Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1923 1918

PRESTO
The American Music Trade Weekly
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 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 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-
vtted and when accepted will be paid for. All communications should be addressed to
Presto Publishing Co., 407 So. Dearborn Street. Chicago, III.
SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 1923
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.
A LOST PIANO CENTER
With the departure for a new and more splendid establishment
of Steinway & Sons, the one-time greatest of New York's piano
centers will reach the end of its fast fading glory in matters musical.
There was a time when no piano man thought of visiting New York
without descending the elevated stairs at Fourteenth street. A good
share of the most distinguished of the world's piano industries had
their headquarters within a radius of four or five blocks from Union
Square, and the popular hotels of the metropolis, where the piano
men were wont to gather, were in that vicinity. It was the very
heart of the nation's musical life.
But how changed today. The beautiful, if inadequate Steinway
Hall, at Fourteenth street and Fourth avenue, is the last of the piano
houses and music centers of New York's old-time cluster of famous
mid-city headquarters. When it was built Union Square was "fenced
in" by tall, spear-like pickets* with gates at the four sides. Opposite
the south gate was the Morton House of later days; on the east
the Union Square Hotel was for years the piano men's meeting
place, and other popular resorts and gathering places were on all
sides.
Within the recollection of many piano men, still active in the
business, Steinway Hall has had for its neighbors the Sohmer fac-
tory, at the Third avenue corner, Decker Bros., Mason & Hamlin,
Lighte & Ernst, Paul G. Mehlin & Sons, George Steck & Co., Kra-
kauer Bros., Weber Piano Co., Hazelton Bros., F. G. Smith and the
April 28, 1923
"Bradbury"; and a number of others—all within a block or two.
The Broadway side of Union Square presented a good deal the same
piano store aspect as Wabash avenue, Chicago, between Jackson
boulevard and Van Buren street.
And through the years the stately Steinway Hall has stood as the
very heart of the musical metropolis. Within its walls have been
heard the first American performances of a very large proportion of
the pianists who have won fame and passed out, or are still with
us. The list of names of the artists who have started their careers
from the white marble piano house on Fourteenth street would fill
a page in Presto. And it would be a page to reflect the glory which
music, and the piano, alone can suggest. Through the sturdy doors
of Steinway Hall have passed every musician of note that has visited
this country, and native pianists of ambition would.no more think
of visiting New York without going to Steinway H"aH"thaiv'an art
student in Paris would miss the Louvre.
In this progressive age, and in a great city like New York, the
change from one location to another of a single establishment,
however important, can not be a matter of vital consequence. But
the uprooting of Steinway Hall from the place it has so long occu-
pied, comes as near to being a locality disaster as any move could
be. It will divert the element of pianistic art and enthusiasm, and it
will leave the old Union Square center silent and wholly deserted in
this particular field of high endeavor. And that is a great deal.
There will remain a cluster of the largest piano supply houses, for
within a block of Steinway Hall are located the establishments of
Hammacher, Schlemmer & Co., the American Piano Supply Co., and
C. F. Goepel & Co., all at Thirteenth street.
An account of the early removal of Steinway & Sons appears
on another page this week. It is in keeping with the steadily north-
ward movement of New York's business center. And the new loca-
tion will be in the heart of the steadily growing piano center of
the metropolis. As must be expected, the new Steinway Hall will
sustain the reputation of the fine old industry, the career of which
has been one of unbroken progress and power.
The old Steinway Hall, at first considered equal to every possible
demand, has been outgrown. The business has gradually embraced
the adjoining buildings, with the marble structure of classic archi-
tecture as the center. All departments will find ample room in the
new uptown quarters on 57th street, and the almost countless Stein-
way representatives throughout the country will have a new objec-
tive when they visit the metropolis.
There is no name in the world of art and music that means more,
or exerts a greater influence the world over, than Steinway. It is
a name and an instrument in which all other pianos of ambition and
-every aspiring student and performer, finds inspiration. Therefore,
the removal of Steinway & Sons from the place which has so long
been its home is a matter of no small interest to the entire trade and
world of music.
THE DEALER'S DILEMMA
Both of the piano association presidents have made special ap-
peals to dealers, who expect to be at the June convention, urging that
the exhibits shall not be permitted to interfere with the business
meetings. The purposes of the convention are, first and most of all,
to enable members of the trade to get acquainted, to consider the
concerns of their business, and to discuss ways and means to pros-
perity and the best methods of winning it and enjoying its results.
The piano shows must not upset the best plans of the various com-
mittees, and the time required for deliberations and discussions must
not be devoted to buying and taking orders.
