PRESTO
June 16, 1923
THE STARR AT DRAKE
Phonographs and Records Made by Starr Piano Com-
pany, Richmond, Ind., in Notable Exhibit.
Among the exhibits of the Starr Piano Co. at the
Drake Hotel, Chicago, during the annual convention
of the music trade, the line of Starr phonographs was
a notable collection. The visiting dealers unfamiliar
with the merits of the Starr phonograph were treated
to demonstrations and descriptions of the instrument
that carried conviction of the superior qualities that
make it distinctive from all other phonographs.
It was an educational pleasure for visitors to learn
about the fundamental laws of tone production and
the achievements of the Starr Piano Company in that
field; that each and every part of Starr musical in-
struments is made complete in the Starr plant and
that artisans of Starr factories are tone experts—pos-
sessors of that rare, indefinable musical "sixth sense"
by which they produce musical quality that has made
for this company a world-wide reputation and
prestige.
The Starr Piano Co.'s experts early realized the
failure of the phonograph as a musical instrument
and with their knowledge and skill set about making
a phonograph that would not only reproduce tone,
but would give to it the natural musical quality of the
original. That they have succeeded is instantly ap-
parent upon listening to the Starr.
The proportions of the Starr reproducing and me-
chanical features have been thoroughly and scien-
tifically worked out which is manifested in their im-
proved dimensions, their assembling and of the mate-
rials from which they are built. But it is in the Starr
throat and horn that the greatest single improvement"
of the phonograph is made. It is here that the tone-
vibrations are amplified and thrown out into the air
and here especially is where the laws of tone-building
have heretofore been violated.
For years and years musical instrument builders
have accepted silver grain spruce as the best mate-
rial for tone amplification. Because of its composi-
tion it is scientifically correct to amplify and color
the tone-vibrations passing along the grain of the
wood itself and which is most easily affected by
vibrations in the atmosphere. It is fine and straight
in grain—and knotless—sensitive, vibrant—incom-
parable to the knotty, coarse grained oak and poplar
so widely used for sounding board horns.
"The music wood of centuries," from which have
been fashioned the tone-chambers of the" world's
greatest musical instruments, forms the path for
the perfect reproduction of tone in the Starr phono-
graph. Made of this very best, thoroughly aged
wood, the singing throat and sounding board horn
of the Starr is scientifically constructed throughout
and hangs free, so that vibration is unrestricted, from
the smallest end of the throat to the widest flare of
the horn.
The Gennett records, too, were brought to the at-
tention of the visitors to the Drake exhibit. The
fact was made clear that Gennett records represent
supreme value; that they reproduce the latest and best
music by the best recording methods.
EQUIPMENT FOR DEALERS
Bowen One-Man Loader Something That Should
Interest Every Music Merchant.
LEATHER
FOR
PLAYERS
ORGANS
PIANOS
PNEUMATIC LEATHERS A SPECIALTY
Packing, Valves, AH Special Tanned
Bellows Leather
T. L. LUTKINS, Inc.
40 Spruce Street
NEW YORK
DEALERS AND TUNERS!
Big Cut in Prices Piano Key Repairing
Celluloid, Complete Tops, Set Keys
$7.00
Ivorine (grained), Complete Tops, Set Keys 8.00
Composition, Complete Tops, Set Keys... 10.00
Sole manufacturers and distributors of H. P.
& O. K. Co. famous Ivory White Glue. Needs
no Heating. Applied Cold. Sent anywhere in
U. S. P. P. $1.00 can.
HARLEM PIANO & ORGAN KEY CO.
121-123 E. 126th St.
New York City, N. Y.
MAGOSY & BUSCHER
First Class
OVAL AND ROUND METAL
SPINNERS
Makers of high-grade hammered Cym- (
bals in Brass and German Silver, from 2
to 18 inches; Brass Mutes for Cornets,
Trombones, French Horns.
Our Hammered Cymbals are as Good as Turk-
ish Cymbals in Sound, and they don't cost as
much.
Drum Major Batons in Wood and Metal.
Makers of the BESTONE Banjo Reso-
nators
We Can Manufacture Any Specialty in
Our Line to Order.
232 Canal St. and 118 Walker St., NEW YORK
The Ford runabout may be transformed into an
ideal piano truck by equipping it with a Bowen One-
Man Loader and Carrier. It is ideal for hauling
grands on. The combination provides an ideal outfit
for trying out and developing new salesmen. Any
man of ordinary ability as a salesman can make good
selling pianos with it. It is ideal for country work
and is the nicest for city delivery.
The Bowen One-Man Loader and Carrier is built
of No. 1 yellow poplar, a very strong and durable
wood, yet very light weight. The metal parts are
cast steel. They are so rigidly constructed that they
will stand the hardest usage. "The regular finish
is black, but on special order we will ship them fin-
ished in the white, without extra charge," is the offer
of the company.
PHONOGRAPHS IN INDIA.
American talking machines are being sold in
Karachi, British India, through British agencies
which have opened branches there and established a
supply organization to furnish records and parts,
says Trade Commissioner C. C. Bathelder, reporting
to the Department of Commerce. The long delay as
regards topical, musical and dance records between
their production in America and their appearance in
the Karachi markets tends to reduce the sales. Ger-
man products have been entering the market during
the last six months. Motors and sounding apparatus
for German talking machines are exported to India
and are assembled with Indian-made cabinet cases.
