Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1923 1945

Page 3 Text:

Presto Buyers 9 Guide
Analyzes and Clasttfies
All American Pianos
and in Detail Telia of
Their Makers.
PRESTO
«*
Presto Trade Lists
Three Uniform Book-
lets, the Only Complete
Directories of the Mui
Industries.
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE WEEKLY
CHICAGO, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1923
WHERE DOUBTS ARE DISPELLED
Under This Head Presto Will Answer Any Question Pertaining to Pianos, or
Other Subjects of Direct Interest to the Trade and Musical Public
Inquiries must bear the signature and address of
writer in order to receive attention. Answers thought
to be of general trade interest will be published. If am
answer is not of general interest it will be mailed pro-
vided stamp is inclosed.
PLUNKETT POLISH.
Galesburg, Illinois, Oct. 9, 1923.
Editor Presto: I have been trying to find where
the Plunkett Polish is made. I have had some of
it and it is fine to clean and polish pianos with, and am
very anxious to learn who makes it.
I do know that some chemical company makes it.
Can you give me any information?
IDA K. FRANCIS.
We can find no record of the article and so cannot
give the information for which you ask. Certainly
none of the manufacturers, or other members of the
industry, in Chicago, seem to know anything about
the Plunkett Polish. It is probably made bv some
local chemical company and, should its maker see
this item, we trust that the information may still be
forthcoming.
* * *
VALVE HANDLE WHEEZE.
New York, Oct. 19, 1923.
Editor Presto: In your issue of September 22nd
we note you have given us a little write-up about
electric tools, and putting our name down as a com-
pany making "valve chisels."
We must confess we do not know what a valve
chisel is and are wondering if you can give us some
information.
HAMMACHER, SCHLEMMER & CO.
We have investigated the item to which reference
is made and find that it had reference to a question
which came to us from a subscriber. It reads like
a variation of the old valve handle wheeze.
Of course we do not know what a "valve chisel"
could possibly be, but our answer was meant to say
that if anybody knew it would be the famous old
house of New York City.
Presto very often gets inquiries which have very
little, if any, meaning, and does the best possible to
give the information asked for.
* * *
A VERY OLD PIANO.
Fort Worth, Tex., Oct. 18, 1923.
Editor Presto: Fort Worth is planning to cele-
brate on Nov. 11th to 14th her Diamond and Golden
Jubilee in one—the founding of the fort and its
corporation into a city. My mother (now dead)
came here with her people in 1853, and they brought
a piano with them and it is the age of this piano
that I want.
We know that it was purchased some seventy-two
years ago, but if we could get a definite age would
surely be glad. The only marks on the piano are:
"Piano Forte Manufacturing Co., New York," on
the name plate and on the inside, No. 515...We want
to use this old piano for display during this cele-
bration and, of course, while the interesting part
of the old piano's life is the fact that it came here
among the very first "settlers," and really spent some
time in the old fort where my mother's people lived
for a while, we want to find the exact age so we
can know, in the years to come, just how long the
old relic has been in existence.
MISS E T H E L ISBELL.
There seems to be no record of a New York piano
industry which might fit the old instrument asked
about. There was a "New York Piano Company"
making instruments in the early days of the Civil
War, and it may be that the instrument asked about
was the product of that industry. It was established
about the year 1853 and cons'sted of several workers
from other factories, who had formed a kind of co-
operative company. If the Fort Worth piano was
taken to that city seventy-two years ago it may be
a little too old to fit the company referred to. It
is more than likely that it is an early specimen of the
"stencil" and, like many others of its kind, is show-
ing the- sturdy character of some of the unknown
products of comparatively large industries the con-
trols of which seldom care anything about "the future,
or even their temporary fame. Can any reader of
Presto identify the Fort Worth piano?
* * *
CAMEO RECORDS.
Zumbrota, Minn., Oct. 11, 1923.
Editor Presto: Please let me know the address
of the firm manufacturing the "Cameo'" phonograph
records.
J O H N A. BARAAS.
It is our understanding that the records for which
you ask are manufactured by the Cameo Phonograph
Corporation of New York City. They arc jobbed
by the Ted Snyder Song Shop, 26 W. Monroe St.,
Chicago.
* * *
SLINGERLAND BANJO.
Newark, N. J., October 16, 1923.
Editor Presto: We want to reach all the Retail
Music Dealers in U. S. A. The other day we saw a
booklet published by you which seemed to answer
our purpose. Will you kindly mail us one C. O. D.
Please oblige us by advising us the name of the
concern manufacturing the Slingerland Banjo.
E. RAPSCH, INC.
The Slingerland Banjo is manufactured by the H.
