Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1931 2259

MUSICAL
TIMES
PRESTO
Established
1884
Established
1881
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE JOURNAL
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CHICAGO, JULY, 1931
THE MUSIC INDUSTRIES
It is not difficult to put into words the annals of
ihe recent Music Industries convention held at the
Palmer House, Chicago. These men had gathered
by concerted arrangement to meet a situation; to learn
from one another just what would be the best things
to do under the present stress of circumstances, and
to find out just how far they could control future
seem to be having what might be called a "vogue" at
the present time. Sale of band and orchestral instru-
ments was reported as excellent.
Open Forum Discussion
During an open forum discussion at one of the ses-
sions, there was very clear indication that sheet music
departments in general music stores are productive of
very satisfactory results not only from the point of
actual sales and profits but also because of the fact
that these departments bring about the closest pos-
sible contact with the leading music teachers in vari-
ous communities. Much interest was expressed in
legislation which has been outlined in various states
looking towards making the teaching of instrumental,
as well as vocal music in the public schools optional
with the boards of education.
The open forum meetings at the convention en-
gaged the attention of very large groups of music
Issued Monthly-
Fifteenth of Each Month
CONVENTION
dealers and the discussions by leaders and laymen took
on a very wide range of subjects. Good stories were
told, too, twisted out of the commonest stuff of hu-
mon experience. Every talk had a purpose; there
were no aimless journeyings, and various classes of
• • • • • * •
I Hi
I III
I • • • I • i •
•
circumstances. They did not meet to devise compli-
cated tactics or to unravel any tangled skein, or to dis-
cover a revelation that in some incomprehensible way
would bring great prosperity immediately, but they
met for sympathetic interpretations of present-day
trends—in short, to learn something.
H i l l
NEW OFFICERS OF THE
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
OF MUSIC MERCHANTS
useful information was imparted. The gist of the
talks on piano selling was summed up by one of
the speakers by saying "There is nothing to hinder
Edwin R. Weeks of Binghamton, N. Y., Chosen Presi- any man from going out and selling pianos today if
he works at it hard enough and persistently."
dent; Vice-Presidents Elected from Detroit, Chi-
These open forum meetings were not held for the
Go-Getters Attend Convention
cago, Kansas City and Denver; Carl H. Droop,
purpose of displaying ethical insight on disputed is-
Here were met the go-getters. Presto-Times could
Treasurer, Carl H. Yahrling, Secretary.
sues, but for the examination and description of ac-
name them, but any list that would leave out one
tual methods of restoring confidence, convincing in-
The election of officers at the business meeting of
first-class go-getter would be almost as bad as no
list at all, so the attempt must be abandoned before the National Association of Music Merchants on the telligent customers and actually selling musical mer-
it is begun. However, there is a strain of admira- afternoon of June 9 at the Palmer House, Chicago, chandise of every sort and make, from pianos down.
They were good-will meetings, proving that the
tion running through the human race for the men resulted as follows:
President—Edwin R. Weeks of Weeks & Dickinson, knocker, like the dodo, is an extinct bird in the best
who do things, and this admiration is particularly
piano circles. Proving, also, that merchants of good
strong for the men who go out and sell merchandise Binghamton, N. Y.
when sales are hard to close.
Vice-Presidents—Jay Grinnell of Grinnell Bros., D'e- sense overlook the lesser foibles or constitutional
The National Association of Music Merchants in- troit, Mich.; C. H. DeAcres of Lyon & Healy, Chi- weaknesses of their business rivals.
cludes in its membership men and women engaged cago, 111.; W. W. Bradford of the Kansas City Music
Each man gave some incident in his experience.
Co., Kansas City, Mo.; Philip Lehman of the Lehman
in the distribution at retail of pianos and all kinds of
Some of them speculated on reasons for this or that;
musical instruments as well as sheet music and radio Piano Co., St. Louis, Mo.
others spoke of good advertising as the only way to
Secretary—Charles H. Yahrling of the Yahriing- satisfy organized curiosity about pianos; still others
sets. The convention was held concurrently with the
annual convention and trade show of the Radio Manu- Rayner Piano Co., Youngstown, Ohio.
spoke of a few prejudices that had not yet been shot
Treasurer—Carl H. Droop of E. F. Droop & Sons to pieces because they had been inconspicuously placed
facturers Association which had its convention head-
Co., Washington, D C-
quarters at the Stevens Hotel.
as targets.
