Presto

PRES T 0-T IMES
July-August, 1933
MUSICAL
TIMES
PRESTO
Established
1884
Established
1881
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE JOURNAL
1 Year. .. .$1.00. 6 Months. .. .60 cents
REUNION OF PRESS VETERANS
OF '93
Century of Progress to Entertain the News-
paper Fraternity of the World's
Columbian Exposition.
An event of interest to the press and editorial frater-
nity and peculiarly so also to the friends, patrons and
sponsors of trade and class publications is to take
place August 12th at the Century of Progress Exposi-
tion. At this time persons who were at the World's
Columbian Exposition for their various publications
are to be the guests of officials of A Century of
Progress. They are to be entertained throughout the
day by Exposition authorities; given a sumptuous
banquet and luncheon and taken to every nook and
corner of the great Century of Progress grounds.
An organization has been formed for a reunion of
"Press Veterans of '93" and a grand time is in store
for the ladies and gentlemen who will be so fortunate
as to attend.
So far as data is now at hand the only eligible
names from the music press are Harry E. Freund,
now residing in Chicago, and who at the time of
the 1893 World's Fair was the owner and publisher
oi "Musical Age," New York. Air. Frank W. Kirk,
who for several years has been the Western repre-
sentative of Music Trade Review and is now associat-
ed with the Bill Syndicate Publications, came on from
Massachusetts and spent a good share of the summer
of '93 in Chicago where he did special work for the
Inter-Ocean then controlled by ti>. H. Kohlsaat. Mr.
Kirk was an excellent French and German scholar
and as he could converse idiomatically in these
tongues he was detailed to do general interview work
with foreigners and look after the far East exhibits.
His linguistic abilities helped him greatly at the
Egyptian. Malay. Burmese, Javanese, the Moroccoan
colonies and other French possessions. Mr. Kirk
will be a valuable addition to the music press frater-
nity of this gathering. Mrs. French, now editor and
proprietor of The Musical Leader, Chicago, and who
in 1893 was associated with the Musical Courier of New
York, and F. D. Abbott of Presto-Times, Chicago.
Along about this time, also, young Roy Waite, today
publisher and proprietor of the Piano Trade Maga-
zine. Chicago, spent some time in Chicago and prob-
ably began getting his first trade paper "inspiration,"
or, at least, his first "hunch" for the work he has
so successfully carried on since then.
This reunion of the "Veterans of '93'' is supposed
to include only the persons engaged in exposition
work for Chicago publications so that evidently the
Xew York trade paper representatives if any there be
aside from Harry E. Freund would not be eligible.
The publications featuring music trade interests
then were the Musical Courier, the Music Trade Re-
view, Musical Age, American Art Journal, and John
C. Freund's publication the forerunner of "Music
Trades" published in New York: the Indicator and
The Presto at Chicago. All these papers except the
Music Trade Review and John C. Freund's paper
gave about half their space to general music and pro-
fessional matters; the balance to trade; and all of
them were attentive at the exposition to the interests
they represented.
Competition was keen and bitter all through the
1893 World's hair and in some quarters almost a
war broke out. There was competition in beaut}'
and extent of exhibits: in securing business and mak-
ing customers. In the selection of the Jury of Awards
there was bitter acrimony. The trade papers were
quarreling among themselves while trying to aid their
friends and sponsors. The Courier had a "four angle"
fierht on its hands; a bitter and vindictive nuarrel with
Kimball; a fight against the selection of Dr. Ziegfeld
for a member of the Awards Jury and one to place its
editor, Marc Blumenberg, on the Jury instead of Dr.
Ziegfeld; all resulting in disastrous defeat for Marc.
The Indicator tried to raise a rumpus on several oc-
casions and was always particularly sore toward its
rival, "The Snapshot," as it termed The Presto.
Thus Presto had its hands full in maintaining an
equilibrium and seeing that right prevailed: that a
proper Jury of Awards was selected. It had also a
hard time in maintaining its eiuht by twelve foot
space, in Section I. between two piano exhibits
which, through the co-operation of Joseph Keller and
CHICAGO, JULY-AUGUST, 1933
F. A. Benjamin, in charge of the two exhibits, it has
been able to secure and was able to hold, even
against the orders of the exposition authorities to va-
cate; an action brought about by interests inimical to
The Presto. This location in the Piano Section gave
The Presto peculiar vantage ground in the publica-
tion of its daily issue which appeared five days a
week through July and August.
Of the members of the Jury of Awards, for Section
I, E. P. Carpenter now resides in England and Max
Schiedmayer is still a member of the piano manu-
facturing house of Schiedmayer Piano Fabrik, Stutt-
gart, Germany, the others, B. J. Hlavac of Russia.
Dr. Hugh A. Clark of Philadelphia. George Steck of
New York, and Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld of Chicago,
are no longer with us.
THE MUCH FEATURED SPINET
GRAND
The beautiful and now famous little grand known
as the Spinet Grand of the Mathushek Piano Mfg.
Company, New York, continues to get itself into con-
spicuous and favored places. The instrument has
been used as a model by builders, home apartment
managers, furniture manufacturers, home and fur-
nishing supply concerns and hundreds of other places
outside its regular line of merchandising—the piano
trade. The Spinet was recently featured by Marshall
Field Company in a special home furnishing display
made by that great house at its establishment at
Wabash avenue and Washington boulevard. Chicago.
The Spinet is indeed "a thing of beauty" and the
little grand a piano par excellence.
