Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1923 1912

PRESTO
March 17, 1923
ManyaDealer
Is Finding
Real
Actual
J. ANDERSON NOW WITH
THE CHICKERINQ FACTORY
Famous Expert Accepts Responsible Position
in the Producing Departments of the Fa-
mous Old Boston Industry.
The Chickering Division of the American Piano
Co. has secured the expert services of John Anderson,
one of the most distinguished acousticians and piano
makers in the country. Mr. Anderson perfectly fits
into such an organization as that of the great indus-
try founded by Jonas Chickering just one hundred
Prosperity
And
Financial
Independence
With The
SEEBURG
The Nationally
Known Line.
Write Us Today
I. P. SEEBURG PIANO CO
Leaders in the Automatic Field
1510-1516 Dayton Street
CHICAGO
When completed the Reading warerooms of the
F. A. North Co., and the Lester line of instruments,
will have one of the handsomest and most spacious
establishments in Pennsylvania outside of Philadel-
phia.
PREMIER GRAND PIANO
CORPORATION DOUBLES CAPITAL
Industry Which Makes Little Grands Becomes One
of the Great Piano Producers.
Among the enlargements in the New York indus-
tries which must interest the piano trade everywhere,
is that of the Premier Grand Piano Corporation,
which has increased its capital from $500,000 to
$1,000,000, or just double.
The growth of this great industry has been one
of the marvels of the piano business. Although one
of the comparatively new industries, the skill and ex-
perience of the organizers and control insured suc-
cess from the beginning. After perfecting the scale
and the equipment of the factory on Twenty-third
street. New York, President Walter C. Hepperla,
and his associates began to create for the Premier
Grand a place with trade and public which brought
returns to the retailers promptly. Today the demand
for the beautiful little instruments is general through-
out the country, and many piano houses are realizing
large returns from its sale.
With a million capital, a perfect equipment for
large production, and a reputation established, the
future of the Premier Grand Piano Corporation is
certain, and the trade is equally certain to profit
by it.
REPRESENTATIVE OF BIG
MISSOURI FIRM IN CHICAGO
C. G. Martin, of Martin Bros. Piano Co., Spring-
field, Tells of Expectations in Ozarks.
JOHN ANDERSON.
years ago. It is modern skill and modern methods
directing the mechanical and productive progress of
the Chickering & Sons factory.
There are many in the trade who will find cause
for congratulation in the engagement of Mr. Ander-
son. It testifies to the continued determination of
the Chickering Division of the American Piano Co.
to maintain the place so long held among the artistic
industries of the world.
Next month Chickering & Sons will celebrate the
one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the fine
old Boston industry. It is expected that the occa-
sion will stir very great interest in the piano trade
and musical world in general. And it seems pecu-
liarly appropriate that at such a time the announce-
ment of John Anderson's entrance upon the scenes of
so long and continuous effort to advance the Ameri-
can piano should be made.
EXPANDED WARER00MS FOR
LESTER PIANOS AT READING
F. A. North Co., of Philadelphia, Has Purchased En-
tire Building in Pennsylvania City.
For quiet, progressive and "splurgeless" enterprise
the Lester Piano Co. of Philadelphia, sets a fine ex-
ample. Very few piano industries have moved for-
ward as surely and sbstantially as the Lester. With
no boasting, the Philadelphia industry has steadily
developed not only a great industry but also a strong
chain of branch establishments especially throughout
the east.
From Reading, Pa., comes the latest evidence of
Lester enterprise in the report of the transfer of the
four-story brick building at 13 North Fifth street, to
George Miller, of Philadelphia. The price paid was
$41,000.
Mr. Miller has purchased the property for the F. A.
North Co., piano dealers at 15 North Fifth street, of
which he is the president. He is also the secretary-
treasurer of the Lester Piano Co., the manufacturers
of the instrument sold at the F. A. North Co. store.
The property purchased has a frontage on Fifth
street of 16.75 feet and a depth of 88.8 feet. It is a
four-story brick structure and the entire building will
be occupied by the F. A. North Co. when extensive
alterations, now under way, have been completed.
A new front, the installation of an elevator and
complete remodeling of the interior to make it suit-
able for the sale of pianos and phonographs, are in-
cluded in the remodeling plans of the F. A. North
Co. May 1 is fixed as the date for occupancy by the
new owner.
C. G. Martin, piano dealer of Springfield, Mo., was
a purchaser calling on piano manufacturers in Chi-
cago last week. Mr. Martin is a member of the Mar-
tin Bros. Piano Co., a leading piano and general
music company of Springfield. The first two months
of the year and half of the third have passed with a
record of unprecedented business activity, Mr. Martin
declared. The orders for pianos are still indicative of
unusually good business in Springfield.
