Presto

Issue: 1923 1908

PRESTO
10
NEW CATALOGUE OF THE
JESSE FRENCH & SONS
Unique and Forceful Booklet of the Instru-
ments from New Castle, Indiana, Will Be
Help to Salesmen.
A remarkably well-arranged and attractive new
catalogue of the Jesse French & Sons Piano Co. has
appeared. It is of liberal proportions' and is printed
in two colors and bound in heavy art paper, with
illuminated title page. From the frontispiece, which
presents a fine half-tone portrait of President Jesse
French, to the last page, which has an accurate photo-
JESSB FRENCH.
yraph of the great factory at New Castle, Indiana,
this book will be useful to all dealers in the instru-
ments described, and especially to salesmen.
The introductory is a brief sketch of the organiza-
tion of one of America's great industries, which reads
as follows:
Mr. Jesse French, the active president, has been
well known in the piano business since 1875. The
other officers have'spent their entire business lives
in the piano trade, and all are known as men who
have made pianoforte history.
From the beginning our slogan has been "Quality
First—First Quality." This principle has been
strictly maintained in every branch of the huge indus-
try, until today there is no better known piano among
the real musicians of the country than Jesse French
& Sons.
With a scientific knowledge of the laws of accous-
tics, we have been able to evolve a pianoforte that
makes a most enthusiastic appeal to the highly trained
and cultured ear of the skilled musician.
The workmanship embodied in the Jesse French &
Sons pianos represents the efforts of the most skilled
pianoforte craftsmen. Every man is a master of his
bench, and none but the highly efficient are employed.
The materials throughout are of the highest quality,
and the method of construction is according to the
most modern principles governing pianoforte building.
The success of Jesse French & Sons pianos is with-
out parallel. They are universally acknowledged as
among the world's most artistic pianos. This recog-
nition has come entirely because of the quality. The
many expressions of enthusiasm we have received
from distinguished musicians have been spontaneous,
and prompted only by a spirit of genuine apprecia-
tion, for there has grown up in the minds of musi-
cians the realization that the qualities of the Jesse
French & Sons instruments express the perfection
of piano art.
A page is devoted to a description of the materials
used in the Jesse French instruments, followed by a
full-page half-tone of the upright scale, and fully
strung. The player action is illustrated, showing the
construction in detail, and then a full page devoted to
a description of the improved "dulcet-tone," which
has excited keen interest in the trade. Here are
extracts:
The meaning of "dulcet tone" and the purpose of
this new device in the new Jesse French & Sons
pianos are well known to dealers representing the
Jesse French & Sons Piano Co., New Castle, Indiana,
and excite the keenest interest in the trade at large.
The Jesse French & Sons Dulcet-Tone Pedal is a
series of mutes operating between the unisons, which
leaves the center string free to produce the purest
"una corde" tone, but its modification by the two
muted strings is so pronounced that the tone quality
is materially altered.
The resulting tone is exactly as the name implies—
soft and sweet. This Dulcet-Tone is subject to the
same variations and tone colorings by varying styles
of attack and grades of dynamics as is the normal
piano tone. It is readily seen that the present range
of tone coloring is thereby practically doubled.
The new invention produces a tone of the greatest
purity, as well as of a peculiarly sweet quality; this
effect being as pronounced and pleasing in an upright
as in a grand. The Dulcet-Tone is a pure, single-
string tone, so modified as to give a singing tone as
low as a whisper, becoming of a genuine harp quality
under greater pressure, and a veritable pizzicato
under short sharp attack without sustaining pedal.
There are illustrations of six of the handsome styles
of Jesse French upright pianos and players, followed
by the two grands, Styles SG and G. These style
cuts are fully described. There are also twelve pages
crowded with names of public institutions which are
using Jesse French & Sons pianos, together with
groups of -schools, and other buildings in which the
same instruments are to be found. This feature of
the new catalogue affords powerful influence in the
sale of the instruments from New Castle, for it is a
remarkably conclusive exhibit. There are also 25 en-
thusiastic commendations of Jesse French pianos by
distinguished musicians and pianists.
