Presto Buyers' Guide
Analyzes and Classifies
All American P i a n o s
and in Detail Tells of
Fheir Makers.
PRESTO
E.tablUhed 18S4.
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE WEEKLY
Presto Trade Lists
Three Uniform B o o k -
lets, the Only Complete
Directories of the Music
Industries.
10 Cent.; $l.00 a Year
CHICAGO, SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 1924
WHO HAS STOCK IN
SMITH & NIXON CO.
Surprising Statement That Shares of the Old
Cincinnati Industry Are Being Offered
by Chicago Brokers With Talk of
New Values.
WHAT ARE THEY WORTH?
If It Isn't a Case of "Blue Sky," There Must Be
Some New Organization With Old
Name.
A story was abroad early this week that several
of the La Salle street brokers, in Chicago, had been
offering to sell stock of the Smith & Nixon Piano
Co.
Presto has been asked as to the advisability
of buying it. It reminds one of the O. Henry story
of his beautiful parlor and bedroom, both papered
with square decorative tablets bordered in pure
gold. The squares were shares of mining stock.
The law against dealing in worthless stocks is
now so stringent that great care is taken not to make
mistakes of the kind. But there remains all the more
mystery about the large blocks of Smith & Nixon
stock now being offered in Chicago.
As we understood it, two La Salle street broker-
age houses were especially concerned in the matter of
the piano stock. One is that of F. M. Zeiler, whose
representative had called upon a prospective cus-
tomer, either to buy or sell Smith & Nixon stock.
He also sought information, presumably to make sure
that the stock was valid. The second brokerage house
is that of Al. Stein & Co. Representatiyes of Presto
visited both of those offices and asked for enlighten-
ment.
No Price Quoted.
"Yes, we can supply you with some of the stock,"
said one of them. But he did not quote any price
and seemed more curious than eager to sell. The
other broker referred to another gentleman, in the
same office, and the latter declared that he knew
nothing about Smith & Nixon stock, and had never
had any of it to sell. But representatives of both
the brokers had been out calling upon piano men
on the subject of Smith & Nixon stock. They prob-
ably had some client who owns some of the Smith &
Nixon Piano Co. stock and is desirous of realizing
upon it. Whether it has any value, beyond its weight
in used paper, is a question which depends upon cir-
cumstances unknown to the present owner of the
Smith & Nixon piano, its good-will and trade mark
name.
It is fair to say that one of the brokers concerned
explained that there had been two incorporated com-
panies called "Smith & Nixon" and that it is the
"new one" in which he was interested as dealer in
stocks. In that event the "new company" must be
very new. The Smith & Nixon Piano Co., at the
time of its failure, was sold to A. Goldsmith, a well
known Chicago piano manufacturer.
Enter Mr. Simon.
The Smith & Nixon company had been incorpo-
rated in June, 1921, shortly after its control had been
acquired by a Mr. Simon. That gentleman had
come to Chicago, from New York, claiming that he
owned the Cheek player action and that it was his
purpose, with unlimited capital, to establish, in Chi-
cago, the largest player action industry in the coun-
try.
Eventually Mr. Simon went to Cincinnati and there
gained control of the Morrison & Waters Company,
which concern had been making Smith & Nixon
pianos, of which ownership had been acquired by pur-
chase of the Knabe Brothers Co., of Norwood, which
had succeeded to the old Smith & Nixon industry.
There is a retail piano store in Cincinnati which
also bears the Smith & Nixon name. It is conducted
by Henry Crawford, who was at one time president
of the old Smith & Nixon Company, before that con-
cern failed and passed to the Knabe Brothers. When
the name of Knabe Brothers, as applied to pianos, was
sold to the American Piano Co., for the purpose of
TRADE PAPER TALKS
1. Character of Circulation as Shown in Pub-
lication's Instructive Interest.
Presto is averse to bloviating, bull and bunk!
But when the other trade papers are devoting
those detestable influences in a way to prove
misleading, Presto has no escape from a resort
to something similar in style, but very differ-
ent in purpose.
Aside from the fact, easily proven, that no
other trade paper has a better circulation than
Presto, it remains true that no trade paper
can have a really large circulation. Any music
trade paper that lays claim to the printing of
such matter as it is of vital interest to the mer-
chants in this line of business must be in sense
a technical paper, and the publication of much
of its "news," that concerns the industry and
trade, if broadcasted to the public might do
more harm than good in the commercial sense.
