MUSICAL
TIMES
Established
1884
Established
1881
1 Year. . . .$1.00.
PRESTO
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE JOURNAL
6 Months. .. .60 cents
CHICAGO, NOV.-DEC, 1933
REMINISCENCES OF TWO GREAT EXPOSITIONS
1893=1933
Numerous episodes have taken place at the Century
of Progress [Exposition reflecting back to the other great
Chicago World's Fair, the Columbia Exposition of 1893.
Among these was the "Press Veteran's of '93" which
brought together a
gala attraction of
the Literary World
numbering s u c h
luminaries as Opie
Read, George Ade,
John McCutcheon,
Burton H o l m e s ,
J a m e s O'Donnell
Bennett,
Charles
H. Dennis, John E.
Wilkie. Edward F.
Beck, Willis J. Abbot, Ben Atvvell, James Keeley and
many others, editors, authors, and poets. The other im-
portant 1893 gathering was an association formed this
year known as the "Association of '93ers," the member-
ship of which is made up of individuals who attended the
1893 World's Fair. This association featured a novel
event recently at the Century of Progress Exposition
and on the night of September 28 a banquet was given
in the Crystal room of the Great Northern Hotel when
an unusually interesting program by prominent '93ers
was given and memories of the World's Columbian Ex-
position were freely exchanged. An interesting feature
of the '93ers Association is the gathering of souvenirs
of the World's Columbian Exposition which are loaned
to the association for display. There are many mementos
and souvenirs from the old world's fair brought to-
gether. And. on Columbian Exposition Day, October 10,
the '93ers were out on "partial parade" even if not in
their full costume of '93. All in all the " '93ers" and
the Exposition of 1893 have been very closely linked with
the Century of Progress of this year.
All through Chicago week and notably on Columbian
Exposition Day and Columbus Day, '93ers in general
participate.
Many persons associated with music and music trade
matters now living and most of them more or less active
come to mind in this story of the '93ers and the two ex-
positions. Among these who were not only "there" at
the 1893 Exposition but who were active during a good
portion of the fair and are eligible to wear the " "93ers"
button, "I Was There," are A. M. Sweetland, then rep-
resenting Newman Brothers, last residence South Bend,
Indiana; George J. Dowling, then representing Vose &
Sons, now president of the Cable Company, Chicago; and
E. W. Furbush (Vose & Sons), last residence in Ar-
kansas; J. S. Gray (Boardman & Gray) ; Curtis N. Kim-
ball, now president W. W. Kimball Company; E. P.
Carpenter, one of the judges of awards, now residing in
England; Harry E. Freund, now residing in Chicago;
Rudolph Dolge, now living in Caracus, Venezuela; E.
M. Eastman when last heard of was living in Altadena,
Calif; James F. Boyer, now secretary of C. G. Conn
Company. Elkhart, Indiana; Frederick Reidemeister of
Steinway & Sons, New York; E. H. Story, now resid-
ing in California; Alexander Steinert, Boston, Mass.,
whose father, Morris Steinert, loaned his famous collec-
tion of old musical instruments to the Fair; Carl Bron-
son, who was with Chase Brothers at the Fair, has con-
ducted a teaching studio in Los Angeles, Calif.; Leo
Heerwagen, who was then with the Farrand & Votey
Organ Company, last residing in New York City ; Charles
C. Russell, now living in Chicago; A. G. Gulbransen, now
president of the Gulbransen Company, Chicago, and who
in 1893 was with Story & Clark Organ Company; E. B.
Bartlett (W. W. Kimball Company) : Platt P. Gibbs, still
living in Chicago; Herman Leonard, then with Alfred
Dolge, now residing in New York City ; Julius N. Brown,
now in business on the South Side, Chicago; Justus Gray,
then of the Schomaker Piano Company, now residing in
Philadelphia; Harry Schaaf (Adam Schaaf). Chicago;
William M. Bauer, A. M. Bauer, and George F. Busse
(Julius Bauer & Company), Chicago; Will L. Bush, then
Bush & Gerts Piano Company, now residing at the
Webster Hotel, Chicago; Joseph Gross and H. F. Brown
then with Behr Brothers; Ed. H. Droop, Washington,
D. C.; R. O. Foster, Minneapolis; Col. Hollenberg, Little
Rock. Ark.; Chas. Jacob (Jacob Bros.), New York; W.
