Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1929 2234

Page 6 Text:

September 1, 1929
P R E S T 0-T I M E S
good manufacturer in the sale of pianos, not only for
the increased income that it would give him but for
the good that he could do his community and the
good that he could do the industry.
Radio Causes Some Worry.
There is one thing that is causing a lot of tuners
considerable worry and that is the radio. If I were
a tuner who was used to doing fine, delicate work;
used to going into the homes and satisfying the family,
I would fully investigate the servicing of this latest
marvel of science. I know that the piano tuner
objects seriously to doing anything out of his regular
line of work but I also know that the radio is here to
stay and that they require plenty of service and that
the tuner who is used to fine, delicate work, is logi-
cally the man to do this service work providing he
spends sufficient time to properly educate himself in
the mysteries of this new art.
I personally, do not believe that there is any con-
flict between the radio and the piano. The radio is
purely a device of entertainment while the piano is
not only a device of entertainment but also a means
of culture and refinement. Over half of the joy of
music is in the ability to produce the music yourself
and when the people of this country listen to good
music as they do on the radio, it will surely instill in
them a desire to produce some of that music and this
is where the piano fits in.
Piano Is King.
The piano is the king of musical instruments, the
one man orchestra, the only instrument on which the
average person can produce all four parts of harmony.
There is nothing in sight that will take the place of
the piano and as long as this condition exists, we
need not worry over the disappearance of this instru-
ment but we must cooperate. We must all work
together to let the public know that the piano is still
the king of musical instruments.
This has been rather a long, rambling- talk about
"This Music Business." We could go on and on and
discuss it from many angles but I hope that these
few thoughts will give you something to take along
with you that you can use both for your benefit and
the benefit of the industry.
STEINWAY TECHNICIAN'S TALK.
Granville Ward, a member of the association and
technician with Steinway & Sons, New York, gave a
technical talk that was best understood by the tuners.
He dwelt particularly on methods of tone regulating.
In closing his talk on tone regulating he said:
"There are differences of opinion as to tone regu-
lating. Some like a very soft tone, some the brilliant.
It is alw'ays advisable to confer with the owner of
the piano regarding this.
"If any of you boys have any questions in mind, I
am at the Steinway Exhibit, where I shall be glad to
meet you and continue our talk."
GURNEY R. B R O W N E L L SPEAKS.
Gurney R. Brownell, manager of the piano tuning
and repair departments at Lyon & Healy's, Chicago,
gave one of his characteristic talks with lots of punch
to it. In part he said:
"There is no greater tragedy in the world than that
of a man who stays in a rut all his life when, with
just a little effort, he could bring success within his
grasp.
"Don't tuck yourself away like a piece of misfit
furniture into a dark and obscure corner, and subject
yourself to unspoken criticism. Stand out in the light
of achievement and invite open admiration. Make up
your mind now—today—that you're going to settle
this problem once and for all.
"To stay where you are, you will have to keep
moving, and as the Irishman puts it, 'You have to
run like hell to stand still these days.'
"No system has yet been devised to help a man
who doesn't believe in himself and his business.
"Ever since Lyon & Healy, the company I am asso-
ciated with, made its notable appearance, over sixty-
five years ago, the name of Lyon & Healy has enjoyed,
a commanding prestige. The success of Lyon &
Healy's piano tuning department furnishes unassail-
able evidence of the unlimited capabilities of the great
organized forces of the company when marshalled in
their full strength. Organization is the answer. The
N. A. P. T., with its large membership, can organize
on a much larger scale with the co-operation of every
member."
TUNING PINS AND STRINGS.
The talk of Edmund C. Johnson, president of the
Schaff Piano String Co., Chicago, while technical in
an eminent degree, had many points interesting to the
layman. He said in part:
"Prior to the war seventy-live per cent of all tuning
pins used in this country were of foreign manufacture,
and no piano maker of merit was supposed to use any-
thing but a foreign pin. True, a few pioneers were
willing to support, in a half-hearted way, our one
domestic manufacturer. He had learned his trade in
Germany, he made a pin that answered all of their
needs, but it lacked background.
