Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1930 2246

P R E S T O - T I M ES
May, 1930
SCHNEIDER HONORED
Trade Glance* and Observations ADAM
BY TESTIMONIAL DINNER
Lucien Wulsin, president of the Baldwin Piano
Co., Cincinnati, was in Chicago on April 15 en route
home from a trip which extended to the Rocky
Mountain States and California.
Mr. Wulsin visited the Baldwin Divisions in San
Francisco, Dallas and Denver, and at all of them he
found business in pianos so much improved that it
tilled him with enthusiasm.
The condition which Mr. Wulsin ran across in the
West and Southwest is extending to other parts of the
nation as seasonal work is putting money in circula-
tion and as the speculative markets in the big money
centers are beginning to resume a stride nearer
normal. In other words, the U. S. A. is a great
nation in its wants, and when it wants anything, be
it pianos or peanuts, it buys them and makes the best
possible use of them.
* * *
Radio has been having its own difficulties to keep
its head above the water in these times of specula-
tive smashups and general uncertainty. Quite a
number of radio manufacturers have discontinued
their operations, but the two big ones that went to
the wall in Fort Wayne—the Steinite and the Conti-
nental—made the rest of the radio men gasp and sit
up and take notice. Both these concerns had put up
great modern factories and the sailing seemed very
smooth for several months.
* * *
For something like twenty miles around about South
Bend, Ind., the big Templin Piano Co. signs attract
the attention of the motorist and other passers-by,
which sign still read: "Mason & Hamlin, Knabe,
Chickering Pianos." The thought comes to mind, Will
this sign and this line of pianos be in evidence a year
hence or will any change be necessary?
* * *
Two decades of continuity in well-doing, and that
faithful piano dealers renew their youth "like the
eagles," are the memories enlivened as the visitor in
South Bend, Ind., reads in the daily papers of that
city the notice of Elbel Bros., piano dealers, that
they are now occupying their new store. For in The
Presto of April 14, 191(1, appeared an item concerning
the same house, saying "We are just about to remodel
our store."
* * *
That 25 per cent of the American people incur
monthly obligations in excess of their incomes is an
estimate made by Dr. C. W. Phelps, of the University
of Chattanooga, Tenn. But the good professor will
have to get new statistics to prove that easy-payment
buying is an unmitigated evil. Without the install-
ment plan, the average American home would never
have had a piano, a sewing machine or any of the
modern improvements that have put the average
American modes of living far and away beyond any-
thing that any other land under the sun can show.
The miser cheats himself.
* * *
W. B. Price, formerly president of the late Price &
Feeple Piano Co., is now in a line entirely outside of
the piano industry. He is associated with Otis & Co.,
a large investment and brokerage house of Chicago,
Cleveland, New York and other cities. His office is
at 105 West Adams street, Chicago.
* * *
R. B. Oslund, known by many who have had deal-
ings with him as "Hustling Oslund," proprietor of the
Oslund Piano House, Spokane, Wash., has the sa-
gacity to get trade all the time, for when one line
gets slow, he hitches onto another angle of the music
business and "keeps on by keeping on." When the
piano trade slackened up some months ago, he went
in strong for radio and ordered as high as 100 sets
a day for awhile. Now that the piano business is
coming back, he is going in for pianos with his old-
time vigor. Not at all like a weather-vane are these
changes, for there is nothing fickle or inconstant in
this wide-awake music dealer's make-up, nor is he
an unreliable opportunist. He is simply a mercantile-
minded business man who takes time by the forelock
and by taking advantage of circumstances as they
arise in front of him, paves new highways of success.
The trade in things musical needs many more men
of this type.
* * *
As one motors about the country and sees, here
and there, automobiles parked outside of this and that
factory, a mass of cars at some great electric estab-
lishment, many cars at an automobile plant and a
gxiodly number at some of the radio factories he
instinctively sizes up the activities going on within.
