Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1922 1893

Page 4 Text:

PRESTO
The American IMusic Trade Weekly
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 Do-
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 United States possessions, 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.
Photographs of general trade interest are always welcome, and when used, If of
special concern, a charge will be made to cover cost of the engravings.
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 ana west-
ern hemispheres.
Presto Buyers' Quide is the only reliable index to the American Pianos and
Player-Pianos, It analyzes all instruments, classifies them, gives accurate estimates
•f 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, NOVEMBER 4, 1922.
PRESTO CORRESPONDENCE
IT IS NOT CUSTOMARY WITH THIS PAPER TO PUBLISH REGU-
LAR CORRESPONDENCE FROM ANY POINTS. WE, HOWEVER,
HAVE RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVES IN NEW YORK, BOSTON,
SAN FRANCISCO, PORTLAND, CINCINNATI, INDIANAPOLIS, MIL-
WAUKEE AND OTHER LEADING MUSIC TRADE CENTERS, WHO
KEEP THIS PAPER INFORMED OF TRADE EVENTS AS THEY HAP-
PEN. AND PRESTO IS ALWAYS GLAD TO RECEIVE REAL NEWS
OF THE TRADE FROM WHATEVER SOURCES ANYWHERE AND
MATTER FROM SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS, IF USED, WILL BE
PAID FOR AT SPACE RATES. USUALLY PIANO MERCHANTS OR
SALESMEN IN THE SMALLER CITIES, ARE THE BEST OCCA-
SIONAL CORRESPONDENTS. AND THEIR ASSISTANCE IS INVITED.
ADVERTISING INFORMATION
Forms close promptly at noon every Thursday. News matter for
publication should be in not later than eleven o'clock on the same
day. Advertising copy should be in hand before Tuesday, five p. m.,
to insure preferred position. Full page display copy should be in
hand by Monday noon preceding publication day. Want advs. for cur-
rent week, to insure classification, must be at office of publication not
later than Wednesday noon.
FEARS COMPETITION
A piano manufacturer—one of the younger generation, whose
father established the business and then retired—said to a Presto
representative last week that he could not sell his instruments to the
trade because of competition. In other words the manufacturer felt
that he could not interest the dealers because he didn't have anything
sufficiently distinctive to induce buyers. It was his idea that to win
trade a piano must depend upon a single line of attraction based upon
price. He thinks that unless he can offer a lower price than other
manufacturers he can not win the dealers. Consequently not pos-
sessing the facilities for producing at lower cost than all the rest, he
shrinks from the kind of effort which is supposed to be "the life of
trade."
The attitude is one that doesn't fit into the ambitions and busi-
ness life of the times. It is behind the period and, like the man who
starts an enterprise with the conviction that he "can't do it," there is
failure ahead. No man can hope to progress by turning his face to
the rear. No piano industry can win in this day and generation, if the
management fears to enter the arena of competition. Less than all
can a manufacturer expect to grow and succeed if he can find no other
mark of favor than price, while still striving to create an instrument
of quality. The elements are in conflict. The essential factors are
lacking.
If any piano manufacturer who possesses any such ideas as keep
back ambition by fears of competition will look over the field, he
November 4, 1922.
will find that several of the most successful and progressive pianos
are being promoted and sold along lines diametrically opposed to any
such pessimistic vision as obsesses him. They are proclaiming their
instruments as "the most costly piano in the world," and the "most
valuable piano in the world," or some other slogan by which is clearly
implied the transcendency of merit over mere price. They do not
recognize what is commonly called "competition" at all. They find
ready sale because the dealers know them and know that the piano
buying public will buy them, because of the confidence of their makers,
and the evidence of merit in the instruments themselves, plus the fame
they have attained.
That is real piano value. There is all the proof required that it is
not cheapness that the piano lovers want. It is a fact, everywhere to
be seen, that even the people who have moderate buying capacity will
pay $600 or $800, or even $1,200, for a good instrument properly pre-
sented to their intelligence, rather than invest $300 or $500 for a
mediocre one. And the dealers are themselves piano buyers who pre-
fer the instruments whose names carry the confidence of their makers
and their pride of attainment.
A piano, to be worth while, must sell to the trade because it is
wanted; because the dealers recognize in it something they can handle
with profit, in both money and permanent satisfaction. We are not
now considering the so-called "stencil," or nameless, piano, but the
piano with a fixed and substantial home, and in which the established
trade sees selling power. Competition can not keep the right piano
that is forcefully promoted, from winning a demand. It is not com-
petition that kills. More often, that is a stimulant to trade and a
stepping stone to success.
The pianos that you see in the stores, that you see advertised by
the dealers in their local newspapers, are the pianos you find pro-
moted in your trade paper. They have been thoroughly introduced to
the dealers. They possess names, and the names are sustained by
their merits as musical instruments and as the products of live,
courageous and confident manufacturers who do not know the mean-
ing of doubt and will not recognize such a condition as defeat.
