P R E S T O-T I M E S
May-June, 1933
MUSICAL
TIMES
PRESTO
Established
1884
Established
1881
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE JOURNAL
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CHICAGO, MAY-JUNE, 1933
PIANOS AT INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITIONS
A Glance Back at the Great
Chicago World's Fair of 1893
COMMENTS ON ACTIVITIES OF TODAY
ANUFACTURERS' exhibits
of musical i n s t r u m e n t s ,
whether only for dis-
play or entered also for
awards, have been prom-
inently featured at all
great international ex-
positions of both conti-
nents, since the days of
the Crystal Palace Ex-
position of London on
to the present time. The
several Paris expositions have been notable
for the prominence of their musical sections
and particularly as to the foremost position
given pianos in their exhibits. Manufacturers
have heralded Paris exposition awards as sig-
nal triumphs for the prominence of their dis-
plays and the quality of their product.
Antwerp, Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, Vi-
enna, abroad, and Philadelphia, Buffalo, St.
Louis, San Francisco, Chicago, in this country,
have matched each other in the prominence
given to music and the music industries.
But of all these exhibits, at home or abroad,
the climax of ensemble, of grandeur and im-
portance was reached at the World's Colum-
bian Exposition at Chicago in 1893 by the fa-
mous display in Section I of the Liberal Arts
Division; a location that became famous and
known the world over under the appellation
"Section I-L. A."
Section I probably contained the biggest
array of piano and reed organs ever made be-
fore by any one country. There were 58 Amer-
ican exhibitors and 314 pianos in the booths,
besides about 125 organs. Elsewhere on the
ground of the exposition there were not less
than 250 pianos of American make and prob-
ably 75 of foreign manufacture, besides the
regular foreign exhibit. The total value of
pianos in Section I was estimated at $280,000
and the expense of the exhibit $284,000.
THE CENTURY OF PROGRESS EX-
POSITION PIANO EXHIBITS
Now, on the opening of the Century of Progress
Exposition, forty years after the World's Columbian
Exposition of 1893 which has been heralded as the
"Greatest World's Fair of All Times," we are con-
fronted with the spectacle of an international expo-
sition limited in extent numerically the main display
in the Exhibit Building being made by one representa-
tive house, The Baldwin Piano Company of Cincin-
nati, particulars of which exhibit will be found further
along in these columns. This exhibit, which is ex-
tensive in the space occupied, is important as show-
ing the development of piano making, and like all
Baldwin exhibits it is constructive and educational.
Baldwin instruments are also to be found in the Ohio
building and a very beautiful Masterpiece grand in
the official reception room. Inasmuch as the Bald-
win is the official piano of the exposition other prod-
ucts of the Baldwin factory will be found on the
exposition grounds.
Other pianos may be seen in various buildings on
the grounds. State and individual concessions will
contain instruments, some of them to be supplied
with several pianos, grands and uprights. A notable
exhibit of model grands are the two Wurlitzer spe-
cially designed instruments, one for the Masonite
house and one for the model house built by the Na-
tional Lumber Manufacturers' Association. Further
reference to this exhibit also appears elsewhere in
this issue. A special Bechstein grand outfitted with
electrical devices is on exhibition in the Hall of Sci-
ence building.
Pianos have been purchased for some of the build-
ings and concessions and, naturally, many instruments
will be placed complimentary where social functions
prevail, for no place of social gathering or entertain-
ment can be complete without the piano, just as out-
door festivals and demonstrations cannot function
without drum, cymbal, and the brass and w r oodwind
instruments.
Just how it comes about that the music industries
did not set about to have a united exhibit appears
to be a tale untold. It has been suggested by persons
outside of musical circles that the exposition, desiring
to attract especially such lines of manufacture as show
features of marked progress thus conforming to the
thought of the name, "Century of Progress," did not
solicit doubly hard for a musical instrument exhibit.
THE BALDWIN CENTURY OF
PROGRESS EXHIBIT
BALDWIN THE OFFICIAL PIANO OF
THE EXPOSITION
An episode which could well be considered of dis-
tinct and vital importance to any active, going man-
ufacturer of the day; peculiarly so for an establish-
ment whose activities in leadership point to an aus-
picious future, has just come to one of America's great
piano manufacturing houses. The Baldwin Piano Com-
pany. The story of this distinction is told in the cap-
tion :
"Baldwin the Official Piano of the Century of Prog-
ress Exposition."
