Presto

PRESTO
October 30, 1920.
metal against the strings, and his applause is ready. And so is the
price of the vandalism.
If the local piano dealer is responsible, he is liable for restitu-
tion. If the nomadic tuner does the work he should be kicked out
of the profession and warning given by the reputable piano men.
Tramp piano tuners are not so plentiful as they once were. The pro-
fession of piano tuning has taken on a new dignity. Still there must
be irresponsibles as long as the "mandolin attachment" bungling goes
on. There seems to be here a duty on the part of the tuners' associa-
tion. The dealers, as well as the manufacturers, have an interest
sufficient to stir them to the protection of the instruments they have
sold or manufactured.
THE SMALL DEALER
. Whether we recognize it or not, the "small dealer" is about the
biggest thing in the piano business. He is the mainstay of the new
piano industry that starts out with high hopes and an ambition to
win a place far up among the brightest stars in the constellation. He
is the center and the inspiration of the large class of piano manu-
facturers who, having neither the capial nor the desire to boast a
giant output, aim to enlist a few of the appreciative and enthusiastic
dealers wherever they may be found. And the small dealer thus be-
comes the real foundation of a new and ambitious piano's fame.
Isn't the small dealer, then, well worth while? Isn't his hard
work just what a piano—new or old—must have if fame is to be made
or perpetuated ? How does the ideal small dealer go about it? What
are his chances of success, and in what is his claim to recognition?
He is not often credited with having capital enough to do much
business. But he is, nevertheless, as often a responsible merchant
and his orders are filled with the kind of promptness and dispatch
that suggest a bank account. He doesn't ask for large credit, and
he keeps his store free of dead stock, selling what he has before he
places orders for more. And he works—oh, how he works!
If you like to ramble over the good roads throughout the country,
no matter how little you may know about selling pianos in the rural
district, you must have seen the small dealer at work or on his way.
Perhaps you have noticed his flivver, to which a piano loader was
attached. You may have seen the outfit turn from the road into a
farmyard. If you watched you may have seen the piano loader tipped
to the ground and the hood lifted from the shining instrument. And
then the small dealer was at work again. The farmyard became his
wareroom. The sound of the instrument floated out over the wheat
fields and into the woods. Perhaps you heard it as you rambled on.
And if you came back that way, not long after, you may have seen
the flivver, with the empty loader attached, going on ahead toward
town.
It was a sale! The small dealer had won his cause. He had
done more than to merely sell a piano. He had lifted a farmer's
family from the commonplace into an atmosphere of refinement. In
a business way, and as pertains to the particular piano he had sold,
the small dealer had accomplished a better advertising act than an} r
expert "promoter" could do with a dozen pounds of printer's ink.
He had convinced the intelligent farm-folks that he knew what a
FEDERAL COMMISSION'S
HOLLAND PIANO REBUKE
Interest in the Case Has Caused Several Manufac-
turers to Ask for More Explicit Information.
An editorial in last week's Presto seems to have
stirred up unexpected interest in the matter of the
action of the Federal Trade Commission with ref-
erence to the stenciling of prices upon pianos of
the Holland Piano Co. The views of this paper
were expressed in the article already referred to.
But, in response to the questions of at least three
prominent manufacturers, it is deemed but fair to
say that the information which is printed came
from the Washington correspondent of Presto in
a dispatch which was not published at the time be-
cause it was desired to say nothing that might in
any way reflect upon the Minneapolis industry.
Here is the report, just as it came to this paper:
Washington, D. C, Oct. 18.—After full trial the
Federal Trade Commission today issued an order
requiring the Holland Piano Mfg. Co., of Minneapo-
lis, Minn., to refrain from certain methods of com-
petition in the manufacture and sale of pianos and
piano players.
The trial disclosed that this company stenciled
upon its pianos, and piano players, prices which did
not represent bona fide resale prices, but represented
good piano must be. He had shown them that he represented that
kind of a piano, and he had exchanged the instrument for cash or its
equivalent.
No city salesman, selling for a large dealer, wins results like
that. The city stores do not work to close a sale as if there were
no other sales to follow. The city store calls customers to it. The
splendid array of instruments fascinates the prospective buyers and
the "closing" is largely a matter of detail. The small dealer in the
country regards each individual prospect as a battle ground in which
wit, energy, loyalty to ideals and tireless work must be the winning
weapons. And in that kind of a peaceful conquest the single sale,
and the single piano involved, enlist every resource of the salesman.
