Presto

Presto Buyers' Guide
Analyzes and Classifies
All American P i a n o s
and in Detail Tells of
Fheir Makers.
PRESTO
E.tabli.hed 1884.
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE WEEKLY
Presto Trade Lists
Three Uniform Book<
lets, the Only Complete
Directories of the Music
Industries.
10 Cents; $2.00 a Year
CHICAGO, SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 1924
HOW MANY HIDDEN
NAMES DID YOU GET?
Instructive Contest for Discovery of Piano
Names Concealed in Presto Verses Created
Widespread Interest in Factory Offices
and Warerooms.
in one case the only failure being to include the
L T nited Piano Corp., and in two others neglect to
add "Tone" to Radle. There were many singular
misses and many names were included in the re-
turns that had no place in the verses. For instance
C. S. Crawford, of Santa Ana, Cal., in some way
found "Behr" and "Holmes" in verse 4, "Estey" in
verse 9, "Warren" in 11, "Howard" and "Pease" in
12, "Kline" and "Germain" in 13, "Love" in 16, "Bell"
in 17, and "Invisible Milton" in 23. There, as will be
seen, were eleven bad guesses in one return.
Others went similarly wrong, and several con-
testants reported the names of "Miller," "Emerson,"
"Schaeffer," "Melody," "Wizard," "Bach," "Lock-
hart," "Wellsmore," "Schomacker," "Lauter,' "Laf-
fargue," "Stodart," "Biddle," "Farrand," "Pease,"
(eight times); "Behr," (seven times); "Shaw," "Won-
dertone," (three); "Miessner"; "Farrand" (five);
"Biddle"" (seven).
In fact, nearly every name known to the industry
appeared in the returns. The Vose occurred seven
times; Stultz & Bauer, four; Sohmer, twice; Melodi-
grand, twice; Smith & Nixon, five; Chickering, ten.
Even "Ebe" came in for two guesses.
UPS AND DOWNS OF THE
TRADE IN LOUISVILLE
Midwinter Piano Business Slackened Some-
what by Rains and Below-Zero Waves,
But the Outlook Is Good.
By HEXRY McMULLAN.
Piano business, which had been good during De-
cember, had a setback at Louisville stores during the
first 22 days of January. The cause of the slump was
set down by the dealers against inclement weather.
No One Was 100 Per Cent Correct, But Many
First came a period of torrential rains—tropical al-
most in the downfall, so that the Ohio River rose
Proved Their Familiarity with Good Names
above the 33-foot stage, flooding the lower part of
in the Piano World.
Louisville, including Shoppingport and Portland, and
the daily papers ran pictures of boats in use in the
The results of the Hidden Piano Name contest,
streets. There were two sleet storms, in one of
which was launched in Presto of January 12th, proved
which seven autos and trucks slid down hill a block
that the piano dealers and their salesmen are
and went into Ohio River, and six persons lost their
thoroughly familiar with the names and symbols of
The Best Answers.
lives from falling on the ice. Then followed two cold
the instruments they sell—and no less of the instru-
waves, the coldest here in years.
Of
the
following,
to
whom
prizes
have
been
for-
ments their competitors sell. And the interest in the
Now, the Louisville women do not mind a deluge
warded,
the
following
filled
in
the
names
so
nearly
contest was more widespread than had been expected,
of rain so much, but a cold wave chills their Southern
for answers came from every state in the Union and 50 per cent good as to call for special mention—
showing that they are well up in the piano "game," blood to the marrow and they do not show up at the
several from Canada.
stores to buy pianos. The few Northerners that live
and familiar with the instruments to which they
Some of the experts who evidently feared their devote their daily work:
among them have for the most part brought their
solutions might come in late used the wire, and one
J. B. Hall, Cicero, Ind.; A. J. Ridnour, Huron, pianos with them; hence are not available as cus-
from Winnipeg came within one name of being 100 S. D.; Roy Lewis, Miller, S. D.; A. M. Lansford,
tomers for new goods. Two below-zero waves in
per cent good.
Charlotte, N. C ; Fred P. Watson Co., Mt. Vernon, one January was a monstrous thing for the weather
Found Many Names.