The industrial products gathered for the Century
of Progress Exposition have been brought together
on the presumption that such products show progres-
sive development in manufacture, a proposition in
which the manufacturers of Baldwin pianos amply
qualify.
The Baldwin Piano Company brings to the Century
of Progress Exposition a unit in its group of exhibits
of more than passing interest and importance. They
make a display worthy the industry they are allied
with.
The Baldwin exhibit is in General Exhibits Build-
ing No. 3, booth 9, where, aside from their display
of pianos, they will depict the historical and edu-
cational development of the piano from the earliest
days of the instrument to the present time. In this
group will be shown a spinet of the early 17th cen-
tury; a piano manufactured in the early days of
American piano making (1823) alongside a modern
grand of today, a Baldwin Masterpiece model.
The Baldwin educational exhibit is, in itself, an
attraction to command attention. Dealers will be
interested and the general public will get an insight
into piano construction that will be well worth view-
ing. Here thev can see the parts that enter into the
construction of the piano, grands and uprights and
may visualize the operation of the action, hammers
and keys to the strings in producing tone.
The story of the development of the piano action
as it may be studied in the Baldwin educational ex-
hibit is interesting; indeed it is fascinating. About a
Fifteenth of Publication Moatfe
hundred years ago there started experiments on the
action which have culminated in the present day
highly responsive instrument. While the various
stages of this development have been too many to
enumerate here, their importance can readily be seen
by comparing the model of the piano action today
as shown in the Baldwin exhibit with the model of
the instrument built by George Charters in Cincin-
nati in 1823. The Spinet piano of this exhibit built
in the early seventeenth century, before the invention
of the real pianoforte, may be studied with exceeding
interest for these studies in comparison naturally
lead up to the beautiful examples in the development
of the present day piano illustrated in the Baldwin
models.
The public, the trade and musical people generally,
will say "hats off" to the house of Baldwin for their
display, an exhibit which illustrates the great strides
made in piano building during the past one hundred
years, culminating in the king of musical instruments
today, the Grand Pianoforte.
Many other Baldwin pianos beside the Exhibits
Building display are located in various buildings on
the grounds. In the Trustees' Reception Room there
is a modern Masterpiece grand installed for use at
official and social functions; there are several at the
Enchanted Isle playground and as referred to else-
where in this issue the Baldwin is the piano used in
the broadcasting studios on the exposition grounds.
In the Ohio State building there will be a fifteen-
minute motion picture showing how Baldwin pianos
are built.
"Baldwin at the Exposition" will be heralded to
the world by radio through several broadcasting sta-
tions. One message says: "See the Baldwin Piano
Company's Educational exhibit at the Century of
Progress Exposition, located in General Exhibits
Building Unit 3." Another air message says: "See
what happens inside the piano when you strike the
keys. Learn about this at the Baldwin piano exhibit
in building 3, General Exhibits Building, Century of
Progress Exposition."
EXHIBITS ELSEWHERE
However, regardless of exposition exhibits or pianos
on the Exposition grounds, numerous displays of
American pianos may be seen at the various Chicago
agencies. Many of the leading pianos are repre-
sented in Chicago by dealer agency or other repre-
sensation. Dealers and others in attendance at the
Music Merchants and Radio conventions are specially
invited by the manufacturers of these various pianos
to call on their Chicago representatives while they are
in the city.
WIDE RANGE OF MUSIC AT EXPO-
SITION
The proposed musical events scheduled for the A
Century of Progress exposition which take in a wide
scope of musical entertainment, vocal and instru-
mental, will offer many rare treats for the music lover.
Choruses are expected from abroad, some from the
great universities of Europe and many gatherings from
various parts in the United States will make "music
at the exposition" a very prominent feature well worth
the attention of visitors who are planning to come to
the exposition. The first important chorus event will
be a presentation of Handel's Messiah by the com-
bined choirs and choruses to be given on June 4 at
the exposition. A chorus of 1,500 will also sing on
opening day, May 27, accompanied by the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra.
BRUSH MAKING EXHIBITION
An interesting showing of how paint, varnish and
other brushes are made will be found at the exhibit
of the Gerts-Lumbard Company, Chicago, leading
makers in America of this line of appliances used by
piano manufacturers. Their exhibit wlil be in the
home planning hall of the Century of Progress Expo-
sition where they will have a workman from their
factory explaining the process of the making of
brushes, a line of work little understood by the gen-
eral public, for few people realize today that the
bristles in even inexpensive brushes must be arranged
and set by hand, and that the brush maker is one of
the few craftsmen left in a world of machine in-
dustries.
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