MUSICAL
TIMES
PRESTO
Established
1881
Established
1884
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE WEEKLY
10 Cents a Copy
CHICAGO, SATURDAY, MAY 28, 1927
$2 The Year
PROLOGUE TO A GREAT PERFORMANCE
The Approaching Convention of the Music Industries and Trades as Compared
With Some of the Notable Ones That Have Marked the
Records of the Years Gone By
One week from next Monday morning the
event to which a large proportion of the men
who make musical instruments and the men
who supply the public with musical instru-
ments will make a good start at the new Ste-
vens Hotel, on Michigan avenue, Chicago.
And, while the headquarters of this year's con-
vention takes place in the "largest hotel in the
world" that may not necessarily imply that the
gathering of the men of music will also be the
greatest in the series of similar events which
had their beginning exactly thirty years ago.
But that it will compare, in that respect, with
almost any that have gone before, there can
be little doubt.
And that the convention should be a good
one every condition in the industry and trade
must suggest. It is a time when there is a
larger proportion of pessimists than ever be-
fore. And, in direct contradiction, it is a sea-
son, also, in which there are many, even if a
minority, cf the manufacturers and retailers
who are enthusiastically confident that the
turn in affairs has come and that we are at the
beginning of a new march of prosperity, and
a larger progress. The events of the week's
work will go far to decide as to which of the
two outlooks is correct and, whether the san-
guine class or the depressed, all must hope that
the optimistic viewpoint is the reliable one.
ELABORATE PREPARATIONS.
Arrangements for this year's convention
have been made upon a more elaborate scale
than has been customary. There will be a
better, if not actually a larger, display of fine
pianos, and other instruments. The new hotel
will be transformed into a veritable palace of
wonder for the music loving visitors. And the
exhibit will be the first commercial display to
find shelter in the splendid new hotel. In next
week's Presto-Times there will be a complete
and accurate roster of the exhibitors, with a
guide to the locations of all of them. In fact,
next week's issue of this paper will be devoted
almost wholly to an advance story of the con-
vention as it will unfold to the members of the
music business in all its branches from all over
the country. Presto-Times of that week will
be, as is indeed the present issue, a publication
to be preserved as a memento of an occasion
long to be remembered and often referred to.
The feature of next week's Presto-Times,
which must prove not only interesting, but
useful to dealers and salesmen, in making
sales, will be that of the groups of the Period
models of pianos, which will include many of
the most beautiful cases and decorative effects
that have ever been produced in American
factories.
As the memory of any veteran in the trade
goes back to the beginning of the convention
idea in this line of industry, it is inescapable
that some of the gatherings stand forth with
special distinctness, marked by conditions dif-
fering from all the rest. Probably the first of
the series of conventions which comes to mind
was the first, at Manhattan Beach, in 1897.
Since that time the personnel of the piano in-
dustry has so changed that it is easy for the
veteran to name every man who took part in
the first convention and who still remains in
the ranks. Other conventions that stand forth
because of unusual circumstances, must also
have special interest to the veterans who re-
call them because of some unusual conditions
by which they were surrounded.
EARLIER CONVENTIONS.
If any of the piano men have preserved the
program of the 1918 convention, they will find
interest in its form and the illustrated title
which bore the line, "Music will help win the
war." The convention was called on the
menu, "A War Gathering and Seventeenth
Annual Banquet, at Hotel Biltmore, New
York." This acrostic closed the program:
Our aim is the uplift of the trade
Unity means strength
Realizing this we strive for harmony.
All together is our slogan
In unison let us try to help one another
Many advantages await all who help
to achieve Our Aim.
THE TWELFTH MEETING.
At the time of the twelfth annual convention
the playerpiano was just beginning to stir
deeply the interest of the manufacturers. The
meeting that year took place at the Hotel
Astor, New York, on June 4 to 6. Naturally
the first topic of discussion was: "The player-
piano and what will be its future influence on
the regular piano industry." Note the "regu-
lar industry." That problem has been settled
and the playerpiano has long been almost the
"regular industry" itself. Another topic was:
"Should the actual retail selling price of each
and every piano manufactured by individuals
or firms, who are members of this association,
be cast in plain, conspicuous figures on the
plate?"
While not to exceed three industries ac-
cepted the suggestion, and cast prices in the
plates, it is certain that several others put the
"fixed price" principle into practice and have
succeeded largely by that plan.
In time for the convention of 1911, the Na-
tional Association of Piano Dealers prepared a
quite extensive booklet called "Public Instruc-
tions." In it were discussed many leading
subjects for the retailers. In that publication
was discussed, for the first time in an authori-
tative way, "Pianos in Public Schools."
ENTER, PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
At the convention two weeks hence that
topic will be emphasized almost beyond all
others. It will show the trade changes and
how the piano has become more a matter of
importance in the educational curriculum.
BURNING OLD PIANOS.
Preparatory to the convention of 1912, the
efforts of the promotion committee displayed
unequalled energy. Frequent circulars and
posters filled the trade with short stories de-
signed to arouse and keep alive interest in the
meeting, which was held at Atlantic City.
Perhaps the earlier convention there when the
"burning of the old pianos" took place, helped
to stimulate interest. The last of the circular
letters concluded with the following, printed
on green paper from large type:
"There are 57 or more reasons why you can-
not afford to miss what promises to be the
greatest convention ever held by our Asso-
ciation. Write the Secretary that you will be
on the 'Board Walk' early in the morning of
May 20, 1912. C. R. Putnam, Secretary, N. A.
P. M. of A., 120 Boylston street, Boston, Mas-
sachusetts."
AND TWO WEEKS HENCE.
And many others of the annual conventions
of the men of music were made conspicuous
and successful by reason of promotive efforts
well in advance of the meetings. But this is
not an attempt to write the history of the
music trade conventions. It is merely to recall
some of the prominent features of some of the
meetings, memories of which must still linger
in the minds of those who attended them.
And, in getting ready for this year's events
at the Stevens Hotel, there has also been dis-
played a great deal of ingenuity, persistency
and skill. The columns of Presto-Times have
presented all of the steps along that line. Next
week's issue will continue the story, and to
present every further item of the convention
plans up to the time when the Stevens Hotel
will be thronged with the manufacturers, mer-
chants and others who make up the har-
monious host to which the world owes a large
share of its delight, and no small share of the
refinement and education of the youth which
will constitute the men and women of the fu-
ture.
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