Presto

16
August,
P R E S T 0-T IMES
INTERESTING AND VAL=
UABLE OBSERVATIONS BY
CAPEHART PRESIDENT
H. E. Capehart, president of The Capehart Cor-
poration, Ft. Wayne, Ind., gave out to the trade
press recently an interesting review of conditions
existing today especially affecting the music trades
and industries and of particular import to houses
handling musical merchandise and musical instru-
ments in general.
From Mr. Capehart's statements Presto-Times
makes herewith quite extended quotations in the fol-
lowing extracts from his remarks.
Mr. Capehart begins by saying:
"The music industry is the only industry that I
know of where so many people in it, including the
manufacturer, jobber and dealer, are all of one and
the same mind, and that is that the only class of
merchandise the public will buy is cheap merchan-
dise. I will show you where every other line of
merchandise or article made has its extremely low-
priced line and extremely high-priced line."
"You can buy a dining room suite for $39.75 or
vou can pay $5,000 for one and buy anything in be-
tween. There are thousands of dollars' worth of
$39.75 dining room suites sold and likewise there is
a big volume of business on extremely high-priced
merchandise."
"This same thing applies to automobiles, clothing,
the rates of hotel rooms. It applies to the rates
restaurants charge for food; it applies to diamonds; it
applies to every article manufactured today except the
music business."
"Why the people in the music industry have per-
mitted themselves to get into this frame of mind, I
do not know."
"There is a place for a cheap musical instrument
just as there is a place for an extremely high-priced
one. But the sad part of it is that all dealers are
trying to sell nothing but low-priced musical instru-
ments. Instead there should be a few r stores in a
city selling an extremely cheap line of merchandise
the same as in all other lines and also a few stores
selling the better class of merchandise. Or if one
store wishes to sell both the cheap and highly priced
merchandise, they should segregate the departments,
have different sales organizations and use different
sales tactics."
"The music industry today is insulting the pocket-
books and the intelligence of the American people."
"It certainly would be a great thing for the in-
dustry if somebody were big enough to steer them
in the right direction so that high-priced merchandise
can be sold as well as cheap merchandise and get
them selling a little bit of each so as to get them
away from the idea of concentrating on midgets and
figuring that that is the only kind of merchandise
that can be sold."
"If there is nothing more to this musical instru-
ment business than midgets, then we had all better
get out of business."
Elaborating on President Capehart's remarks as
above given, he goes on to observe that, as he says:
"Elaborating just a little bit on the statement made
above, take a walk down the average street in the
average town in America and you will find in one
window a $465 Ford; in another window a $7,000
Cadillac. Or you will find a pair of silk hose for a
dollar and in the next window you will find a pair of
silk hose for $7.50. Or go into a cigar store and
you will find a cigar for a nickel and you will find
another one for a dollar."
"But in none of those cases do you find the entire
cigar industry, the entire automobile industry, the
entire stocking industry advertising and putting forth
all of their efforts on nothing except the 5-cent cigar,
the dollar stockings or the $465 automobile."
"It seems to me as though it is time for the music
industry to wake up and take a leaf out of the
book' of experience of jobbers, manufacturers and
dealers in other lines of merchandise made in Amer-
ica, or for that matter, in the world. If they don't
wake up they are going to have no industry left."
"There are a lot of good cheap midget radios and
likewise there are good lines of combination auto-
matic phonographs and radios and high-priced radios.
There is plenty of musical instrument merchandise
to fit any and all pocketbooks in America but the
trouble lies in the minds of the dealers and they have
been put in this frame of mind by the manufacturers."
"What I would do to promote the musical instru-
ment business is tell the dealers there is a big mar-
ket for midget radios and likewise there is a market
for $150 radios, $250 combination automatic phono-
graph and radio and a big market for a combination
automatic phonograph and radio selling for a thou-
sand dollars."
"The manufacturer and the manufacturer's sales-
men have got the poor dealer in such a bemuddled
frame of mind that he doesn't know if he is on foot
or horseback."
"If there is no market for high-priced merchandise
why do they still manufacture Cadillac automobiles,
Rolls Royce cars, expensive clothing? Why does a
man stop at the Biltmore Hotel in New York City
instead of going to a 50-cent hotel? Why does a man
build a $100,000 home instead of a $15,000 home and
so on and so forth?"
Mr. Capehart sends home to every reader of what
he says the well-known axiom that no manufacturer
can be stronger than his dealer, and while some deal-
ers with a small store or small amount of overhead
no doubt can make a lot of money selling low-priced
radios, yet it is impossible for a big dealer with a big
overhead and a big organization to make any money
handling this line of merchandise.
"However, the big dealer with the big overhead can
make money handling low-priced radios if he will
put in a separate department for handling low-priced
radios and likewise put in another distinct department
for handling a high-priced line."
"The American public will buy whatever the Amer-
ican manufacturers, jobbers and dealers decide to
sell them providing they give them value received."
BIG ORDER FOR C. G. CONN CO.
The C. G. Conn Co., Ltd., Elkhart, Ind., has re-
cently received an order for band instruments totaling
upw r ards of $6,000, to be delivered to United States
Bureau of Indian Affairs and for shipment to Alaska.
This order came through the Northwest Conn Co.,
the branch office at Seattle, Wash. The instruments
are all silverplated with gold burnish inside the bell
and complete Conn instrumentation except for the
drums.