Thus, when a Presto-Times correspondent drove up
to the Schumann piano factory, at Rockford, III., a
few days ago and encountered quite a little congestion
of cars in the parking place around that factory it
appeared to him that there must be activity within.
What he saw within the walls of the factory and in
the office gave proof of at least normal conditions.
No great rush but "active activity."' President Van
Matre said that particularly the new line of grands
were in excellent demand. The Schumann Piano
Company is fortunate in having many faithful, stick-
to-it representatives; dealers who have built up a
good trade and many of them made snug fortunes in
selling the Schumann piano; real dealers in the true
sense and who continue their activities with success.
Mr. Van Matre admits that he would like more
business, yet, without bragging, he knows that the
Schumann trade is keeping his house right in the
front row in the country today. He said: "Remember
our motto is, 'One piano and that the best that can be
made.' "
* * *
The final meeting of the creditors of the defunct
H. C. Bay Piano Co. was held in the office of Harry
A. Parkin, referee in bankruptcy, 137 South La Salle
street, Chicago, on April 25.
* * *
W. C. Heaton, one-time prominent piano man, now
well along in radio, while reluctantly admitting that
he is out of the piano game, salutes his former asso-
ciates with the salutation: "But don't forget that I
am still in the music business."
* * *
The manner in which some piano manufacturing
corporations are tackling radio manufacturing sug-
gests courage of a kind that some of their contem-
poraries speak of as "nerve." In view of conditions
in marketing radio and the boiling pepper-pots of
Wall Street, not to speak of the wars among the
Orientals nor the extravagant spending of cash by
the young at home, it is nerve. Radio seems to be
an uncertainty save for those big concerns that go
in for it backed by big capital and by men whose
whole lives and energies are thrown into the radio
hopper. The great National Carbon Co.'s side-line of
making the Eveready radio was discontinued, not be-
cause it had to but because it had gigantic man-
ufacturing interests in other directions upon which
it wanted to concentrate its energies. It was an
instance of voluntary withdrawal. Several of the
piano makers who began manufacturing radios
some time ago are meeting with at least fair
success. Gulbransen Co., Bush & Lane, and Jesse
French & Sons for instances. But piano firms
that would engage in that line of manufacture
now must be prepared to compete with such giants
as the Atwater Kent, the RCA, the Majestic, the
Crosley, the Zenith, Thomas A. Edison, and where
are they going to "fetch up at" with such powerful
and experienced and very successful rivals?
Piano manufacturers entering radio making would
naturally look for their best customers among the
long-established piano retailers while catering to some
of the rift-raffy clientele. Music dealers are the ones
who know the musical needs and prospect lists of
the communities. No new radio manufacturer can
pick up a business by appointing cobblers, garage
men, druggists, grocers or recent high school grad-
uates as his agents—and these are just samples of the
classes to whom he would be obliged to look if he
turned down the able, well-known and reliable piano
salesmen and piano dealers.
* * *
Reverting again to a comparison of putting capital
into musical enterprises, it is conceded by people of
experience in the trade that an investment in piano
manufacturing is rather more favorable for ultimate
success and profit than a like investment in radio
manufacturing. And even with some of the so-called
nickel-in-the-slot combinations — electro-phono-radio
machines, the supporting principle of construction
and usefulness is liable to change in a season or a
month, and leave the warehouses stocked with an
unsalable article.
Such changes never befall the piano. Look at the
assignments and bankruptcies in the radio manufac-
turing field. A dozen radio failures in as many
months. The failures in piano manufacturing, which
has four or five times as many units as radio, do not
foot up to this list, in fact hardly approach it.
Notable among the bigger radio failures two idle
factories stand in one Indiana city as mute evidences
of wrecked hopes. These are modernly-built plants
which opened only a short time ago, supplied with
all kinds of modern equipment, manned by skilled
operators who had set a lively manufacturing pace—
buildings now ghosts of a brief and brilliant oc-
cupancy.
