed in the councils of his associates. His
brothers in the house of Chickering Bros, have the sympathy of all
who know them, whether within the circles fo the piano trade or
without.
* * *
Artistic advertising displays are no longer rare in connection with
the piano and allied industries. Several great houses have become
large advertisers and their announcements, as seen in the powerful
periodicals, are among the most elaborate and effective. A fine illus-
HOW Q R S MUSIC CO.
HELPS DEALERS' SALES
The Wide Variety in the Big List of Player
Rolls of Chicago Manufacturers a Stimu-
lation to the Public.
The greater sale of player music rolls depends
upon the manner in which the dealers take advan-
tage of the foresight of the roll manufacturers. Deal-
ers should keep up the general interest all the year
round, but they make their efforts more intensive in
the distribution of rolls produced for a certain sea-
son or an important occasion.
A fine example of the season's help for the roll de-
partment has just been issued by the Q R S Music
Co., Chicago, and the dealer with the keen mind will
appreciate the high value of the aid. It is the spe-
cial list of sacred music which includes thirteen new
Q R S sacred roll numbers.
The list is intended for the special use of dealers
and churches and the titles include: "He Knows,
He Cares, He Loves," "I Am Going to the Cross,"
"Jesus Only," "Over Jordan," "Stand Up, Stand Up
for Jesus," "Whiter Than Snow" and others equally
favorite with lovers of Gospel songs. The new list
also gives a selection of other good sacred music in-
cluded in the complete catalog of the Q R S Music
Co. These rolls are excellent numbers to feature
all the year round, but they are particularly good ap-
proaching the holidays and during devotional pe-
riods at any time and anywhere. The fact that the
Q R S list is rich in sacred music should be im-
pressed upon the public at all times.
W. T. Glover, in charge of the music rolls in the
E. F. Droop & Sons Co., Washington, D. C, is one
of those who appreciates the potency of the Q R S
list- of rolls to continuously stimulate the interest in
player music and, incidentally, in the playerpiano
itself. Mr. Glover realizes the extent of the help the
Q R S Music Co. gives to the dealer handling rolls.
"The wonderful popularity of the Q R S word rol!s
is perhaps the best test of their pleasure-making and
educational qualities," said the alert manager re-
cently. Mr. Glover sees help for the dealer in every
tration was the double page "spread" of the Q R S Music Company
which was reproduced in last week's Presto from the Saturday Even-
ing Post. Much favorable comment followed the appearance of the
artistic display referred to, and any retailer who fails to carry Q R S
player music rolls must be considerably the loser by reason of his
inability to supply an established and rapidly growing demand.
It isn't often that either man or woman enters complaint that he
or she is made to look too youthful by the application of printer's ink
to photography. But that was the protest of Mr. Wm. L. Bush when
his eyes met the portrait of himself in a recent issue of "Presto."
It looks about as I used to when I began to war against the stencil
piano, long, long ago," wrote Mr. Bush. Nevertheless, there are any
number of men of fewer years who wish they were really as young
as the versatile gentleman of Dallas and Chicago.
* * *
Prices are coming down; prices are still going up. Take your
choice. But either way you will not pay more than the piano is
worth. You never have done so. And if a few pianos come down
it doesn't necessarily follow that all the rest must follow suit. A few
dollars either way can not be permitted to interfere with the plans
and progress of any live piano dealer. Besides, if pianos are really
heading downward in price, it isn't necessary to get from under to
avoid being hurt!
* * *
If you are a piano retailer and have fallen into the habit of
thinking that pianos are so scarce you can't get any, change your
thought and send in an order to your source of supplies. Even if
some of the factories are as bare as Mother Hubbard's closet, others
are laying in quite a good supply. See what a liberal order may do,
and get it in so as to have the goods for your holiday trade.
Begin to line up your holiday prospects now. Don't miss any
opportunities. The approaching season of gift-giving promises to
be the best in many years. See if you can't make it something like a