Any well-made piano can win a place in the legitimate trade
where a demand will be created, no less by merit than by self-interest.
No piano dealer can do business without pianos. What kind of a piano
manufacturer can it be who admits defeat because he fears competi-
tion while proclaiming his capacity to produce, and his faith in things
of his creation?
ANYTHING NEW?
A short time ago an article appeared in this paper in which Mr.
E. H. Story was quoted as having expressed surprise that there had
been no special improvement made in the piano in "two or three
decades." Upon second thought it must seem that Mr. Story was
very moderate in his measurement of time since any great advance
in piano construction has been developed. Of course in any
such consideration the player action must be eliminated, though even
that has come within the "three decades" period.
But what has been the marked advance in pianos within the time
referred to by Mr. Story? How does modern piano manufacture
compare, in this respect with the earlier, or ancient, days?
From the Pythagorean monochord to the clavichord, there had
lapsed nearly fifteen hundred years. But there had been other
stringed instruments in between. The*clavichord made great strides
until the 17th century, when it presented a highly artistic aspect and
possessed a "klangearbe," or tone-color, of remarkable beauty. It
had progressed steadily, and Bach employed it, as did also Mozart
and Beethoven, in their composing.
The spinet meantime had come and gone, and the virginal—
built much like the modern "inverted," or harp grands. And the
stately harpsichord, built like a dainty parlor grand of today, but
without the sonority of tone, and some of them possessing two key-
boards. And then, in 1711, came Christofori's piano, with the hammer
action, and fifty years later the square piano of Zumpe, with the upper
dampers and other modern features.
From that day forward the progress of the piano was in the line
of improvement rather than invention or revolution in type. When
Jonas Chickering produced his full iron plate, in 1837—fourteen years,
after the Boston piano first appeared—the instrument, as we have it
today, found its birth. And the effort, ever since, has been to en-
hance the volume of tone and to refine the external appearance of
the piano.
It was nearly forty years after Chickering's vital improvement
that the square piano gave away to the upright. And it took ten years
for the manufacturers to accept the change. They had worked so
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:

November 4, 1922.
PRESTO
long to bring- their squares to a place of approximate perfection that
the upright was not a welcome innovation. A few of the foremost
piano makers held out against the upright with a tenacity which
threatened to close their factories. But eventually the square died,
and the work of developing the upright absorbed all of the skilled
piano makers' energies.
Another quarter-century passed before the next vital advance in
the piano industry. For twenty years, or more, a few enthusiasts and
dreamers had been at work upon a "self-playing" piano. It finally
took shape, and the world listened, at first incredulously, to pianos that
performed accurately by mechanical means. And for a long time
they were, literally, mechanical pianos.
And then came the more perfect mechanism and the better music
rolls. Today the reproducing or "reenacting" piano, and the music
roll that records the color and the refinement of interpretative
pianism, are no longer rare, in the original sense.
But since the player-piano came, the evidence of creative power,
and the inventiveness of genius have been invested in the realms of
improvement rather than discovery. As Mr. Story said, there has
been nothing essentially new. The piano itself has not changed ma-
terially in "two or three decades." It is still the piano and it does not,
as a rule, surpass, as a piano, the instruments of "two or three
decades" ago. There are some exceptions, of course. It is possible
to name a few great pianos which, in beauty of tone and power
of exquisite expression, surpass anything to be had thirty years
ago, or less. There are pianos today, of great fame, which were lit-
tle known thirty years back. And there were pianos thirty years
ago, which commanded the highest praise, which are now no longer
in existence.
But what are the vital changes in the piano, as a piano? What
are the newcomers in the family of which Christofori is the accredited
first father? And what are the changes, the vital improvements, since
the days of Jonas Chickering? Pianos have vastly improved, of
course. But are there any basic changes which entitle any new in-
strument to be called the piano's rival or competitor?
We can name one invention of recent date, in which there seemed
to be the germ, at least, of a piano revolution. It was the "tunerless"
device of a scientific worker in a small New York town. But no one
seemed to want it. The piano was perhaps good enough already.
And, certainly, so far as concerns the qualities of some of them they
could scarcely be better—as pianos. And certainly there is no abso-
lutely new instrument in sight.
What Mr. C. E. Byrne says about the wisdom of "providing work
for the organization in dull times as insurance against shortage of
supplies in better times," seems to us to apply equally to the matter
of advertising. There are manufacturers who will not promote their
business when times are dull, because times are dull; and they do not
feel the need of promotion-investment when times are good, because
times are good. That sort of outlook and argument is of the ostrich
order of intelligence. That the other way is the correct one, is shown
by what Mr. Byrne says on another page this week illuminated by a
mighty good story.
In a short interview with Mr. L. M. Newman, of the Newman
Bros. Co., Chicago, which appears in this issue of Presto, that gentle-
NEW MACHINES HELP FILL
NEWMAN BROS. PIANO ORDERS
Improved Machinery in Several Departments of Fac-
tory to Increase Production at Once.