HI.; D. A. Halgren, Seattle, Wash.; F. R. Grubbs, man to put over on poor old Louisville.
There were 190 contestants whose solutions of the San Jose, Calif.; C. S. Crawford, Santa Ana, Calif.;
E. T. Huller, the old piano man of Pacific Coast
piano name verses were sufficient to entitle them to C. E. Dayton, St. James, Minn.; John Fastje, Den-
fame, and who later represented on the road in the
prizes. But not one gave the names fully and with nison, la.; Joe B. Kelly, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Henry
Mid-South the wholesale Victrola department o£
absolute correctness. The key-name, by which the Sorensen, Grayling, Mich.; P. L. Hanson, South
Lyon & Healy, of Chicago, is now traveling in the
contest was too closely, locked for even the most ex- Bend, Ind.; R. Boyd Rice, Bellefontaine, Ohio.; B. South for the Gulbransen-Dickinson Company. The
pert in piano nomenclature, was "Schumann." It E. Lovejoy, Redfield, S. D.; W. R. Rubottom, De- Louisville store representing Gulbransen products is
was hidden in verse No. 20, page 45, first and sec- catur, 111.; A. L. Bruner, Rock Island, 111.; G. N. the Johnson Piano Company.
ond lines, thus: "S—weet musiC is the strongest tie Fredericks, Marinette, Wis.; Len J. Lister, Miami,
H. A. Diehl, of the Chicago Talking Machine Com-
that binds the HUMAN hearts."
Fla.; M. D. Drucker, New York.; Fred J. Satterfield, pany,
is expected in Louisville this week.
That was the most "concealed" of all the 33 piano New York; S. Chapman, Kiowa, Kansas; F. A.
Gus
Mayer, Victor factory road man in this terri-
names, but it was in accord with the instructions Swain, Indianapolis, Ind.; Ford & Son, Longview,
that the rhymes might contain names indicated Texas; Geo. C. Laberheim, Jackson Heights, N. Y.; tory, was in Louisville last week.
Lawrence Tiller, son of F. M. Tiller, the old piano
"plainly," "phonetically," or in "acrostic form." J. O. McFarland, Okmulgee, Okla.; G. C. Falkner,
dealer of Louisville, is owner of the Lyric Piano Com-
Clovis, N. M.; Obera Will Moran, Boston, Mass.;
Strangely, many of the answers prove that some of
pany, which he started last July when branching out
even the good guessers failed to recognize the acros- Royal Claycomb, Marshall, Mo.; H. G. Philips,
tics in verses 7, 16, 21, or 22, in which the names re- Hutchinson, Kansas; J. E. Kahn, Chicago, 111.; Ed- for himself. His store is at 454 South Fifth street,
spectively
of
"Gulbransen,"
"Acoustigrande," win A. Trefz, Philadelphia, Pa.; William Broker, where he handles the Jesse French, the Kranich &
Bach, the Schubert, the Bush & Gerts, and the Hol-
"Radle Tone" and "Adam Schaaf" appear. A correct Colon, Mich.; Geo. E. Schulze, Chicago, 111.; Chas.
list of the hidden piano names, in their respective Edwards, Akron, Ohio; Jack Church & Fred Seeger, land pianos, made at Minneapolis. In the six months
Chicago; M. Berlow, New York; J. M. Bateman, of his career as an independent dealer young Mr.
verses, is as follows:
Tiller admits that he has sold a great many Jesse
1—Hardman; 2—Baldwin; 3—-Packard; 4—Winter, Okmulgee, Okla.
French pianos. He has bought also a few Autb-
Starck; 5—Cable, Peek; 6—United Piano Corpora-
The contest displayed that the men who sell pianos
pianos, a few Starrs, and some DeKalbs, from the
tion, Starr, Chase, Victor; 7—Gulbransen; 8—Stein- are alive to the details of their business away and
way, Reed; 9— Haddorff; 10—Bush & Lane; 11—See- beyond the concerns of the instruments they repre- Apollo Piano Company, DeKalb, Til.
burg; \2—Waltham; 13—Knabe; 14—Goldsmith; 15 sent or sell. Were it not for errors in spelling some
M. W. Brock, of the M. W. Brock Company, 423
—Tonk; 16—Acoustigrande, Wing; 17—Schaaf Bros.; of the piano names, or failure to fill out completely W. Walnut street, whose agencies include the Weaver
18—Leins, Weaver, Swan, Poole; 19—Bauer; 20— some of the verses, the following good guessers pianos from York, Pa., says that December trade and
Schumann, Bay; 21—Radle Tone, Wing; 22—Adam would have been 100 per cent right:
January trade so far was good in the Weaver line.