The suggestions of Messrs. Chickering and Butler, presidents of
the two piano associations, respectively, are good and timely. But
this array of piano displays will be very tempting. There will be
more of them than ever before during convention time. The con-
dition proves that it is not possible to regulate "commercialism" in
connection with meetings of business men. The ultimate ends of the
meetings are to do more business. The big expositions, where "con-
fusion is worse confounded," did not meet with approval. They
were not successful. But the cozy displays in small rooms, apart
from the mixup of competition, and in a sort of semi-privacy,' meet
with favor, as the list in last week's Presto proves.
No visitor at the June convention can give time to all of the
displays. It will be well, therefore, to decide in advance just what
pianos you believe will interest you. A single week will not be time
enough to inspect forty or fifty displays, to say nothing of the need
of listening to the eloquence of the gentlemen in charge. A good
way will be put to put down the names, with room locations, of the
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
April 28, 1923
pianos you feel interested in, and when you get to the Drake, try to
follow your program. Of course, you will want to give some atten-
tion to the instruments you already represent. You will probably
find them at the Drake. And you will want to investigate the recent
innovations, as the little uprights, the very small grands, and other
novelties in the playerpiano line^—for there are some new ideas here,
also.
A complete list of the exhibits will appear in Presto of May 26,
which will be in the dealers' hands just before starting time. With
the names of exhibitors, the room numbers at the Drake, or else-
where, will be given. Such particulars will be added to the list as
will be helpful to visitors, and it need not be difficult to comply with
the suggestions -of Presidents Chickering and Butler without miss-
ing any of the shows in which dealers may be interested.
A little system applied to the convention may go a long ways
to make the first week in June, in Chicago, both interesting and in-
structive as well as profitable.
WHERE TROUBLE LIVES
Evidently, as never before, the people of Germany find comfort
in music. One of the most remarkable illustrations of persistency
under adverse circumstances, and of a determined cleaving to sources
of solace, may be seen in the almost dogged forward movement of
the German piano industry. Of course, the people of Beethoven, Mo-
zart and the rest, have always held the foremost place among the
makers of music.
Before the war, German pianos had pushed their way into all
lands and were defying competition from the standpoint of price.
When the war had begun, and the makers in the musical instrument
factories had thrown down their tools for the deadly implements of
destruction, the German trade papers continued to discuss acoustics
and methods of piano manufacture and sale. Mingled with the in-
dustrial notes, were poems of the trade, and death notices of the
fallen.
When the great day of defeat came, the German music trade
papers still came out, still discussing methods of production and
selling, and moved along as calmly as if the nation had not been rent
asunder and an entirely new order of things, political and industrial,
inaugurated. More surprising still, the day of comparative peace
had hardly dawned before the music trade papers of Germany began
to expand, the number of piano factories increased, and the advertis-
ing pages indicated more enterprise and more aggressive ambitions
than ever before.
Today, the leading German music trade paper carries a marvelous
array of piano announcements. The issue of Zeitschrift fiir Instru-
SOME VERY LATE OPENINGS
IN THE RETAIL MUSIC TRADE
A Few of the New Ventures in the Best Business in
the World.
Sullivan Bros., Binghamton, N. Y., moved last week
to larger quarters.
Herman Lemler, the Bourbon, Ind., music dealer,
has moved his business to a new building recently
purchased by him.
Bestor Bros., Madison, Wis., has moved its musi-
cal instrument business from 110-112 South Pinckney
street to 120 West Mifflin street.
Myers & Mooney is the name of a new business
in Columbus, O., composed of Glenn L. Myers and
P. F. Mooney. The firm will carry music goods and
radio sets and supplies.
Floyd T. Sherwin has opened a music store in
Canton, N. Y.
A branch of the Story & Clark Piano Co. will be
opened next week in Paterson, N. J., under the man-
agement of Thomas G. Stratham.
The Clarksburg Music Co., Clarksburg, W. Va.,
recently purchased the Bofifa Music Store in that city.
Preparations for a formal opening of the Sedalia,
Mo., branch of the Martin Piano Co., Springfield,
Mo., are now being made.
The Mount Pleasant Music Shop, Washington, D.
C. was recently opened at Fourteenth street and Park
Road.
H. E. Davies & Son is the name of a new music
business in Reno, Nev.
McVcil & Co., 630 E. Main street, Stockton, Cal.,
has remodeled and enlarged its store.
Richard Brase opened a music store in Grand
Island, Neb., this week.
Clarence Sisco has succeeded Munn & Sisco in
Sturges, Ky.
The Conrad Music House, Fremont, Neb., has pur-
mentenbau for March 15 had forty-eight solid pages of musical in-
strument advertising—a remarkable showing. And many of the
advertisements displayed a rare order of enterprise and intelligence
in the preparation of copy. There is nothing in the trade that is not
advertised, and the number of player music roll industries that make
themselves known is something of a revelation when compared with
the methods of the American music roll industries.
But the Leipsig music trade paper at last raises a cry of distress.
