Presto

Issue: 1925 2042

September 12, 1925.
MAX DE ROCHEMONT, JR.,
KILLED BY AUTOMOBILE
Twenty-Year-Old Son of Vice-President of the
Laffargue Co., New York, Meets Death
at Mount Vernon.
Max J. De Rochemont, Jr., twenty years old, son
of Max J. De Rochemont, vice-president and treas-
urer of the Laffargue Co., New York, was killed at
Mount Vernon, N. Y., August v30 ; when, according to
general belief, he was struck by an automobile.
When the body was found lying by the side of the
road, the coroner ordered an inquest to determine the
cause of death.
Young Mr. De Rochemont was a student of civil
engineering which profession he expressed a prefer-
ence for at the conclusion of his high school years
and a year at Wesleyan College. He was an enthu-
siastic student and a young man of an agreeable per-
sonality which made him a.large circle of friends.
Funeral services were held from the family home,
33 Pine Place, New Rochelle, N. Y., Sept. 1. In
addition to his bereaved parents he is survived by a
younger brother and by a sister, Mrs. Ronald Craig-
mile.
CHRISTMAN PIANO CO.'S
NEW PERIOD MODELS
Queen Anne and Sheraton Instruments Added
to Line of Grands Distinguished by Beauty
of Tone, Case and Finish.
Two new period Grands announced by the Christ-
mann Piano Co., New York, are further evidences
of the progressive character along artistic lines by the
company. A Queen Anne and a Sheraton are the
new models making more complete the splendid array
of instruments.
The two new artistic models from the famous old
industry provide the most delightful and convincing
proof of the continuance of the progressive spirit
established as a policy by Peter Christman, the
founder, in 1855. Many numbers in the successful
line of Christman pianos show that the ambitions of
the founder are being emulated by his sons, who give
personal attention to the model factory and offices at
597-601 East 137th street.
Like the others in the line, the new Period models
PRESTO
are distinguished for their artistic tone and graces of
construction and the quality of endurance is one that
the experienced piano dealer is certain of finding in
the new models. They are considered by the makers
worthy to be associated with the Christman Studio
Grand, an instrument of marked power and beauty
which has attained to great favor among discriminat-
ing music lovers, artists and teachers, and is con-
sidered a most desirable number to add to their line
by keen music merchants The Christman slogan,
"The First Touch Tells," is one readily suggestive
of the desirable tonal merits in Christman instru-
ments.
The two new Period models are produced in excep-
tionally beautiful cases and already have won favor
among Christman representatives.
EARL BILLINGS WILL
MOVE TO BILLINGS, FLA.
Popular Traveler Will Go South to Fill Important
Place in Retail Field.
Owing to the serious illness of Mrs. Billings, E. R.
Billings, for many years general traveler for The
Cable Company and for the past two years assistant
to the president, has been compelled to sever his con-
nection with the main office, and is now located in
Miami, Fla., in charge of the Cable Piano Com-
pany's retail store.
Mr. Billings is well-known throughout the country
in a wholesale way, and his host of friends will be
interested in his success in the retail field.
FEATURES CABLE GRAND.
The new electric grand piano of The Cable Com-
pany, Chicago, is being featured in Philadelphia at
the local retail distributors, James Bellak's Sons, 1129
Chestnut street. The electric grand is finished in
mahogany and has been favorably received by those
in search of this type of Inner-player. The Cable
Midget has been a most active seller during the sum-
mer. Louis Stauss is manager of the Bellak store.
BUYS ARKANSAS STORE.
J. W. Guisinger, owner of the Guisinger Music
House, Fayetteville, Ark., has bought the Kennan
Music Store at Snringdale, Ark., and will operate it
in connection with his Fayetteville store.
GLOBE MUSIC CO., BUILDS.
The Globe Music Company, St. Charles, 111., is
adding to its already large factory, an addition o'
180x48 feet, to take care of growing business.
WEEK'S ACTIVITY OF
STORY & CLARK CO.