Schaaf.
Edwin F. Tretz, Philadelphia; S. Chapman, Kiowa,
George Ames, of the U. S. Music Company, Chi-
Summary of Contest.
Kansas; J. C. McFarland, Okmulgee, Okla.; Jack cago, was in Louisville recently looking after trade.
Of the 190 contestants who came under the wire Church and Fred Seeger, Chicago; M. Berlow, New-
O. W. Williams, piano traveler, was in Louisville
with correct answers to a sufficient number of verses York. Many missed the "Waltham" name because the other day and called on C. R. Ambuhl, the dealer.
to entitle them to awards, only five included the of the fact that "Howard," or "Elgin," or "Hamil-
C. R. Ambuhl, head of the Ambuhl Piano Company,
name of Schumann, and the other 32 names were ton," seemed to fit as well and they used one of
detected as follows, the figures indicating the num- those names instead of the right one. These con- believes that life can be kept in the piano business to
the best advantage by selling the instruments on the
testants received also a special premium.
ber of times the names were mentioned correctly:
small monthly payment plan, but being careful also
Hardman, K 0; Baldwin, 185; Packard, 185; Win-
about the character of the buyers and to collect close.
ter. 100; Starck, 150; Cable, 190; Peek, 15; United
MRS. A. L. SCOTT DIES.
The Ambuhls, C. R. and his brother, who died last
Piano Corp., 30; Starr, 170; Chase, 140; Victor, 60;
Mrs. A. L. Scott, only sister of Frank D. Abbott, year, sold something like $100,000 worth of Kimball
Gulbransen, 130; Steinway, 185; Reed, 65; Haddorff, of Presto, died on Tuesday night of this week, her
pianos in and around Pittsburgh, Pa., a few years
60; Bush & Lane, 185; Seeburg, 145; Waltham, 130; death bringing sorrow to the family for the third
ago.
Knabe, 185; Goldsmith, 115; Tonk, 125; Acousti- time within a comparatively short time. Mrs. Scott
grande, 105; Schaff Bros., 105; Liens, 80; Weaver, was long a resident of Minneapolis, where her hus-
175; Swan, 140; Poole, 150; Bauer, 150; Bay, 180; band had been prominent in business circles. The
THE LATE A. H. REED:
Schumann, 5; Wing, 90; Radle Tone, 105; Adam remains were taken to Minnesota on Wednesday,
A
quarter
century ago announcement of the death
Schaaf, 125.
where services were held at the old home.
of
Alanson
H. Reed would have stirred the trade
Of course the relative fame, or familiarity among
deeply. His death, in Boston on the 15th of this
the contestants, is not indicated by the number of
month, filled but a paragraph in the trade papers.
successful times the names are mentioned. That is
FEATURES THE BRADBURY.
Mr. Reed was one of the livest workers in the Chi-
largely a matter of the difficulty in finding the names,
J. J. Collins, who recently opened a piano store at cago trade. Succeeding, with his brother John, to
some of the verses presenting them with compara- 386 Morrison street, Portland, Ore., is ably featuring
tive obviousness, while others are difficult to discover. the Bradbury pianos and players, made and controlled the business of his father, who founded Reed's Tem-
ple of Music, on Dearborn street, Chicago, he was
How Some Missed.
by W. P. Haines & Co., New York. Mr. Collins is active in piano circles until 1901, when he went to
There was not a single contestant who gave all the well known in the trade in that section where he has Boston, following the sale of the Reed & Sons piano
industry to others.
been identified with leading houses.
names correctly, though some came very near it,
190 GOOD ANSWERS
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