Actual Helps for the Dealers
Three
directors
to
^er\e
three
years—Reinhard
Music Industry Not Hardest Hit
Kneupfer of Kneupfer & Dimmock, Lawrence, Mass.;
In fact, the talks at these meetings were actual
It was clearly brought out, at the convention ses- Edward J. Walt of Lincoln, Neb.; Robert J. Shackle-
helps for the dealers—how to broaden trade and in-
sions, that the general business depression which has ton of Louisville, Ky.
terest customers by enlarging the line by putting in
affected all departments of industrial activity in this
At the closing meeting of the Music Industries a stock of sheet music and musical accessories, mak-
country has not affected the music industry to any-
where near as great a degree as might have been ex- Chamber of Commerce Wednesday noon, June 10, the ing the store more than a mere piano house. Some
of the dealers told how they had made their stores
pected. It was stated by members present that the following members of the National Association of
Music Merchants (in addition to President Edwin R. the musical centers of their communities—a place
sale of grand pianos during the past year has been
the largest of any similar period in the history of the Weeks, who becomes a member of the chamber board where concerts were given and a gathering place for
musically-inclined people generally.
industry, a remarkable fact in view of the conditions ex-ofificio) were elected as members of the board of
directors of the Music Industries Chamber of Com-
Each day's open forum program consisted of a
generally throughout the country.
Tt was also indicated that there lias been a very merce: Otto B. Heaton of Columbus, Ohio; Parham questionnaire and the answers. And the answers were
decided increase in the sale of piano accordions which Werlein of New Orleans, and Jay Grinnell of Detroit. not stultified by the witness box "Yes" or "No," but
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/
July, 1931
P R E S T O-T I M E S
were elucidations of valuable practices in the high art
of selling musical instruments—a trade by itself.
Honorable Anton J. Cermak, mayor of Chicago,
was guest of honor and principal speaker at the
Thirtieth Annual Banquet, and the mayor extended a
most cordial invitation to return to Chicago for the
1932 convention.
OTHER ASSOCIATION ELECTIONS
MUSIC INDUSTRIES CHAMBER OE COM-
MERCE
President—C. Alfred Wagner.
Eirst Vice-President—Henry C. Lomb.
Second Vice-President—Parham Werlein.
Secretary—Harry Meixell.
Treasurer—Julius White.
MUSICAL SUPPLY ASSOCIATION OF
AMERICA
A committee was formed:
Chairman—Harry Meixell.
Representatives of Eastern Manufacturers—William
A. Mennie and Arthur L. Wessell.
Representatives of Western Manufacturers—John
Wickham and Charles E. Platte.
NATIONAL MUSICAL MERCHANDISE ASSO-
CIATION OF U. S.
President—Harry Simson.
Vice-President—M. H. Berlin.
Secretary—Paul Moning.
Treasurer—A. J. Neumann.
NATIONAL PIANO MANUFACTURERS' ASSO-
CIATION OF AMERICA
President—Gordon Campbell.
First Vice-President—Lucien Wulsin.
Second Vice-President—Otto Schulz, Jr.
Treasurer—Chas. Jacob, Jr.
Honorary Secretary—Herbert W. Hill.
Secretary—Harry Meixell.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION O F MUSICAL
MERCHANDISE MANUFACTURERS
President—Henry C. Lomb.
Vice-President—H. Kuhrmeyer.
Secretary-Treasurer—Harry Meixell.
PRESIDENT HOOVER
SENDS HIS REGRETS
The following letter received from President
Hoover by Otto B. Heaton, president of the National
Association of Music Merchants, was read at the 30th
annual banquet at the Palmer House, Chicago, Tues-
day evening June 9:
"I keenly regret that pressure of official business
makes it impossible for me to accept your kind invi-
tation to deliver an address over the radio to the 3Dth
annual banquet of the National Association of Music
Merchants which is to be held in Chicago the evening
of June 9 next. I do not want the occasion to pass
without sending you a brief message.
"I long have been cognizant of the work that your
association is doing. It is especially interesting to
me to know that the primary object of the association
is to increase the love and appreciation of music and
to encourage self-expression in the art by both chil-
dren and adults.
"I wish for you and your association all success.
"Yours faithfully,
(Signed) " H E R B E R T HOOVER."