* * *
In the J. M. S. building. South Bend, Ind., a call
was made by a Presto-Times representative a few
days ago on I. F. Dolk, who is with the advertising
agency of Lamport, Fox & Co. Mr. Dolk represents
the Pan-American band of Elkhart, Ind., and the
Straube Piano Co., of Hammond. Ind. He says the
trade is expecting quite a goodly pick-up as the
summer comes on.
One of the Most Likable Men in the Chicago
Trade Is Made the Guest" of Distinction
at Gala Night in Medinah Athletic
Club, Chicago.
The testimonial dinner tendered to Adam Schneider
at Medinah Athletic Club, Chicago, on the night of
May 19, was a voluntary expression of appreciation
for the man as well as for his work. The attendance
was large and represented every organization in the
music industry—the Chicago Piano & Organ Asso-
ciation, the Piano Club of Chicago, the Chicago Pi-
ano Manufacturers' Association, the National Piano
& Music Travelers' Association and the National Pi-
ano Manufacturers' Association being a few of the
organizations having representatives in attendance.
Mr. Schneider has been treasurer for almost every
association in the piano business, local and national,
and at present he does yeoman work as executive
secretary of the Chicago Piano & Organ Association.
He has friends by the thousands and not an enemy
in the world, and his record abounds in achievements
for the betterment of the piano trade. He has even
done more than ever before for the interests of piano
men in general since he resigned from the treasurer-
ship of Julius Bauer & Co. some two years ago.
Instead of going on a long, idling vacation, as
many another man who had retired from active busi-
ness would have done, Mr. Schneider is working
harder than ever—devoting his time and talents to
Chicago's better life and institutions. In this great
work he is not grouped with a knot of systematic
artists but broadly, with vigor of mind and the ir-
resistible persistence and perseverance that is
Schneider-esque.
He is credited with some very remarkable results
in getting pianos into the public and parochial schools
of Chicago, and his interest in piano class teaching
leads him on to do more to promote the plan. He
has helped Dr. J. Lewis Browne, director of music
in the public schools of Chicago, and Supt. Bogan to
kindle the imagination of the children and inspire
them for useful exertion at their piano lessons.
In this work Mr. Schneider realizes that stubborn
resistance to any worthy improvement does not break
down until it is no longer possible to deny what
the world has accepted. He is broadminded enough
to realize that the piano gives a culture that modifies
the organism of cities, of states and of nations. So
he is helping to introduce practices which encourage
and foster a valuable variety of education; habits and
tastes which contribute to form real character—to
build a citizenry that despises the sot and the bandit,
the bootlegger and blah-blah music; that has some
veneration for parents and home and that realizes
that mere smartness is the antithesis of true culture.
The party was a "stag." The dinner was gay and
after the official program the dining room was cleared
for those who wished to play cards. J. V. Sill, presi-
dent of the Chicago Piano and Organ Association,
said of Mr. Schneider: "We are all so much indebted
to him for his great contribution toward the welfare
of the Chicago trade during the past year, not to
mention the previous years he has served so well.
Many a good sale on the 'street' during the past year
can be traced to Mr. Schneider's efforts. He has
given generously to us and we are glad to honor
him."
Several of the leaders in the trade attended as well
as Dr. W'illiam J. Bogan, superintendent of schools,
Chicago and Dr. J. Lewis Browne, director of music,
Chicago public schools.
The Dinner and Presentation
Presto-Times not being able to get to press until
the morning after the dinner, now tells what hap-
pened there.
The dinner was attended by a representative group
of about friends of Mr. Schneider. Letters and telegrams of
regret came from absent ones, including Albert Behn-
ing, Frank Edgar, C. E Byrne, Mark P. Campbell,
James T. Bristol, George P. Bent and Harry Bibb.
Mr. Bibb wired three cheers for Mr. Schneider. E. B.
Bartlett was toastmaster. He said that he and Mr.
Schneider were born only a few miles apart. He
introduced two of Mr. Schneider's sons and some
one in the audience said, "The Schneiders have it."