"With the war, naturally the foreign supply was
cut off, and there was a time when the entire industry
was dependent on this one concern for its source of
supply. In order to satisfy the demand, new machin-
ery had to be built. It was a case of quick produc-
tion, regardless of quality. The result was that those
manufacturers who had used the German pin con-
demned the domestic one.
"A number of other concerns entered the field, all
of whom have since passed out of existence, but in
passing they left many new ideas which have now
been synchronized into a perfect product. Instead of
trailing the imported article, we now lead it."
TALK BY W I L B E R T O N GOULD.
Wilberton Gould, a member from New York city,
talked on "Collective Success." He said:
"Individually, we can accomplish nothing; collec-
tively we have it in our power to advance and to do
great good to ourselves as well as to the manufac-
turers, the dealers and the piano owning public. And
the fact that our activities, locally and nationally, are
constantly being watched must not be lost sight of.
"Since the inception of our board of directors, the
New York division has printed and sold to association
members and mailed to teachers, and so forth, over
15,000 of the division's pamphlet, "Care of the Piano."
The seed that has thus been sown is bound to bring
its reward, but constant vigilance is the price of
success."
T. J. OWIEARA'S TALK.
T. J. O'Meara, of Kansas City, editor of the
Tuners' Journal, said: "Pianos catch cold. Extreme
changes of temperature are dangerous, because a
piano responds immediately to violent weather
changes. The safe degrees for a piano are between
60 and 80 degrees."
Warning against letting children practice on pianos
that are out of tune or below pitch, the speaker
declared that a wrong conception of tone might be
acquired. A child may play his piano out of tune,
go to a neighbor's house where the piano is tuned and
the pitch correct, and become confused, he said.
Putting Piano Back Where It Belongs.
The question, "Should Music Be a Basic Factor in
the Child's Education?" was the subject ably answered
by Dr. J.'Lewis Browne, Director of Musical Educa-
tion in the Chicago Public Schools.
"I never heard a talkie that sounded like a human
being, did you?" said Dr. Browne. "Always like a
voice inside of a barrel, hollow, uncanny. Did you
ever hear orchestration by radio that sounded like an
orchestra? I never have. We want the real thing.
Spread the gospel of music, real music, more and
more. Nothing stands still; we're either going ahead
or going behind. Our salvation lies with the music
teachers."
Dr. Browne said there were three things that had
cut into the piano business. First, the radio; second,
the small apartment; third, the automobile. He based
this conclusion upon information he had received in
80 answers to letters of inquiry that he had sent out
to piano dealers.
In the schools of Chicago there are 14,400 teachers.
It seemed to Dr. Browne that there was lots of
chance for propaganda right there. If we would think
for ourselves and act for ourselves—well, the millen-
nium was not impossible.
Teaching the piano, Dr. Browne said, was the only
solution of a most difficult problem—"putting the
piano back where it belongs." Some one had said,
"Only the good ones will survive." Dr. Browne said:
"I don't know anything about that, but if there's any-
thing I can do, I'm ready to go in for it."
BANQUET A SUCCESS.
The banquet at the Sherman House was a bril-
liant success. Speeches, music, entertainment, viands
were all of the best and everybody was happy.
ADDRESS OF ROY E. W A I T E
of the Piano Trade Magazine.
At the tuners' banquet Roy E. Waite spoke as
follows:
"I would feel very proud indeed if I had the ability
to stand here and discuss with you, as one expert to
another, the technic of your profession. But I can't
do that, my friends. Confidentially, I know nothing
about piano tuning. And I have the most profound
respect for the man who can use his ear—the least
infallible of the organs of the five senses, it seems
to me. I have the greatest respect for the man who
can use his ear as a yardstick to measure pitch.