The piano trucks of the Martin Bros. Piano Co.,
are now familiar to Missourians in a great selling
territory established by the aggressive Springfield
house. In several of the larger cities in the south-
west section are branches of the company and
everywhere the salesmen are known to be represen-
tatives of a square deal firm. The latest branch es-
tablished by the Martin Bros. Piano Co., was in Jef-
ferson City a few weeks ago. In a fine store in the
state capital the full line of pianos and players which
the Springfield company represents, is shown to great
advantage.
Everything promises well for an excellent spring
and summer business in pianos and players in that
picturesque part of the Ozark country of which
Springfield is the center, according to Mr. Martin.
''Our famous scenery is only a beautiful setting for
such busy industries as fruit growing, cattle raising,
lead and zinc mining and fruit and vegetable can-
ning," said Mr. Martin. "Climate and soil favor the
crops and the resultant prosperity of the farmers and
fruit orchard owners conduces to the cultural
prompting to buy pianos and playerpianos."
EMPLOYES HOLD ELECTION.
Business and pleasure were combined in the annual
meeting of the Employes' Association of Sherman,
Clay & Co., San Francisco, held recently at Sorosis
Hall, San Francisco. A dance followed the reading
of the annual reports and the annual election. New
directors chosen were: R. C. F. Ahlf, H. P. Andre-
sen, Charles Moore, Charles Kinsel, Fred Reed, J. B.
McElroy, Edna Ireland, Cassie Moore and Ethel Wil-
liams. The new officers elected were: President,
Edna Ireland; vice president, H. P. Andrcsen; re-
cording secretary, Ethel Williams; corresponding
secretary, Cassie Moore, and treasurer, J. B. Mc-
Elroy.
O. A. FIELD CHAIRMAN.
O. A. Field, president of the Field-Lippman Piano
Co., St. Louis, and former president of the National
Association of Music Merchants, is one of the most
prominent Rotarians of that city. In view of his
energetic qualities Mr. Field has been made chairman
of the musical program committee of the annual
convention of Rotary Clubs to be held in St. Louis in
June. His associates are now assured of a big and
original program of music.
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/
PRESTO
10
HISTORIC ACCURACY IN
FAMOUS ADVERTISEMENT
Copy-Writer for Chase Brothers Pianos Was
Correct in His Reference to Barbara
Frietchie and the Frederick Incident.
The versatility of the advertising experts often
enlarges educational opportunities and adds piquancy
to history. A fine illustration came to notice when
the Chase-Hackley Piano Co. began a series of page
displays in the trade papers, two years ago. At that
time the advertising copy-writer for the old piano
industry at Muskegon, Michigan, introduced one of
the historical incidents of the Civil War with which
to give emphasis to the length of time in which the
Chase Brothers pianos has been before the trade and
public. The line employed was:
"Famous Since the Days of Barbara Frietchie."
A well drawn sketch of the incident upon which
the line was based accompanied the advertisement,
showing the grey column of Stonewall Jackson halt-
ing before the house of the white-haired patriot in
Frederick, Maryland. The lines from Whittier's
poem appeared beneath the cut:
"Who harms a hair t of yon grey head
Dies like a dog! March on, he said."
According to Whittier those were the words of
Stonewall Jackson on that day when "foot and hoof"
marched into the town, and the confederate general
saw Old Glory floating from the heroine's attic win-
dow.
The advertisement had scarcely appeared when
Presto received a letter in which was repeated the
old charge that there never had been any Barbara
Frietchie, that she was a myth, and that the Stone-
wall Jackson incident was but a poetic fancy of the
Quaker poet. And since then there has been a good
deal of discussion of the same subject, until an east-
ern newspaper decided to settle the question and
sought for living proof that Barbara Frietchie and
her flag actually defied the hosts in that grey spring
morning of 1862. Several accounts of the event ap-
peared, but they, too, were disputed until a corre-
spondent of the New York Times wrote that he had
happened to meet a Dr. Wagner, in Ohio, who de-
clared he had met a citizen of Frederick who knew
Barbara Frietchie personally. Recalling the discus-
sion started in the piano trade by the Chase Brothers'
advertising, Presto wrote to the Ohio doctor and, in
reply, received the following courteous communica-
tion. It will no doubt be read with interest, and it
adds affirmation to historians who have contended,
with Whittier himself, that the fine old Civil War
poem was founded upon actualities:
"Galion, Ohio, March 8, 1923.
"Editor Presto: I do not think there is any doubt
about there having been a lady by the name of Bar-
bara Frietchie, who lived in Frederick, Md. I was
born and raised in a small town called Woodsboro,
eleven miles north of Frederick and twenty-eight
miles from Gettysburg.
"I had two brothers in the Union army, and I was
left to care for my aged parents, my father being an
invalid. August following the close of the war, in
1865, I came to Galion to practice my profession.
