Presto

P R E S T 0-T I M E S
AN UNPROPOSED
RESOLUTION WORKS
Scheme to Increase Membership of National
Association of Music Merchants Suggested
by President Roberts at Last Convention
Develops Great Possibilities.
There has been a very quick response from a num-
ber of members of the National Association of Mu-
sic Merchants to the communication which was sent
to all of the members the latter part of November,
by President C. J. Roberts, in which he presented to
the members a "resolution" which he said should have
been proposed and adopted at the last convention
and in which the President was requested to invite all
officers and members to secure at least one new mem-
ber each in the immediate future.
For the purpose of facilitating this work, the Ex-
ecutive office supplied each member with a list of
"prospects" in the various cities. It will be interest-
ing to the members of the Association to learn that
the first new member was secured by Carl A. Droop,
treasurer of the Association, Washington, D. C, and
was received almost by return mail. A very enthusi-
astic letter was also received from Mr. Droop's
brother, Edward H. Droop, a member of the Advis-
ory Board and one of the past presidents of the
Association.
The Incident.
It will be remembered that at the Thursday morn-
ing session of the last convention, Edward H. Droop
notified President Roberts from the floor of the con-
vention that he wished to propose a new member,
George A. Vose of Boston, who was present at the
session, and at the time, was sitting alongside of Mr.
Droop. On that occasion, President Roberts com-
plimented the house of Droop for the wonderful sup-
port which the association has always received from
the members of that house.
Others Follow.
The second member to send in a new member was
Shirley Walker of San Francisco, one of the vice-
presidents of the Association. Mr. Walker, however,
took occasion to send in four new members and in-
dicated in his letter that he had several additional
"live prospects" which he anticipated securing in the
near future. Mr. Walker's activity in assisting the
executive secretary in his work in connection with
new memberships has already been the subject of
comment in news articles in the trade papers.
M. V. DeForeest, a member of the Advisory Board
and a past president of the Association, was the third
member to send in a new member. Mr. DeForeest is
a past master in the art of increasing Association
membership. The trade still remembers the tour
made by Mr. DeForeest and other members of the
Association, several years ago, during which a large
number of new members were added to the roster of
the National Association.
TRADE NEWS FROM
STATE OF WISCONSIN
Robert Gether, Milwaukee Dealer, Injured in
Automobile Accident—Other Items from
Various Points in the State.
Robert C. Gether, president of the Gether Piano
Co., Milwaukee, was seriously injured December 4 in
an automobile accident. Mr. Gether was driving his
own automobile, which was struck by a street car.
He was taken to Columbia hospital, where his condi-
tion is said to be serious.
Business at the Edison plant, New London, Wis.,
is very good, according to reports from officials of
that concern. Radio cabinet orders are expected to
keep the plant on a normal operating basis not only
in December, but in the early months of 1929 as well.
The Hoel-McKenzie Music shop at Janesville, Wis.,
is closing out its stock of playerpianos because in-
sufficient space will not permit the company to carry
the large stock of merchandise.
Phil J. Gerringer, proprietor of the Wright Music
Store at Marshfield, Wis., was a recent speaker at the
Marshfield Commercial Club. In his address Mr.
Gerringer traced the influence of music from its in-
ception and stressed the fact that music makes hap-
piness.
William Quick, for several years in charge of the
service department of the Luebtow Music Co., Mil-
waukee, is now associated with the Norbert J. Bei-
hoff Music Co., Milwaukee, as radio department man-
ager.
The Boyer Music Shop, Inc., has moved into new
quarters at 5521 North avenue, Milwaukee. The new
store's demonstration room is arranged like a mod-
ern home and in it the patron can hear the Bremer-
Tully, Crosley, Philco, Kolster, McMillan and Lyric
radios.
OLD MICHIGAN FIRM
HAS ANNIVERSARY SALE
G. W. French & Son Company, Ionia, Has
Carried the M. Schulz Company Piano
Since Its Foundation in 1895.
The G. W. French & Son Co., 324 West Main
street, Ionia, Mich., is celebrating the thirty-third
anniversary of its founding by holding a special sale
that has been widely advertised. The history of the
firm is one that should inspire the utmost confidence
in this special sale event. To exist for thirty-three
years in business and in one community bespeaks the
utmost in fair dealing.
For thirty-three years the store has confined itself
to the best value in musical instruments. For thirty-
two years it has handled the M. Schulz Company's
line of pianos. It started handling Victor talking ma-
chines twenty-seven years ago. The Gulbransen
Company's pianos were added to the line some years
ago and with the coming of the radio, Radiolas were
adopted. In selecting a line of band instruments, the
C. G. Conn line was selected.
NEW LOUISVILLE BRANCH
OPENED BY PEARSON PIANO CO.
Widely Known Indianapolis Music House Buys Re-
maining Stock of the Krausgill Piano Co.
The Pearson Piano Company, Indianapolis, has
opened a branch in Louisville, Ky., following the pur-
chase of the remaining stock of new and used pianos
and other musical goods of the Krausgill Piano Com-
pany, 309-311 Walnut street. The latter company
has been liquidating for about four months.
A special sale has been organized to clear off the
stock by Charles H. Meredith, the manager of the new
branch. Among the inducements offered to prospec-
tive customers is transportation to and from out-of-
town points within a radius of 75 miles. Mr. Meredith
is organizing a sales organization which will number
seven salesmen.
NEW OHIO BRANCH STORE.