Supt. William J. Bogan of the Chicago public
schools characterized Mr. Schneider as a go-getter,
who had led in the fight for piano instruction, and
12,000 children were now taking piano lessons in
Chicago's schools. "I long for the day when music
will take its place as a regular study in the schools."
he said
Dr. J. Lewis Browne, director of music in the
Chicago public schools, said: "I don't know what
I could have done without Adam Schneider." He
had put 189 pianos in the public and parochial schools.
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).
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10
May, 1930
PRESTO-TIMES
He s;iid: "Tin's group instruction shows the tremen-
dous 1110:11 en turn that can he acquired hy using the
forces that are at hand."
Toastmaster Bartlett t'.ien, in the name of the as-
semblage, presented Mr. Schneider with a handsome
radio set to take to his country estate at Lake Beu-
lar. Wis., to keep him in touch with the rest of the
world this summer. Mr. Schneider responded with
feeling, saying he didn't know why he was given this
complimentary dinner, as it was not a birthday or
other stated occasion. He said Dr. Browne had
stretched the number of pianos by four, as there
were only 185, not 189. CIr'cago led the United
States cities in piano pupils; Milwaukee was second.
T. J. Cook said: "Mr. Schneider, when you come
back to Chicago next fall, come back for twelve
months." Mr Cook then presented him with a testi-
monial scroll, which every one at the dinner had
signed.
W. E. Guylee t'.ien eulogized E. B. Bartlett and
presented for the assembled company a large bouquet
of flowers for Mrs. Bartlett—with instructions to Mr.
Bartlett to carry them home to her.
MISINFORMED SPACE WRITERS
ARE SMASHING CONFIDENCE
Or, They Would If Anybody Unposted Enough to Believe Their Balderdash
and Flapdoodle Speciousness Could Be Found
An article by Frederic J. Haskin from Washington,
D. C. which appeared in the Jersey Journal, Jersey
City, N. J., the only daily paper of that city, on
April 12, under the caption, "The Passing of the
Piano," is so full or errors, so unjust to real condi-
tions in the piano trade that it has raised a storm
of indignation among piano men whose attention has
been called to the writing.
Some of them are willing to stuff the ballot-box
to elect him president of the Ananias Club of North
America. Such copyrighted articles of so popular a
space-writer as Mr. Haskin has been for many years,
are too widely read to stand uncorrected. Mr. Has-
GLASGOW PIANO MAN WANTS
k,n has at least been badly misinformed—so much
that a schoolboy of 12, it would seem, could have
HOME RULE IN SCOTLAND so
written something nearer the truth. He seems to
think that there is only one piano manufacturing con-
William Thomson, Traveling in Canada, Tells What cern in existence—only one left—and he calls it the
American Piano Co.
National Party Stands For.
Quotations from Haskin's Article.
William Thomson, leading piano dealer of Glasgow.
Quoting Mr. Haskin on the piano industry, he
Scotland, had intended to visit Chicago in April, but makes these ridiculous statements:
he landed at Montreal and went on from there to
"One by one, here and there, and finally by dozens,
Vancouver, where he has business interests. He will they began dropping out of the picture. The de-
probably call at Chicago on his way home later. mand declined. In order to salvage what was left
While in Montreal he gave an address in the First of the industry, several leaders in the business or-
Presbyterian Church, in which he said: "The new ganized what has been called the piano trust, the
National party of Scotland stands for a complete American Piano Co.—in the nature of a defensive
measure of self-government."
