Presto

r
Presto Buyers' Guide
Analyzes and Classifies
All American P i a n o s
and in Detail Tells of
Fheir Makers.
PRESTO
E«abu.h*d 1884. THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE WEEKLY
Presto Year Book
The Only Complete
Annual Review of the
American Music In-
dustries and Trades.
to Cem* f ti.oo „ r*«r
CHICAGO, SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 1925
PREPARE FOR
SHOW AT DRAKE
Big List of Reservations for Exhibit Space to
Date Prove Keen Interest in Sales
Possibilities of Convention
Displays Next June.
MANUFACTURERS PREPARE
Late News From Many Piano Plants Shows Eager-
ness of Industries to Provide Big and Char-
acteristic Exhibits.
Reservations at the Drake hotel and other hotels
in Chicago denote great interest in the trade conven-
tions in June. The space already reserved for ex-
hibits of pianos, and other musical goods, at the head-
quarters hotel and elsewhere exceeds that occupied
in any previous year. The reservations for sleeping
rooms, too, are many and show the intentions of the
exhibitors to assign strong forces to meet the con-
vention visitors.
The list of manufacturers who have already re-
served space for exhibits at the Drake Hotel during
the week of the convention includes the following:
The United States Music Co., Chicago; Cable-Nel-
son Piano Co., Chicago; Holland Piano Mfg. Co.,
Minneapolis, Minn.; the Kohler* Industries, New
York; Miessner Piano Co., Milwaukee; Premier
Grand Piano Corp., New York; Starr Piano Co.,
Richmond, Ind.; Rudolph Wurlitzer Co., Cincin-
nati; W. W. Kimball Co., Chicago; Baldwin Piano
Co, Cincinnati; M. Schulz Co., Chicago; J. P. See-
burg Piano Co., Chicago; Brunswick-Balke-Collen-
der Co.. Chicago; A. M. McPhail Piano Co., Boston;
C. Kurtzmann & Co., Buffalo, N. Y.; Brinkerhoff
Piano Co., Chicago; Bush & Lane Piano Co., Hol-
land, Mich.; Sigler Player Action, Hastings, Mich.;
B. K. Settergren Co., Bluffton, Ind.; Motor Player
Corp., Chicago; Auto Pneumatic Action Co, New
York; Brambach Piano Co., New York; Jesse French
& Sons Piano Co., New Castle, Ind.; Pratt Read &
Co., Deep River, Conn.; Ricca & Son, New York;
Lester Piano Co., Philadelphia; Nelson-Wiggen
Piano Co., Chicago; Hobart M. Cable Co., La Porte,
Ind.; Schaff Bros. Co., Huntington, Ind.; Continental
Piano Co., Boston; Simplex Player Action Co.,
Worcester, Mass ; Straube Piano Co., Hammond,
Ind.; Gulbransen Co., Chicago; Haddorff Piano Co.,
Rockford, 111.; M. Steinert & Sons, Boston; H. N.
White & Co.. Boston; Packard Piano Co., Fort
Wayne, Ind.; H. C. Bay Co.. Chicago; C. G. Conn,
Ltd., Elkhart, Ind. And there will be more.
Diversified Exhibits.
Everywhere the manufacturers are making special
preparations for the displays at Chicago. Full lines
with all the successful existing styles and new models
of pianos, players and reproducing pianos are being
prepared and the necessary printed matter for use be-
fore and during the convention is being made ready
by the forehanded houses.
The great extent of the preparations is an acknowl-
edgment of the value for sales purposes of the
exhibits at the Drake and other places in Chicago
during Convention week.
Great Packard Exhibit.
The fine range of grands, uprights, players and
reproducing pianos in the line of the Packard Piano
Co., Fort Wayne, Ind., will be shown to the trade
in a comprehensive exhibit at the convention. Plans
are now being perfected to show the production
methods of the ideal co-operative system which ob-
tains in the Packard factory; how "Harmony in the
Factory" tends to effect price advantages for the
buyers of the instruments. The Packard Interpre-
ter in grand, upright and reproducing styles will be
alluring elements in a notable display.