It announces that, owing to the continued rise of the dollar in Ger-
many it is absolutely necessary to advance the price of the "Zeit-
schrift fiir Instrumentenbau." And the increase in the cost of paper
and printing ran the price of the Leipsic trade paper up to 200 marks,
and for three months' delivery—April to June—600 marks. To cer-
tain countries the price is 2,000 marks monthly until further notice.
What would the American trade paper subscribers say were cir-
cumstances to force such a condition upon the press of their own in-
dustries ? But the Germans must have music at any price.
A musicians' union's "boss" is doing his level best to ruin the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The perforrners, in love with their
work and satisfied with their wages, are told that they can't per-
form unless they get an increase of pay which they say they don't
w r ant! A pretty situation, and the kind that is rapidly breaking down
the unions. It won't take long to cause the real workers—musicians
or bricklayers—to kick their unions off the earth if such things con-
tinue.
* * *
The Rev. Geo. Houghton, who died in New York recently, made
fame by throwing open his church to members of the stage and con-
cert room at a time when "play-actors" were under a ban. The
song, "Little Church Around the Corner," was inspired by the clergy-
man's liberality in religion, and it sang him into fame. The song,
written by D. C. Addison, first appeared in 1878 and is still often sung.
* * *
New York factory wages are highest in history—higher than
two years ago by considerable. And, according to an item in this
issue, the "improvement is especially noticeable in the piano fac-
tories." Is it to be expected that piano prices will go up or down?
* * *
There is again talk of a large trade paper syndicate in which
music journals may take prominent part. But the talk has become
too familiar to excite much interest.
* * *
It's now only five weeks to the day of the big Chicago conven-
tion. Are you all set and ready? Or are you going to let the oppor-
tunity of your life pass unprofited?
chased the stock and good will of the Fremont Music
Shop in that city.
The Austin Music Shop, Waxahachie, Tex., has
been purchased by the Walter Piano Co., Hillsboro,
Tex.
A general music store has been opened in Mon-
rovia, Cal., by C. P. Mack. •
H. B. Herr recently opened a music store at 10
West King street, Lancaster, Pa.
REMARKABLE RECOVERY
OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY
Last Three Months Have Shown a Phenomenal
Revival in Nearly All Lines of Business.
GIVE LONG TERMS ON PIANOS.
The piano trade has shared in the almost phenome-
nal revival which has come to nearly all lines of trade.
The demand for pianos has depleted the factory
reserves and the industries are in many instances
running overtime. On this subject a recent issue of
the New York Times said:
"Not often in this country's history has so remark-
able a recovery as that of the last three months
occurred at that season of the year. The usual experi-
ence is for a decrease in activity after the 'Christmas
trade' has been completed. Merchants and manufac-
turers rest on their oars, so to speak, and wait for
later months to determine the course of the year's
business. 'So far has this year to date departed from
the tradition that, as shown by recent statements,
not only have all branches of production, trade and
consumption increased as compared with any part
of 1922, but the month of March or the beginning of
April saw the country's output of iron and steel ex-
ceeding all precedent in our history, building con-
struction at a high monthly record, purchase of cot-
ton by our textile mills and volume of their produc-
tion similarly beyond all previous monthly figures,
and freight transported over the railways greater in
quantity than it had ever before been in the busy
Autumn months of a few recent years'."
It is estimated that about 75 per cent of the pianos
sold in Cuba at the present time are paid for on a
monthly instalment plan. In some cases the instal-
ment payments are made over a period as great as
thirty-six months. This necessarily involves a con-
siderable capital outlay on the part of the piano
merchants, as they are unable to obtain correspond-
ing credit terms from their foreign suppliers.
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Music Co., purchasers of
the Lehman Music Co., East St. Louis, 111., held a
formal opening on Saturday, April 14. The entire
stock of the Lehman Co. had been disposed of dur-
ing the clean-up sale which this company had been
conducting.
NEW YORK ASSN. ELECTS.
John V. Stephens, of the Mathushek Piano Mfg.
Co., was elected president of the New York Piano
Manufacturers' Association at meeting held last week.
Harry J. Sohmer was re-elected first vice-president;
Eugene Schmidt was elected second vice-president,
and Albert Behning elected secretary and treasurer.
The following were chosen as the new executive
committee: Walter Nepperla^ Louis S. Roemer, H. B.
Tremaine and Campbell Lorini.
AFTER MISLEADING ADS.
Rigid state censorship on the advertising of retail
and wholesale merchants and advertising generally is
aimed at in a bill introduced into the Wisconsin
Legislature by Assemblyman J. Timmerman. The
bill is very drastic and leaves no loophole for the
artist in misleading advertising. It is said that mem-
bers of the assembly have received it favorably and
the probabilities are that the bill will be passed.
HOLDS FORMAL OPENING.
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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