THE
YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
C13S61A
ABTOH, LENOX A N V
TILDEH *Ot3NDATIONS
1938
L
MUSICAL
TIMES
PRESTO
Established
1884
Established
1881
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE JOURNAL
10 Cente a
1 Year
Copy
$1.25
10 M o n t h s . . . $1.00
6 Months.. 75 cents
CHICAGO, ILL., JANUARY, 1930
Monthly—
Fifteenth of Knoh Month
ANNOUNCEMENT
Presto-Times becomes a monthly with this issue, a condition which is in conformity with the gen-
eral trend of the period through which we have been passing. Most of its contemporaries changed to
monthly publications during the past year.
., | || «J , •
It is the belief of the publishers of this paper that this change will work to the entire advantage of
all concerned; to its readers and patrons. In other words, it becomes a paper improved in text, in dis-
play, in quantity and important features; employing true propaganda for inspiriting men and women to
go out and sell more pianos and all the other products of the music industries.
The publishers anticipate producing for the trade a publication which will be still more attractive,
readable and valuable as a medium of discrimination in the handling of news and general subjects pertain-
ing to the music trades, industries and allied interests.
As its double name indicates, Presto-Times is always "presto" for news and it always keeps up with
the varying "times". A newspaper or a trade paper is nothing if it does not keep up with the times in a
world where things are constantly changing and any publisher or manufacturer is foolish who will load
his ship beyond its volume of displacement. "Step softly and go far" is a better motto than "fools rush
in where angels fear to tread". Under the changed plan our customers will be looked after with increas-
ing interest and devotion.
To sum up, Presto-Times and each and all of the publications allied with it and emanating from
Presto Publishing Company will be salesmen. Our great object has been and always will be to help
sell the goods produced in the music industries, as well as to help manufacturers and dealers CARRY ON.
A Bi& Year
Entering upon a new year is like matriculating at
a university—all the potentialities are ahead. The
year is fattest at the beginning; the bank account
should be fattest at the year's end. At the beginning,
the year has most days to give; at its close, its days
are gone but the purse of the man who has used
them wisely ought to be fat, or at least, not flat.
A great year in the piano business is not to be
made by merely thinking of greatness, fullness or
inflation, but by intensive, hard work. Nothing is
impossible to the men and women who try to make
as many sales as possible to the needers of pianos in
their territory. Much can be expected from efficient,
quiet salesmen who work systematically according to
a definite plan.
All through the last two weeks of the old year,
good sales were reported here and there throughout
the nation, which goes to prove that the American
people are still good buyers of such luxurious neces-
sities as pianos. Adam Schneider told a represen-
tative of Presto-Times that he had seen three good
sales made of grand pianos in one day from a store
he was visiting. There is an old-time tang to such
reports as that.
Similar reports reached this office from Indian-
apolis, St. Paul, Los Angeles, New York, Boston,
Philadelphia, Detroit, Milwaukee, Fort Wayne, New
Orleans, Des Moines and other cities.
Several telegrams were received by piano manufac-
turers in Chicago in the last two weeks asking for
immediate shipment of pianos and one New York
piano manufacturing company got an order by wire
from Chicago for two grands, with instructions that
they be delivered by the 10th of January. These
are a few of the instances that have come to the
notice of Presto-Times, showing that the year is start-
ing well and that our manufacturing and dealer
friends are likely to be kept busy.
Storm Blowing Itself Out.
Although the piano business suffered severely dur-
ing 1929, it is far from being anywhere nearly
knocked out. But for a few rare exceptions many
of the firms are just as strong as before. Those not
equipped with superior outfit suffered the most be-
cause they have not been able to supply dealers with
pianos. Failures in the trade have not been greater
in number than the failures of many a previous year.
Those who did not fail have got themselves into a
position to withstand any kind of a storm. Some
have withdrawn wholly or part way by having their
goods manufactured, or at least part of them, in other
factories and under different conditions.
Survival of the Fittest.
The whole trade seems to be converging to the
point where the old saying, the "survival of the fittest"
applies. The manufacturers ablest to hold on will
be the permanent ones, and what a harvest of busi-
ness awaits them when trade turns strong once more.
Statistics and summaries prepared in various indus-
tries show that big business prevails in many lines.
The American public is always a buying rather than
a hoarding public, and American employers pay bet-
ter wages than those of any other nation. This acts
like a mainspring in a clock—Americans realizing that
good wages are the only thing that can keep business
alive. Except among a few thumb-screw employers,
the old idea of grinding down wages to the most
absurd point is dead in this country.
Much Money Circulates.
The Copper and Brass Research Association in its
annual building survey estimates that construction
requirements in the United States during 1930 will
total nearly $9,000,000,000. The total Soviet-Ameri-
can trade given to the firms in the United States for
1929 was estimated at $155,000,000, as against $101,-
000,000 in 1928. The aggregate returns from elec-
tric light and power, gas, telephone, telegraph, elec-
tric railway and affiliated bus operations and water
services ran ahead of $5,000,000,000 in 1929, according
to Pynchon & Co., New York. Even ice cream
boomed in 1929. Scrutator says in the Chicago Trib-
une that the Chicago metropolitan area consumed last
year thirteen and a half million gallons of ice cream,
costing at retail more than twenty-six million dollars.
Forty-three ice cream factories supplied this demand.
These statistics are given here as showing some of
the activities that are keeping men and women work-
ing—earning money, out of which it would seem
possible to spare some installments to pay for pianos.
Transportation Business Good.
Good business in railroading and in industries gen-
erally also means good piano business. James E.
Gorman, president of the Rock Island railroad, issued
a New Year's message to patrons and employes of
his railroad. "The year 1930 promises to be a most
significant one in the development of American indus-
try," he says. "The same holds true in the railway
field, of which the Rock Island lines are an important
part in the middle western territory."
Good Living an American Habit.
George M. Reynolds, chairman of the executive
committee of the Continental Illinois Bank & Trust
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/