12
September 22, 1928
P R E S T O-T I M E S
organs working for it. It employed a large corps
of employes. Prosecution at law was one method of
cleaning up. Mr. Grinnell said the bureau was helping
to expose the kind of music teachers who w r ent from
one piano house to another to work for the biggest
commission.
"We don't intend to give the public a false sense
(Continued from page 5.)
of security," said Mr. Grinnell, "and we ask for full
Grand Canyon and went down to the ranch of an co-operation to expose the rotten parts of the trade
old miner who had spent his life in Cripple Creek, and industry."
always just on the verge of making a great discovery,
To Make Drive for Members.
and he was as enthusiastic as ever about making new
Mr. Fleer says that the membership ought to go up
discoveries. The lesson, by inference, that this old
man taught was for those who were deserting the to 350 in the coming year. One member promised to
player-piano business to search for something better. deliver ten new members.
C. E. Byrne of Steger's spoke on the tournaments
Results of Moores' Line of Work.
in
piano playing which was of interest to the half-
There were men who were shouting that the day
of the player is over; salesmen who tell the customer million school children in the Chicago schools.
Nine Directors to Be Appointed.
coming into the store that the player is passe. We
President Fleer w T as instructed to appoint nine men
had no one to blame but ourselves for this situation.
Mr. Moores' work is constructive. But we manufac- as a board of directors for the association.
The dues were fixed at $5. Next year's convention
turers and dealers in playerpianos had been allowing
business to go on its own momentum. Where Mr. is to be held in Chicago.
Moores' work touched, business had jumped ahead.
A Fine Dinner and Much Mirth.
"I'm surprised at the results," said Mr. Gibson.
Ambrose Wyrick was one of the singers at the
"We're getting immediate reaction from the work. dinner Wednesday evening at the Palmer House.
We've sold more players than in any other year, Jerry Curtis sang and played a guitar. Funny stories
even during the heyday of playerpiauos."
were told by a number of the banqueters.
Mr. Gibson urged the necessity of knowing how
Personals at Convention Time.
to play the playerpiano; the salesman should know
E. J. Joosten of Janssen & Joosten, Minonk, 111.,
how to go out and teach a few lessons upon it. "We
was in attendance at the convention. "Trade is a
have killed the goose that laid the golden egg," said
whole lot better," he said. He handles the Kohler
Mr. Gibson. "What we should do is to create a
lines, the M. Schulz and the Kimball.
vogue in playing the instrument. If we can get the
A. L. Burner of Rock Island, 111., was there. He
right people thinking along the right lines, our prob- handles the Packard and the Gulbransen. "Trade is
lem will be very simple.
pretty good," he said.
"There are more playerpianos being sold today
J. J. Buttell of Des Moines, Iowa, was in attend-
than any other form of piano, and I predict it will
ance. He is Packard traveler for the Central West.
not be very long before we'll be getting orders in
An interesting conventioner was Henry P. Veatch
carload lots."
of Lyon & Healy's.
Personal Playing Helps Greatly
Lloyd Parker of Harrisburg, who drove to Chicago,
Mr. Fleer stressed a point about getting teachers
received a telegram in the convention telling him
of playerpiano at work. This thought had been sug- that his wife was sick. So he started homeward in
gested by Mr. Gibson in his address. "There's one a hurry.
of the biggest thoughts—one of the best, sugges-
The flowers used on the banquet table were sent
tions," said Mr. Fleer. We certainly all enjoy doing to Otto Schulz, who was unable to attend, and the
something personally. Getting persons to play a best wishes of all present went along. The regards
player—how they do enjoy making their own music. of the entire audience were also sent to Colonel Wal-
lace, who was one of the founders of the Q R S
Flint Grinnell's Address.
Music Company.
Flint Grinnelll, manager of the Chicago Better
Business Bureau, had to cut short his remarks because
the convention of better business bureaus from 46
cities was in sesion at another hotel in Chicago, re-
quiring his attendance there. His talk was on "The
Public's Impression of Piano Advertising." He said
a large number of compliments had come in over the
work of the bureau in Chicago.
Tone Up or Get Out.
"We have used considerable pressure upon ille-
gitimate dealers, to either tone up on their advertising
met herds or get out,'' said Mr. Grinnell.
The work included not only advertising correcting
but also helps to self-promotion. He confined his
remarks to an outline of their merchandising work,
touching upon unfair methods, unsound or fraudulent
organizations, and of what they had done to close
up the black spots and put merchandising on a high
level where the public could depend upon it.
They used sometimes an ordinary housewife as
their decoy. The bureau investigates an average of
six cases a day. It reimburses the dealer for any
, delays or annoyances he may have sustained through
the work of agents of the bureau. If something is
found to be wrong at the store under investigation a
call is made upon the owner and he is told to correct
his plan. The bureau does not hesitate, to use the
law as a club to force a man to clean up. But first
the bureau tells him to do so. It has handled 20,000
to 22,000 cases in Chicago. It did not claim that
a p r o d u c t w o r t h y of
it had made conditions in Chicago 100 per cent better,
but "a good deal better."
"A Name Well Known Since
In Chicago of 7,000 complaints in a term of years,
1875"
20 per cent of these had been about musical instru-
ments or radios.
JESSE FRENCH & SONS PIANO CO.
The bureau in Chicago was connected with a 2,000,-
NEWCASTLE, INDIANA
000 daily paper circulation and it had 39 house
ONE=DAY MEETING
AT PALMER HOUSE
ALWAYS
BUSINESS MUCH BETTER,
SAYS ARTHUR WESSELL
Outlook Is Now Very Promising with Most
Factories Is Observance of New York
Action Manufacturer.
Vice-President Arthur L. Wessell of Wesscll,
Nickel & Gross, piano action manufacturers, 10th ave-
nue and West 45th street, New York, who was in
ARTHUR L. WESSELL.
attendance at the Illinois Music Merchants' Associa-
tion Convention at the Palmer House, Chicago, this
week, is very happy over the change for the better
that has come over the piano manufacturing industry
since the first of September.
More than a half century ago the founders of the
house of Wessell, Nickel & Gross began the manufac-
ture of piano actions, and from that day until this
time there has never been any deviation from the fixed
policy of the house of producing the very best action
that could be made through the employment of the
most skilled operatives and the use of only the very
best materials procurable in the markets of the world.
It is this steadfast adherence to the quality standard
which has given the Wessell action world-wide fame.
There has never been a time in the half century
history of the house when more painstaking care has
been exercised in the production of the Wessell action
than under the present regime. When one considers
how insistent the Messrs. Wessell have always been in
the maintenance of extreme high quality in the Wes-
sell action, as well as the maintenance of the honor-
able traditions of the house, it is not to be wondered
at that the fame of the Wessell action is world-wide,
and that these actions are so highly esteemed wher-
ever they are found.
A. W. HART RETIRES.
A. W. Hart, proprietor of the Hart Music Store,
Fremont, O., for more than forty years, one of Fre-
mont's leading business men, is retiring from busi-
ness. He gives failing health and a desire to enjoy
the fruits of a long and busy business life, as reasons
for closing out his business. All stock in the store
will be disposed of by sales within the next few
weeks. Mr. Hart has been established in his pres-
ent location for ten years and prior to that time had
been in other places on Front street. Old business
associates along the street are expressing regret at
his retirement, since he has been a genial competitor
and a live wire at the same time.
Coin Operated and Selection Controlled Pianos
MECHANICALLY PERFECT
Music That Pays as It Plays
WESTERN ELECTRIC PIANO CO., 832-850 Biackhawk St., Chicago, in.
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