E. H. Story and George Eucker Visit Branch
Stores and R. A. Burke Returns from
Visit to St. Louis.
At a recent meeting of the Story & Clark Piano
Co.'s branch store managers at headquarters, 173
North Michigan avenue, Chicago, conclusive proof
was presented that the Story & Clark line is making
a steady progress. All of which was very gratifying
to E. H. Story, president of the company, who pre-
sided over the meeting. Last week Mr. Story and
George Eucker, general manager of the retail
branches, took leave of Chicago for a visit to the
company's stores in Detroit, Philadelphia, New York
and Brooklyn. Conditions will be noted and the fall
sales campaign will be discussed.
Reports of good sales for the Story & Clark line
came from a different source when Burt K. Chaffee,
of the Chaffee Furniture Company, Grand Rapids,
Mich., called at the Story & Clark Co.'s offices last
week and told of an increasing demand for the line in
his city.
The latest edition of the "Story Book/' which is
edited by R. A. Burke and Stil Harcourt, contains
interesting news of the Story & Clark line. On the
front page a description of the new Story & Clark
grand is given as follows:
Our new Grand, five feet two inches, is a real musi-
cal creation and has, and is daily getting the endorse-
ments of some of the most prominent musicians of
today. This Grand was designed and constructed to
meet all comers in the real musical field. Commercial-
ism was not the paramount idea when this Grand
was conceived—and neither is it the creation of nov-
ices, for you know that the Story & Clark Co. was
established in 1857.
In this grand every string and pin; every block of
wood and plate of steel; every hammer and key;
every strip of the wondertul sounding board—all
through these long years have been developing into
a master creation for the refined musical tempera-
ment, and the price is in reach of all. Volume takes
care of that.
Another feature of the September issue of the
Story Book is a double center spread showing the
Story & Clark Musicians Art and Lounge Room with
the Welte Mignon Reproducing Pine Organ recently
installed.
R. A. Burke, popular Story & Clark traveler, re-
turned with his wife this week from an automobile
trip to St. Louis, Mo., and Waterloo, 111. In the lat-
ter town Mr. and Mrs. Burke visited Mr. Burke's
mother.
WEAVER PIANOS FOR MARYLAND SCHOOL
SALISBURY, MD.. STATE NORMAL SCHOOL.
Recently the Weaver Piano Co., Inc., York, Pa.,
shipped a Weaver upright reproducing piano (Welte-
Mignon Licensee) and a Weaver upright piano, to
the Salisbury, Md., State Normal School. Salisbury,
on the eastern shore of Maryland, was chosen by the
Maryland General Assembly of 1922 because of its
ideal location. A farm of nearly 30 acres just south
of Salisbury was selected and the buildings begun.
This first unit was completed during June, 1925, and
provision has been made for 150 students for the
1925-1926 school year. Only graduates of accredited
four-year high schools are eligible and a very high
standard of scholarship and aptitude for teaching is
required.
Not only was Prof. W. J. Holloway given every
opportunity in the selection of his faculty, but also
in the selection of equipment. More than a year ago,
Prof. Holloway with Dr. Gibson, state supervisor of
music, visited the Weaver factory. He spent a day
inspecting the material and workmanship entering
into the construction of and in testing Weaver pianos.
Both Prof. Holloway and Dr. Gibson were impressed
with the tonal quality and ready response of the
Weaver piano to every demand made upon it.
The Weaver reproducing piano, with Welte-Mignon
Licensee, made a particular appeal to them because
of its ability to present to the student body the music
of the masters exactly as interpreted and played by
the masters. The Library of Welte Recordings
amazed them by its completeness and its adaptability
to normal school work. They decided that a Weaver
reproducing piano must be part of the equipment.
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/
10
PRESTO
SPENCER
The Intrinsic Qualities of This
Piano Command Attention
A High Grade Instrument at a
Moderate Price
First Class Factory and Equipment
Ample Production and Service
SPENCER PIANO COMPANY, Inc.