H. Slingerland Mfg. Co., 1815 Orchard St., Chicago.
*
*
tf!
SOUTHERN PIANO FACTORIES.
Bluffton, Ind., Oct. 10, 1923.
Editor Presto: I will consider it a special favor,
if you will kindly supply me with the names and
addresses of any piano factories located in California,
Florida, or any southern or western state.
R. W. HARRISON.
At the present time the only piano manufacturers
or industries in the section of the country to which
you refer, are as follows:
Deitmeier Piano Co., 853 Valencia St., San Fran-
cisco, Calif.; C. C. Hornung, San Francisco, Calif.;
Adler Mfg. Co., Louisville, Ky.; Walter S. Pierce Co.,
San Francisco, Calif.
There are no going piano industries in the far
south though there have been some pianos made at
New Orleans.
NEW GLENDONA, CAL., STORE.
The opening of Joseph Heindl's music shop in the
Foothill Finance Corporation Block, Glendona, Cal.,
took place last week. The musical instruments were
attractively displayed and the entire store brilliantly
lighted for the occasion. Five hundred or more visi-
tors filed in and out during the evening.
PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS TRADE.
At the C. J. Heppe & Sons store, Philadelphia,
much interest is displayed by store visitors in the
Heppe Christmas Club, now in course of organization.
The Heppe concern, which is now reconstructing its
building, is making every preparation for a very large
holiday sale.
CARRIES GENERAL LINE.
Hart's Music Store was opened last week in Fre-
mont, Ohio. The store is admirably located and
will handle a line of pianos, players, phonographs,
rolls, records and sheet music.
NEW ARGENTINE LAW.
The Argentine senate last week passed a bill al-
ready passed by the lower house requiring all mer-
chandise to bear the name of the country of origin.
DIVIDEND DECLARED.
The Gulbransen-Dickinson Co., Chicago, has de-
clared a dividend of 4 per cent on common stock, pay-
able to stockholders of record October 25.
CINCINNATI ITEMS
HAVE TRADE INTERESTS
Piano Business in the Ohio City Is Reported
to Be Especially Good This
Fall.
WURLITZER IMPROVEMENTS
Baldwin House Had Unusually Brisk Trade During
October and Otto Gray Says "Ditto."
By M A D E L I N E M. SCHMIDT.
October 30, 1923.
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Co. has completed the
plans for remodeling its building on East Fourth
street, and the work will be begun shortly. Pro-
vision is made in the plans to have all the executive
offices situated on the third floor, which will be a
great improvement over the present system of having
the offices scattered on the several different floors.
Another interesting feature of the remodeling will
be the additional window-space which will be secured
by building the old windows deeper into the store,
and by placing an island window showcase in the
present entry way. This additional display space
will enable the Wurlitzer house to feature very attrac-
tive and large window displays.
A very interesting letter has just been received
from Miss Leah Baird, the well-known movie actress,
by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Co., Cincinnati. In her
letter, Miss Baird states that during the week of
October 2nd she used a Wurlitzer grand piano, and
in all her stage career never played a piano more to
her liking. She said that the tone and the touch of
this piano appealed to her taste more than any grand
piano she had ever played upon. Miss Baird has
starred in several of the Associated Exhibitors'
features.
E. K. Bennet, who has charge of the retail depart-
ment of the Baldwin Piano Co., reports that busi-
ness for the past month has been extremely good,
far beyond expectations. Grand pianos, reproducers,
playerpianos and uprights have had an especially
good sale.
At the Otto Grau Piano Co. the month of October
was highly successful. Their big October sale
brought a tremendous response. A special feature of
the sale was the refund of railroad fares to out-of-
town buyers and payment by the company of all ex-
press charges on musical instruments purchased.
Louis Ahaus, manager of the talking machine divi-
sion of the Otto Grau Piano Co., who has been ill
at home for the past four weeks, has recuperated and
is again at his work.
OHIO DEALER PLEASED
WITH JOHNSON PLAYERS
Letter to Factory at Bellevue, Iowa, Points Out
Popularity of H. G. Johnson Player.
The growing demand for the H. G. Johnson players,
coupled with letters of appreciation received daily at
the Chicago office, has been highly pleasing to the
officials of the active industry at Bellevue, Iowa.
Following is an extract from a letter received dur-
ing the past week:
'Henry G. Johnson Piano Mfg. Co.,
"Chicago, 111.
"Gentlemen: Shipments of players made October
12th arrived today and we are very well pleased with
them.
J
"Yours very truly,
" T H E FRED W. WAGNER CO."
HALLET & DAVIS OFFICES.
