May 15, 1929
13
P R E S T 0-T I M E S
CHRISTMAN
STUDIO PIANOS
appeal to exacting and appreciative buy-
ers because of their fine musical qualities.
A great leader is the
CHRISTMAN
STUDIO
GRAND
"THE FIRST TOUCH TEI.LS"
An instrument of marked tonal power
and beauty.
Three generations of Christmans have
put their life work into the Christman
piano and the result is a dependable
instrument.
Christman Piano Co., Inc.
597 East 137th Street
NEW YORK CITY, U. S. A.
Schumann
PIANOS and PLAYER PIANOS
GRANDS and UPRIGHTS
Have no superiors in appearance, ton*
power or other essentials of strictly
leaders in the trade.
Warning to Infringers
ThU Trade Mark Is east
In the plats and also ap-
pears upon the fall boar*
of all genuine Schumann
Pianos, and all Infringar*
will be prosecuted. Beware
of Imitations suck as Sckn
main ft Company. Schu-
mann A Son, and also
Shuman. as all stead)
skops. dealers and users of
pianos bearing a name in
Imitation of the nams
Schumann with the Inten-
tion of deceiving the public
will is «•«««.».•...» . i »«.
fullest extent of the law
Hew Catalogue «•• Request.
Schumann Piano Co.
W. N. VAN MATRE, President
Rockford, I1L
IANO
Renowned for excellence of workman-
ship and material, is made by the old
and distinguished house of
lots of fun also to listen to a few flashes of stupidity,
or to watch for a complexity of comic complications
that is likely to be sprung at one of the association
entertainments.
It is more fun to laugh in platoons than alone. This
convention ought to try to answer some of the eager
inquiries of intelligent youth; those young people
who like radio and representing a generation later
than the majority of the conventioners.
The convention will try to arouse the slackers from
their willingness to let ill enough alone. What has
to be overcome is ignorance and the prejudice that is
born of ignorance, and the weapon, therefore, is not
argument but information.
"Must Create Demand for Pianos."
"We must create a demand for pianos before we
can sell them," said Edwin G. Tonk, vice-president of
Wm. Tonk & Bro., Inc., Tenth avenue and 35th
street, to Presto-Times correspondent last week. "We
run against this lack of demand every day in ap-
proaching prospects. People will shrug and say, "We
have an automobile for our outdoor pleasures and a
radio here in the apartment, which satisfy our crav-
(Continued on page 19)
NEW YORK LETTER
By H E N R Y MAC MULLAN
Otto Wissner Back from Florida.
Otio Wissner, head of the Wissner & Sons Piano
Co., Brooklyn, N. Y., returned from a three-months'
sojourn in Florida last week and can now be found
at his office, 59 Flatbush avenue, every week day. His
son, William Wissner, has also returned from a va-
cation.
G. J. Sexton Anent Canvassers.
"The cheap and inexperienced canvassers some of
the firms are sending out to ring door-bells are hurt-
ing piano trade here in New York by bringing dis-
respect for all piano men," said G. J. Sexton, mana-
ger of the Wissner & Sons piano store at 24 West
50th street last week to Presto-Times eastern corres-
pondent. "I employ women for that line of work, but
they are women of culture and they know the goods,
so I have never heard any complaint about their calls
at the homes. Ignorance and cheap methods of work-
ing sales always bring a harmful reaction."
An Active Mathushek Hustler.
One of the many cheerful Mathushek retail sales-
men in New York is Charles Stumpf, who can al-
ways be found on the floor at the great Mathushek
store. 37 W r est 37th street. Mr. Stumpf has a fine
record of sales behind him, and this spring he is sell-
ing instruments with more zest than ever, for he
declares with conviction that trade is once more
speeding up. To John J. Glynn, manager of this
most beautiful store, belongs much of the cerdit for
its great success. The Mathushek pianos are now
made so fine and are so famous in musical qualities
that their sale is constantly climbing.
WILLARD A. VOSE
DIES IN BROOKLINE
President of Vose & Sons Piano Company
Left a Very Honorable
Record.
Previewing the Convention.
After chatting with several men who are going
to be at Chicago in June, Presto-Times eastern cor-
respondent has come to the conclusion that this con-
vention is not merely going to add one more date to
an arid route of travel—it is going to start paving
a new and broader highway.
The piano trade may be indulged in bringing up
to date the log of its voyage but it is expected to
chart a new course and steer clear of icebergs, rocks
and sandbars. It can be forgiven for evoking the
patchy past to see what to avoid in making measure-
ments for the future.
Having grown up, it must now go out and make
its living industriously among its neighbors, the auto-
mobile, the radio and others, full of hope for self-
advancement by depending upon itself alone.
If a line of business is to grow great, it must be ex-
clusively pursued, even if it has to resort to taking
stimulants. It requires a series of operations to make
an industry grow great.
A loyal member of any of the piano associations
ought not to feel that his responsibility to its wel-
fare is subservient to his own incessant effort to
make his own business succeed. The busiest man ai-
ways has time to see an important caller, just as
the busiest piano manufacturer can always give some
time to his association. If the association's work
becomes desultory and unsatisfactory, whose fault
is it. if not the fault of the slackers?
Yelping at conditions will not help. That's too
much like stuffing mattresses into a break in a Mis-
sissippi River levee in time of overflow.
Withdrawing immediately is dubbed "desertion" in
the army and in time of war the penalty is death.
This is a time of war in the piano business.
Plots and skeletons of plots can never take the
place of unflagging energy. If men could be shown
that because they remain aloof from the associations
and conventions they do not appear to advantage at
other assemblages, it might help to round up some of
the stray sheep.
If in rounding them up they object to the talks
at conventions as too clever, remind them that it is
Willard A. Vose, president of Vose & Sons Piano
Company, Watertown and Boston, Mass., died at
his home in Brookline, Mass., Wednesday afternoon,
WILLARD A. VOSE
May 8. His passing removes a very prominent figure
from the industry.
Mr. Vose was known from ocean to ocean as the
manufacturer of excellent pianos and the name Vose
is a household word in every state in the Union and
in several foreign countries. His death will not cause
any change in the continuation of the business, as
George A. Voss and others have been at the helm for
several vears.
WILLIAM TONK & BRO.,""
The Tank Piano is reliable in every
way and Tonk Dealers enjoy the quick
profits assured by its Dependability.
WILLIAM TONK & BRO.
Tenth Avenue, 35th and 36th Streets
NEW YORK CITY
U. S. A.
Refer to Presto Buyers' Guide for in-
formation about all Pianos, Players and
Reproducing Pianos.
tartk
PRESTO
BUYERS'
GUIDE
Indispensable to
Dealers and
Salesmen
Price 50 cents
Grand, Upright and Player-Pianos
Strictly High Grade. Many Exclusive Selling Points.
Attractive Proposition for Dealers.
fi K.$t*ttk
Send for Catalog.
Pian0 ffla. ^anufacturers, CHICAGO, ILL.
N«w York W*rerooms: 112-114 West 42nd St.
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