He explained that alliance.
the plan "does not involve separation from the Brit-
"The American Piano Co was made up of mer-
ish commonwealth of nations, but it means that any
connection with England shall be entered into freely gers and absorptions of literally scores of lesser con-
by the will of the Scottish people through the Scot- cerns which had been weakened by competition and
low demand and were on the verge of failure. Some
tish Parliament."
had valuable factories, some good locations, some
After his talk in Montreal, Mr. Thomson gave an special patent rights, and some a special asset in the
address at Ottawa to a crowded meeting of the St. form of good will. The American Piano Co. gath-
Andrew Society in Albion Hall. Here, as at Mon- ered together all these elements and thought to make
treal, his speech was in behalf of home rule for Scot- a firm stand. . . . The job of the American Piano
land, and he predicted that the Scottish National Co. now is to adjust production and quality to de-
party was going to avert national disaster, and if mand, and place the industry on a different basis."
given the opportunity, Scottish people would yet build
Not a word about the dozens of powerful going
a Jerusalem in that fair land, a bright star within the
piano factories in this great musical nation—each
federation of sister states.
independent of any trust, none of them seeking
In Glasgow Mr. Thomson holds the office of
mergers. Oh, Mr. Haskin, who filled you up? And
bailie, an officer corresponding to the English alder- where have you been to get the information that
man. He is bearing his own expenses on this trip— piano factories and backwoods sawmills are found in
not in tiie pay of politicians.
the same patch of forest? And where are the back-
woods? From such ignorance, good Lord, deliver us.
For Mr. Haskin says:
"It was a natural development that piano factories
should spring up in American forests, and this is
almost literally true because the factories were by
no means confined to Eastern industrial cities but
Indiana Manufacturer Thinks Dealers Are Overloaded were to be found in many small towns in the edge of
with Too Many Second-Hand Players.
virgin forests out through the West."
Really, Mr. Haskin! Chicago originated more piano
H. Edgar French, president of the Jesse French & factories probably than all the rest of the country
Sons Piano Co , New Castle, Ind., in an interview together. Its "forest" on the east is Lake Michigan;
last week with a Presto-Times representative, ex- its "forests" on the other sides consist of hundreds
pressed himself as quite optimistic as to the future of
of suburban towns and cities, and beyond that no
the piano and piano business. But as an offset to wood fit for piano construction, or very little for
this, there is to be a house cleaning delay.
hundreds of miles. And of the many piano factories
"Basing my observations upon returns from ques- that started in Chicago and moved, they departed
tionnaries and general correspondence," he said, "1 not to be near the logs or the slabs or the barn
do not expect any especial revival for some months. flooring that country sawmills put out some fifty
From my estimation, one great drawback from any years ago, but they moved from congested parts of
immediate trade enlivenment is found in the great
Chicago to get away from labor troubles, to get
number of second-hand uprights, and particularly clear air in which to finish up their piano surfaces, to
player-pianos in the dealers' warerooms.
get beautiful places of residence for their skilled
"Many of these dealers declare they are not going workmen, with home environment in which to rear
to buy any new stock until they get rid of these their children. And there are no sawmills in the
old instruments, especially the players. From the beaut ful towns into which they moved, nor any for-
way they are ordering (or not ordering) we believe ests to be cut down. Piano wood is rare and it came
they mean what they say. So it looks to me as if to these factories many hundreds of miles—the ma-
the return of any appreciable activity in the piano hogany from Africa, Yucatan, Guatemala, or where
trade depends on the speed with which the dealers not.
dispose of the said deceased player-pianos."
Pianos Not Passing Away.
To say that "the piano is passing" is worse than
GOOD TRADE AT TEMPLIN'S.
an egregious error—it is a flat misstatement of fact.
Wilbur Templin, of Elkhart, Ind.. when seen re- Every business in the L T nited States has had its ups
cently by a Presto-Times representative, was con- and downs in the last three years, and the piano
gratulating himself on the excellent trade coming to business has had no more clowns than many another
h's house. He remarked: "1 sold a fine grand yes- line Take radio for example—the piano's alleged
terday and two more are going out today—one of
greatest rival
Where in all pianodom have there
them a beautiful Schiller that had been on the floor been such crushing failures? Two gigantic radio
only a few hours. We arc very highly pleased with plants in one city—Fort Wayne, Ind.—have shut up
the Schiller line of pianos, as the}' meet every expec- shop within a month past. They had built magnifi-
tation and are particularly good sellers."
cent factories and their start-off had been auspicious,
when "Crash!" and now these great structures stand
Ben Edwards announces the formation of a new as gloomy monuments of man's inability to gauge the
music publishing business to be known as Master future.