Chubb & Steinberg, 17 East 6th street, Cincinnati,
has opened a branch store at 905 East McMillen
street, Walnut Hills. The store is in Spanish style
and has complete displays of radios, phonographs,
records and sheet music. The new store is one of
the largest suburban radio and music shops in Ohio,
and has been opened to meet requests for a more
diversified line of radio apparatus on exhibit in the
suburbs, according to officials of the company.
SALE OF BAY PLANT.
A telegram from Chicago, 111., dated December 3,
to Elmore Sturgis, Bluffton, Ind., stated that a de-
posit on Bay plant had been made. The telegram
was received by Elmore Sturgis from the factory rep-
resentative who had been considering a proposition
from the local Chamber of Commerce, to locate a
wood-working plant in the Bay company factory.
The sale of the plant was advertised for Friday of
last week.
WURLITZER STORE PREPARES.
In the weeks preceding Christmas the Wurlitzer
Music Store, Dayton, O., will be open for business
until 9 p. m. each evening. In anticipation of the
Christmas sales the Dayton Wurlitzer store also has
received a shipment of ten beautiful Apollo period
grand pianos. These instruments in Ihand-carved
cases are manufactured at the extensive grand piano
plants of the Wurlitzer company at De Kalb, 111.
SEATTLE FIRM EXPANDS.
The Howell Piano Company of Seattle has opened
a new store in the Graham Theater in Shelton, Wash.
The company, which is featuring many well known
makes of high grade pianos, is successor to the Bush
& Lane retail store in Seattle and also operates a
branch store in Bremerton. The Shelton store is in
charge of Harold D. Howell, a member of the firm.
IN NEW LOCATION.
C. Kobe & Son, 103 Main street, Findlay, Ohio,
uses the newspapers to notify old customers and
prospective new ones of the attractions in the com-
pany's new location.
December 15, 1928
TWO IMPRESSIONS
ARE PRESENTED
One Presented by President Coolidge Is Pleas-
ant, But Another Gained by Reading Piano
Dealers' Ads Is of a Decidedly Dis-
agreeable Type.
By A. G. GULBRANSEN,
President Gulbransen Company, Chicago.
The President of the United States, in his final an-
nual message to the people of this country, refers to
the unprecedented prosperity that the country is en-
joying at the present time. He points out in detail
the economic factors that are responsible for the well-
being of our people in this day.
But, picking up a metropolitan daily newspaper
and glancing over its piano advertising, one gains the
impression that the people of this nation are poverty
stricken. Apparently their purses are so slim that
they cannot be expected to place more than a very
few dollars down on the purchase of a piano. Terms,
furthermore, must apparently run from two and one-
half to five years. Yes, there is no question but that
the people are in a very bad way.
Low-Payment Habit.
There is inconsistency somewhere and I think I
know where it is. Low down payment and long
terms have come to be a habit with the piano dealer.
You may turn over the pages of a daily newspaper
any day of the week, any week of the year, one year
to another and you will find the same piano adver-
tising staring you in the face. You will find the same
headlines, the same offers told in the same old way.
Many of the piano dealers and manufacturers seem
not only to have the idea that the people of this
nation are poverty stricken, but that they will re-
spond to a hackneyed appeal. Merchants in other
lines are constantly offering the public something new
in the way of a product, in the way of utility. They
apparently go on the basis that the public has intelli-
gence.
Dealers to Blame.
Not so, however, with many of the piano houses.
If the public has an impression that pianos have lit-
tle value, that they can be bought for practically noth-
ing, there is no one to blame for that impression
except the piano trade itself. Apparently everything
is being done to tear down values. Very little is
being done to build up the thoughts that the piano is
the basic musical instrument for the home, that piano
study helps children, that there are new styles, new
colors, new types of instruments for the modern
home, that a new era of beauty in pianos is here now.
The advertising man who sits down to write copy
finds a greater number of points about which to write
concerning the piano, than of probably ninety per
cent of the other commodities on the market. There
are many different angles of approach—sound, con-
structive thoughts that appeal to the emotions and
logic of people.
The Piano's Advantage.
Any product that has the ability to touch the emo-
tional side of people has a very distinct advantage.
Practically none of this is made use of in retail
advertising. The cry is price, terms and more prices
and terms. The piano merchant has set for himself a
mark to shoot at that is far, far away. Ordinarily
that would be a very commendable thing. But in this
case he first shot at the mark of two year terms, but
that didn't satisfy him. So he shot at a new mark
and that was the one of three years. Still not satis-
fied, he drew his arrow back a little farther and hit
the four-year mark, and now some of them are adver-
tising that they have hit the five-year mark. Down-
payments have been mishandled in the same way.
On the one hand the President of the United States
comments on the outstanding prosperity of the peo-
ple. On the other hand, the piano merchant adver-
tises year after year to a people who are appar-
ently poverty stricken. Who is correct?
NEW ILLINOIS FIRM.
James Wallis will open a music and radio store in
Hillsboro, 111., in the new building which will be
erected on Tillson street. Mr. Wallis is an experi-
enced dealer in pianos and other musical instruments
and he is also an expert piano tuner. He has made
a close study of radios and of radio repair work and
he will specialize in this line.
BALDWIN STORE OPENS.
The Baldwin Piano Store was opened in Delphi,
Ind., this week, under the managership of T. Martin
Morgan, who will be manager of sales. The new
business will have quarters in a desirable part of the
business section. The firm has a fine stock of pianos.
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