21
PRESTO-TIMES
March, 1932
R A D I O
RADIO RECEIVING SETS
RADIO PARTS
RADIO—PHONOGRAPHS
CONTINUATION OF COMEBACKS
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE BIG GRIGSBY-
THE SILVER-MARSHALL WAY
GRUNOW DEFICIT
On the mailing and subscription list of Presto-
The great competition that has existed in
Times the following changes of address, discontin-
The daily papers, in presenting the statement of
the world of radio as to selling" receiving sets Grigsby-Grunow and announcing the loss of $2,901,- uances and out of business notices have been re-
from the post office to which papers had for-
to the public, has become acute, especially 305 in seven months, gives this report as furnished ceived
merly been mailed:
by the Majestic manufacturers:
during the last two or three years, and one
Reichardt Piano Co., 1311 Milwaukee Ave., Chi-
"•Grigsby-Grunow Company and subsidiaries for
by one we have seen large factories close their seven months ended December 31, 1931, report a net cago, 111.; removed to 1518 W. Division St.; Wicker
station.
doors and ownership of some of the well- loss of $2,901,305 after depreciation and amortization, Park
Mehlin & Sons, 714 Park Ave., West New York,
and losses on property dismantled or sold amount-
known makes has changed through mergers ing to $195,443. This includes also inventory write- N. J.; all mail now goes to 509 Fifth Ave., New
and other processes.
down of $703,555. During the period the company York.
F. G. Johnson, 818 N. Third St., S. Milwaukee,
Today the number of producers of high reports a net loss from operations of $1,642,532. Net Wis.,
deceased.
sales totaled $8,417,589 for the seven months.
grade receiving sets is practically small in
Wm. McElroy, 604 Chamber of Commerce Bldg.,
"The report for the seven months is made to con- Pittsburgh, Pa- Discontinued. "Removed or left no
comparison with, say, four years ago, and form with the new fiscal period ending December 31.
among" the survivors there are not many that In the preceding fiscal year ended May 31, 1931, the address."
Baldwin Piano Co., 1303 Elm St., Dallas, Tex.; mail
are prospering—the majority, we understand, company reported a deficit of $2,169,761 and net sales now goes to Gilbert Ave., Eden Park Entrance, Cin-
of $28,350,881."
cinnati, Ohio.
just about holding their own. Throughout the
The Holt Co., formerly at 624 S. Central Ave.,
entire industry the policy of distribution
Phoenix, Ariz., has discontinued business and left
HOUSEHOLD PAPER GIVES ESTIMATES
through jobbers has held forth, necessarily
The Philadelphia publication, "Home Ware Retail Phoenix.
Orville E. Gibbs, 24 Grand Ave., Waterbury, Conn.;
meaning that the cost to the consumer must Ledger," for March, under the heading, "Piano Sales
moved and left no address.
Up,"
publishes
statements
of
several
piano
manufac-
be greater than it otherwise would be, just as turing concern where increased output is announced.
The Stanley Music Co., music publishers, formerly
is the case with most other manufactured
Among these the American Piano Corporation at Fox Theater Bldg., Philadelphia, Pa., "not there
formed in June, 1930, finished its first year with a net now."
products.
Miller's Music Shop, Salem, Wis., "left town; mail
of $42,758 and now reports that surplus of stocks
However, as before noted in Presto-Times, profit
have been cleared out and the number of unit classes not claimed."
Oakford Music Company, 419 S. Sixth St., Omaha,
the Silver-Marshall organization, composed of for 1931 shows a decided increase over last year.
Neb.,
out of business.
young blood from the president down, pulled
Of Hardman, Peck & Co. this authority says that
A. B. Snyder Music House, 1425 Cherry Ave., Long
they
established
a
new
high
record
for
unit
sales
in
away from the old beaten paths and applied
one month (October, 1931), while a large number of Beach, Calif.; mail returned; not delivered.
a policy which for years has been followed by retail dealers throughout the country report that 1931
WURLITZER ANNIVERSARY YEAR
the piano manufacturers for the most part, and was a much better year than 1930 from the standpoint
The house of Wurlitzer is this year celebrating an
of
both
unit
and
dollar
volume.
eliminated the middleman entirely, going to
In closing the Ledger says: "From all indications, important event in its history. It is the beginning
the dealer direct, revamping the methods of 1932
will continue to reflect the advance in demand of the fourth quarter century of business activity of
these older heads in various ways so as to and sales for pianos which made 1931 an unusual year the house in the United States. The event has been
celebrated by all of the Wurlitzer branch store organ-
suit their own purpose, and they are making in this respect."
izations by get-together conventions, dinners and
good. In fact they even went farther, for
other festivities and "along the line," special sales
CAPEHART CORPORATION OFFICIAL
have been an important feature of these activities,
they limit the sale of the Silver-Marshall sets
CHANGES
particularly in the thirty cities in which Wurlitzer
to but one dealer in a city, with but two or
Concerning various announcements made in the branches are located.
three exceptions, and concentrate upon these trade papers and newspapers regarding official
To go back to the beginning of the Wurlitzer busi-
dealers, with the result that instead of hang- changes in the Capehart Corporation of Fort Wayne, ness one must trace back to the year 1701, when
Ind., Charles M. Niezer, who has long been identified Hans Andres Wurlitzer opened his workshop in Sax-
ing 1 the "No Help Wanted" sign on their doors with
the progress of and financially interested in the ony, Germany, and started what has resulted in mak-
they are working right ahead, turning out sets Capehart Corporation, succeeds H. E. Capehart as ing the name Wurlitzer a familiar one wherever
music is followed throughout the world. Today this
and shipping- them in carload lots to all parts president.