"I could never be a tuner, that I know. And I
think all of us are a little inclined to covet those
talents which seem to us so impossible, difficult. Also,
perhaps, we are a little liable to be unappreciative of
the talents we have. We could worry along without
piano salesmen—we are worrying along without very
many right now. A certain number of people would
buy pianos anyhow and anyone can take a man's order
for a piano. We could worry along without travel-
ing men. There would still be pianos sold and played
upon if we did no advertising and had no trade papers.
But there could be no piano business without piano
tuners. And not one person in 100,000 can tune a
piano.
"Almost anyone can drive a nail and saw a board,
and build a house, after a fashion. Most anyone
could if put to it, do most any of the things we
employ others to do daily, and get by with it, after
a fashion. But tuning the piano! None but a man
of your talents could ever start the job, let alone
finish it.
"Therefore, I have profound respect for my audi-
ence as representing an exclusive profession, a pro-
fession of the elect, whose members can do some-
thing that presidents and kings and dictators cannot
do, something of the mind and the ear that is acquired
and is not an accident of birth.
"As your profession is rather rare and your talents
unusual, so are your responsibilities great. I do not
refer to your technic. All of you are probably good
tuners or you wouldn't be in the membership organi-
zation. But I refer to your rather extraordinary
opportunities for service to the piano industry. You
are the trade ambassadors of good will to the public.
You go into the homes of the people repeatedly and
people ask you questions about pianos and the piano
business, and you get an insight into their piano con-
sciousness that men in no other profession get.
"Don't become cvnical because of foolish state-
THE PRESTO BUYERS' GUIDE
PRICES
EDITION OF 1929
Is now ready for distribution
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forward by first mail after receipt of order
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Address—
PRESTO PUBLISHING CO.
417 S. DEARBORN ST.
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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/

Page 7 Text:

September 1, 1929
nients some dealer or salesmen has made. By your
dignity and kindliness and your respect for your pro-
fession and for the piano business, leave these people
with a higher opinion of the piano as representing
Art and Culture; and challenge firmly any statement
that may reflect upon the value of the piano in the
home, upon its popularity or upon the progress of
the great business itself."
LIST OF EXHIBITORS AT THE
PIANO TUNERS' CONVENTION
(All these exhibits were on second floor.)
Cable Piano Company, Chicago.
E. P. Johnson Piano Company, Elgin, 111.
American Piano Company, New York (including a
special Ampico Exhibit).
Weaver Piano Company, York, Pa.
Gulbransen Company, Chicago.
The M. Schulz Company, Chicago.
Schiller Piano Company, Oregon, 111.
Steinway & Sons, New York.
Chas. Frederick Stein, Chicago.
And two or three other piano exhibits.
Standard Pneumatic Action Company.
Tonk Brothers (Piano Supply Department).
Schaff Piano String Company, Chicago.
Walter M. Gotsch Co., Chicago.
On an American Piano Company bulletin near the
elevator on the second floor was the following invita-
tion :
"American Piano Company welcomes the National
Association of Piano Tuners and invites you to visit
their exhibits in rooms 202, 231, and 239.
The Schiller Piano Company exhibited a Georgian
and a Louis XV, both very fine grands.
The E. P. Johnson Piano Co. exhibited three grands
—one Queen Mary Ann in teakwood, 5 ft. 4 ins.; one
Louis XV and one Colonial style, 4 ft. 8 ins.
NEW MANAGER FOR
CLARK WATERTOWN STORE
R. R. Edwards, Who Has Been Specializing in
Washington, D. C, Is the Man.
Melville Clark, president of the Clark Music Co.,
whose main store is located at 416 South Salina street
in Syracuse, N. Y., with a branch store at 6 Public
Square in Watertown, N. Y., has announced the ap-
pointment of R. R. Edwards, as manager of the Clark
Music Co., Watertown branch.
Mr. Edwards comes to the institution well equipped
for his position because of his experience in all
branches of the music business. He has been asso-
ciated with the industry all his life and his experi-
ence has been a varied one from both the sales and
managerial angle. He is familiar with theatricals,
having sponsored the founding of the Syracuse Opera
Association. For the past several years he has been
with one of the leading music houses in Washington.