The big "Packard family" of dealers, salesmen,
roadmen and representatives generally will be made
"at home" in the exhibit rooms where A. S. Bond,
president, A. A. Mahan, sales manager and Mr.
Sperry, technical expert, will do the honors.
The progress of- the B. Settergren Co., Bluffton,
Ind., in the short period of its existence will be dem-
onstrated to the visiting piano dealers in an exhibit
now being prepared for convention week in Chicago.
Suitable space has been reserved at the Drake Hotel
and the plans for making a convincing display are
being worked out by the company.
The small grand pianos bearing the Settergren
name were first introduced to the trade in the fall of
1923 and immediately caught the attention of the
dealers keen for high grade instruments constructed
upon the most modern lines. The pianos associated
with the names of B. K. Settergren and Gust Ad
Anderson impressed the alert piano merchants and
numerous and continuous sales were the result. Mr.
Settergren and Mr. Anderson will be present at the
exhibit at the Drake Hotel during convention week
and they will be assisted in meeting the trade by Mr.
Woods and general traveler W. R. McAllister. The
regular grand, expression grand and the reproducing
piano, with Welte Mignon action, will be shown.
Schaff Bros. Co.
A full line of handsome pianos and players with
particularly beautiful cases will be shown at the
Drake Hotel during the week of the convention by
the Schaff Bros. Co., Huntington, Ind. And the at-
tractions of the piano display will be increased by a
showing of the beautiful veneers with which the com-
pany produces its wonderful two-tone effects.
The preparations being made for the exhibit re-
flect the great interest in the two-tone effects by
the trade. The show will prove the reason why the
Schaff Bros, two-tone, and other instruments, are
gaining in favor at such a rate with the dealers keen
to instruments with strong selling points. President
Jacob Dick and Curtis S. Miller, vice-president, and
M. Martin, the factory manager, will be in charge of
the exhibit at the Drake Hotel.
Display of Kurtzmann Grands.
The C. Kurtzmann Co., Buffalo, N. Y., has re-
served space for an exhibit at the Drake Hotel dur-
ing the week of the annual trade convention and the
purpose of the company is to show something re-
markable in piano making. For one thing the Kurtz-
mann display will be a notable collection of grands
with new artistic models of the Kurtzmann concert
grand. Besides the concert grand and the four foot
eleven and one half inch grand two intermediate sizes
will be shown as well as two sizes of reproducing
grands. Some of the officials and the full roster of
road men of the company will be present.
United Piano Corp. to Exhibit.
The United Piano Corporation of Norwalk, Ohio,
has reserved large space in the Drake Hotel for an
exhibit of its line during the week of the convention
in Chicago next June. The unusually large space is
necessary to show the extensive line of existing styles
and several new styles, some of which will be seen
for the first time by the trade at the exhibit at the
Drake. The A. B. Chase, Lindeman & Sons and
Emerson pianos in all the models of uprights, grands,
players and reproducing pianos of the names will be
an attraction to interest the visitors to the conven-
tion.
STEINWAY FOR RADIO STATION.
MANY PIANO MEN
ENJOY WARM CLIMATE
Florida, California and Hot Springs, Ark.,
Provide Weeks of Winter Vacation for
Lucky Ones.
Quite a number of men of the music trade have
sought the climatic pleasures of Florida and the
Pacific Coast, thereby escaping the rigors of the
northern sections where winter continues to linger in
the lap of spring. Among those sojourning in Flor-
ida are Jacob Dick, president of the Schaff Bros.
Co., Huntington, Ind., and J. H. Williams, president
of the L^nited Piano Corporation, Norwalk, Ohio.
Mr. Williams, however, is expected back this week.
C. D. Greenleaf, president of C. G. Conn, Ltd., Elk-
hart, Ind , is another busy man who favored Florida
as a pleasant place for a winter vacation.