FACTORY: Thirty-Firs! St. and First Ave.
OFFICES: 338 East 31st Street, New York N. Y.
E. Leins Piano Co.
Makers of Pianos and
Player Pianos That Are
Established L e a d e r s
Correspondence from Reliable
Dealers Invited
Factory and Offices, 304 W. 42nd St.
NEW YORK
"Built on Family Pride"
Doll & Sons
Represent the Artistic
in Piano and Player Piano
Construction
JACOB DOLL & SONS
STODART
WELLSMORE
Jacob Doll & Sons, Inc.
Southern Boulevard, E. 133rd St.
E. 134th St. and Cypress Ave.
NEW YORK
QUALITY
in Name and in Fact
TONE. MATERIALS, CONSTRUCTION,
WORKMANSHIP, DESIGN—all in ac-
cord with the broadest experience—are
the elements which give character to
Bush & Lane Products.
BUSH & LANE PIANOS
BUSH ft LANE CECILJAN PLAYER PIANOS
take high place, therefore, in any com-
parison of high grade pianos because of
the individuality of character which dis-
tinguishes them in all essentials of merit
and value.
MttH ft LANE PIANO CO.
Holtoml, Mich.
STRONG DESIRABILITY
OF LESTER STYLE 85
Summer Trade of Lester Dealers Called for
Steady Increase in Shipments from the
Factory During July and August.
Foremost among the instruments which have de-
fied any trade-deterrent influences that may exist in
the summer is the new Lester Reproducing Grand
piano, "Style 85," of the Lester Piano Company,
Philadelphia. The style "85" is the new Lester
grand possessing talking points of an easily under-
stood and irrefutable character. Simplicity dis-
tinguishes the design. It requires no expert to take
care of it. Any tuner with a knowledge of the up-
right playerpiano can put the keep the instrument in
order.
Another sale-winning advantage of the new Lester
style "85" is that it permits a wide choice of music
rolls. The ability of phonographs to use various
kinds of records has been productive of sales in those
machines. The new Lester style "85" permits of the
use, with equal facility, of Q R S, Vocalstyle, Con-
norized and United States Music Co. rolls. Dealers
are aware of the inducement to choose the Lester the
wide range of choice in music rolls gives it.
The summer successes of the new Lester style are
suggestive of much greater achievements in the fall
and winter. The representation of the Lester line is
wide, but opportunities for dealers to become asso-
ciated with the line are still open. The Lester Piano
Company is one of the progressive industries, and
shows the results of successful activity in bigger fac-
tories, increased capacity and greater production, in
an incredibly short time. The company has more
than doubled its business every three years and has
added new buildings and equipment to keep pace
with the demand for the instruments. All parts are
made in the Lester factories, including the player
actions, which present a number of valuable patents.
Lester pianos are in the equipment of some of the
most prominent schools of music in America. Over
a hundred public schools in Philadelphia have Lester
pianos and Lester pianos are prized in over 100,000
homes.
EFFECT OF RADIO ON
MUSIC ROLL SALES
Timidity at Radio's Influence on Business Dis-
appearing and Dealers Tie Up with Broad-
casters' Programs with Good Results.
Roll sales have been materially helped in stores
where the manager continually ties up with radio
programs. Of course it was only natural that music
dealers should have been disturbed at the great at-
tention given by the' public to radio and the great
amount of money spent on apparatus.
But the operation of radio has been made a great
agency for a greater sale of music rolls by the
dealers with energy and vision. They have "tied up"
with radio in that they distinguish the normal roll de-
mand from the radio variety. To do this the roll de-
partment must follow the programs of the different
broadcasting stations. The observant roll depart-
ment managers who keenly observe the radio pro-
grams note that a noticeable demand for the selec-
tion follow the broadcasting.
The effect on roll sales is more noticeable when a
particular song or piece of music is featured by sev-
eral stations for a week or so. It is not the broad-
casting of the populars that alone brings the custom-
ers in flocks to the roll departments. Dealers are
often surprised at an unexpected big demand for a
classical number. This happens when a station gets
a request for the repetition of a certain song by an
artist who is a radio favorite. Station directors are
pretty responsive to the wishes of the listeners-in.
