Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1930 2251

14
October, 1930
PRESTO-TIMES
HADDORFF PIANO, MODEL
E 14, SHERATON DESIGN
No design has a wider adaptability or is more pleas-
ing than a well-executed Sheraton. This Model E 14
Haddorff piano is five feet four inches in length and
four feet five and a half inches in width—large enough
in building it succeeded in getting away from the
stereotyped forms of pianos by creating a most at-
tractive instrument.
The Haddorff Piano Co. has long been noted for
WIRE FROM NEW YORK
CORRESPONDENT
A telegram from Presto-Times' New York cor-
respondent, this week Monday (October 13), says
that the one recent announcement of the Mason &
Hamlin Co., which has created great interest, is that
of the taking on by The Cable Co. of the Mason &
Hamlin line for the Chicago territory and all its
branch establishments. This announcement, coming
at the time of the celebration of the 50th anniversary
of The Cable Co., is opportune, as this house handled
the Mason & Hamlin for 25 years and for several
years controlled entirely the Mason & Hamlin con-
cern. The Cable Co. is planning a very aggressive
campaign in its entire territory.
Orders are being received at the Mathushek head-
quarters from all parts of the country, and Mathushek
export business, under the direction of James Paster,
is steadily growing.
Every piano house in New York was represented
at the joint luncheon of the New York Piano Manufac-
turers' Association and the New York Piano Mer-
chants' Association at the Republican Club on Octo-
ber 1. R. W. Lawrence gave a very interesting talk
on persons and conditions in Russia, as he observed
them in his recent travels in the land of the Soviets
and of a visit to Stockholm, Sweden, which he said
was the most beautiful European city he had seen.
Charles Hall Jacob, president of the Manufacturers'
Association, famished the "atmosphere" in the shape
of a large red Muscovite beard which he had, or so
he said, forcibly taken from Mr. Lawrence a week or
two previous. The beard having been thoroughly
sterilized in the interim, Mr. Lawrence was again
permitted to don it, whicii he did.
All the retail piano merchants of New York report
an increased public interest in the piano during the
last few weeks. The number of cash sales made also
seems to be on the increase. It is felt that, if business
conditions improve at all the piano bus'ness is going
to enjoy a successful fall.
BRAMBACH BABY
GRAND CATALOG
MODEL E 14, HADDOUFF, 5 FT. 4 INS.
to give a full volume of tone, small enough to suit
the most fastidious of apartment house dwellers.
Its design is Sheraton, in mahogany, with burl in-
lays, and the Haddorff Piano Co., of Rockford, 111.,
LARGER DOWN PAYMENTS
Springfield, Ohio, Sept. 15, 1930.
Presto Publishing Co., Gentlemen:
Whenever the piano business comes back to life
(as it is sure to do) there will be a different selling
situation in this: That people will buy on the con-
servative plan, and which will be in evidence more
from now on, than any time in the piano selling-
history.
While the radio is at this time on the top peak
and overlooking all other musical instruments, in its
selling, there are those who are interested in the piano,
and lookers are coming to the stores with the view of
buying for cash, with a discount as big as they can
get, or, they buy with a larger payment down to make
things safe for them. Heretofore, people would come
into the store and try to buy ia every conceivable
way they could in order to get the instrument in the
home for as long as they could hold on to it.
We find more conservative buyers and buyers with
money to pay all cash. There is a tendency also in
the radio buyers in this same plan. We Avill all have
to be very careful in the event the piano comes back
to normal, to select the sales we can handle for profit,
and not to merely make sales on paper.
I certainly will be happy when all dealers come to
a more safe basis in selling. If you do not sell to
every person who wants to put down $10 as first
payment, let them go out, for the dealer who sells
in this manner will surely come to grief later, and
when he is out of business altogether, it will be safer
for the balance who really sell for some cash. Sell
for money and profit, then the manufacturer can make
pianos on a safer plan to sell to the dealer. Money
all along is the only salvation to keep up, from dealer
to the lumber in the woods, in the rough.
All big companies get the money, and that is just
why they are big. There are too many little fellows
who are afraid to ask for a good down payment in
manufacturing pianos of distinction, working to the
ideal that the gauge of value for the piano is the
beauty and permanence of its voice.
sales. I ask for all cash when I have a customer,
as this places him on the preferred list of buyers.
Very truly yours,
CLEMENT E. MOORE.
MECHANIC INVENTS SILENT PIANO.
