PREST 0-TIM E S
July 28, 1928
SUCCESSFUL SUMMER
SALES IN NEW YORK CITY
Hy. Eilers, Manager of Associated Piano Man-
ufacturers' Association, Gives Interesting
Facts of Recent Piano Sales.
Hy. Eilers, who conducts the Associated Piano
Manufacturers' Corporation in 1104 Bush Terminal
Building, 130 West 42nd street. New York, at Times
Square, reports that the result of his hustling and
that of his splendid staff of workers has shown that
pianos can be sold, and many good ones, too, right
in the heat of a red-hot summer.
Mr. Eilers said to Presto-Times' New York cor-
respondent this week:
"Properly applied energy to adequate facilities will
produce results even in New York in the summer
time. Our sales so far, since the first of July in retail
include:
"An upright piano for Stamford, Conn.; a baby
upright piano to a San Francisco musician who re-
cently came to New York; a parlor grand to a dis-
tinguished lady pianist from Australia; a small grand
to a prominent family in the diplomatic service in
Venezuela, South America.
"In addition to which we sold a small grand to a
prominent civil engineer for his summer estate at
Coxsackie, on the Hudson; a small upright to a prom-
inent dentist in Brooklyn; a baby grand for the Flor-
ence Voorhees 'Voice Via Radio' school in New York,
and a small grand to a prominent stock exchange
man for his home in Riverdale."
INTIMATE FACTS ABOUT
THE BRONX PIANO CLUB
Interesting Article in "Home News," Pub-
lished in That Section of New York, Gives
Intimate Personal Information.
Organized in 1910, the Bronx Piano Club, New
York, has a membership of more than 200 today. Its
dining hall and club rooms, fitted in luxurious style,
are in the Bronx Board of Trade Building, 138th
street and Third avenue, says Home News, published
in that busy section of New York, which gives other
intimate facts about the club:
"In the South Bronx, particularly in the Mott
Haven section, are grouped several of the largest
piano factories in the city, most of which may be
seen from the windows of Third avenue elevated
trains just before they leave the Bronx side of the
Harlem River bridge. Probably the wealthiest mem-
ber of the exclusive Bronx organization is Richard
W. Lawrence, former Republican leader of Bronx
County, a director of one of the largest piano com-
panies, part owner of "Printers' Ink" and one of the
chief supporters of the Bronx Y. M. C. A.
Has Its Golfers
"Oddly enough, the Bronx Piano Club boasts mem-
bers who play golf, pool, billiards, chess, tennis, base-
ball and practically every other type of sport, but it
has few who play the piano. In fact, the picked
piano which adorns the club rooms has an electrical-
player attachment, which is used most of the time
by the members. Billiards and pool are the favorite
diversions of club-members who meet almost daily for
luncheon at the club's headquarters.
"Jake Schorsch, 300 East 133rd street, is the billiard
champion of the club and challenges all comers, while
Dick Schroeder, 382 East 197th street, is conceded to
be the ranking pool player of the organization. George
Ullman is also an expert poolplayer, while Percy
Bogart, vice-president of the Bronx County Trust
Co., is Schorsch's rival for the billiards championship.
Club Headquarters
"Club rooms of the organization consist of a large
dining hall and lounge room, with a kitchen adjoining.
The lounge room is fitted up with billiard and pool
tables, easy chairs, magazine racks and a piano, while
the walls are adorned with photographs of outings
and socials held by the organization, during its 18
years of activity.
"Most of the officers are Bronx 'old-timers' who
remember when the South Bronx district in which
the club rooms are situated was little more than a
factory district, and when there was no subway or
elevated in the Bronx. A large part of the member-
ship of the Bronx Piano Club is German, many of the
members following the business of their fathers who
built pianos in the days when most of the work was
done by hand.
The Officers
"Officers of the Bronx Piano Club are: John M.
Haffen, president; Joseph V. Miller, vice-president;
Charles E. Reid, secretary; and A. L. Britzfelder,
treasurer. On the house committee are: Gus G.
Kindervater, chairman; Louis Bock, F. W. Abend-
schein and Charles T. Allen. The board of govern-
ors for 1928 consists of Laurence Frank, Alphonse
Weiner, George Brandenstein, Gus Kindervater and
William G. Heller.
"Members find their club rooms most conveniently
located, for the Board of Trade Building at 138th
street and Third avenue, is only a five-minute walk
to the farthest South Bronx piano factory."
GETTING PROSPECTS
AT A NOMINAL FIGURE
Four Thousand, Five Hundred Names Secured
by Manager of Mobile Store at a Cost
of About $35.00.
By RUSSELL RAYMOND V O O R H E E S .
Names and addresses of prospects generally cost
considerable money to get but even at that they are
worth their cost. The Jesse French & Sons Piano Co.
of Mobile, Ala., of which J. Henry Resch is man-
ager, recently worked out a little idea that resulted in
his getting 4,500 prospects at a cost of about $35.00.