Altogether this new Jesse French & Sons Piano
Co. catalogue is one in which lovers of good instru-
ments, and especially representatives of the admirable
line to which it is devoted, will find conclusive argu-
ments and instructive piano information.
FEATURES SEEBURG AUTOMATICS.
The Leathurby Co., 183 Golden Gate avenue, San
Francisco, of which George H. Leathurby is head, is
prominently featuring the nationally known line of
automatic instruments made by the J. P. Seeburg
Piano Co., 1510-1516 Dayton street, Chicago. Mr.
Leathurby long ago realized the big opportunity for
dealers in the automatic piano and immediately set
about making it a prominent feature of his business.
STEGER IN DENVER.
The Darrow Music Co., Denver, Cal., is specially
featuring the Steger & Sons playerpiano, a carload of
which was received last week by the company. The
dealers' aids so generously supplied to the trade by
the Steger & Sons Piano Mfg. Co., Chicago, are
made excellent use of by the progressive Denver
firm.
A Valuable Agency
UNSURPASSED IN TONE and GENERAL
CONSTRUCTION and UNEQUALED IN PRICE,
make the JESSE FRENCH & SONS line of pianos
STYLE G
February 17, 1923
FAVOR PERIOD MODELS IN
PIANOS AND PHONOGRAPHS
In Them Veteran Dealers See the Natural Supply of
an Obvious Want.
One strong feature of the music business at the
present time is the favor for the period styles in cab-
inets. The demand for the period models has been
growing with marked persistence for the past two
years and the extent of the calls for the period models
during 1922 convinced dealers, jobbers and manufac-
turers of their importance in the scheme of things.
The observant ones in the trade see in the favor for
the period models only a natural evolution. That the
period models should be sought by tasteful people
was early anticipated by the furniture men handling
lines of talking machines. The phonograph customer
now realizes that he can have the best in musical
reproduction combined with a beautiful piece of furni-
ture which will fit in any decorative scheme.
The production of handsome, artistic models in
talking machines has given a greater impetus to the
phonograph trade than the dealers realize. The family
owning a suite of period furniture readily sees an ex-
cuse for buying a phonograph which follows the style
of the other contents of the living room. In this way
the talking machine salesmen have something more
than the phonograph's tone for a talking point.
That the period models were not introduced long
before they made their appearance is now a surprise
to many dealers. It used to be a common experience
with dealers to hear tasteful customers complain
about the harsh note the old cabinets made in rooms
furnished after a particular style. Then it was not
an uncommon thing for customers to engage a cab-
inet maker to put the tone arm and motor in another
cabinet more in accordance with the furniture models
in the home. The veteran talking machine dealer sees
in the period phonograph the supply of a real want.
CABLE "MIDGET" FOR SCHOOL.
The South School, of Stormlake, has purchased a
Midget Cable piano of Albert Morse, local dealer,
and it is now installed at the school building. The
piano stands only 44 inches high and is easily moved
from room to room. The teachers at the school
building are paying for it by a series of entertain-
ments—a good plan for schools in the smaller
communities.
TO MOVE APRIL 1.
Greater facilities for doing business will be enjoyed
by the A. B. Smith Piano Co., Akron, O., in the new
building to be occupied by the company April 1.
The building is the property of the company, but
has been leased to another concern. The location at
South Main and Exchange streets is considered very
desirable for a music business.
ADD LINKS TO CHAIN.
The Riddle Phonograph Co., 1205 Elm street, Dal-
las, Tex., was recently bought by the Collins-Decker
Co., Inc.. and the Dallas store was made one of a
chain of stores conducted by the purchasers in the
state of Texas, with headquarters in Greenville. The
manager of the new Dallas link is J. S. Frank.
NEW DETROIT DEALER.
Paul Schilling has opened a piano department for
the Leonard Furniture Co., at Woodward and Mont-,
calm streets, Detroit, Mich. He will handle the A. B.
Chase, Emerson and Lindemann pianos. Elaborate
plans are under way for the exploitation of this line
by the new music department.
The LEADING LINE
WEAVER PIANOS
Qrands, Upright* and Players
Finest and most artistic
piano in design, tone a~nd
construction that can be
made.