D. C, where he specialized in pipe organ installation
for several years.
The branch store of Clark Music Co. represents
harp, radio, phonograph, piano, pipe organ and repair
departments, just as the main Syracuse store, where
are to be found the world's finest instruments in their
respective departments.
MANY PIANO WOMEN
IN CALIFORNIA
Some of Them Are Named Here—Good Saleswomen
But Cagy as Buyers.
BY MARSHALL BREEDEN.
There are many women in the California piano
business. Most of them belong to the men who
operate the stores. The ladies are good piano men.
They sell the merchandise, but in their turn are quite
hard to sell. Cagy buyers, one and all.
Mrs. Hockett of Fresno is as much a part of the
piano and music business as Mr. Hockett himself. So
too is Mrs. Bethel of Pasadena, and Mrs. Hendricks
of Santa Barbara is important in the Hendricks Music
Co. In Santa Ana, Mrs. Shafer is always at the desk,
for she watches the books and checks and cash of
the Shafer Music Co. So, too. for that matter, does
Mrs. Young of Escondido.
Frank Creswell was once with the Bartlett Music
Co. and now, since that firm is no more, Frank is
operating as fine a small piano and radio store as
there is. It is called George, Inc., named in honor of
Mrs. Creswell. whose maiden name was George.
This store is located on Melrose avenue away out.
It is so far out that with the exception of Vic Ander-
son, C. W. Boothe, Fred Christianer, myself, Harley
A. Brown, and half a dozen other wholesale piano
men, none have found it.
The present spell of heat has maintained itself for
P R E S T O-T I M E S
lo these many weeks, and as a consequence the piano
business has not been so brisk. Radio seems also to
have noticed the heat. Maybe pianos will pick up
when old Jack Frost approaches; it is certain radio
will.
Many dealers and salesmen have gone vacationing.
Mr. Shuck is in the wilds of Oregon, Lesley Simmons,
of Whittier, is motoring into the wilderness, Al Danz
spends considerable time at his beach house in Balboa,
and Marshall Breeden is slaving in the hot, hot city.
Louis Danz of Anaheim has put in a line of auto-
matic ice boxes. The electric freezer is getting rather
popular with music dealers. Kohler & Chase have a
big department of them; so too has Don C. Preston,
of Bakersfield, and now Louis Danz is to be added to
the growing list.
George Markle came up from San Diego the other
day. He had a customer with him. He made his
sale and returned in the new Chrysler which is now a
member of the Markle family. It has a history. A
San Diego newspaper offered it as the first prize for
the getting of subscriptions, and lo and behold, Mrs.
George Markle was returned the winner. Now she
drives George's old "Chev."
CHARLES JACOB AND WIFE
ON GREAT AUTO TRIP
Cross the Ocean by Steamship But Tour Europe in
the "Horseless Carriages."
Charles Jacob, president of Jacob Bros. Co., and
its large allied industries, with Mrs. Jacob, sailed on
the "Mauretania" on August 16, for an extensive
European trip through England, Scotland, Ireland,
France, Germany and Switzerland—largely by auto-
mobile.
Asked if he would patronize the airplane in his
travels, Mr. Jacob smilingly replied that youth was
JESSE FRENCH CO.
TRIPLES_SCHEDULE
Fifteen Thousand Radio Cabinets Shipped
from the New Castle Plant in August—
Piano Export Trade Is Keeping Up
Very Well.
Special activities now prevail at the Jesse French &
Sons piano factory. A local paper, the New Castle
(Indiana) Times, referring to the rush of work, largely
augmented by the radio department of the business,
says that "fifteen thousand radio cabinets will be
shipped from the Jesse French & Sons piano factory
during the month of August. These 15,000 cabinets
are over and above the large number made for their
own radio; the Jesse French Radio." Continuing,
the paper above quoted adds:
Factory Schedule Tripled.