It is to him anything but a "small" matter. For the time, it is the
all-absorbing problem and the momentous event in life. He simply
must make that sale. No competitor must break in and rob him of it.
Whether daylight or darkness, the work goes on until the transaction
is closed, and the road homeward is easy and filled with the satisfac-
tion of success.
There is no "small" piano dealer, in reality. Whether he sells
one piano a week, or even one in a month, his intelligence, his grit
and his enthusiasm may be invaluable to the piano he represents.
And the better the piano the bigger the value of the "small" dealer.
The Leader-Republican of Gloversville, N. Y., conveys the sur-
prising bit of piano intelligence that "in 1867 the piano was an-
nounced as a novelty at a concert given in Covent Garden, London."
As far back as 1820 English piano manufacturers were stirred by the
invention of a new sticker upright action. Before 1840 there had
been sixteen English piano industries established, one of them dating
back to 1723. The Crystal Palace exposition in London was held in
1851, at which a good display of grand and upright pianos was made.*
The misinformation of the newspapers about pianos is extensive to
the point of astonishment.
* * *
Every piano man knows that the dealers can effect the purpose
of trade stimulation by an ostensible reduction in selling prices. It
is, as we have repeatedly said, the manufacturer who feels the added
cost of pianos, and not the dealers. Properly conducted, there is
ample margin in the piano business to permit of a reduction in retail
prices for advertising purposes. For the retailer to continue to harp
upon high prices is a mistake which may put a check to the volume
of his business.
* * *
The Music Industries Chamber of Commerce has compiled figures
which show that the increase in cost of making and marketing pianos
has been greater than even the experts have realized. In view of the
facts, it isn't easy to see how any general reduction in prices can be
expected for a long time to come.
* * *
A change in the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce slogan
makes it "Give More Thought to Music." It's a synonym of Give
More Thought to Good Business—or doing all the business you can
in the right way.
abnormally high, fictitious values, "so stenciled in
order to permit retail dealers to make radical re-
ductions far below the stenciled prices, thereby de-
ceiving the purchasers as to true values," accord-
ing to a statement issued by the Commission.
"Based upon the foregoing record," adds the state-
ment, "the Commission's order requires the Holland
Piano Mfg. Co. to refrain from stenciling or in any
manner marking upon its pianos and piano players,
fictitious or misleading prices grossly in excess of
the prices at which they are usually sold at retail."
HARRY WARD.
A. S. BOND VISITS CHICAGO.
A. S. Bond, president of the Packard Piano Com-
pany. Fort Wayne, Ind., was interviewed on the
wing on Wednesday of this week in Chicago by a
Presto representative. Mr. Bond said that no ju-
dicious dealer was expecting reductions in prices or
planning to cut retail prices a cent just now, as
the thing was impossible. The wise dealers, which
he believed to be over 95 per cent of all the piano
merchants, were telling their customers the truth;
namely, that a reduction in prices was out of the
question at present. And men who were selling
pianos on that basis were selling lots of them.
"Investigate our easy payment plan" is the ad-
vice of the Benedict Music House to Galesburg, 111.,
prospective piano buyers. The handsome ware-
rooms of the company are at 64 South Cherry street.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF
MANUFACTURERS MEETS
Session Was Held This Week in Hotel Iroquois,
Buffalo, Otto Schulz Presiding.
Otto Schulz of Chicago, president of the National
Piano Manufacturers' Association, left this week
for Buffalo, N. Y., to preside over the sessions of
the Executive Committee of that body, which met
in the Hotel Iroquois.
Before leaving Chicago, Mr. Schulz said to a
Presto representative.
"This is to be the regular annual meeting of the
Executive Committee, which is usually held about
this time of year. We will discuss the trade situa-
tion and outlook for business generally. Reports
of various kinds will be heard."
"Will you take any action regarding a change in
the time of year for holding the annual convention
of the National Piano Manufacturers' Association,
Mr. Schulz?"
"As to that, I can not say in advance," replied
Mr. Schulz. "We will be governed in any such
move by what the other bodies affiliated with the
Music Industries Chamber of Commerce decides to
do in the matter."
Lucien Muratore, the famous tenor, owns a White
House Model Gulbransen playerpiano.
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