The song is broadcast and other stations immediately
put the song on the ether. The effect in the roll de-
partments is immediately noticeable.
It is not always that the roll departments can an-
ticipate the radio-created roll demands no matter
how closely the programs are watched, but the fact
that the department caters to what they call "radio
demands" is well advertised. Patrons know that if a
number heard over radio is not procurable at the
moment in roll form, the dealer can satisfy their de-
mands in a day or two. The radio customers, as
they are called, have added thousands of names to the
customer list of the roll department which ties up
with radio.
That radio is a great means towards familiarizing
the public with fine music it is only natural to sup-
pose it exercises an influence on the sales of other
goods in the music store. Radio broadcasting is not
listed as one of the aids of the Music Industries
September 12, 1925.
Chamber of Commerce Bureau for the Encourage-
ment of Music, but it most assuredly is a potent aid
to increasing the interest in music of all kinds in
that it is helpful to sales of music goods. But the
effect in the sale of rolls and records is most marked.
Radio is a great factor in the music business and
no observant dealer disregards its influence on sales.
The keen ones see its power to influence the music
business in a beneficial way. It is a change from the
panic among the timid in the music trade when radio
became recognized as a reality, a thing to buy and sell
and not something to write thrilling stories about in
the newspapers.
THE NEWMAN BROTHERS
SMALL UPRIGHT PIANO
An Instrument in Which the Claims to Everything
That Is Desirable Find Justification.
In a recent reply to a dealer who asked Presto's
"Where Doubts Are Dispelled" column for a list of
good small class-room uprights, the Newman Broth-
ers piano was omitted wholly by oversight.
The fine old Chicago industry of Newman Brothers
Co. is producing one of the best of the small up-
rights. It is only four feet four inches in height and
in tone and durability it compares with any in the
market. That is the claim of the manufacturers, and
all who know the Newman Brothers pianos will
agree that the instruments of that industry sustain
the best that can be said of them.
In considering a small upright, it will be well for
any dealer to include the Newman Brothers, if high-
class dependable instruments are wanted. The little
Newman Brothers upright is made in walnut and
mahogany finishes.
NEW BRANCH MANAGER.
Emanuel C. Marcourt is the new manager of the
Canton, O., store of the Globe Piano Co., which has
its headquarters in Cleveland, O., and operates a
chain of music houses in eastern Ohio. Mr. Mar-
court has been with this organization four years.
DUO-ART IN MODEL HOUSE.
Schmoller & Mueller, Dut-Art representatives in
Sioux City, la., have installed a Duo-Art piano in the
model house, which has been open for public inspec-
tion in that city by the Sioux City Tribune.
Schumann
PIANOS and PLAYER PIANOS
GRANDS and UPRIGHTS
Have no superiors in appearance, tone
power or other essentials of strictly
leaders in the trade.
Warning to Infringers
This Trade Mark is cast
In the plate and also ap-
pears upon the fall board
of all genuine Schumann
Pianos, and all Infringers
will be prosecuted. Bt>war«
of imitations such as Schu-
mann & Company, Schu-
mann A Bon, and also
Shuman, as all stencil
shops, dealers and users of
pianos bearing a name In
imitation of the name
Schumann with the Inten-
tion of deceiving the public
will be prosecuted to tn«
fullest extent of th« law.
New Catalogue on Bequest.
Schumann Piano Co.
W. N. VAN MATRE, President
Rockford, 111.
WILLIAMS
PIANOS
The policy of the Williams House is and always
has been to depend upon excellence of product
instead of alluring price. Such a policy does not
attract bargain hunters. It does, however, wm the
hearty approval and support of a very desirable
and substantial patronage.
WIIMAMS Maker, of William. Piano.,
WILLlftlTIJ Epworth Pi.no. and Organ.
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/

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