FOR ATTENTION OF MUSIC
PUBLISHERS
The especial attention of music publishers and as-
sociations featuring musical publications is called to
the advertisement of Otto Zimmerman & Son Com-
pany. Cincinnati, carried regularly in the advertising
columns of Presto-Times. The house of Otto Zim-
merman & Son is noted for the superiority of its
work and its facilities for printing and engraving for
persons who are issuing sheet music and other musi-
cal publications which are unsurpassed.
THE STARR PIANO COMPANY'S LINE
OF NEW DESIGNS AND MODELS
New Starr Catalog Ready
From the Starr Piano Company. Richmond, In-
diana, conies a new and quite elaborate catalog with
illustrations and descriptions of latest models of
Starr pianos. It is a Starr piano catalog, from title
to back, showing the Starr line in all its complete-
ness. There are upwards of a dozen one-page illus-
trations and descriptions in this catalog, four of them
devoted to Starr uprights. A novelty is the Starr
miniature upright style 22: height 3 feet 4'/> inches.
Another small upright, model 258, is only 3 feet 10)4
inches. There is a growing demand for small up-
rights like these and the Starr Company is well pre-
pared to take care of such a demand.
This catalog contains the latest styles sent out
from the Starr factory this season; samples of which
were shown at the Chicago Music Dealers Conven-
tion, and the Radio Convention which followed; these
are models 248. 258, 212, 220 and the special model
230, in ebony finish and bright chrome trim.
The Starr pianos have been on the market so long
and have been so widely known and accepted in the
trade everywhere as instruments of the utmost re-
liability that the statement made at the outset of their
catalog is applicable to them as makers of reliable
and worthwhile instruments. This statement reads:
"Tt has been said that a contract is not better than
its signers, and that a product is no better than the
reputation and integrity of its maker."
The story contained in the catalog relates much of
interest to Starr dealers and not a little that the trade
at large will profit by sending. It tells of the remark-
able record made by the Starr Company since the
establishment of the business under the name of Starr
Piano Company in August, 1872. Today the Starr
plant occupies over a half million square feet of floor
space and an occupancy of 27 buildings, a combination
capable of producing wonderfully line pianos in any
quantity required.
The Starr Company, Richmond, Indiana, invite
correspondence.
Fifteenth of Publication Month
BAILIE THOMSON IN AMERICA
His Honor, Bailie William Thomson, head of the
music house oi Thomson & Son, Glasgow, Scotland,
has just traversed the United States from ocean to
ocean. Landing in New York he proceeded on to
the Pacific coast and to Vancouver, British Columbia
where he will spend some time visiting his daughter.
Mr. Thomson stopped off in Chicago to visit dear
friends here and then proceeded direct to Salt Lake
City where he gave a talk to Scots and Scotch-
Americans on the subject dear to his heart, the
formation of the Scotch Free State. He was much
occupied in Chicago visiting in and near the loop and
a few hours' stay at A Century of Progress Exposi-
tion which sights, by the way, he came "awfully" near
missing.
Now Building Scotch Harps
Mr. Thomson and his business associates have
launched into a new enterprise in musical instrument
making, having established a business for manufac-
turing the little Scotch-Irish harp known as the
Clarsach. The "Daily Record and Mail" of Glasgow
starting an article on Bailie Thomson's enterprise
says: "So Bailie Thomson has joined the Clarsach
campaign wholeheartedly." Mr. Thomson's under-
taking has many supporters and some of them of
the nobility. The Prince of Wales, by the way. is a
devotee of the Clarsach.
A short time before leaving home Mr. Thomson
had presided as toastmaster at the annual gathering
of the Scottish Music Merchants and in introducing
the new president, George Campbell, head of a promi-
nent music house ^at Glasgow, said:
"You all know ? what kind of president we have.
We have had quite a lot of presidents, but I think
George Campbell tops the lot. It is not the scenery
of this beautiful land, but the personality of our presi-
dent that brought you here."
Mr. Thomson, by the way, was one of the charter
members of the Scottish Music Merchants' Associa-
tion. The story of the happenings of the convention
were related through several pages of blank verse
after the style of Longfellow, and getting down to
Mr. Thomson the lines run like this:
And they called on Bailie Thomson,
Better known as Wullic Thomson.
Did he like it? Could he do it?
Say, big boy
beg pardon, "crony"
Wullie sailed right in. Impromptu.
Scorning notes—no preparation
and so on the verses ran, telling of Mr. Thomson's
eloquence and warm reception at the convention of
his associates and friends in the business.
CHARLES FREDERICK STEIN
OPTIMISTIC
"The piano business, at least so far as we are con-
cerned." said Charles Frederick Stein, eminent piano
manufacturer and builder of his own pianos, "and I
believe the piano business along with other lines of
industry and merchandising is on the road to a re-
vival."
The business of the Charles Frederick Stein es-
tablishment was remarkably good through June and
Julv and showed great increase over February, March
and April. Charles Frederick Stein pianos have been
sold over a large spread of country during the last
few weeks and business in and around Chicago has
been excellent. "If things keep up as they have now-
started," he said to a representative of Presto-Time?.
"you will see within the next sixty days my entire
former force back at work again for we shall want
to prepare for an autumn trade. If only half the
people who have made appointments here to visit
the plant, and we know most of these will buy pianos,
will fulfill their promises we will know for a cer-
tainty that the upturn in business has made a good
start."
The acoustic feature now installed in the Charles
Frederick Stein piano known as the Harmonic Tone
Chamber is a success beyond contradiction. Several
sales have recently been made with artists and to
piano dealers purchasing in behalf of pianists and
amateurs. Persons acquainted with Mr. Stein are
familiar with the manner in which he weathered the
storm and carried out successfully his plan of per-
fection in piano making. It is generally well under-
stood that the Charles Frederick Stein piano now
holds a place of its own in the piano making world.
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