In a special story from Rochester, N. Y., in a recent
issue of the Christian Science Monitor, it is related
that Max Schumm, Rochester radio mechanic and
amateur physicist, has just received a patent on a
silent piano of his own invention. By substituting
tuning forks for piano strings and hooking in a set
of ear phones through a series of audio cells, the
piano pupil or teacher can listen to the notes, inaudible
to others. Mr. Schumm, whose ambition is to emu-
late Schroter, Zumpe, Stein and others in piano devel-
opment, has set to work on plans for a model after
experiments satisfied him of the utility of his inven-
tion. Once constructed, tuning forks forever hold
their pitch, Mr. Schumm explained. And since tuning
forks do not need so great a support as strings, a
more condensed and lighter piano will be possible, he
said. A simple turn of a switch directing the audio
current through a loudspeaker instead of head phones
can return the instrument to its familiar status of a
piano, Mr. Schumm said.
GRAND OPENING AT SEEBURG'S.
The grand opening held at the headquarters of the
J. P. Seeburg Co., 1510 Dayton street, Chicago, last
week was an unusual event, attended by a great gath-
ering of visitors who went to the offices and ware-
rooms to greet the heads of the house and view the
appointments and the goods.
LEVIS CO. BUYS BUILDING.
The Levis Music Co. of Rochester, N. Y., which
recently bought out the old firm of Gibbons & Stone,
has now purchased the five-story building at 29-37
South avenue and fronting 55 feet in South avenue
and extending through to South Water street,
Rochester.
The new Brambach catalog, just out, which Presto-
Times has received a copy of from the Kohler-Bram-
bach Piano Co., Inc., 609-616 West 51st street, New
York, is a beautiful booklet in a flexible cover and is
illustrated with several styles of Brambach grands
and for a frontispiece a striking portrait of Franz
Brambach, one of the pioneers of modern piano
building; a true artist as well as a skillful artisan.
For more than a century the ideals established by
Franz Brambach have been adhered to in creating the
beauty of tone and craftsmanship, as they are em-
bodied in every Brambach Grand piano.
In referring to their piano this reference is made
in the catalog: "Combined in the Brambach Baby
Grand are pride of ownership of its softly glowing
beauty—musical satisfaction with its deep, resonant
tone—the lasting pleasure of companionship accruing
from a superb instrument."
The foreword is as follows: "Music is God's best
gift to man, the only art of heaven given to earth,
the only part of earth that we take to heaven. But
music, like all our gifts, is given to us in the bud. It
is for us to unfold and develop it by instruction and
cultivation."
The catalog shows that the prices on the larger
grands have been increased. The 5 foot 3 inch is
now priced at $675 and the 5 foot 10 is now priced
at $775, which is indicative of a strong demand. This
is the first time that a 5 foot 10 inch piano has
appeared in a Brambach catalog. It is a particularly
fine instrument. It is full-toned, built in heavy case
designs, giving the appearance of great solidity
and made especially for professional and concert
work. A cut of the back of the Brambach Baby
Grand piano in the catalog shows the reinforcements
that insure the great strength for which the Bram-
bach has long been famous.
ORCHESTROPE DEALER'S OPENING.
With a public concert the Coin Operated Music Co
formally opened its doors in its new store at 6854
Stony Island avenue, Chicago, last Saturday. The
Oudshoff brothers, proprietors of the store, have
been handling the Capehart Orchestrope in Chicagc
for more than three years. Stewart-Warner radios
and all standard phonograph records will also be sole
at the new branch.
GRAND OPENING AT BUTTE.
Taking advantage of the introduction of new model;
in the musical and electrical lines it represents it
Butte, Mont., the Dreibelbiss Music Co. of that cit}
held its first formal opening in its beautiful store ot
October 2. Louis Dreibelbiss, proprietor, had ar
ranged an entertainment of unusual interest for tin
visitors.
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/
October, 1930
15
P R E S T O-T I M E S
MATHUSHEK PROGRESS
RCA=VICTOR'S HOME
SPREADING CHEER BY USING
PRESAGES BRIGHT FUTURE
RECORDING FEATURE
AUTOMATIC INSTRUMENTS
Modern Methods of Selling Have Been Adopted and
Three of the Younger Generation Are
Enlivening Trade.
'"Business is good with Mathushek!" That was the
salutation that greeted the Presto-Times representa-
tive when he called at the retail warerooms of the
company, 37 West 37th street, and talked with the
manager, John J. Glynn.
In the stress and turmoil through which the indus-
try has passed, the famous old Mathushek piano has
more than held its own. Orders have been coming
for the instrument from dealers and the public most
encouragingly.
One of the latest is from the Jersey City public
schools, who have placed a substantial request for
Mathushek Grands and Uprights. During the sum-
mer, the Stetson University of Florida and the
(ieorgia Woman's College added Mathushek pianos
to their musical equipment.
