Presto Buyers' Guide
Analyzes and Classifies
All American P i a n o s
and in Detail Tells of
Their Makers.
PRESTO
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE WEEKLY
Presto Year Book
The Only Complete
Annual Review of the
American Music In-
dustries and Trades.
to < w . ; $2.00 * r.ar
CHICAGO, SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 1924
they will be prohibitive. There has been a very
sharp advance in the price of these already, and this
has had the effect of reviving a little of the trade with
America. I would strongly recommend any Ameri-
can manufacturer trying to build up an export trade
in this country to go to the trouble and expense of im-
porting two or three different grades of German
A Concise Analysis of Conditions as They Ex- pianos and playerpianos, and test for himself the real
merit of the German instruments.
ist and Promise to Develop in the Piano
One of the most glaring visible differences is in the
Market of Australia and Other
keyboard; the American sometimes seeming very
Fields for Exporters.
crude and cheap in its appearance compared with the
German. The Germans make such good celluloid
keys that it is very difficult to tell it from the high-
grade ivory keys, whereas the American celluloid key-
board screams of cheapness.
Now That Effects of the War Have Faded the Need
There is still a big field here for American player-
pianos, but the only hope of any American manufac-
of Closer Attention to Foreign Customs Is
turer building an export trade in this, or any other,
Essential.
country is to find out how the Germans do it and go
them one better. It is no use fooling himself—ex-
By F. OWEN FRENCH,
port work is something very far removed from do-
Sydney, Australia.
mestic trade, and until the lesson is well learned he
I am interested in the article on your editorial page will continue to lose his place.
under the heading, "German Pianos in England"; also
Players Hold Their Own.
the article by George Cecil, on the "British Piano
Our
own
house
has been very fortunate so far and
Industry''—issue of May 10th.
maintained an excellent playerpiano trade, but
There is a certain amount of grim humor in Mr. has
has been quite a falling off in pianos, due to
Cecil's article, more from the Englishman's point there
the
German
goods, which are particularly well fin-
of view, but the humor also reflects on the Ameri- ished off in the
matter of detail.
can manufacturer if you take an international view-
Just at the present time trade conditions are rather
point of thewhole pianoforte industry.
slack due to local causes, also the season of the
The invasion of German pianos in England threat- year, but there should soon be a revival.
ened to seriously impress many of the European
American players in the past have held their own,
manufacturers until a protective tariff operated. Mr.
Cecil infers that the German pianos were winning the and German manufacturers are improving their prod-
English market on merit. The fact that the German uct very quickly, and the local agents make the boast
instruments are fast displacing the American, in both lhat they will drive the Americans out of this mar-
Australia and South America, is also a point that ket, and I assure you they are doing their best. The
the traders in these countries will call one of merit. facts are that Germany has always had a very vital
It is a fact that both English and American instru- interest in export, whereas the Americans have only
ments have had to make way to the German goods in treated it as a side line, picking the plums while they
practically all parts of the world, though, fortunately, could be picked, and apparently oblivious to the possi-
bilities of an export trade, if seriously developed. If
there are a number of exceptions.
they lose this market it will be because the oppo-
Buying in America.
nent has made a close study of the requirements and
Since the days of the war, Australia has had no set about to win it as only an export market can
F. OWEN FRENCH.
option but to buy her instruments from America, as be won.
during the war period very little was manufactured
in the European countries, and practically nothing
exported. Then after the war, and until about twelve
months ago, there was an embargo on all German
instruments. August, 1923, this embargo was lifted,
and since then there has been an ever-increasing in-
flow of German pianos, and, to a much lesser extent, J. F. Hartlieb Is Elected Executive Head of
German playerpianos.
Both the Hallet & Davis Piano Co. and
There are some very active German agents here,
who make the boast that they will drive the Ameri-
the Conway Securities Co.
can goods out of this market, and certainly they
The Hallet & Davis Piano Co., of Boston, Mass.,
lose no opportunity to discredit American goods.
Unfortunately, during the period of forced Ameri- and The Conway Securities Co. (an associate com-
can buying much of the worst stuff made in America pany) have elected J. F. Hartlieb, of New York,
was dumped on this market, so much so that Ameri- their president, succeeding T. P. Brown as presi-
dent of the Hallet & Davis Piano Co. and C. C. Con-
can goods got a very bad name.
way as president of the Conway Securities Co. Both
Must Revise Methods.
of the latter gentlemen, however, retain their large
The American methods and systems were not suit- holdings and active interest and direction in these
able to this market, and the trade has been such that companies.
the Australian buyer has merely put up with it until
Mr. Hartlieb has had wide experience in financial
such times when he could make better arrangements. and manufacturing pursuits.
The time has arrived, and the result is that practically
every store in Australia is making the loud and proud
FIFTH AVENUE ANNIVERSARY.
boast that it has German lines.
