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National Association of Music Merchants, announced
he would ask the National Association Executive
Council to authorize the appointment of a like com-
mittee.
Mr. Baker intimated in his address that the phono-
graph companies were overproducing machines and
selling them to department stores in carload lots. The
stores, he said, were storing them in warehouses, and
then followed his direct statement with the question:
"Are they going to unload at Christmas time and cut
away all our fruits?" Answers of "Yes, yes," were
heard from the delegates.
Cincinnati Good Hcst.
Cincinnati is proverbially a hospitable city and its
fame as a musical city is world wide. The hospitality
was expressed in the generous preparations for the
entertainment of the convention visitors. The Cin-
cinnati manufacturers, jobbers and dealers provided
a fund to cover the expenses of entertainment during
the days of the annual meeting. Ladies were invited
to all social functions and business meetings and a
special committee was appointed to look after that
phase of the convention.
The Enjoyable Opening.
An enjoyable opening of events was the golf tour-
nament at the Hyde Park Country Club, on Mon-
day, for which there were many entries and a notable
list of prizes donated by William H. Alfring of the
Aeolian Co.; Fred Gennett of the Starr Piano Co.;
Grinnell Bros., Detroit; Henry Dreher, Cleveland;
Arthur Wessell, New York; the Otto Grau Piano
Co., Cincinnati; Fred P. Bassett of the M. Schulz
Co., Chicago; Otto C. Muehlhauser, Cleveland;
Charles H. Yahrling, Youngstown; the Baldwin Co.;
the Gulbransen Co ; the Starr Piano Co.; the Hotel
Sinton, and William R. Graul, Cincinnati.
The annual golf dinner was held on Monday, at
which Henry Dreher presented plans for organizing
the Ohio Music Trade Golf Association.
Henry E. Weisert's Address
One of the best features of the convention was the
address by Henry E. Weisert, of Chicago, president
of the National Association of Piano Merchants.
Mr. Weisert spoke as follows:
The National Association of Music Merchants, hav-
ing practically no restrictions with reference to mem-
bership, is composed of merchants with widely dif-
fering ideas as to merchandising. There is the mer-
chant who conducts his business along very high-
grade lines; there is the one who, while making some
pretense to a high-grade business, is still unwilling
to give up what seems to him advantages found in
not being too straight laced about it; there is still
another kind who has no particular policy; and I
regret to say that there is a type who deliberately
violates every decent business principle in his eager-
ness to sell.
It would be a marvelous thing if we could adopt a
code of ethics in our business that would raise it to
its proper place, but that isn't a thing for the Na-
tional Association to undertake—at least not at the
present time. Your State Association, being some-
what closer to its members, is in a better position to
undertake work along these lines. I believe that a
local Association can do even more than the State
Association in bringing about such reforms. In other
words, we must begin at the bottom. As the local
Association must concern itself with local matters,
and as your State Association must concern itself
with State matters, so our National Association must
confine its activities to matters of a national
character.
The First Essential
First of all we must be organized in such a way
that we can effectively resist any attempt at unfa-
vorable legislation by Congress. We have had sev-
eral examples of this and the results have justified
the existence of the National Association. We don't
know, at what moment we may find ourselves con-
fronted with the necessity for prompt and concerted
action and it behooves us to be as strongly organized
as possible when such a time comes.
There should be a closer working arrangement bc-
tw cen the merchants and the manufacturers. All mer-
chandise manufactured is eventually retailed and un-
less there exists a proper working arrangement, one
or the other or botli must suffer. The recent action
of one of the large phonograph manufacturers may
have been very wise but a great many merchants who
have talked to me seem to be of the opinion that it
was most unwise, and here again is an opportunity to
reach an understanding by a closer working arrange-
ment with the manufacturer. I frankly believe that
if the dealers had been invited into the conference
with this manufacturer, a way out of the difficulty
might have been found without the demoralizing re-
sults which followed their unadvised—if not ill-ad-
vised—action. I know there was no thought of in-
juring the dealer in this very drastic action but the
injury was done, just the same, and how are we to
know at what figures to set down our inventory
when such things are possible.
By a closer understanding we can help the manu-
facturer with what today is his greatest problem—
uniform production. If we, as dealers, could fore-
oast our requirements each year and allow the manu-
facturers to make shipments to us during the dull
summer months we would earn their everlasting
gratitude besides placing ourselves in a much better
position to meet the demands of the heavy buying
season. I believe we owe it to the manufacturers
to at least attempt this.