New machinery and equipment which has been
added to the plant of the Newman Bros. Co., Chi-
cago, is bringing a much needed increase in the pro-
duction of the pianos of that fine industry, to meet
the growing demand.
New machines have been installed in the player, re-
producing, and grand piano departments of the New-
man factory, and are now in operation. Their effect
on the production will be noticeable immediately.
The machines put in are all of modern type, some
being made especially to the order of the Newman
Bros. Co., which is always on the lookout for im-
provements in its manufacturing methods, especially
such changes as will improve the quality of the prod-
uct, and enable the factory to turn out more instru-
ments.
The reports from dealers to the Newman company
are encouraging and point to a very promising fall
man says something peculiarly timely and useful to the retailers.
"To play too conservatively just now," says Mr. Newman, "places
the merchant in danger that he will soon find himself short of goods."
That is absolutely true. This is a good time to let the manufacturers
know what you want, or are going to want in the near future. Co-
operate with the sources of your supplies and you will profit by it.
*
*
*
Does it ever seem that there can be too much music for the good
of the music business—we mean of the musical instrument selling
end of it? Is it possible that too much "thought of music" may result
in a surfeit of the best thing in the world, and draw the people who
should make music at home and need pianos with which to make it.
Hearing music in concert halls is not all that the music business re-
quires. "Give a Little More Thought to Buying Pianos," might be
a better slogan. •
* * *
What Mr. Chas. E. Byrne says, this issue of Presto, on the sub-
ject of labor shortage, must interest every piano manufacturer and
most of the dealers, also. It is not the view taken by some other
manufacturers, but Mr. Byrne, as an executive in one of the largest
industries- engaged in making pianos, must know what he is talking
about. And certainly he has the ability to give expression to clearly
defined opinions, based upon unchallengable observation.
*
*
*
The Princetons were not the only winners at the recent great
football game in Chicago, stories of which have filled the newspa-
pers. The biggest bass drum in the world was there, also. And the
Chicago University Band was radiant and splendid with its full equip-
ment of instruments of the C. G. Conn, Inc., manufacture. And when
the band played it was a splendid sight and sound. See item in Week's
Odds and Ends.
* * *
If there is a piano shortage at this time, when the demand is
rapidly rising, what is to blame for such a condition? The dealers
want pianos. Several have said, in Presto's office, that they had been
"turned down" by large and representative industries. Why? Make
more pianos, and in that fulfill the injunction to "make hay while the
sun shines."
•
* * *
The holiday outlook is good. New York authorities say that a
better class of buying will be done this season than before; that the
larger and higher priced gifts will be more frequent. That must
mean that pianos will go as Christmas gifts. Which must interest the
piano salesmen.
* * *
Persistency is essential in the successful piano salesman. This
quality may seem to force business but, to win, the piano business
often needs forcing. People who want pianos are often the very
ones who do not seem to know it.
* * *
It is time to begin to talk about the holiday trade. There will
be many pianos sold for Christmas gifts this year. Trade experts
say that better gifts will prevail this season. And pianos are of the
better gifts kind.
and winter business, L. M. Newman, president of the
company, stated this week.
"Our pianos are going fast, and we are getting
away from the depression of bad times," Mr. New-
man said. "The thing for music merchants to do
now is to forget that there has ever been any bad
times. If not he will lose many orders he should
have. To play too conservative now places the mer-
chant in danger that he will soon find himself short
of goods."
The different types of pianos made in the Newman
Bros. Co.'s factory are all enjoying good sales, es-
pecially the reproducing player piano on which much
emphasis is now being given. The company has also
developed a reproducing grand, and finds that orders
for it are coming so fast that they are hard to meet.
REVIEWS CHICAGO TRADE,
Dun's review of Chicago trade last week said: Re-
tail distribution of merchandise has been on a some-
what larger scale this week. Wholesale business also
shows improvement, although still a little behind that
of the corresponding time last year. An increased
number of country merchants are in the city markets.
Collections are satisfactory.
BIG ROLL STOCK LOST
WHEN BUILDING BURNS
In Recent Disastrous Fire the Premier Music Roll
Co., San Francisco, Suffers.
The loss of the Premier Music Roll Co., San Fran-
cisco, in the recent fire which destroyed the Inde-
pendent Film Exchange Building, is more serious
than at first reported. Now it is estimated that up-
wards of 15,000 rolls were consumed in the fire as
well as the books of the company, playerpianos used
in demonstration and office fixtures.
Since the day following the fire the company has
been in temporary quarters at 191 Golden Gate Av-
enue and doing business along the old lines. A big
part of its rental business is with moving picture
theaters and the 3,000 rolls in circulation are about
the only rolls remaining from the original big stock.
The stock has been renewed and business is said to
be proceeding as usual. Next week it is said new
permanent quarters will be occupied at 177 Golden
Gate avenue.
All the leading piano houses in Seattle are mem-
bers of the Seattle Better Business Bureau.
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

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.