William H. Hutter, who has taken the position of name can be found marking practically every type
of the country.
sales manager, has been identified with the progress of musical instrument from a small mouth organ to
Furthermore, knowing that the piano dealer of the Capehart Corporation for some time and prior the "mighty Wurlitzer" organ.
American house of Wurlitzer has become one
is familiar with this method of doing business to that time was actively connected with the Web- of The
the greatest enterprises of the kind in the world,
ster Electric Company and had a great deal to do with
and reasoning that he is the logical one to the design and the acoustic of Capehart instruments. and its growth has been along conservative, yet
handle radio along with the piano, practically He is a man of wide experience and one of the out- progressive lines, combined with the production of
articles that have at all times been characterized by
all of their dealers are in this line. The com- standing figures in sound engineering.
high-class materials and workmanship, and the name
Irvine
Cox,
formerly
of
Philadelphia,
is
the
new
pany furnishes them with "selling" advertis-
of Wurlitzer has become a standard trade mark.
treasurer.
Among other things in connection with the celebra-
ing" cop}' in various sizes and cooperates in
F. W. Gigax is vice-president and general manager. tion of the company's seventy-fifth anniversary was
every way possible. Elimination of the mid-
The Board of Directors of the Capehart Corpora- the reproduction of an electrically recorded address
dleman's profits naturally means that the tion now comprises: Mr. Niezer, Mr. Caswell, J. Z. by President Rudolph H. Wurlitzer at the dinners
dealer can make the same profits as before, Kibler, Philadelphia; L, S. Burk, Fort Wayne; D. F. given in each of the thirty-nine cities above referred
Fesler, Woodstock, 111.; H. C. Fair, Fort Wayne; to, and records also made of addresses of executives
yet sell at lower prices.
W. R. Tucker, Jr., Philadelphia; J. M. Brittain, Phila- of the respective branches, for transmission into Cin-
cinnati, where Mr. Rudolph Wurlitzer makes his
Along with this, the dealer has the Silver- delphia, and H. E. Capehart, Fort Wayne.
Price reductions have been made in keeping with headquarters.
Marshall quality to offer, and inasmuch as the the times on Capehart products and new models will
company is constantly working to improve its be forthcoming from time to time in keeping with the KAMP'S MUSIC STORE TAKES OVER E L E C -
products—as for instance their new Model Q trend.
TRICAL SERVICE COMPANY
Several prominent houses of the country, such as
Kamp's Music Store, Livermore, Calif., recently
sets—so that new talking points are steadily
the Aeolian Company of New York and St. Louis,
the merchandising department of the Elec-
being created, the advertising is backed up in Lyon & Healy of Chicago, J. B. Bradford Piano Com- purchased
tric Service Company of Livermore and moved its
every way, and Silver-Marshall dealers are pany, Milwaukee, Grinnell Bros. Music Store, Detroit, stock of musical instruments to the building which
had been occupied by the Electric Service Company.
making real money. It was only last June that are featuring the Capehart line.
By this arrangement the electrical home appliances
the Chicago concern inaugurated this policy,
The RCA Victor Company conducted an interest- formerly handled by the Electrical Service Company
but the results have demonstrated beyond any ing educational exhibit in connection with the annual are taken over by the Kamp music house. While
question of doubt that the Silver-Marshall way convention of the Department of Superintendents of Mr. Kamp states that he is making a conservative
his friends are congratulating him upon
has "gone over," and their sales records add the National Education Association, held here last expansion,
month. The annual meeting of this influential body the success which has made possible this progressive
the word "big."
of educators, which numbers several thousand, is step and are taking it as one more indication that
DELIBERATES A YEAR—THEN ORDERS
The publishers of Presto-Times were recently sur-
prised to find that a music house in Pennsylvania
had saved one of Presto's sales letters for almost a
year before returning it with an order for the Buyers'
Guide and a subscription to Presto-Times. When
people weigh their decision for almost a year their
judgment must be correct.
an important event in teaching circles. It gathered
additional significance this year because the NEA
assisted in the opening ceremonies of the Washington
bicentennial.
Tjet the PRESTO-TIMES classified columns help dear
your shelves of old stock, of items that are a real bargain
to some dealer who can place them with his trade.
Dealers wishing to conceal their identity can use a "box
number" until they know with whom they are dealing.
"happy days are here again!"
J. R. McDonough, president of the RCA Victor
Company, announced that B. Gardner, who has re-
cently completed the organization of the company's
international activities, will shortly relinquish this
work, to which he was temporarily assigned, and
resume his duties as president of the Victor Talking
Machine Company of Canada, Ltd., the major RCA
Victor subsidiary.
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