September 15, 1920
P R E S T 0-T I M E S
lady member sitting in at the round table, to excuse
the oath which was coming.
Alford Advises "Carry On."
One of the best bits of advice given at the conven-
tion was in the able address of Claude M. Alford,
president of the association. The gist of his talk
was urging the piano men to "carry on"; to stick by
their business if they expected it to give them the
results they deserved.
The Resolutions Committee.
President Alford appointed as the resolutions com-
mittee W. W. Smith, of Toledo; Otto Muehlhauser,
of Cleveland, and Otto B. Heaton, of Columbus.
PROSPECTING AND SELLING.
Otto B. Heaton, of Columbus, led the very in-
structive and telling meeting held under the round
table plan on the last morning of the convention—
one of the most interesting meetings of the whole
sessions. He said that some of the best ideas ever
put into effect were secured not in large meetings but
in private talks with individual members or visitors
who would not even think themselves competent to
make a set speech in a large convention hall crowded
with a curious audience. Right in the halls of the
hotels, frequently, these ideas were often picked up.
Welcome Letters.
One plan that sold pianos right off the bat was a
letter of welcome sent out to newcomers moving into
town; sent to people who move their household
goods to "your town," either by auto-truck or by
freight train. He passed around in the audience a
copy of this letter of welcome. No business was men-
tioned in it. The letter was friendly and simply wel-
comed the new arrivals to the city of Columbus, "a
good old city," where the writer had arrived a
stranger many years before.
Blanks to Teachers.
Another method was to send blanks to school
teachers in Columbus and adjoining cities offering a
scarf and some good song-books (those with good
old-fashioned songs in them) for lists of piano pros-
pects. Sixty per cent of the teachers had responded
and secured these song-books for the use of the chil-
dren in their schools. The letters were sent out in
April this year.
Second Largest August.
The Otto Heaton business this August was the
second largest August trade in pianos that the com-
pany ever had, Mr. Heaton said. The song-books
referred to can be bought of the M. Schulz Company,
Chicago, Mr. Heaton said, at a very reasonable price.
Other methods had been tried that were not as
successful, but "you don't blow about the things
you fail on," said Mr. Heaton.
Using the Social Register.
The Social Register was tried with success for lists
of prospects. That is the "400." Mr. Heaton didn't
know such a thing existed, but his wife called his
attention to it. "We threw away all our old lists,
such as doctors and lawyers, and worked on the
social register, and sold 42 pianos," said Mr. Heaton.
Income Taxpayers.
Another list worked upon with much success was
those whose incomes were $5,000 a year or more.
"There were names on that list," said Mr. Heaton,
"that I never suspected of having anything like that
income, and there were several that I had thought
ought to be there that were not." These names can
be secured from R. L. Polk & Co., directory pub-
lishers of many cities, by sending to their Chicago
office in the Rand, McNally Building on South Clark
street, and the charge is $20 a thousand, was the
information brought out. There are 2,100 people in
Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, whose incomes
are $5,000 a year or more.
Names at Gas Companies.
Another method that proved successful was to get
names at the gas company of those to whom gas had
been recently turned on. By paying an employe of
the gas company for the information this knowledge
can be secured from time to time.
What to Give.
Issuing t'ekets to theaters had been tried by some
of those around the table. Others had tried giving
Victor records with some degree of success.
Selling Pianos on the Hoof.
" Y O J have to sell pianos on the hoof—there's no
question about that," was the succinct utterance
of Otto Heaton as a clincher.
White Automobile of Welcome.
The welcoming wagon of some of the medium-
sized and larger cities was approved as an impresser
of a real welcome to a newcomer. In it rides a lady
daintily dressed, who is accompanied by a chauffeur.
It is a gorgeous white automobile, impressive as it
pauses in front of the newcomer's home, and the lady
alights as the "shoaf" opens the door and brings in
a basket with a loaf of bread from the leading baker,
a bottle of milk from the cleanest dairy, a ticket for
a marcel wave at the leading "marcellist's" place, a
ticket for two at the leading theater, and what not
else. Or course, the piano store's card is among the
introductories, as well as a meal ticket for one meal
at the leading restaurant for two.
Mayor Thomas Was Very Witty
At the noon luncheon in the Crystal Room of the
Deshler-Wallick Hotel, on Tuesday, the Hon. James
J. Thomas, mayor of Columbus, was so witty that
he had both the men and the women in roars of
laughter all the time. He said the mayor was held
responsible for everything that goes on in the city,
whether he had anything to do with it or not. He is
even held responsible for the answers that are given
by candidates for appointive offices, even if those
answers are as ridiculous as the one given by a can-
didate for the position of fireman in answer to the
question, "Name one of the pieces in the fire depart-
ment." The answer given by this candidate was,
"The chief."