In the same way the metal parts of pianos are manu-
factured in Germany and exported to India, where
they are placed in Indian-made cases and sold at un-
usually low prices.
GLUE STAINS IN VENEER.
The most trouble with glue stains in woodworking
is caused by the penetration of the glue solution
through thin face veneers, according to a report by
the Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wis. This
seepage is very likely to occur if the veneer is less
than one-twentieth of an inch thick and somewhat
porous. The consistency of the glue in part deter-
mines whether it will be squeezed through the wood
or not.
The amount of pressure exerted by the
panels in the press is a factor, but it would not be
advisable to reduce the pressure to check the flow of
the glue.
BUYS IN DECATUR, ILL.
The Bruce S. M. Co., Springfield, 111., which re-
cently purchased the piano and phonograph business
of R. B. Calhoun in Decatur, 111., and has taken over
the business and has moved its own stock of pianos,
phonographs and sewing machines to the room at 118
East William street, formerly occupied by the Cal-
houn Music Store. .Harry V. Taylor is the manager.
The company handles the Price & Teeple, and Story
& Clark pianos, U. S. and Q R S music rolls and
Columbia records.
,«jai
RECORD APPEAL BIG.
The wide appeal of Gennett records is evident from
a glance through the June bulletin which has lists
of German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Czecho-Slovak
and Hungarian.
23
MUSIC TRADE LABOR-SAVERS
Self-Lifting Piano Truck Co., Findlay, Ohio, Ha$
Undeniable Aids for Dealers.
The music trade like the rest of the world is looking
for labor-savers and the fortunate thing is that the
labor savers are at hand for the observant and pro-
gressive man. Trucks for handling pianos and phono-
graphs are obvious aids to the conserving of the
music dealer's time and energy, and the line manu-
factured and sold by the Self-Lifting Piano Truck
Co., Findlay, O., is known to a great many progres-
sive dealers.
No go-ahead music dealer today considers his
equipment complete without trucks from the Findlay
manufacturer for the handling of his pianos and talk-
ing machines. The company makes sill trucks and
end trucks for pianos. With the Lea Talking Ma-
chine Truck one man can handle the biggest phono-
graph from showroom to any apartment floor.
SCHOOLS BIG CUSTOMERS
Increase of Bands in High and Grammar Schools
Considerably Stimulates Sales by Merchants.
i.
A great many music dealers testify to the influ-
ence of the grammar and high schools in stimulating
the sales of musical instruments.
Many dealers
frankly admit the schools create a demand for music
goods. There was a time when parents did not con-
sider anything but the piano and the violin when the
question of a musical education for their children
came up. Now it is different and the children have
a big share of the considering and deciding.
The school orchestras have made this come to pass.
And that is why the alert dealer takes a leading part
in the formation of bands and orchestras in the
schools of his town and the surrounding districts.
He is wise when he gets into co-operation with an-
other keenly interested party—the school principal.
The school principal and the music dealer may be
altruistic and still animated by a selfish purpose, that
of helping themselves. When instrumental music
has not been given a chance in the school district,
the music dealer can be an able aid to the music
supervisor in convincing the school board that it
should be given its proper place in the curriculum.
A great many music dealers are selling more musi-
cal instruments of all kinds, more music supplies
and more sheet music today than they did one or two
years ago because they have brought about the forma-
tion of bands and orchestras in the schools. But
many of the lucky dealers have not limited them-
selves to efforts in the schools. They have organized
musical groups into orchestras and thereby stimu-
lated the taste for music in the community and in-
cidentally helped their own music goods sales.
The music dealers in many places should awake
to the fact that the school board members themselves
are in need of education on a certain point. In the
American public school the pupils get free text books,
free gymnasium equipment for physical training, free
tools in technical training, free footballs, free base-
balls and bats and sometimes even free milk. But
why doesn't the free giving extend to musical instru-
ments? It does now in many enlightened places, but
the need to convert blind school boards to the neces-
sity of encouraging music by providing free aids to
learning it is still an open job for the dealers.
Ingenious music dealers have overcome the finan-
cial objections to hesitant school commissioners in
pointing out the way to recouping preliminary ex-
penditures for instruments and sheet music. The
school concerts, on a money for admission basis, al-
ways fill the houses. The earlier programs may be
disappointing to the musical highbrows, but the folks
always flock to hear the kids perform and are glad
to pay the price of admission.
T H E CLEAR MICA SUPPLY.
The supplies of clear mica suitable for diaphragms
is reported scarce by importers. Brazil, which used
to be one of the largest foreign fields of supply, does
not cut much figure in the production. One cause
assigned is that the natives are not mining, have
transferred their undependable energies to other en-
deavors. The supplies of mica from India are more
staple, but the prices continue high. It is believed,
however, that the price's of clear mica are due for
a fall. Jobbers of micas frankly say that when the
demand does pick up it will not come up to the calls
of the past.
NEW EJECTOR PATENT.
Among the list of patents issued from
Patent Office, during May, for the State of
cut, is one to F. W. Barrows, assignor to
Graphophone Mfg. Co., Bridgeport, Conn.,
ejector for dictaphones and the like.
the U. S.
Connecti-
Columbia
for safety
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/