Presto

PRESTO-TIMES
CHICKERING IN VENEZUELA
Progressive Music Deal-
ers at Caracas Noted
for Success in Sales.
and interesting and never tiresomely pedantic, may
be regarded as one c.f the chief reasons for the suc-
cess of the lessons. An additional factor which has
made the instruction entertaining was the furnishing
of lesson sheets every week to the listener-student.
These were of standard music size and printed on
Window Display of Moist Piano Company, good paper, and ranged all the way from finger and
scale exercises in the beginning to the more mature
Chicago, Proves a Fine Bit of Advertising
compositions which the teacher offers his pupils as
for Popular Instrument.
they become further advanced in their work. A les-
The Moist Piano Co.. 309 South Wabash avenue, son sheet was mailed to each.of the students.
Chicago, is successfully showing the Fuehr & Stem-
The young teacher who has made such a success
mer miniature grand in its show window this week. of the piano lessons over WGN is planning great
The litt'.e instrument, which has interested the trade things for next fall when the lessons are resumed.
since it made its bow early in June, has proved a big
In addition to a resumption of the elementary course,
attraction in the fact that it has drawn many people it is also Mr. Barry's hope that there will be suffi-
in the store. Numerous inquiries are made as to its cient interest among the more advanced pupils to per-
construction and tone quality, which, needless to say, mit the broadcasting of an advanced course in piano
are of the highest order.
instruction. The elementary lessons are to be re-
The first week's showing of the small grand proved
sumed in October, according to VVGX's present
such a big success that the company has decided to plans.
utilize the whole window to a special display.
While only a 68-note scale instrument and 3 ft. 8 in.
long, its durability and tone are remarkable features
and these points will be stressed in its advertising.
FUEHR & STEMMER SMALL
GRAND AN ATTRACTION
Great Success Attends Work of Edward Barry
Over WGN and Efficiency to Aid
Piano Sales Assured.
F. T. STE1NWAY BURIED IN
GREENWOOD CEMETERY
Large Representation of the Piano Trade
Fresent at Community Church, Where
Funeral Services Were Conducted.
Alfredo A. Scholtz & Co..
Chickering representative at
Caracas, Venezuela, is among
the most p r o g r e s s i v e of
Chickering representatives in
foreign lands. The house is
noted for its progressive
methods and success in pre-
senting the fine line of Chick-
ering & Sons. Xew York.
Pictured, here are the ware-
rooms of that piano house
and its very capable looking
sa'es staff seated around a
Chickering Atnpico. w h i c li
they had just sold to General
Vincente Gomez, vice-presi-
dent of Venezuela. This in-
strument has since been in-
stalled in the Palace of Bella
Vista, the official residence of
the vice-president at Caracas.
ENDS SUMMER COURSE
IN RADIO PIANO LESSONS
July 30, 1927.
MUSIC TRADE NEWS
FROM SEATTLE, WASH.
Host of Friends of Ed Kelly Delighted at His
Recovery From Illness—Other
News of City.
11 is many friends are glad to learn that Ed Kelly
of the Hopper-Kelly Company, of Seattle, is around
again after an illness of three months. Following his
recovery he spent considerable time at Friday Har-
The special summer course of piano lessons that
bor on Puget Sound and has returned to the store
has been given over WGX, The Chicago Tribune feeling fit again. Mr. Kelly was president of the
station on the Drake Hotel, concluded on Friday of
Western Music Trades Assn., at the time of the
this week, when Edward Barry gave the last lesson
convention a year ago in Seattle.
between 5 and 5:30 o'clock. This lesson marked
Seattle music and radio dealers who attended the
more than seventy weeks of continuous piano instruc- recent convention in San Francisco were E. R.
tion from WGX, with Mr. Barry as the instructor
Mitchell, of the Liberty Music Shop, Seattle, and
during the entire period.
local president of the Seattle association; O. H.
Over a year ago when the Chicago Tribune put Spindler, R. E. Robinson, and and G. J. Marsh of
on its feature of broadcasting piano lessons, a repre- Sherman, Clay & Co., Dwyer McLean, executive sec-
sentative of that paper gave a talk at a club luncheon retary of the Seattle Radio and Music Trades associa-
of the Piano Club of Chicago, informing the mem- tion; Hugh Campbe'l of the Montelius Campbell Co.,
bers of the plans for "lessons by radio." This plan, and Gordon Prentice of the Sunset Electric Co.
as outlined by the speaker, met with instant approval
Xed Douglas, after seven years in the original store
by the club, individually and collectively.
in which he opened the University Music Co., is mov-
The piano lessons were begun in April, 1926. as an ing soon to larger and specially designed quarters,
additional feature in WGN program of education and
two blocks from his present home on Fourteenth ave-
public service, and while they were frankly an experi- nue, N. E.
ment they brought a tremendous public response that
The building in which he will be is to be known as
clearly demonstrated the value of radio as an educa- the College Center Bldg., is two stories in height, and
tional aid. More than a thousand pupils were enrolled
has been designed along modified Spanish Gothic
in the course and continued their studies until No- lines. The music store will occupy the corner store,
vember 12. 1926, when the lessons were started again
with unlimited window- space, and has been designed
for the bene^t of the many new listeners brought into with a deep balcony across the back on which will
WGX's ranee by use of the new Elgin transmitter, be housed the radio department. Nine display and
with its 15,000 watts of power.