'"The doubling of large orders and reception of sev-
eral new contracts has tripled the schedule of the fac-
tory and caused an eight-hour night shift to be
started. This means that every week four carloads
of radio cabinets made in the factory will be shipped
from New Castle. This is the start of the season and
new designs are being completed with the hope that
the production of the local factory may be boosted
even beyond the present high mark of 15,000 a month.
The night force will continue probably for at least
two months. Mr. French said. Inquiries are coming
in good regarding both radios and pianos, and so indi-
cations are most favorable for the factory.
The Jesse French Radio.
A new model of the Jesse French radio is about
ready for the market and is known as No. 629; a 9-
tube screen-grid chassis, the retail price is to be
$159.75, less tubes. A nice lot of advance orders for
this new model will give it a good start in the radio
trade proper, as well as in the general music trade.
Important connections have recently been made with
representative houses as distributors in certain sec-
tions of the country, and all in all, the radio business
of the Jesse French & Sons Piano Company seems
to be describable as a "near-boom."
Describing this new Jesse French model, the New-
Castle Times says: "The lowboy, which stands just
40 inches high, made up in American walnut with
Oriental walnut trimmings is most in demand. The
Oriental walnut is really an imported wood, from
Australia, instead of the Orient. There is very little
demand for anything but walnut radios, but nearly all
the pianos sold are mahogany."
Good Piano Export Trade.
Jesse French III says ther£ is no great radio export
business on account of the almost prohibitive tariff,
but their piano export trade is picking up consid-
erably, while their trade in the United States keeps
fairly active in their general piano business and excel-
lent in their special and ensemble products.
J. V. SILL'S VACATION.
J. V. Sill, sales manager of the W. Kimball Com-
pany, Chicago, spent last week at his summer cottage
at Lakeside, Mich. Mr. Sill enjoys the Lakeside golf
course very much and says the swimming at Lake-
side Park Beach is unsurpassed.
The Kankakee Piano & Music Store, Kankakee,
111., held a formal opening on June 22 and gave
souvenirs. It handles grand and upright pianos,
radios and small musical instruments.
C. A. Woodall, music dealer, has moved his head-
quarters from Kuttawa, Ky., to Princeton, Ky. He
still maintains a branch office in Kuttawa.
CHARLES JACOB.
adventurous, and as he would celebrate his seventy-
second birthday on the ocean and was out to see
what could be seen, he might do so.
A large delegation of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob's friends
were on board to bid them bon voyage.
Everybody acquainted with this excellent couple
wishes them much pleasure from their sightseeing
and visiting trip. Mr. Jacob is one of the most indus-
trious and faithful of the piano manufacturers, and the
feeling of his numerous friends is that if anybody is
entitled to a trip of this sort it is this very gentleman.
FOUR PRESIDENTS' VIEWS
OF VALUE OF MUSIC
Quotations from Coolidge, Harding, Wilson
and Roosevelt, All Ap-
proving It.
Music is the art directly representative of democ-
racy. If the best music is brought to the people there
need be no fear about their ability to appreciate it.—
Calvin Coolidge.
* * *
We cannot have too much music; we need it—the
world needs it—probably more than ever before, and
I am the friend of every effort to give it its rightful
place in our national life.—Warren G. Harding.
* * *
The man who disparages music as a luxury and
non-essential is doing the nation an injury. Music
now, more than ever before, is a national need. There
is no better way to express patriotism than through
music.—Woodrow Wilson.
* * *
Let the love for literature, painting, sculpture,
architecture and, above all, music, enter into your
lives.—Theodore Roosevelt.
WURLITZER BABY UPRIGHT.
The Wurlitzer Baby Upright piano is advertised in
Chicago as one with "exceptional tone volume,
sparkling brilliance and easy action, combined with
dignified case design, which makes this dainty piano
the peer of all small instruments. Fits conveniently
into any restricted space."
Harold Norris, piano tuner of Middletown, Ohio,
attended the tuners convention in Chicago last week.
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/

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