The Hallet & Davis Piano Co. formally occupied its
new offices at 661 Boylston street, Boston, last week.
These are mostly devoted to Angelus interests and
to local business of the Hallet & Davis Piano Co. A
beautifully furnished office has been provided for
John L. Cotter, vice-president of the company.
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 4 Text:

PRESTO
NEW PACKARD GRAND TO
REPLACE ONE DESTROYED
C. D. Campbell, Standard Oil Company's
Representative in Yokohama at Time of
Earthquake and Fire Expresses Regrets
at Loss of Instrument.
LETTER IS ORDER
It Is Also Frank and Convincing Testimonial for In-
strument of Packard Piano Company.
The following letter from C. D. Campbell, a for-
eign representative of the Standard Oil Company,
epitomizes the merits of the Packard piano. It tells
of a Packard owner's joy in the harmonies evoked
from the piano made in a factory characterized by its
harmonious operation. The letter has a note of re-
gret for a Packard grand destroyed in the Japanese
earthquake and resultant fire, but it is relieved with
the assurance of new joys in possessing another Pack-
ard.
The Packard piano has been the reminder of home
to Mr. Campbell in Batavia, Java, and later in Yoko-
hama, Japan. The letter discloses how the fine in-
strument made by the Packard Piano Co., Fort
Wayne, Ind., was the center of culture in the foreign
locations where Mr. Campbell's business detained
him:
Fort Wayne, Indiana, Oct. 23, 1923.
Alexis Mahan, Sales Mgr.,
The Packard Piano Co.,
Fort Wayne, Ind.
Dear Mr. Mahan: You will undoubtedly be in-
terested in knowing that the Packard Grand piano I
purchased from you in 1920, for our home in Batavia,
Java, was shipped in January 1923 to Yokohama,
Japan, where we had taken up our new home.
The instrument was destroyed in the Japanese
earthquake and fire early in September, and as the in-
strument fulfilled every promise you made for it, and
withstood the severe test of the very humid, damp
climate of Java, as well as the 19,000 miles of trans-
portation by sea, we wish to order another Packard
Grand Piano as near as possible like the first one.
Therefore, please enter the order accordingly and
prepare the instrument for shipment to Constanti-
nople, Turkey, where we expect to make our home,
arriving there shortly after the first of the year.
We received many splendid compliments as a re-
sult of various artists trying our Packard piano, one
of which is particularly interesting, as it came from
Baron Vietinghoff, a very brilliant Russian pianist,
who was living in Yokohama at that time. He told
a friend of mine that he had never come in contact
with a real piano in the Orient. It gave us a great
deal of pleasure to give him the opportunity of trying
our Packard Grand, and on his first visit he spent
three hours playing it. After several subsequent
visits Baron Vietinghoff made the statement that it
was the finest piano and had stood the climate better
than any piano he had ever seen in the far East.
'Any piano that will withstand such a trying climate
that surrounds the island of Java, as did our Pack-
ard, cannot be recommended too highly, and am glad
you are still manufacturing the same style, so that
it can be duplicated.
With best wishes, I beg to remain
Yours very truly,
C. D. CAMPBELL.
to start than right now. There will be no further
price reductions this year. In fact, steady increases
in the cost of raw materials must soon force an up-
ward revision of prices.
We know that we have a proposition big enough to
interest you. We are ready now to talk facts and
figures. Frankly we'd like mighty well to have an
inquiry from you. If we are already represented in
your territory, your inquiry will not be referred to
our present distributor.
Sincerely yours,
THE ESTEY ORGAN COMPANY.
M. Austin.
W. P. HAINES& COMPANY
PASADENA, CAL, FIRM HOLDS
LIVELY "ENLARGING SALE"
Three Generations of Piano Makers
All Styles—Ready Sellers
Attractive Prices
Five Thousand Square Feet of Floor Space to Be
Utilized by Hancock Music Co.
The Hancock Music Co., 331 East Colorado street,
Pasadena, Calif., is holding an "Enlarging Sale." The
house has a coat of arms which is well known to
newspaper readers over a wide radius. The legend
is "Music With Service. The House of Guaranteed
Merchandise."
This is the second store enlargement within a short
time. This time the firm is building a two-story
addition at the rear of the store which will make it
the largest music store in Pasadena, giving over 5,000
square feet of floor space. A room upstairs, which'
will be devoted to free concerts and also at the dis-
posal of music teachers'and clubs for recitals, meet-
ings, etc., is an important part of the improvements.
This room will.be known as Hancock's Hall of Music.