Ohio Governor's Address.
Hon. Myers Y. Cooper, governor of Ohio, who was
formerly a builder in Cincinnati, spoke on Tuesday
at the luncheon. He said there's a brightness that
goes into every home where a piano enters. He had
built over 2,000 homes in Cincinnati and he got sat-
sfaction out of the thought that he was building
homes that compensated him beyond the mere prof-
its that he might have made in dollars and cents. So
the piano and radio dealers also get more than dollars
and profits when they put instruments of music in
the homes.
All over Ohio, the governor said, the importance
of a good musical education was being appreciated.
Ohio was preparing to do away with its 4,500 one-
room schools, and the state was going to reduce
them until there is not one left. Consolidated schools
are to take their place, with facilities for musical
education for all. Using the roads of Ohio are
1,750,000 autoists; 1,950 people have been killed in the
last five years on Ohio's highways, thousands more
severely injured. He said there are 6,000 unprotected
railroad crossings in Ohio. The state has begun
reform along this line to make life safer on 11,000
miles of roads.
Nicaragua President's Son Heard.
Dr. Cecil Fanning, the barytone, who was next on
the program, was at home with a bad cold, so a sub-
stitute came in his place, in the person of a son of
a former president of Nicaragua. This gentleman is
Mr. Valera, who has been in this country for 25
(Continued on page 11)
PENNSYLVANIA ASSOCIATION'S
FOURTH ANNUAL CONVENTION
Talks by Trade Leaders, Including Delbert L.
Loom's, C. J. Roberts, E. C. Boykin, Carl
Witt'ch and A. O. Lechner.
The fourth annual convention of the Pennsylvania
Association of Music Merchants was held at Bedford
Springs, Pa., on August 26 and 27. President Carl
Wittich, of Reading, presided.
The talks included the following:
"Is the Demand for Pianos Increasing?" was the
question handled by E. C. Boykin, executive secre-
tary National Association of Piano Manufacturers,
New York.
"What Future Does the Talking Machine Have?"
Discussed by H. H. Silliman, Thomas A, Edison, Inc.,
Orange, N. J., and R. A. Forbes, Victor Talking
Machine Co , Camden, N. J.
"Can Radio Be Sold at a Profit?" "On What
Terms Can Radio Be Sold?" This open forum was
led by Messrs. Silliman and Forbes.
"The National Association of Music Merchants
and What It Is Doing" was explained by Delbert L.
Loomis, exesutive secretary. New York.
Other topics: "Piano Salesmen—Finding and Mak-
ing," Arthur O. Lechner, Pittsburgh.
"What Selling Plans Have Produced Business?"
Answered by C. L. Enck, Harrisburg.
"What Outside Lines Can Legitimately Be Sold
by Music Dealers?" was the basis of an open forum
discussion; also about "The Cost of Business^Analy-
sis of Figures Submitted by Music Merchants" fol-
lowed. This was led by Carl Wittich, Reading.
The officers, all re-elected, are: President, Carl
Wittich, Reading; vice-presidents, G. C. Ramsdell,
Philadelphia, and George P. Sheaffer, Harrisburg;
treasurer, J. H. Troup, Harrisburg; secretary, Charles
E. Goodenough, Bethlehem.
The official greetings for the National Associa-
tion of Music Merchants were extended in his usual
graceful manner by Past President C. J. Roberts, who
was asked to do so by President Parham Werlein of
New Orleans, who was unable to attend.
AT THE BALDWIN SEPTEMBER 29.
Margaret Hamilton, the young American pianist,
will be heard "at the Baldwin" on Sunday evening,
September 29. The program will be broadcast over
Station WJZ and the associated stations of the Na-
tional Broadcasting Chain at 9:45 p. m. Eastern day-
light saving time. The Baldwin Singers will, as
usual, assist with the program. Margaret Hamilton
had the distinction of winning the prize of a New
York recital last year, offered by the Walter W.
Naumburg Musical Foundation, as well as being cho-
sen to appear with the New York Philharmonic Or-
chestra, under Willem Mengelberg's direction at
Carnegie Hall, New York. Some of her recent ap-
pearances have been with the New York City Federa-
tion of Women's Clubs, in New York, with the
Louisiana Society, soloist with the American Orches-
tral Society, in joint recital with Ruth Breton in
Washington, D. C., at Sweet Briar College, Va., and
in a chamber music concert with the Marianne Knei-
sel String Quartet.
BALDWIN DIVIDEND DECLARED.
Baldwin Company, of Cincinnati, piano manufac-
turers, has declared the regular quarterly dividend of
$1.50 per share on the series A 6 per cent cumulative
preferred stock, payable September 14 to stock of
record August 30, according to a statement to the
Cincinnati Stock Exchange, where the stock is listed.
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