12
PRESTO-TIMES
Ranking third was Mr. Charles Schultz of Chickering
& Sons' New York retail store.
Chickering Won by Mrs. Mattie Walthall Leman.
Great as was the interest in winning the cash prizes,
it was, of course, surpassed in the speculation as to
who would be the lucky one to win the grand prize
of a Style F Chickering grand piano.
Good fortune favored Mrs. Mattie Walthall Leman,
of the Walthall Music Company, Chickering repre-
sentative at San Antonio, Tex., and in so doing it
coincidentally went to a member of a dealer organi-
zation which, from the start of the contest, was one
of the most ardent supporters of the Chickering anni-
versary plan. The Walthall Music Company realized
a splendid increase in sales over April of last year.
dealers. Thus, into their efforts to make April a
highly successful month, sportsmanship was injected
and a good deal of pleasure was derived.
The idea of a contest between groups of two deal-
ers with equal quotas, equal organizations and equal
opportunities needed only the suggestion of Chicker-
ing & Sons for immediate adoption by their dealers.
Mr. Charles S. Onderdonk, manager of Chickering &
Sons' New York retail store, started the ball rolling
by issuing a strong challenge to Mr. R. C. Hodgkin-
son, manager of their Boston retail store. Chal-
lenges between dealers all over the country imme-
diately followed. Typical of the scores of letters
exchanged between Chickering dealers is an extract
from one here published from the Will A. Watkin
Company of Dallas, Tex., to the Charles E. Wells
Music Company of Denver, Colo.:
"Dear Mr. Wells:
"You probably are working hard now on the Chick-
ering April anniversary campaign, and doubtless your
salesmen are especially stimulated by the prizes.
"We feel that we should take this opportunity of
making April the best April in our history. I note
May 28, 1927.
boards. All letters and telegrams that were ex-
changed were posted on it. In this way the interest
of the respective sales staffs was also aroused in the
dealer contest.
Each Sale Counted So Many Points
To simplify matters, dealers kept track of their
respective standings by the point system rather than
by number of pianos they sold. For instance, a
Chickering with the Ampico sale having as it does a
bigger purchase price, should naturally count more
than a sale of a Chickering without the wonderful re-
enacting device. A sale of a Chickering, therefore,
counted so many points, and a sale of an Ampico
counted so many points. Complicated details were
accordingly avoided and the dealers had a fair basis
for comparison of the respective standings. The
desire to outdo all other Chickering dealers in num-
ber of Chickering pianos sold during April was, of
course, also keen, particularly among Chickering rep-
resentatives located in the larger cities. In view of
the fact that all dealers were exerting special efforts
to make April a record breaking month, only the
MUSIC STORE OF THE J.
I,. HUDSON COMPANY,
DETROIT.
Interior view of beautiful
piano store, home of the
Chickering in that city. In
selling more Chickerings and
Chickering Ainpicos during
April than any other Chick-
ering' dealer, the sales staff,
of this store won a closely
contested victory.
that New York has been put against Boston, San
Antonio against Tampa, etc.
"Let us hear from you what your ideas are on this
as to whether you think Dallas or Denver will sell the
most Chickerings during the month of April."
LOVING CUP FOR 1927.
More Splendid Results.
Won by the J. L. Hudson Company, Detroit, for the
A short time later Chickering & Sons received a
best showing in sales of Chickerings and Chickering Am-
pk-OM during April, which was the one hundred and fourth letter from Mr. Russell B. Wells, vice-president of the
anniversary of the founding of the house of Chickering
Charles E. Wells Music Company, with the following
& Sons.
paragraph in it:
As soon as the winner of this grand prize was
"Almost from the first of this month we were re-
ascertained, Mr. C. Alfred Wagner, president of
ceiving letters and telegrams from the Will A. Wat-
Chickering & Son, promptly telegraphed Mrs. Leman
kin Company of Dallas, Tex., telling us of their
of her good fortune and by return wire received the
splendid results and they were chiding us in refer-
following all-expressive message:
ence to our business. They naturally concluded they
had us licked, hands down. About a week ago we
"Your telegram advising that I am the winner of
reported all of these Chickering sales to them and
the grand prize received. I am thrilled to ecstacy
since that time have not heard a word from them.
with the great news. My personal ownership of the
We hope we haven't dampened their ardor too much
best piano in the world will inspire me to greater
and at the same time we trust from their standpoint
effort than ever for Chickering. Gratefully,
they lick us to death."