piano Christmas this year.
* * *
The complaint is that collections are slow and getting steadily
more so. That is bad, and the wise piano dealer will do his best to
stop the evil before it stops them. To sell is essential; to collect
after having sold is even more so.
variety of the Q R S classified list, which includes
Autograph Rolls, Lodge Music, Mother Goose Rolls,
Piano Accompaniments for Autograph Rolls, Stand-
ard Rolls and for Victor records, Standard Rolls,
Story Rolls and Word Rolls.
The Q R S music rolls are now being featured in
an effective manner by the Emporium department
store, San Francisco.
Philip Werlein, Ltd., New Orleans, has recently
made arrangement for handling the Q R S music
rolls. And these important houses are representa-
tive of the large majority of stores in which the
Q R S rolls are a prominent feature in the every-day
business.
Wagner's, 110 Second street, Hamilton, O., is the
headquarters for Q R S rolls in the lively Ohio
city and the firm prides itself on the size of its roil
stock and the manner in which it is kept up. In
its advertising this week the exclusive agency for
the Q R S rolls advises the player owners not to
"go running around hunting the roll you want" and
suggests that they "come to Wagner's", adding the
assurance that the house has all the latest hits as
well as all the old favorites.
A. M. LAWRENCE IN CHICAGO.
A. M. Lawrence, manager of the Export Bureau,
Music Industries Chamber of America, will be in
Chicago during the entire week, beginning Monday,
October 25. He originally planned to be here this
week, but had to postpone his visit on account of
pressure of work due to the handbook, for which
many members of the trade have already requested
tpace. Mr. Lawrence's chief purpose in visiting Chi-
cago is to talk over the possibilities of exporting
from Chicago with members of the trade located
here, and in particular, to obtain suggestions from
members of the trade concerning things which can
be'undertaken by the Chamber to assist the manu-
facturers in exporting their products.
STORE SITE SOLD.
The site of the store of Muehlhauser Bros. Piano
Co., Cleveland, O., has been sold to the B. F. Keith
Corporation, which will build upon the site a typical
twentieth century vaudeville playhouse. Buildings
are to be torn down. The company has not yet an-
nounced its new location.
STARR DISTRIBUTING POINT
IN JACKSONVILLE, FLA.
Export Shipments for Cuba and Latin America to
Be Made from Florida Port.
The Starr Piano Company, Jacksonville, Fla., has
leased for a term of years the new three-story build-
ing at 808 Main street, and is now installing fixtures
so as to have the building ready for occupancy by
November 15. A. W. Holdgate came to Jacksonville
from the factory at Richmond, Ind., about a year
ago, and while handicapped through inability to
secure adequate display rooms has developed a con-
siderable demand for Starr products. Now that the
splendid new building has been secured, Jacksonville
will be made the distributing point for Florida, Cuba
and Latin-America.
The company realizes the advantage of using the
Jacksonville port for distribution to those points, as
they avoid the congested New Pork district, thereby
making much quicker deliveries, and at the same
time enjoy the benefit of the lower rate to this port.
The company has retail stores at Miami and
Tampa, and will open stores in other cities of the
state, all of which will be served from the Jackson-
ville distributing point.
HONOR SUPERINTENDENT.
Several hundred employes of the Lester Piano
Co., Philadelphia, gave a surprise party last week
to the factory superintendent, Herman Wittig, pio-
neer piano maker, when he celebrated his fifty-eighth
birthday. Mr. Wittig assisted in building the first
Lester piano, a third of a century ago. A telegram
from Governor Sproul, a personal friend of Mr.
Wittig's, was read. Mr. Wittig is president of the
Tinicum Bank of Essington.
PRINTS REMOVAL NOTICE.
The new address of Mularkey's Music Store,
Pottsville, Pa., is 107 North Center street. The firm
last week announced its removal from the Zerbey
building on Second street, near Mahantongo street,
to the Moyer building at the new address named.
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/

Download Page 4: PDF File | Image

Download Page 5 PDF File | Image

Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).

Pro Tip: You can flip pages on the issue easily by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.