A circulation of 6,000 copies of a weekly music
trade paper is about the, as far as the best in-
terests of the piano manufacturers can go at
this time. So large a regular circulation can-
not be honorably claimed by any of the music
trade papers.
No special intelligence is required to dis-
prove the possibility of buying paper and pay-
ing printers' bills for a larger weekly issue at
the highest published advertising rate of any
music trade paper of greater bulk than is repre-
sented in Presto. The others could not put
forth larger volume and exist.
That is a statement easy of verification by
any one with paper, pencil and intelligence.
But quantity circulation is not to be com-
pared with quality circulation. There is one
feature of Presto which alone proves that it
has a quality circulation. The "Where Doubts
Are Dispelled" columns disclose a trade inter-
est exceeding everything that appears in the
rival trade papers. The questions from active
piano dealers prove an instructive influence on
this paper's part, such as no other trade paper
could present. It is not subject to question.
The names and addresses of the questioners are
usually given. Not half of the inquiries are
printed because very many of them have to do
with criticisms of various pianos or with
wholesale prices not designed for publication.
But every one of the Doubts Dispelled
proves a dependence upon Presto for informa-
tion of special value to the questioner, and of
general interest to the manufacturers and
dealers alike.
No other trade paper can offer such proof of
quality circulation. Other proof, equally con-
vincing, will be presented for several weeks to
come.
avoiding the continuous lawsuit performances, Mor-
rison & Waters confined their product to the Smith
& Nixon.
Matter of Conjecture.
After Mr. Simon had conducted the business, un-
successfully, for a time, he brought the remains to
Chicago, where it went into bankruptcy and the
good will, and material assets were bought at auction
by Mr. Goldsmith, who now controls the Smith &
Nixon name and other equipment.
Of course it is not clear as to what is the purpose
of offering the old Smith & Nixon stock. One can
only conjecture. Nor it is easy to understand why a
new Smith & Nixon company should be organized
and stock in it offered for sale, if such is the case.
B. C. Waters, of the former Morrison & Waters
Company, which concern owned the Smith & Nixon,
says that he has no knowledge of any new company,
nor does he know who it is that is trying to sell stock
in the old company.
CHANGES WROUGHT BY
THE QUARTER CENTURY
Items Recalling Death of Herman D. Cable Suggests
Influence of Name in Piano Industry.
The Chicago Tribune has an editorial page feature
in which leading events of many years past are re-
called. In last Monday's issue the following item
appeared, which is of special interest to the piano
trade. It was in the "25 Years Ago" column:
"Chicago.—Herman D. Cable of Evanston is dead.
He had been interested in developing the piano and
organ industry since the Chicago fire."
To veterans in the trade it will seem almost impos-
sible that a quarter century has passed since the
founder of The Cable Company passed away. Since
then his two brothers have also gone—Hobart M.,
the eldest of the three, after having established the
piano industry which still bears his name, at Laporte,
Ind., and then the "little brother," Fayette S., who
survived his older brothers for many years, and
whose great industry recently passed into new hands.
The records of twenty-five years display great and
countless changes in the world's affairs, and, in recall-
ing the death of Herman D. Cable there comes a
vision of one of the most constructive minds and
piano builders the world has known.
CONDUCTS PIANO SCHOOL AND
STORE CONNECTED WITH IT
Students at St. Louis Institution Thus Have Advan-
tage of Studying Different Makes.
The St. Louis Piano Tuning and Player Repair
School. 1514 Franklin street, St. Louis, Mo., has
opened a good-sized used piano store and it is run
with the school, so the students realize on seeing dif-
ferent instruments every day of the week as they
come and go.
M. Freed, of the school and store says: "We are
the only school that has a piano store in connection
with it. The real experience is here."
KIMBALL CO. HEADQUARTERS MOVE,
The general offices of the W. W. Kimball Com-
pany, which have been located on the seventh floor
of the Kimball Hall Building, Chicago, ever since
that structure was erected, have been moved this
week to the third floor of the building. The number
of the entrance now is 301. The change is advan-
tageous in giving the offices daylight on both the
east and north sides of the building.
REACHING OUT AFTER BUSINESS.
One of the features of the Industrial news of the
past few days has been the recurring announcement
by prominent corporations of the establishment of
selling agencies or branches in European countries.
In the case of many of these corporations, goods are
sold under a standardized and copyrighted trade-
mark and it is the program of some of them, at least,
to conduct extensive advertising campaigns abroad.
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