A GOOD OPENING WITH GOOD
PROFITS
Salesmen, agents, dealers, and others connected
with the music trades who are looking for activity in
their lines of work may turn to some of the small
goods lines and especially in the line of brass band
instrument manufacture where good business now
prevails.
Along this line we have received word from the
Buescher Band Instrument Co., through W. W.
Wagner, manager of Agency Department, a com-
munication, part of which we herewith reproduce.
Mr. Wagner's communication starts out with the
question, "Does this look like depression?" He then
goes on to say:
"Here is some interesting news for you.
We
hear about men being out of work, but that does
not seem to be the case in the music industry. The
Buescher Company has recently received many let-
ters from large music dealers all over the United
States, asking us to assist them in securing competent
small goods men. There are many good jobs open
right now for good band and orchestra instrument
men, who combine executive and sales ability.
Mr. Wagner solicits correspondence with individuals
or firms who would like to get into an active and
good paying business to get in touch with him.
Any applicants should write to the Buescher Band
Instrument Company, Elkhart, Ind., stating age, ex-
perience, past employment record, and should give
any other information which would assist us in
placing them in good jobs. A photograph of them-
selves would also be of value.
WEAVER PIANOS IN CAPITAL CITY
From the York (Pa.) Gazette and Daily we clipped
the following item:
"The government of the District of Columbia,
through a commission appointed by the United States
government, has just ordered twenty-eight York
pianos from the Weaver Piano Co. for the public
schools of Washington, D. C, and two additional
York pianos for the Laurel Teachers' College.
"The school board of Washington, after a careful
and thorough investigation, recommended the York
pianos to the commission, and expressed their com-
plete faith in these instruments.
"They specified that the pianos must be at least
four feet eight inches high as they claim that this
size is necessary to provide the sounding board area
and the full length of strings w r hich are required to
produce the best tone quality. They also use some
small portable upright pianos in the Washington
schools but those are selected only for their port-
ability and for the convenience of the teacher in
being able to see and guide the class by looking over
the top of the piano while teaching. For interpreta-
tive work of pupils who have passed the stage of
beginners the full size upright pianos are required for
their musical tone qualities. The Weaver Piano Co.
has for years specialized in the full sized upright
pianos and this feature has contributed much to the
world-wide reputation for superior tone quality which
has been gained by these pianos.
"Washington, D. C, is one of the nine hundred
cities and towns in the United States in which chil-
dren are taught in classes in the public schools to
play the piano. York, Pa., is also one of the pioneers
in this progressive work and has attracted the atten-
tion and favorable comment of state educators."
THE APOLLO PIANO COMPANY
MAKES AN IMPORTANT
ANNOUNCEMENT
The special attention of piano dealers and agencies
handling pianos is called to the center two-page
spread in this issue of Presto-Times setting forth
the Apollo grand piano, announcing that the Apollo
grands are now available in styles as low as $950.
This will be valuable information for progressive
dealers and Presto-Times hopes that every dealer in
the land will read carefully the splendid setting forth
of the Apollo in this notable two-page announcement.
The Apollo grand piano was developed under the
personal supervision of Mr. Melville Clark. It was
his desire to build an instrument of unusual tonal
beauty in order that a finer expression for his famous
reproducing mechanism might be secured. It was
this desire that prompted him to search Europe for
finer piano scales and piano actions and also to bring
together the men best informed on piano construction
so that he could give the world not only the finest
piano playing device, but also the finest grand piano.
He and his assistants labored for months making
comparative tests before they reached an unanimous
decision.
Their research resulted in the production of such a
remarkable quality of tone that the specifications
of the fundamental parts in the Apollo grand piano
have never changed.
The increase in the production of Apollo grand
pianos during last six months over the same period
of 1930, has been due largely to the many thousands
of satisfied owners of Apollo grand pianos who have
urged friends to follow their example in buying a
piano for their home.
The Apollo Piano Company justly points with
pride to its increase in business which has been the
reward for building a grand piano which not only
holds an enviable position as a fine musical instru-
ment, but also by making it possible to secure the
renowned Apollo tone in a wide selection of encase-
ments. Both straight and period models are offered
in many attractive styles. The use of choice im-
ported veneers give Apollo grand pianos an added
beauty.
It should be mentioned in connection with this
story of the Apollo piano that the instrument—the
Apollo piano of today—is built in the original Apollo
factory at De Kalb, where the business was started,
and that the piano has not been built in any other
place than at De Kalb. It was developed at De Kalb
under the late supervision of Mr. Mtlville Clark.
Bork's Music House, Hibbing, Minn., has moved
to larger quarters and enlarged its business gen-
erally.
Let the PRESTO-TIMES classified columns help you
soil that old stock of pianos, violins and sheet music.
Music dealers everywhere are on the alert for any real
bargain that you offer them. Remember, goods that you
cannot sell easily may enjoy a very ready sule in ether
tewns. There are dealers waiting- to buy what you have
to sell.
Are You
Satisfied?
Every day leading
music merchants are in-
quiring about SCHULZ
COLONY G R A N D S
and a s k i n g us to
PROVE that they are
the best constructed
and e a s i e s t selling
small grands on the
market.
We'll be glad to tell
you why.
M. SCHULZ CO.
711 Milwaukee Ave., <
Chicaero. 111.
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