George J. Dowling, president of The Cable Co.,
Chicago, is in California and enjoying the pleasure
he likes best—meeting the loyal dealers who so ably
represent the line of The Cable Co. The Pacific
Coast also attracted B. K. Settergren, head of the
B. Settergren Company, Bluffton, Ind., who also
makes business a pleasure while there. He returned
to Bluffton this week.
C. G. Conn, founder of C. G. Conn, Ltd., Elkhart,
Ind., who now resides in California, is at present
sojourning at Catalina Island. Mr. Conn is 84 years
young and enjoys the best of health.
To Howard B. Morenus. vice president of the
Hobart M. Cable Co., La Porte, Ind., the Hoosier
state is the pleasantest place in the United States to
live in while golf is available. So, to avoid too long
an interval between games, Mr. Morenus goes to
Hot Springs, Ark., for a few weeks in winter to
develop his stroke. He has been there for two weeks
and will remain another week to master a few new
tricks that he says will surprise the contestants in
the convention tournament in Chicago next June.
Meantime Mr. Cable remains chained to the office
and multitudinous labors and is happy in it.
The Buffalo Evening News of last week Friday
published a portrait of Mrs. Columbus Healy, pho-
tographed on the lawn of the Belleview Hotel, at
Bellaire. Florida, where the family of the Chicago
piano man has been wintering.
President Otto Schulz of the M. Schulz Co., Chi-
cago, who has been recuperating in Florida for the
past four weeks, is expected home the latter part of
this week.
J. H. Hackenheimer, president of C. Kurtzmann &
Co , Buffalo, is one of the colony of piano men en-
joying the winter months in Florida. Mr. Hackenr
heimer is known as a hard worker who seldom in-
dulges in recreation away from his office, which
makes this sunshine sojourn the more delightful.
BUILDS BIG BUSINESS
ON FAIR PRICE POLICY
The studio of the new radio broadcasting station
WTIC, Hartford, Conn., was opened recently by the
Travelers Insurance Co., and a handsome Steinway Fine Line of Pianos and Players Aids Purposes of
Peoria, 111., Firm.
concert grand Style D was selected by the station
officials after careful tests. The instruments was pur-
Black, Derges & Marshall, Peoria, 111., advertises
chased from Watkins Bros., Inc., Steinway represen- good pianos and players at just prices and operating
tatives in that city for many years.
on that policy has succeeded in building up a splendid
business. At the handsome showrooms at 226 South
PROGRESSIVE PENNSYLVANIA FIRM. Adams street and 505 Main street a fine line of instru-
The Shaffer Music House, of Oil City, Pa., has been ments is shown, including the Packard, M. Schulz
granted a license to operate a radio broadcasting sta- Co., C. Kurtzmann & Co., and Werner pianos and
tion in that city. The station operates on a wave players. Brunswick phonographs and radiolas are
length of 250 meters with a power of 500 watts. The also carried.
regular operation of the station will probably be com-
"Come here for right prices, fine musical instru-
menced within a few weeks, during which time the ments, and a fair deal," says the company in a news-
call letters of the station will be assigned.
paper display this week. "We'make no exaggerated
statements regarding our values. Every piano is
priced fairly and is fully guaranteed. We do not
GORDON LAUGHEAD IN BUFFALO.
Gordon Laughead, general traveling representative offer a $700 player for $325 for the simple reason
of the De Kalb-Apollo line, was at Buffalo, N. Y., that it can not be done. Besides, no right thinking
last Friday in conference with Mr. Peterman, the person would believe us if we did."
Rud. Wurlitzer Co.'s manager at the North Tona-
wanda factories. From Buffalo Mr. Laughead went
Fred Williams and Alvin Kirsch, both experienced
over to Pittsburgh to look after a deal in that city, music trade men, have opened a piano store at 310
and expected to get back to Chicago Sunday morning. Busseron street, Vinccnnes, Ind.
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