THE NATIONAL BUREAU
PRESENTS ITS METHODS
The National Bureau for the Advancement of Music
was represented at the convention in room 859,
Palmer House, by C. M. Tremaine and Kenneth S.
Clark. These two gentlemen had a variety of their
publications to distribute in pamphlet form. One of
these articles, entitled "Parents and Music and Chil-
dren" is entirely new and sets forth the thoughts and
methods of Mr. Tremaine in his own language. In
it Mr. Tremaine says in part:
"The public schools are teaching the appreciation of
music. The radio, the phonograph, and the player
piano are bringing the masterpieces of the great com-
posers, played by celebrated artists, into our homes,
and our children are being nurtured under these influ-
ences from early infancy. The value of this musical
environment cannot be overestimated.
"Unfortunately, among some parents the idea pre-
vails that in order to learn to play the piano one has
to go through years of drudgery if he is to acquire
the technical skill. It is therefore one of the purposes
of this pamphlet to show that this condition has ma-
terially changed in recent years, for modern methods
have greatly simplified the process of instruction, and
what is equally important, they enlist the child's inter-
est while he is learning to play the piano. He has to
work and practice, of course, but the task is made en-
joyable and attractive, and he is able to play simple
pieces while he acquires the technic. He has the
incentive of being able to see that he is making
progress."
Two other very interesting booklets which were
distributed in this room were "Piano Class Instruc-
tion—a Simple Explanation of This Modern Road to
Musical Expression," and "Music as a Self-Expres-
sion," the latter by Rudolph Ganz.
STANDARDS IN BRUSH MAKING
Gerts, Lumbard & Co., brush makers, 2100 West
Grand avenue, Chicago, whose goods have been stand-
ard brushes for so long that the "mind of man run-
neth not to the contrary," are still enjoying a good
trade and the good will of piano manufacturers gen-
erally. Businesses of this kind, so long established
and so well known, are doing a great deal to maintain
trade and trade confidence and are worthy of the
many repeat orders they get. The business is one
of the older brush factories in the United States, hav-
ing been established in 1850 and incorporated in 1891.
F. C. Lumbard is president, F. A. Crego treasurer,
and W\ S. Gerts secretarv.
Gordon Laughead as a Pianist
Gordon Laughead, general sales manager of the
Wurlitzer Grand Piano Co., generally prefers to have
a demonstrator w r ith him when showing to a customer
the merits and capabilities of a piano, but if no
"player" is around at the time to demonstrate the
capabilities of the instrument Mr. Laughead has had
occasion time and again to bring his pianistic talent
into play, and had many such opportunities during
visits of dealers to the Wurlitzer exhibits at the
Palmer House. There were many dealers at the
Wurlitzer exhibit and their comments in favor of and
commendation of the Wurlitzer instruments were well
worth listening to.
PERSONALITY OF THE
MUSIC MERCHANTS
NEW PRESIDENT
The new president of the National Association of
Music Mei chants, Edwin R. Weeks, of Weeks &
Dickinson, Binghamton, N. Y., who was elected to
the office of chief executive at the Thirtieth Annual
Convention at the Palmer House, Chicago, Tuesday,
June 9, 1931, is one of the most striking and interest-
ing personalities in the music industry.
Mr. Weeks has been connected with the retail piano
and music business for a number of years. He began
his career, however, not as a business man but as a
musical artist. He studied for opera and is possessed
of a voice of unusual quality. His vocal instruction
was obtained in America and as he says himself, he
had even in his younger days the "buy at home"
complex.
Mr. Weeks is a prominent Rotarian. being past gov-
ernor of the 28th District, Rotary International, also
past president of Binghamton Rotary Club. He has
taken prominent part in social and musical affairs in
Binghamton. He is at present treasurer of the Bing-
hamton Civic Music Association, trustee of the Young
Women's Christian Association, president of Broome
County Crippled Children's Foundation, governor of
Binghamton Country Club and elder in the First
Presbyterian Church of Binghamtou. He was for-
merly president of the New York State Music Mer-
chants' Association, former trustee Home for Aged
Women of Binghamton and former deacon of the
First Presbyterian Church.
Some very interesting and unusual articles have
come from the pen of Mr. Weeks and he has now in
preparation a communication which he will shortly
address to members of the association.
One of the
most
HALDWIN (IKAMi, STVLIO l<\
notable instruments on exhibition in (Miiengo convention 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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