Many new agencies are being assigned. Piano mer-
chants are anxious to ally themselves with this pro-
gressive house, whose instruments stand eminent for
quality, and whose financial position is of the highest.
There are three young men of broad vision, active
in the Mathushek administration who have modern-
ized the wholesaling of the Mathushek without depart-
ing from the traditional conservatism of good busi-
ness. Their guiding policy is larger cooperation with
t'.ie piano merchant, more general constructive pub-
licity of the highest character to help him; adherence
to every principle of manufacturing that can, in any
way, enhance the eminent standing of the instrument
which, it can be said, lias reached the pinnacle of
quality as an art piano.
These young men are C. Albert Jacob, Jr., first
vice-president; Chas. Hall Jacob, assistant treasurer,
and John H. Gettell, secretary and general manager.
The board of directors of the Mathushek companies
is in full accord with these progressive views, and
with the recognized standing of the instrument and
the broad-gauge vision of the company, Presto-Times
feels justified in prophesying a great future in the
trade for the Mathushek.
A very happy supplement to this Mathushek story
came in the form of a statement by Mr. Glynn, just
as the reporter was departing. He used only six
I words, saying, "really and truly, business is improv-
ing," but they carried much significance. A state-
ment like that, coming from John J. Glynn, a man
who is very careful to have facts before he utters any-
thing for publication, is a most cheering bit of off-
|hand intelligence.
A new device which makes it possible for anyone
to make his own records in the home, has just been
placed on the market by the RCA Radiola division,
according to an announcement by V. W. Collamore,
manager of the Radiola division.
"The new home recording apparatus is part of a
combination Radiola-phonograph instrument," Mr.
Collamore said, "so that all three functions of the
complete instrument utilize practically the same
mechanism. A special switch makes it possible to
record excerpts from favorite broadcast programs at
the same time that the radio set is operating."
Mr. Collamore pointed out that while the records
made in the home cannot be expected to equal in qual-
ity the results of the highly developed and costly
apparatus of the recording laboratories, they will find
an interesting and infinite field of application as
"audible snapshots." Of the many uses to which the
RCA home recording system may be put, Mr. Colla-
more mentioned it as a possible aid to vocal and
instrumental instruction, permitting the student to
detect and correct his own faults. It could also be
used for the dictation of personal messages to friends
and relatives with something of the personality of the
speaker; for recording important family events such
as baby's first efforts at speech, birthday and anni-
versary greetings and the children's instrumental and
vocal efforts.
H. K. c \ ! ' i ; i l A R T .
MAJESTIC REFRIGERATORS.
The formal entry of tlie Grigsby-Grunow interests
liuto the electrical refrigeration field becomes a fact
Iwitli the announcement from Majestic Household
lUtilities Corporation in Chicago that its factories are
Inow in production at the rate of 1,000 daily, with a
Irapid step-up to 4,000 machines daily assured. The
{prices, which have long been a matter of widespread
:onjecture, are $175 for Model 150, having a nominal
|capacity of five cubic feet of food storage space, and
^195 for Model 170, with a seven cubic foot capacity.
(These prices are f. o. b. factory. The cabinet is un-
Jusual in that there has plainly been an attempt to
puild furniture beauty into the design. The vertical
?dges are beveled and the top has received the same
treatment. The satin chromium latch and hinges show
the influence of Art Moderne and there is a tempera-
ture regulator escutcheon plate in harmony with them,
"his is a good side-line, which a great many music
dealers are having much success in selling. Radio
ind piano merchants who have the space to spare will
ind the refrigerators excellent concomitant articles
to sell with musical instruments in fitting out the
iiodern home.
PIANOSTYLE PLAYER ROLLS.
The Pianostyle Music Co., Inc., Bush Terminal
lo. 9, Brooklyn N. Y. in its latest bulletin lists these
[oils among a large number of others: Little White
|.ies, Fox Trot Song; My Bluebird Was Caught in the
tain, Fox Trot Song; My Rocky Mountain Home,
^Valtz Song; Seems to Me ("Queen High"); So Beats
[y Heart for You ("Rah, Rah, Daze"); Until We
t Again, Sweetheart, Waltz Song; What's the
T
se?, Fox Trot Song; When Love Comes in the
[oonlight ("Oh! Sailor Behave"); Why Have You
forgotten Waikiki?, Fox Trot Song; Give Yourself
Pat on the Back, Novelty Fox Trot; Gone, Fox
|"rot; Gypsy Love Song ("The Fortune Teller");
langin' on the Garden Gate, Fox Trot; Happy Days
tre Here Again ("Chasing Rainbows") ;Have a Little
faith in Me ("Spring Is Here"); Hawaiian Memories,
Valtz; Hawaiian Nightingale, Waltz; Here Am I
['Sweet Adeline"); Here Comes Emily Brown
Movietone Follies, 1930); High Society Blues ("High
lociety Blues"); Hilo March; Home Sweet Home,
T
Dealers Should Insist that Only Happy and Care-free
Tunes Should Be Played, Says Capehart.