record rooms are being provided for phonographs,
At this time a new enrollment was effected and
and two piano rooms have been included, aside from
more than 3,000 listeners responded. Mr. Barry be- the used instrument room. Tt is expected that when
came the teacher of one of the largest piano classes the store is opened, that it will rival in beauty and
in the world and the letters from his pupils indicated
convenience, many of the stores in the center of the
the value of the instruction he broadcast. Set own- main business district.
ers in such distant points as Saskatchewan, Florida
and Connecticut became members of the class and
The Jesse French & Sons Piano Co., Montgomery,
tuned in every Friday afternoon for the lessons.
Ala., will move to new quarters at 117 Montgomery
Mr. Barry's method of instruction, always informal street when alterations there have been completed.
The funeral services of Frederick T. Steinway,
president of Steinway & Sons, who died suddenly in
Northeast Harbor, Me., on July 17, were held on
Thursday morning, July 21, at the Community
Church, Thirty-fourth street and Park avenue, Xew
York, where the Reverend John Haynes Holmes, the
pastor, conducted the services, which were brief and
simple.
Although the family had requested that no flowers
he sent practically even- musical organization in the
city as well as individual artists and trade bodies
adopted that means of expressing their condolence,
with the result that floral offerings were banked on
both sides of the church.
All the executives of the Steinway & Sons organ-
ization together with members of the headquarters
office force and representatives from the company's
factories which were all closed for the day, attended
the services, as did the representatives from practic-
ally every piano house in Xew York. Among them
were E. S. Votey and W. H. Alfring. vice-presidents
of the Aeolian Co., and Franklin Dunham, H. 11.
Pinner and others. Others representing Xew York
houses were Frank Sohmer and Alex McDonald of
Sohmer & Co.; C. Alfred Wagner, president of the
American Piano Co.; Henry L. Mason, president of
the Mason & Hamlin Co.; J. C. Schwarz and Gustav
Behning. representing the Kohler Industries; J. M.
Priaulx. of Charles H. Ditson & Co., and many others
of the New York trade. A number of prominent
Steinway dealers attending included Henry Dreher
of the Dreher Piano Co.. Cleveland; Alexander Stein-
ert of M. Steinert & Sons, Boston; Edward H. Droop,
E. F. Droop & Sons Co., Washington; F. W. Baumer
of New Rochelle, N. Y., and others, several of whom
acted as pall bearers. The fact that many leading
artists were away from the city for the summer pre-
vented all but a handful being present at the serv-
ices.
The official pall bearers were F. Reidemeister, X.
Stetson, Hermann Irion, Albert Sturcke, Paul Branda,
Theodore Battenhausen, Charles F. Schmidt, Jr., D.
Raymond, R. E. Wells, Alexander Steinert, E. H.
Droop, F. W. Baumer, Michael Dugan, John Bolk,
Adolf Hirschfeld and Eugene Geismar.
Interment was private, the body being placed in the
Steinway family mausoleum in Greenwood Cemetery,
Brooklyn.
Owing to Mr. Steinway's wide business and per-
sonal acquaintance with people at home and abroad,
a continuous stream of messages of regret at his pass-
ing flowed into Xew Steinway Hall. Many mes-
sages were received from representatives of the house
throughout the world, expressing their deep sorrow
upon learning of the untimely death of the president
of the company. Dealers in every section of the
United States sent expressions of their sympathy.
New Steinway Hall, 109 West 57th street, New
York, and the factories of Steinway & Sons, Long
Island City, X. Y., were closed throughout Thurs-
day, the day of the funeral.
Surviving Mr. Steinway are his widow, Mrs. Julia
Steinway, and a daughter, Florence. Other surviving
members of the Steinway family, associated with the
house are: Henry Ziegler, vice-president; Theodore
Cassebeer, a director of the company; Paul H.
Schmidt, who served as assistant to the late Fred-
erick T. Steinway; William R. Steinway, manager of
the European department; Theodore E. Steinway,
secretary of the company; Frederick A. Vietor, and
Charles F. M. Steinwav.
WESTERN ELECTRIC AUTOMATICS.
The Western Electric Co.. 835 Blackhawk street,
Chicago, manufacturers of automatic pianos, reports
a steady demand for its wide line of instruments. The
factory production, which was increased early in the
spring, is still maintained and as fall approaches, more
activity among music merchants is anticipated. The
line, which covers everything in the automatic field,
has been introduced to dealers from coast to coast
with considerable success. The "Derby" instrument
has proven extremely popular in amusement centers
and other places where there is a variety of sports.
A. J. RIDNOUR NAMED MANAGER.
A. J, Ridnour, Sioux City, la., has taken charge
of the Cable Piano Company branch store. 322 Mul-
berry street, as manager, succeeding John O. Ben-
son,..who is to be transferred to another branch. Mr.
Ridnour formerly was connected with the Davidson
Bros, company of Sioux City. He will move his
family here within a few weeks.
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