November 15, 1924.
PRESTO
DEALER AND THE
UNTUNED PIANO
Responsibilities of the Music Merchant for the
Tunelessness of Instruments in the Homes
Cannot Be Evaded, and No Excuse
Exonerates Him.
KEEP PIANOS IN TUNE
Propaganda for Impressing Piano Owners with Im-
rcrtance of Periodic Expert Attention to Their
Instruments Is Good Publicity.
By A. G. GULBRANSEN,
President, The Gulbransen Co., Chicago.
If it is important that
the piano in the home be
kept in tune for the sake
I of the instrument itself and
those who hear it, it is a
great deal more important
that the piano in a public
or semi-public place be
kept in tune.
Such a piano, upon a
single hearing, can dis-
gust a whole roomful of
people. Not one family
and a few neighbors, as in
the case of a piano in the
home, but many families.
And yet the majority of
pianos in public places are
neglected.
Whose fault is it? The
owner's? In a measure,
A. (i. (U'LRRAN'SEX. yes, but it is a greater
fault of the dealer who
sold it. When he closed the sale he must have real-
ized that the instrument would be either a good or
bad influence for his business, depending solely on
how it sounds to those who hear it.
Follow Up the Sales!
It is the dealer's business to follow up • such sales,
to tune and adjust the instrument periodically. Not
only is it his duty, but it is to his best interests to do
so. It will help him make more sales and prove to
be one of the most potent forces in building up his
business.
If the piano had a sign on it reading, "I am badly
out of tune. I am a Blank Piano, sold by the Blank
Music Shop," the owner, manufacturer and dealer
would all feel deeply humiliated. Yet, in another
way, the piano is saying that very thing every time
it is played.
Manufacturers do feel humiliated when they hear
their product or any other make of piano, out of
tune, but there is not much that they can do, except
to stir up the dealer. They have no way of knowing
where instruments have been sold by the dealers.
It is the dealer's job to follow up his sales, whether
to homes or public places, and see to it that they are
kept in good shape.
It seems to me that in the case of sales to public
places, the plan which the Wilks people use in Aus-
tralia could be adopted to very good advantage: Im-
press on the buyer at the time the sale is made, the
necessity of tuning every six months. Then notify
the owner every six months that a tuner will be there
on a certain day unless you are notified to the con-
trary. It is, in most cases, a thoughtful service that
the owner appreciates, a source of profit for the
dealer and a method of assuring a piano being an
advertisement for, not against, those who own, sold
and made it.
A Case in Point.
Just last week we came across a piano in a promi-
nent health resort in Wisconsin, visited by people
from all over the slate and adjoining states. It had
been sold by the retail store of a manufacturer. Yet
it was in very poor shape and apparently the manu-
facturer did not think or care about the impression
his piano was making on the thousands of people
who heard it every year.
Another one, of our own make, was noticed in a
combination res'.aurant and lodge hall, in Chicago
the other day. It was in good adjustment, but out
of tune. Hundreds of people crowd this place every
evening, and it is unfair to the Gulbransen to have
it judged by this out-of-tune instrument. We asked
the owner who sold it to him and next morning
called up the dealer and suggested that he could get
a tuning order from one of his customers whom he
had neglected.
With places such as these, it is not a matter of
the tuning charge being a burden. Business men and
women want to maintain their equipment at a proper
standard. It is simply a matter of neglect in most
cases, which it is the dealer's business to take care
of, thereby helping his business, giving the customer
better service and making an additional money profit
for himself.
SELLS BALDWIN PIANO TO
HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS
Activities of H. G. Benson, Stamford, Tex., Dealer,
Suggest Possibilities of Big Field.
UNFORTUNATE DECLINE
OF AN OLD HOUSE
Succession of Changes by Which the Fine
Piano Business of Grosvenor & Lapham,
Chicago, Was Eliminated.
After nearly thirty years of .substantial business in
a single location, the Grosvenor & Lapham Company,
Chicago, seems to have faded out. It seems to pre-
sent an unusual instance of the result of "changing
horses in the middle of the stream" as the great Lin-
coln put it with reference to a more momentous inci-
dent. For it was largely because of a series of
changes in the pianos handled that led to the extinc-
tion of a valuable firm name.