"I knew nothing of Barbara Frietchie until I read
of her fame and the poem. Several years after I
had located in Galion, I visited my old home and
determined to learn something about Barbara
Frietchie. I visited an uncle living in Frederick and
learned from him there was such a person living in
Frederick. She lived on West Patrick street. I
walked out West Patrick street, met a man and in-
quired for her house. He pointed to a two-story
brick house on the south side of the street and said,
'There is where she lived.' Said she was a relative
of his and he called her Aunt Barbara. He did not
know as to her having a flag.
"Very respectfully,
"SAMUEL WAGNER."
March 17, 1923
PRIMA DONNA SOPRANO
PRAISES STEQER PIANO
"Beautiful Steger Tone an Inspiration," Says
Hazel Eden, Leading Artist of the Chi-
cago Civic Opera Company.
The name of Hazel Eden is the latest addition to
the constantly growing list of leading artists who
have recognized the fine musical qualities of the cele-
brated Steger piano.
LITTLE GIRL IN Q R. S.
NATIONAL ADVERTISING
With a Smile She Tells the World That Q R S
Player Rolls Are "Better."
The Q R S little girl appearing in the Century
Magazine, Harper's Monthly, World's Work, Atlantic
Monthly, Review of Reviews, Scribner's for April
is some talker. She will tell over fifty million people
that Q R S Music Co.'s player rolls are better be-
cause they possess human interest and human music.
She will literally "sell the world." All of these
magazines are on sale about March 20. To much of
the effect of the Q R S Music Co.'s "little girl" will
be felt this month.
The Q R S Music Co. has increased its national
advertising about five hundred per cent. "We will
continue to make a music roll worth $1.25, and hope
that you can see the advantage direct and indirect
of selling a fine music roll," is the greeting sent to
dealers this week.
Two fine numbers which are selling big and the
demand for both growing are No. 2095—"Lost a
Wonderful Girl" and 2100—"When the Leaves Come
Tumbling Down."
AIM TO PRESENT FULL
PIANO LINE TO BUYER
Prominent Music House of Columbus, Ohio, Makes
Service the Paramount Consideration.
Heaton's Music Store, one of the most outstanding
music establishments of Columbus, Ohio, is making
every effort to give service to the buyer in order to
make the present activity of business endure, accord-
ing to Mr. and Mrs. Wert Heaton, who were in Chi-
cago this week. Mr. and Mrs. Heaton selected a
number of new styles of different makes of pianos,
for shipment to take place in the stock of the store.
The Heaton music store intends to give the pur-
chaser a complete line of high class instruments from
which to make a selection. The company is the rep-
resentative for leading manufacturers of the east
and the middle west, and fulfills this purpose in a
very satisfactory manner. Mr. and Mrs. Heaton
spent two days visiting Chicago wholesalers, and re-
turned to the management of the business.
New and larger quarters have been leased by the
Kearny Piano Co., Houston, Tex.
A Valuable Agency
HAZEL. EDEN.
In expressing her appreciation of the Steger's musi-
cal excellence, Miss Eden writes:
"My admiration for the artistic Steger piano reflects
the great pleasure this superb instrument has af-
forded me.
"The beautiful Steger tone is an inspiration.
"I have yet to find a piano which equals the Steger
in its perfect sustaining qualities and exceptional
beauty, brilliancy and resonance of tone. For voice
work it is ideal."
Miss Eden, who was formerly with the Boston
English Opera Company, the Los Angeles Opera
Company and soloist with the St. Louis and Denver
Symphony Orchestras, is now making a concert tour
of the United States and Canada.
The LEADING LINE
WEAVER PIANOS
Or and s. Uprights and Player*
Finest and most artistic
piano in design, tone and
construction that can be
made.
YORK P I A N O S
UNSURPASSED IN TONE and GENERAL
CONSTRUCTION and UNEQUALED IN PRICE,
make the JESSE FRENCH & SONS line of pianos
the MOST ATTRACTIVE AGENCY ON THE
MARKET, INVESTIGATE THIS CLAIM and
you will readily agree to its correctness*
STYLE G
Send Today for Catalog and Prices in Unoccupied Territory
JESSE FRENCH & SONS PIANO CO.
NEW CASTLE, INDIANA
A QUALITY PRODUCT
FOR OVER
QUARTER OFA CENTURY
POOLE
^BOSTON—
Uprights and Player Pianos
A high grade piaco of great
value and with charming tone quality.
Livingston Pianos— Uprights and Player Pianos
A popular piano at a popular price.
Over 70.000 instruments made by this company v e sine-
ing their own praises in all parts of trie civilized wOrla.
Write for talogues and state on what tegtns you wouU
V« "ill ifi&ke you • proposition ttfim «rs
like to dbal « o4 V
rrit
located in otfS Q territory.
Factory: YORK, PV.
WEAVER PIANO CO., Inc.
Established 1W0
GRAND AND UPRIGHT PIANOS
AND
PLAYER PIANOS
Inc.l9lf|l
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 9: PDF File | Image

Download Page 10 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.