YORK PIANOS
Uprights and Player Pianos
the MOST ATTRACTIVE AGENCY ON THE
MARKET. INVESTIGATE THIS CLAIM and
you will readily agree to its correctness*
A high grade jpiaoo of great
value and with charming tone quality.
Livingston Pianos— Uprights and Player Pianos
A popular piano at a popular price.
Send Today for Catalog and Prices in Unoccupied Territory
Over 70,000 instruments made by this company s/e stag-
ing their own praises in all parts of the civilised uttrldT
Write for catalogues and state on w h e t t e e m s m i o i U
like todeaL and TO ma make 70a a proposition afm are
located toOpTSir territory.
WEAVER PIANO CO, lac
Factory: YORK, P \
Established MM
JESSE FRENCH & SONS PIANO CO.
NEW CASTLE, INDIANA
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/
February 17, 1923
11
PRESTO
STORY & CLARK IN
NATIONAL ADVERTISING
John R. Bailey in Story Book Tells How Com-
pany Fulfills Rigid Requirements of
Leading Magazines.
In an entertaining artic4a»don the requirement of the
leading national magazines in advertising as well as
stories and articles, John R. Bailey tells some en-
lightening facts in the February number of the Story
Book, published by the Story & Clark Piano Co.,
Chicago.
"The publishers of all magazines keep in mind that
to please their particular clientele, it is necessary for
them to print the truth in their advertising as well as
in their editorial matter. And these various pub-
lishers will not accept merely for the sake of getting
the business, but they make a thorough investigation
as to the quality of the product and what the manu-
facturers have to say for it," says Mr. Bailey. Con-
tinuing, Mr. Bailey writes:
In all my experience as an advertising man never
have I seen a company more jealous of guarding the
quality of its products and the truth that is printed
about them than Story & Clark.
Never have I seen a concern whose views are so
far-seeing, or who look farther into the future than
Story & Clark. I have visited several piano factories
in the last year, and there is not one of them that
takes greater pride in producing instruments of the
very best materials as carefully as they can be made.
The ownership of this company is vested in the
Story family. For several generations this good name
and its high traditions of piano manufacture have
been handed down to members of the family who in
The Good Old
SMITH A NIXON
CINCINNATI
Pianos and Player Pianos
Better than ever, with the same
"Grand Tone In Upright Case."
Grands and Players that every deal-
er likes to sell, for Satisfaction and
Profit.
Smith & Nixon Piano Co.
1229 Miller St., Chicago
turn have cherished and prolonged the good name of
Story by building high quality instruments.
This brings to my mind an interesting fact. _ How
many manufacturers today manufacture the instru-
ments which bear their own names? Very, very
few! The names of the old master builders of pianos
still linger on, but the master builders are long a part
of the dead past. Their companies have been ab-
sorbed by other companies—outsiders—men who can-
not take the same deep interest in the instrument and
its production as they would, did it bear their names.
With Story & Clark there are no outsiders. The
Storys of today are building for the future—and for
the Storys of the future who will then inherit the
business. Their business today cannot but be part
of the business of ten, twenty, thirty years hence!
GEORGE H. MAXON DIES
IN PORT HURON, MICH.
Manager of Bush & Lane Piano Co.'s Branch Suc-
cumbs to Pneumonia.
George Hedly Maxon, 43, for eight years manager
of the Port Huron, Mich., branch of the Bush & Lane
Piano Co., died last week, after a week's illness from
pneumonia.
During his eight years residence in Port Huron Mr.
Maxon won many friendships in business, social and
fraternal circles. He was one of the charter mem-
bers of the Kiwanis Club. Mr. Maxon went to Port
Huron from Seattle, Washington, to take charge of
the local branch of the Bush & Lane Piano Co.
Mr. Maxon was prominently identified with the
music circles of the city, and was a member of the
First M. E. Church Choir. He leaves a widow; one
son, Arthur; a daughter, Jeanne Shirley; his mother,
Mrs. Jane Maxon, and four brothers.
Funeral services were held at his home, 911 Court
street, and his associates in the Bush & Lane Piano
Co. officiated as pallbearers.