The famous piano house which, for so many years,
occupied good space on the sixth floor of the Fine
Arts Building, Michigan avenue, Chicago, was formed
in 1896 by two young men who had been salesmen
with the Lyon, Potter & Co., afler a career with
the house of Lyon & Healy. When Mr. Potter
decided to withdraw from the piano business, the late
Calvin Whitney, of the A. B. Chase Company, want-
ing a Chicago representation for the instruments
from Xorwalk, proposed to "back" the two sales-
men. They opened tip in good style and made a
place for the A. B. Chase in the Chicago trade.
When Mr. Whitney died, the A. B. Chase piano
was in the uncertainties which follow such an event,
and Grosvenor & Lapham tried other instruments.
They finally were induced to take on the Mehlin, and
with it the traveling representative, Mr. Houston.
That gentleman gained control of the business and.
after a year or two, it was changed by the purchase
of the Fenton Music Stores, in outlying districts.
Mr. Houston did not seem to make it a go, and the
two original owners resigned. Finally, the last
scene, so far as concerns the old Fine Arts piano
business, is that the Fenton Music Co. has in turn
changed hands. Olin Bell, who is in charge of it, is
in Muncie, Ind., on matters of the late Bell Bros.
Company of that city. Mr. Lapham is in the bond
business, and Mr. Grosvenor is preparing to re-
enter the piano trade.
Bauer's Music & Variety Store, 2619 Gravois ave-
nue, St. Louis, has been remodeled.
Among the recent sales of H. G. Benson, repre-
sentative of the Baldwin line of pianos in Stamford,
Tex., was a handsome Baldwin grand piano sold to
the senior class of the Stamford High School. The
instrument arrived last week and was installed in the
new .High School Auditorium. A silver plate with
the inscription "Seniors '25," has been affixed to the
front of the piano.
The possibilities of similar sales are suggested by
the activities of Air. Benson. This class has fifty-
seven members, and they raised $250 between the
time he wired for the piano and its arrival in Stam-
ford.
v
NEW STORE AT DOTHAN, ALA.
J. H. Cumbus, one of the sales representatives of
the Jesse French & Sons Piano Co., announces that he
will open a piano and music store in Dothan, Ala.,
just as soon as arrangements for a building are com-
pleted. A complete line of small instruments, popular
and classical sheet music and supplies will be, carried
as well as pianos, phonographs and records Mr. Cum-
bus believes that the quality of a Jesse French piano
insures success. Mr. Cumbus goes to Dothan with a
thorough knowledge of the piano and music business,
having followed this line the greatest part of his life.
He has moved his family to the Alabama town and
intends to stav there.
T e
" tjiardman
The ^J-/ardman Jzine
is a complete line
It comprises a range of artisti-
cally w o r t h y instruments to
please practically every purse:
The Hardman, official piano of
the Metropolitan Opera House;
the Harrington and the Hensel
Pianos in which is found that in-
builtdurabilitythatcharacterizes
all Hardman-made instruments;
the wonderful Hardman Repro-
ducing Piano; the Hardman
Autotone (the perfect player-
piano); and the popular Playo-
tone.
UPSTAIRS STORE SUCCEEDS.
GRAND PIANO
M Inches Long
The best exponent of the present Baby Grand Age.
I|s tone — its lines—its reatrtcted space requirement and
attractive price—
MAKE IT THE PREMIER AGENCY
Get full details of this valuable Belling franchise NOW
The J. J. Collins Piano Co., Portland, Ore., which
recently moved from 386 Morrison street in the Hyatt
talking machine store to larger quarters in the Ungar
Building, 205 Morrison street, has had very pleasing
results. Mr. Collins has taken Warren A. Erwin as
partner, and the new firm is known as Collins &
Erwin, "Upstairs Piano Store." Mr. Collins was for
many years vice-president of the Reed-French Piano
Co., and is well and favorably known in the music
business. Mr. Erwin was formerly manager of the
piano department of Lipman, Wolfe & Co., and is
prominent in musical circles.
Premier Grand Piano Corporation
NEW OWNER ACTIVE.
Largest Institution in the World Building Grand
Pianos Exclusively
A spirited drive for holiday sales is being made by
the Archie L. Hamilton Co., which recently took over
the store of the Baldwin Piano Co., First and Main
streets, Dayton, O. Mr. Hamilton, head of the new
concern, is an experienced piano man, well known
in that section. Associated with him in the business
is his siter, Mrs. Ada W. Dunlap, who is one of the
stockholders.
WALTER C. H E r P E R U
Pr«tid«al
JUSTUS DATTEMER
Vic*-Pr*
510-532 West ilxA Slreel
NEW YORK
J k ond tiring*
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