Mr. Resch secured a piano, an old one, to be
exact, of the make that his house sells. He displayed
this old piano in the lobby of the Saenger Theater
at Mobile. Every patron of the theater was given a
card to fill out with their name and address. There
was also a place for the entrance of the fact whether
they owned a piano or phonograph. The idea of the
whole thing was to guess the age of the piano, so, of
course, there was a place for the guess of the age,
namely day, month and year.
It was stipulated that every guess card must be
brought to the French store and deposited in a box
provided for that purpose. Thus the people were
actually brought into the store.
A total of 5,000 cards were distributed and of this
number 4,500 were returned. Only those that were
properly filled in, including the notation whether they
owned a piano or phonograph were admitted in the
contest. Needless to say all completely filled in the
card.
The first prize was $20.00, the second $10.00, and
the third prize $5.00. This was practically the entire
cost with the exception of the printing which wasn't
much. Within a week of the closing of the contest,
one woman purchased a piano for $450, solely as a
result of this publicity. In addition the French firm
has a prospect list of about 4,500 names, many of
which are excellent for sales during the coming
months. A pretty cheap prospect list, they feel.
ADDS PIANO LINE.
William A. Linquist, St. Paul, Minn., one of the
leading band instrument dealers there, has opened a
piano department. He will feature the Brinkerhoff
as his leading line. The name Brinkerhoff is well
known in Twin City homes. Mr. Linquist is remodel-
ing his annex into an attractive piano showroom.
QULBRANSEN AT PAGEANT
The accompanying cut shows the Gulbransen dis-
play, made under the auspices of the Martin Music
Co., at the Los Angeles pageant of music, June 18
to 30. The Martin Music Co. display of Gulbransens
was one of the centers of attraction of the pageant.
The setting was most interesting and beautiful.
During the pageant the Martin Music Co. gave two
programs on the main stage, using the Gulbransen
Triano grand. This instrument was demonstrated
almost continuously in the Martin Music Co. sound-
proof booth.
The instruments shown in the display, reading
from left to right, are as follows: Gulbransen Semi-
Period Grand Triano, played by hand, electrically or
with personal expression through use of the piano
pedals, the motor being used merely to propel the
roll; the Gulbransen small grand, 4 feet 5 inches long
and made in single and double trusses and in art
design; the Gulbransen Art Model Minuet, with
decorative case, in color lacquer and with a fancy
scroll panel back permitting it to be placed anywhere
in the room; the Gulbransen Spanish grand in wal-
nut, 5 feet 4 inches long, an extremely handsome
instrument in keeping with the spirit of the pageant.
NEWS ABOUT THE MEN
WHO RETAIL THE PIANOS
Brief Items of Trade News Gathered Here and
There in Music Field.
Jesse French & Sons Piano Co., Mobile, Ala., re-
cently opened a new store at 261 Dauphin street. A
public reception was held on the opening day.
Kent A. Darb : e, Danielson, Conn., dealer in phono-
graphs at 121 Main street, has sold his business to the
Kent Furniture Co.
The Sterling Piano Co., Brooklyn, N. Y., has
opened a store at 11 Flatbush avenue.
The Penn Music Shop, Baltimore, Md., has been
opened at 1017 Penn avenue.
The Platt Music Co., Huntington Park, Cal., has
closed a ten-year lease on a new store building being
completed in that city.
Hawley Bros., Williamsport, Pa., have opened a
new music store in the Commerford Commercial block.
The Clark Music Co., Enid, Okla., has secured a
new location in the Eastman building, Cherokee.
Okla.
The phonograph stock of the Edison Shop, 235
Geary street, San Francisco, has been purchased by
the Pfeffer Music Co., Stockton, Cal.
J. D. Pope has taken over the music business of
Claude Powell, Conway, Ark., and will operate it
under the name of the Conway Music Co.
Under the name of Allied Music Shop and Allied
School of Music, the Tom Brown Music Co., Val-
paraiso, Ind., has been turned over to new operators.
Thor's Music House, Manistee, Mich., features the
line of Blue Ribbon Pianos, made by the Hobart M.
Cable Co., La Porte, Ind.
Williston Academy, Easthampton, Mass., well-
known Boys' Preparatory School, recently purchased
three Marshall & Wendell uprights. The sale was
made through The Music House, O. S. P. Inc., North-
ampton, Mass.
John Haley of Fort Wayne, Ind., has joined the
sales forces of the Lion Store Music Rooms, Toledo,
Ohio.
NEW BUSH & LANE TRAVELER.
H. R. Wendelborn, with twenty-five years' experi-
ence in the music business, has joined the Bush &
Lane Piano Co. of Holland, Mich., and has been
assigned as traveler in the Southeastern section of the
country covering the states of New Jersey, Delaware,
Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina,
Georgia and Florida. Mr. Wendelborn, who was for-
merly a piano retailer in Florida, is thoroughly famil-
iar with the problems of the music merchant. He
will have his headquarters in Tampa, Fla.
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/