(Signed) "MATTIE WALTHALL LEMAN."
Illustrating another phase of the fine spirit of com-
Chickering Dealers' Friendly Rivalry.
petition is this paragraph from a letter of Mr. Stanley
Rivaling the salesmen's contest in interest were
H. Averill, manager of the piano department of the
scores of private contests between Chickering dealers,
Stewart Dry Goods Company, Chickering representa-
paired off in groups of two, located in many cases tive at Louisville, Ky.:
hundreds of miles apart. This friendly rivalry de-
"The Outlet Company (far away rival at Provi-
dence, R. I.) had us beaten by two hundred points,
according to their last report, but we expect to
walk away from them in the next few days. We feel
this contest is a splendid idea and really does accom-
plish results."
Rivalry and Results.
That the rivalry of M. L. Price Company of
Tampa, Fla., and The Walthall Music Company of
San Antonio, Tex., was surpassed by none is dem-
onstrated in these few of many exchanges between
them.
Telegram to the M. L. Price Company from the
Walthall Music Company: "Sold today a five Louis
XV and an E. Come on, the water is fine."
Letter from the M. L. Price Company to Chicker-
ing & Sons: "It gives us great pleasure to report
another sale. We are working our heads off to beat
these Texas bullies."
Letter from the Walthall Music Company to Chick-
ering & Sons: "I acknowledge receipt of your letter
and note with pleasure that we are leading Mr. Price
by one point."
Letter from the M. L. Price Music Company 'to
Chickering & Sons: "We received a telegram from
the Walthall Music Company of San Antonio, Texas,
that they had sold a Chickering Ampico yesterday.
We wired them that we had sold two grands."
Telegram from the Walthall Music Company to the
M. L. Price Company: "F sold today—others soon.
Better hurry."
ls. P. ANDREW,
Dealers' Co-operation.
Manager of the J. L. Hudson Company of Detroit, who
The exchange of letters and telegrams between deal-
won for the year 1927 the beautiful loving cup awarded
by Chickering & Sons as a tribute to the dealer that
ers posting each other on their progress kept up with-
made the best showing in the April Anniversary Cele- out abatement to the end of the month. In practi-
bration.
cally all cases the dealers paired together kept within
close range of each other to the last day. A number
picts, probably more than even the enthusiasm which
characterized the Anniversary Celebration, the splen- of dealers kept a record of the standing of their store
did good fellowship that exists between Chickering and their rival Chickering dealer on their bulletin
very finest of showings could win that distinction.
As it was, the close of April found a number of deal-
ers close to the top with only a sale or two between
them.
J. L. Hudson Co. Led All in Sales.
When the final count was made the record showed
that the J. L. Hudson Company, Chickering repre-
sentative at Detroit, Michigan, and one of the largest
department stores in the country, had won out over
all others—adding another feature to the cap of De-
troit.
Chicago was a mighty close second with the Bissell-
Weisert Piano Company, Chickering representative
in that city, always threatening to overtake the J. L.
Hudson Company and finally trailing by a hair's
breadth.
The honors for third place went to the Walthall
Music Company of San Antonio.
Loving Cup for Best Showing Won for the Year of
1927 by Mr. E. P. Andrew, General Manager of
the Music Store of the J. L. Hudson Company.
In realizing the largest number of points from
sales of Chickering and Chickering Ampicos during
April, the music store of the J. L. Hudson Company
LEON N. WALTHALL,
Head of the Walthall Music Company of San Antonio,
Tex., in whose organization is employed Mrs. Mattie
Walthall Leman, who won the Chickering Style F Grand.
This prize, coincidentally, went to a member of a dealer
organization which was one of the most ardent support-
ers of the Chickering anniversary plans.
won a closely contested victory. As a tribute to the
winner, the handsome loving cup for the best show-
ing goes for the year of 1927 to Mr. E. P. Andrew,
general manager of The Music House. A photo-
graph of the beautiful cup and one of Mr. Andrew
are reproduced elsewhere in this article. This cup is
to be contested for annually and becomes the perma-
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