Periods of industrial depression offer new oppor-
tunities for radio and music dealers to sell automatic
musical instruments, in the opinion of H. E. Capehart,
founder and president of The Capehart Corporation,
Fort Wayne, Ind., manufacturing the Capehart Or-
chestrope.
"At this time, when certain lines of business are re-
trenching and people are reducing their expenditures,
thoughtful and progressive dealers will stress the
economy of music in the home," says Mr. Capehart.
MISS ELKANOR GOfeA MAKING A RKCORD OF HER
VOICE W I T H T H E HOMK R E C O R D I N G D E V I C E ON
T H E N E W R C A R A D I O L A 86, W H I C H ALSO INCOR-
PORATES A N E W SCREEN-GRID SUPERHETERO-
D Y N E R E C E I V E R A N D AN I M P R O V E D E L E C T R I C
PHONOGRAPH.
T H E MOVEMENT OF A SINGLE
S W I T C H ALSO M A K E S I T P O S S I B L E AUTOMATI-
CALLY TO RECORD E X C E R P T S F R O M RADIO P R O -
GRAMS W H I L E T H E R E C E I V E R IS I N O P E R A T I O N ,
T H E RP:CORDS H A V E T W O S I D E S A N D MAY B E
P L A Y E D BACK I M M E D I A T E L Y A F T E R RECORDING,
T H E Y CAN B E R E P E A T E D A T W I L L .
A simplified microphone is used for the recording
process. The speech or music picked up by the
microphone is amplified, passed through the regular
phonograph pick-up system and impressed on a spe-
cial record. The record measures six inches in diam-
eter and is composed of a durable cellulose material.
A special chromium plated needle with a blunt head
is used for the recording process and for playing back
the record. The grooves in .the record, of which
there are ninety, have been previously cut, so that it
remains only for the needle to impress the electrical
sound waves on the grooves. A simple four-way
switch makes instantly available the phonograph, the
radio, the recording system and the play-back.
The home-recording feature is the essence of sim-
plicity. The discs, which are double-faced, are
merely placed on the turntable and the speaker talks
or sings into a small microphone. The record may
be played back immediately, no "developing" or other
complicated process being required.
These new 1931 Victor radios, while unchanged in
micro-synchronous principle have been radically
altered in the many new features mentioned, and, as
a result, have already proven themselves in matters
of superlative tone, selectivity and sensitivity.
"Every music dealer should educate his locality in the
fact that music in the home is more economical than
any other form of entertainment.
"Mechanical musical instruments should occupy a
prominent place in the storeroom of music dealers
everywhere and salesmen should be instructed to
stress the economy of music in this form. Moreover,
these instruments should be kept playing in the store,
and the dealers should insist that only happy and
care-free tunes be played. This will create an atmos-
phere of happiness for customers who enter and such
an atmosphere is important in so-called hard times.
"Moreover, it is the belief of those competent to
judge that music is even more popular in periods of
business depression than in normal tunes because
people like to turn from their worries to tuneful mel-
odies as a relief.
"The dealer who is not stressing his automatic
musical instruments at this time is overlooking an
opportunity to beat Old Man Hard Times at his own
game. At the same time that he is benefiting him-
self, the dealer will be doing his bit to spread cheer
in a period when many need it most."
The Capehart Corporation, always alive to new
ways of increasing business, is now going after a new
market for its instruments through dealers who have
been selling Orchestropes for use in the indoor min-
iature golf courses that are being set up for winter
sports. Even during the late summer and early fall
wide-awake dealers have gone after this new market
and many sales of Capehart equipment have resulted
from their aggressiveness.
The New Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans has just
been equipped with the newest and most modern sys-
tem of sound and music transmission, the Capehart
Industrial Unit.
Eleven speakers are concealed in the walls of the
main dining room and other speakers are in the lobby,
on the mezzanine floor, in private dining rooms, in the
coffee shop and other places throughout the hotel.
How the Capehart concern is speeding up and trip-
ling its production is told by the following telegram
in response to an inquiry just before this issue went
to press from the headquarters of the corporation:
"Presto-Times, Chicago:
. .
"The Capehart Corporation is installing tlie latest
type conveyor equipment, which will expedite mass
production, doubling their factory force anq tripling
their production, having started the first week; in Octo-
ber to take care of an unprecedented demand for their
products.
H. E. CAPEHART,
.
-
"President."
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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