Music, Inc. It is located at 745 Seventh avenue,
Business is an amphibian—it takes a dive into the
New York.
depths and it comes up for air. Would Mr. Haskin
H. EDGAR FRENCH ON
SUMMER TRADE OUTLOOK
call a racer a dying one when after a heat he is
gasping and being rubbed down by his attendants?
W'ould he think of Wall street as permanently out
of business because it has just had another stock
slump? He ought to think of the story of the cat
that "came back" after eight of its nine lives had been
taken. But not even one of the lives of the piano
business has been taken away by radio or any other
power. Dozens of piano factories are manufacturing
grands and uprights, hundreds of dealers are selling
them, tens of thousands of homes are enjoying their
music.
No, the piano is not passing and there is nothing
in the present outlook, with more children taking
piano lessons than ever before in the world's history,
upon which to base a prediction that it will pass.
But why go on? It's a strange task to try to
answer an article like that. However, it has been
answered, and ably, by John J. Glynn, vice-president
of the Mathushek Piano Co., New York, whose com-
munication to the Jersey Journal appeared in that
paper on April 30. It reads:
Progress of the Piano Industry
Editor Jersey Journal:
In your issue of April 12, un-der the heading. "Let-
ters to the Editor," appears an article headed, "The
Passing of the Piano," by Frederic J. Haskin.
Mr. Haskin is under several misconceptions in
regard to the piano. The writer has been active in
the piano business for 40 years, and has been a stu-
dent of the industry. He has never discovered that
piano factories were started in forests because of the
accessibility of lumber. Nearly all of the factories
have been started in the large cities, Boston, New
York, Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Albany, etc.
The talking machine, "canned music," helped the
piano business more than it hurt it. The most suc-
cessful years that the piano industry has had, have
been years subsequent to the introduction and ex-
ploitation of the talking machine.
In the piano industry there is not now and never
has been a "trust." Several of the larger companies
have controlled at times the manufacture of different
makes of pianos One of these companies, through
bad management, has been involved in financial diffi-
culties, and is paying the price. But that is a condi-
tion common to every line of industry.
Teachers of the piano are today more in demand
than they were ever before. More children in the
schools are studying the piano, which is the funda-
mental musical instrument, than ever before in its
history; and Mr. Haskin is in error when he states,
"One piano, played in a radio studio, will fill the
demand for piano music which scores—hundreds—
were required to fill before." It would be just as
absurd to say that because one boy whistles over the
radio that he will fulfill the demand in the hearts of
hundreds of other boys to whistle.
The piano is the fundamental musical instrument.
The ability to play it is an evidence of culture. It is
music in the home, and not "canned music," and
parents throughout the country know it. The super-
visors of music in our public schools are advocating
the addition of piano-playing to tiie curricula of pub-
lic school studies.
In every line of business there have been failures.
Inefficiency, small capital, and competition added to
bad management, brings failure in any undertaking,
and while it is true that the piano industry at the pres-
ent time is not prospering as it did in some former
periods, that statement is equally true of every other
industry.
When Mr. Haskin says that "one of the erstwhile
most famous piano companies will now place a piano
in the house of any responsible person who desires
it, free of charge, merely to get the instrument safely
stored," he is swallowing the bait of some "gyp"
advertiser. He can convince himself on this by put-
ting in his application for one of these pianos.
This company and its allied companies has been
in the piano business for 70 years, and we look for-
ward with hope to a bigger business than we have
ever done. Our advertising will be found in the
columns of the "Journal." You will never find us
making any fraudulent or deceptive offers to the
public.
"
JOHN J. GLYNN,
Vice-President Mathushek & Son Piano Co.
O. O. Mclntyre, Too.
And here is another space writer who, for want
of information within a thousand miles of the truth
or common sense, says: "The piano, it seems, is
threatened with temporary extinction."
This is
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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