The 100th anniversary of the official opening of
You can take it, Mr. Editor, that the merit that Fifth avenue, New York, on November 1, 1824, will
perturbed the English manufacturer is the same merit commemorate the birth of what has long been the
that is perturbing the American manufacturer who is famous Piano Row, in a celebration, plans for which
doing business in foreign fields.
are now being laid by members of the Fifth Avenue
America h,as had her opportunity, and she reaped Association. The thoroughfare will be decorated;
a golden harvest, but in reaping she has "killed the there will be a parade with floats depicting the grad-
goose that laid the golden eggs."
ual development of this famous avenue and pageants
In the past the German manufacturer confined him- will be held in the city playgrounds and schools.
self to pianos; but he is now realizing the fact that it The association also will publish an illustrated book
is a day of playerpianos, and he is making a very giving the history of Fifth avenue from the rural
strong bid to capture the playerpiano trade also. country road of 1824 to the present day.
Until very recent months, he has not been very suc-
cessful, but at the present time some excellent Ger-
FORMER PIANO MAKER DEAD.
man playerpianos are on the market, and the Ameri-
Thomas Brett, 85 years old, inventor of a player
can manufacturer will have to look to his laurels to
piano action of years past, died in Cleveland, Ohio,
hold the playerpiano trade.
July 28. Mr. Brett was a Civil War veteran, and a
German Prices Advance.
native of Geneva, Ohio. He went to Cleveland 50
There is only one real hope, and that is that the years ago, where he was president of the Brett Player
German pianos will advance so high in price that Piano Company.
GERMAN INVASION
OF ENGLISH TRADE
SLACK AMERICAN METHODS
NEW PRESIDENT OF
PROMINENT CONCERNS
AEOLIAN COMPANY
SELLS BUILDING
Famous Structure in West 42nd Street, Near
Fifth Avenue, New York, Purchased by
the Schulte Retail Stores Corporation
for Investment.
*
WAS HELD AT $6,000,000
Music Concern Will Continue to Occupy Present
Quarters Until May 1, 1929, President
Tremaine Announces.
One of the largest and most important real estate
transactions of the year in New York City was
closed last week when the Aeolian Building at 29
to 33 West Forty-second street was sold to the
Schulte Retail Stores Corporation for investment.
The property was held at $6,000,000 and although
no figures were announced it is understood that the
buyers paid very close to the holding price. The
sale naturally caused much trade comment. The
buyer of the Aeolian Building is a giant tobacco
concern conducting a chain of retail cigar stores
throughout the country. It is the opinion that the
Aeolian Company will eventually secure a new loca-
tion further uptown in New York.
The Aeolian Building, which occupies the site of
Latting tower, one of the landmarks of New York
in the '50s, is a seventeen-story structure with two
basements. It occupies a plot 78 feet front on Forty-
second street, and the same frontage on Forty-third
street, being 200 feet deep.
A Splendid Structure.
The structure is of Indiana limestone on both
frontages, of modern steel frame construction and
was built by the Aeolian company in 1912, especially
to meet the requirements of the owners, including
Aeolian concert hall, music roll and phonograph
demonstration rooms, etc., as well as the Aeolian
company's executive and general offices.
The sale of the property at the reported figure
makes another step in the career of the Aeolian com-
pany. Forty years ago, when the Aeolian company
pioneered in the making of player instruments it oc-
cupied a store on Broadway near Union Square, and
it was there that H. B. Tremaine, president of the
company, first joined his father in the management
of the business which he has since directed.
As the wealth and fashion of New York began its
uptown march the Aeolian business was moved to
West Twenty-third street, in the then smart Madison
Square district.
j,
The Third Move.
Later it moved to what is now the midtown shop-
ping zone, Thirty-fourth street and Fifth avenue, and
finally to Forty-second street about 12 years ago.
When the Aeolian company moved into Fifth ave-
nue, adjoining the residence of the late A. T. Stew-
art, it was the only business house in the Fifth ave-
nue residence section.
An important feature of the Aeolian Building is
the concert hall, seating 1,100 persons, where much
of New York's musical history in the last twelve
years has centered and where the great musicians of
the time have appeared in concert. The hall was
opened in September, 1912, with the New York Sym-
phony Orchestra, under Walter Damrosch, with
Maggie Teyte, soloist.
Paderewski, Hofmann,
Bauer, Gabrilowitsch, Heifetz, Casals, Schumann-
Heink, Matzenauer, Hempel, Kreisler, Farrar, Bond,
Grainger, Schelling, Friedman, are among those who
have regularly appeared in Aeolian Hall. Mr. Tre-
maine announced last week Friday that his company
would continue to occupy the building and to man-
age Aeolian Hall, as tenant and lessee from the new
owners, until May 1, 1929, and possibly for a longer
period.
Aeolian Progress.
The Aeolian company has had a somewhat spec-
tacularly progressive career since, by the introduc-
(Continued on Page 4.)
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/