"We are also building a modern and up-to-date
piano and phonograph repair and refinishing depart-
ment which will accommodate about 15 pianos and
a like sum of phonographs at the same time. We
will carry a much larger stock of pianos and phono-
graphs, made possible by this additional room. In
fact, there will be no town the size of Pasadena in
the west which can boast of a larger, better equipped
or higher class music store than we will be, and it
is all due to the much appreciated patronage of our
customers," is the statement by the progressive firm.
THE
PIANOS
THE PIANOS OF QUALITY
GRANDS
REPRODUCING GRANDS
UPRIGHTS and PLAYERS
AVAILABLE TERRITORY OPEN
W. P. HAINES SL CO., Inc.
138th St. and Walton AT*.
New York City
WESER
P i a n o s and P l a y e r s
Sell readily—Stay sold
Great profit possibilities
Style E (shown below) our latest 4'6"
PEORIA CONVENTION ENJOYED
BY FREDERICK P. BASSETT
Music Men Freely Express Themselves on Many
Subjects of Special Interest to Trade.
Fred P. Bassett, secretary and treasurer of the M.
Schulz Co., 711 Milwaukee avenue, Chicago, attended
the third annual convention of the Illinois Music
Merchants' Association, at Peoria, last week. The
convention, according to Mr. Bassett's point of view,
explained to a Presto representative this week, was
an interesting one to the many.live music merchants
in attendance.
"The fact that a hospitable atmosphere prevailed
helped greatly in the success of the convention," said
Mr. Bassett. "Everybody had a get-together spirit
and the guests were entitled to express themselves
freely during the meeting."
The convention, which was fully reported in last
week's Presto, was just a meeting of good-natured
music men and a good time was had by all. The
attendance was far greater than last year, which is
indicative of a larger and better association.
OPPORTUNITIES IN SELLING
NEW INCORPORATIONS
ESTEY REED ORGANS
IN MUSIC GOODS TRADb
Company Points Them Out to Alert Music Dealers
in Special Letter Mailed This Week.
The head of the sales department of the Estey
Organ Company, Brattleboro, Vt., in a stimulating
letter "To the Music Dealer Who Isn't Overlooking
Any Opportunities" suggests an interesting way to
profits. This is said:
If you could sit at my desk and see the letters,
orders and reports that come piling in from Estey
dealers, I know that you would store up enough
enthusiasm for Estey reed organs to last you the rest
of your natural life. Just now I received a letter
from Lyon & Healy, the great Chicago music house.
These folks devoted one of the most expensive show
windows in America to Estey organs. Did it pay?
Here's what Mr. Johnson says:
"Results from the display are more than satisfac-
tory. We have already had 41 inquiries, and have
sold three large organs as a result. At least 10 of
the persons inquiring are in the market for Model
T-61, and about 5 are seriously considering the Studio
Model."
If Estey reed organs can be sold in Chicago, they
can be sold in your community, too. There's splen-
did profit for you in this business, if you will follow
the simple Estey marketing plan, and devote just a
little time and effort to the most interesting line
you've ever handled. There never was a better time
November 3, 1923
Order a sample to-day.
Liberal advertising and
cooperative arrangements
Write for catalogue
and price list
Weser Bros., Inc.
Manufacturers
520 to 528 West 43rd St.
New York
New and Old Concerns Secure Charters in Various
Places.
Triangle Piano Co., Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y., $10,000;
Charles Cogliatrese, Elsie Schlessinger and S. P.
Cohen.
The Cathedral Pipe Organ Co., Newark, N. J.,
$125,000; to manufacture and deal in organs.
The Allied Piano Manufacturers, Inc., Brooklyn,
N. Y., $20,000; Charles Mitz, Jr., Adrian Tokaji and
D. B. Phillips.
The Brunswick Shop, Inc., Newark, N. J., $100,-
000; to deal in pianos.
NEW CHICAGO INDUSTRY.
The latest Chicago incorporation of general trade
interest is that of the Holzer Piano Mfg. Co., 3945
N. Western ave. Capital $10,000. Manufacture and
trade in pianos. Incorporators: Frederick L. Holzer,
Paul R. Harris, Ernest W. J. Hughes. Correspon-
dent, Thos. M. Whitson, 1317, 139 N. Clark st. Mr.
Holzer was the associate and backer of H. S. Nel-
son in that gentleman's recent industry which was
established under the name of the Nelson-Holzer
Piano Co. Mr. Holzer is a member of the influential
real estate firm of Leight & Holzer of Chicago.
The Lyon & Healy
Reproducing Piano
A moderate priced reproducing piano,
' beautiful in design and rich in tone.
Write for our new explanatory Chart,
the most complete and simple treat-
ment of the reproducing action.
Wabash at Jackson - - - Chicago
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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