W. R. POWELL OF POLK'S SCHOOL.
Willard R. Powell, secretary and treasurer of
Polk's School of Piano Tuning, of Valparaiso, Ind.,
was in Chicago last Saturday. He said to a Presto
representative that the well established old institution
is doing a large business this season. As many as
eighteen pupils recently arrived in Valparaiso within
a week's time. The oldest of all piano tuning schools,
and the most thoroughly equipped, Polk's draws its
pupils from all over the country—in fact, pupils
come from nearly all over the world.
CHANGE IN NEW ORLEANS.
D. J. Tremblay, who recently purchased a con-
trolling interest in the Collins Piano Co., New Or-
leans, La., has reorganized and incorporated the
business. Mr. Tremblay is president, E. W. Wilson,
vice-president, and Mrs. B. J. Tremblay, secretary
and treasurer.
Pianos, players, talking machines,
rolls and records are handled.
M. SCHULZ CO.'S BOOK FOR
TUNER AND REPAIRMAN
New Pocket-Size Manual Solves Every Problem
That May Confront the Repair Force.
The Tuner's and Repairman's Manual, recently
published by the M. Schulz Co., Chicago, is an in-
valuable mine of information for the fortunate people
for whom it was compiled. It is pocket size, cleanly
printed and well supplied with illustrations of various
parts in the piano and playerpiano action.
Equipped with the manual, solution of problems
in repairing becomes easier for the repairman any-
where. The book is the work of an expert who is
cleverly able to describe the processes in plain and
simple terms and avoids the use of technical terms
except where necessity demands them.
The table of contents is a key to the solution of
every problem and the clearing up of every situation
that may arise in the tuner's or repairman's experi-
ences. There is also a chapter which the salesman
might read with advantage to himself and the player-
pianos he subsequently may sell. "What to Tell the
Owner of a Playerpiano" is full of the kind of wis-
dom that makes the piano business a pleasanter
career for those who possess it.
R. R. HARRIS IN DENVER.
R. R. Harris, manager of the Chicago office of the
Henry G. Johnson Piano Mfg. Co., is out of the
office for about two weeks, representing the company
in Denver, Colo. The Johnson company reports
continual business and heavy ordering.
Our Motto: "He prof its most who Mires
best."
CHAFF BROS.
Pianos and Player-Pianos
tand for
atisfaction and
ervice
Made under a guarantee that
is backed by fifty-two years
of success and satisfaction.
Schafi Bros, instruments are
safe for the dealer to sell
and for the customer to boy*
TheSCHAFFBROS.Co.
WEBSTER PIANOS
Huntington, Ind.
Noted for Their Musical Beauty
of Tone and Artistic Style
ATTRACTIVE
PRICES
Factory
,
Executive Offices
Leominster,
138th St. and Walton Ave.
Mass.
New York
Division W. P. HAINES & CO., Inc.
STRICH & ZEIDLER, Inc.
GRAND, UPRIGHT and PLAYER
AND
HOMER PIANOS
740-742 East 136th Street
NEW YORK
GRAND-PIANO
M InehM Lonft
John McCormack
TIM bMt nptmimt of the present Baby Grand A«a.
Ite t o o * — » linM—ita restricted tpac* requirement and
attraethre prfc*—
MAKE IT THE PREMIER AGENCY
Gat full details of tfiU valuable telling franchise NOW.
Premier Grand Piano Corporation
Large* Institution in the World Building Grand
Pianos Exclusively
JUSTUS HATTBMBft
HBT1WU
WU
VfcFi
W
510-532 West /3rd Street
-,y; ; HEW YORK
The Lyon & Healy
Reproducing Piano
A moderate priced reproducing piano,
beautiful in design and rich in tone.
Write for otir new. explanatory Chart,
the most -complete- and simple treat-
ment of the reproducing action.
Wabash at Jackson - - - Chicago
f a m o u s t e n o r , says*
"The MIessner Piano certainly fills a long-felt want, the
want of a small piano with a splendid action and lovely tone"
Write Today for Miettner catalogue, price* and fall
information
^MIESSNER
The Little Piano With the Big Tone
MIESSNER PIANO CO.
General Offices & Factory, 126 Reed St.
MILWAUKEE, WIS.
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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