For Music Merchants' Bank
It has always seemed rather strange to me that in
our merchants' association there has never been found
a group of men willing to undertake the establish-
ment of a music merchants' bank. In other words,
a financial corporation that will afford the members
of the association, whose financial responsibility jus-
tifies it, a very prompt, simple and economical way
for financing their installment paper.
Instead of criticizing let each one ask himself if
he is doing his part to help make the Association
bigger and stronger. We want criticism and lots
of it if that will help us get on the right track but
just remember this: before submitting your criticism
ask yourself just what you have done to help build
up the association. I should like to make it a condi-
tion that all criticisms, in order to be valid and com-
mand respectful attention, must have attached to
them at least one application for membership in the
National Association.
As our association is now constituted, it is almost
impossible to accomplish the things we should like
to do. In a meeting open to all the members we sel-
dom get beyond the generalities. I believe that even-
tually we must, through the state and regional asso-
ciations, establish the plan of sending delegates to
ihe National Association meetings and these dele-
gates will bring into the meeting the vital problems
which should properly come before the national body
for action.
I hope that, at our future conventions, we can have
placed at our disposal by the manufacturers a com-
prehensive exhibit of all they have to offer us in the
way of new styles and new ideas and to arrange these
exhibits so that they will not conflict with the meet-
ings of the merchants, because we all want to see
the exhibit. On the othre hand the merchants
should arrange their meetings, and this can be ac-
complished best by delegate representation, to occupy
the briefest possible time. We must get together
early in the morning, take our coats off and settle
down, not to a lot of "hifalutin" parliamentary pro-
ceedings and oratory, but good hard common sense
discussion of our problems.
September 19, 1925.
CLEVELAND TRADE AT
CINCINNATI MEETING
Ohio's Biggest City Wants Next Convention,
Poole Pianos In Demand, and Interesting
Old Picture Showing "Knabe."
Members of the Cleveland Music Trades Associa-
tion gathered at the Hotel Statler on Tuesday eve-
ning, September 8th, for the first monthly meeting
and dinner of the 1925-1926 season. It proved an
enjoyable affair with good attendance. Henry
Dreher, president, presided and had Frank Edgar, of
the Aeolian Co., as his guest. Mr. Dreher was re-
cently elected chairman of the resolutions committee
for the Cincinnati meeting of the state association,
and a feature of the meeting was the unanimous
pledge of all present to go to Cincinnati.
A resolution was passed inviting the Music Mer-
chants' Association of Ohio to hold their next con-
vention at the Hotel Statler in Cleveland. Another
resolution was passed urging all broadcasting stations
to improve the quality of their music. Incidentally
there has been considerable criticism in Cleveland on
some of the programs broadcasted, and an executive
of one of the downtown stores expressed the opinion
that the public were turning to the phonograph more
than ever on this account.
The Robert L. White Music Co. have sold four
Poole bungalow style pianos to St. Augustine Acad-
emy. The Fern Wittmcr conservatory of music also
bought two Poole grands recently, and it is ex-
pected that Superintendent Jones, of the Cleveland
Public Schools, will place an order for some of these
instruments in the near future.
"The evolution of the violin" is the title of a win-
dow display that the Reliance Trust Co. is featuring
this week. It shows both American and foreign
violins in the making, and shows the superior work-
manship of the former. One interesting instrument
from a curio standpoint is seventy-five years old, and
the bridge was made from a wagon spoke.
A very interesting picture of old Cleveland was
shown in the Plain Dealer this week, and shows the
downtown section in 1865, and the most noticeable
thing is a large sign on the biggest building which
reads: "Knabe Pianos." Evidently Knabe was well
known to Clevelanders then and that its reputation
is still of the highest is shown by the large number
of instruments still being sold here.
ROBERT MORTON ORGAN CO.
MOVES ITS MAIN OFFICES
Headquarters of Company Now Admirably Located
at 168 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco.
The Robert Morton Organ Co., which recently
moved its main office from the factory in Berkeley,
Calif., is now settled in its new offices at 168 Golden
Gate avenue, where the entire ground floor is occu-
pied.
The manufacture of Fotoplayers. in the Berkeley
factory, has been discontinued, the machinery and
equipment being shipped to Van Nuys, where the
capacity of the plant for the production of Robert
Morton organs has been increased by the building
of a new wing to the factory.
THE BEST PIANO SEASON
is with us. Dealers and salesmen who take advantage of it—and most agree that this season will be a good one—
must have the proper facilities for displaying and delivering the instruments. The only complete equipment is the
latest fool-proof Loader. It may now be had for only $95. Satisfaction guaranteed.
BOWEN PIANO LOADER CO.,
Winston-Salem, N. C.
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