J. Keeley, New York; W. B. Price. Chicago; H. C.
Dickinson (Baldwin Piano Co.-Hamilton Organ & Piano
Co.), Chicago; William Tonk, now residing at Pelham
Wood, suburb of New York; Henry Lehr (H. Lehr &
Co.), Easton, Pa.; A. M. Wright, now residing at Bos-
ton, Mass.; William Strich (Strich & Zeidler), now re-
sides at Larchmont, suburb of New York; W. S. Wil-
liams (Williams & Sons Co), now resides at Evanston,
111.; E. P. Johnson, then Western Cottage Organ Co., Ot-
tawa, 111., now E. P. Johnson Piano Co., Elgin, 111.;
Henry Detmer, Chicago; E. R. Jacobson ( Straube Piano
Co.), Hammond, Ind.; W. S. Bond (Weaver Organ and
Piano Co.), York, Pa.; J. C. Henderson, now with the
Rud. Wurlitzer Co., New York; Charles Mehlin (Mehlin
& Sons Piano Co.), New r York: Ion Arnold (Conover
Piano Company), Chicago; Joseph Keller (Keller Bros.),
New York; R. O. Burgess (Needham Piano & Organ
Company, now living in Texas; Julius Breckwoldt,
Dolgeville, New York, then with Alfred Dolge, now the
great piano soundboard manufacturer, Dolgeville; and
last but far from least, Adam Schneider, one of the
chief moguls of all the Chicago Piano & Organ Asso-
ciations ; yes, "sure," Adam can well say, "I was there."
As a matter of course many more persons associated
with the music industries beside those given above could
be mentioned but the ones named were particularly iden-
tified with what was going on in music and the musical
exhibits in Section I of the great World's Fair of 1893.
In passing it might be said that within the past few
months several dearly beloved men in the trade who were
active in the 1893 exposition as exhibitors, managers,
eC, have passed on; the latest of these, Will Collins who
had charge of the Lyon & Healy pavilion in Section I ;
then, George P. Bent was very active and prominent;
for instance, more "Crown" pianos from the George P.
Bent factory were installed in various state buildings
than of any other manufacture. Charles H. Parsons was
the president of the Needham Piano and Organ Com-
pany and his instruments were in Section I. Colonel E. S.
Paysoii was in Chicago often during the Exposition.
AFTER THE HONEYMOON A NEW HOME
AND A WURLITZER
A story is told of a visit to the Century of Progress
Exposition and the discovery by them of a piano that
gave two visitors great pleasure and fitted in very nicely
with their visit to one of the buildings in the Home Plan-
ning Area, these two radio artists, just married, had been
looking for a house to live in after their honeymoon,
and so visited the exposition to get ideas for construction
of an abiding place. After passing through one of the
buildings "Helen" burst out in a tone of satisfaction;
"Oh, I'd love a place like this." A newspaper reporter
describing the- event said: "And her husband pressed
her hand tenderly." Seeing the little Wurlitzer grand
piano, the uniquely finished and designed model on ex-
hibition there. Helen was doubly over-joyed and, as the
correspondent said, with a characteristic gesture seated
herself at the instrument and immediately she felt en-
tirely at home.''
Whether Helen and Bill ordered that particular piano
or one just like it for their new home modeled after the
one they had just visited the reporter "saith not," but prob-
ably. Aye, Aye.
TOM THUMB SPEAKS
In the Belgian Village a little Tom Thumb upright
piano, one of the special products of the Kohler Indus-
tries, New York, attracted particular attention; it not
only called the attention of visitors who marvel at the
volume of tone and quality of the little piano but its nov-
elty of appearance also held the attention of the crowd
while the "sponsor of the attraction" offered a musical
novelty to the crowd of people brought together by the
little Tom Thumb piano.
At the Lincoln Exhibit printed across the closed leaves
of a Chicago city directory of 1876 was the advertisement
in big black type, "Story & Camp; Pianos Organs."
In gathering data on individuals in the music trades
and industries who attended the World's Columbian Ex-
position of 1893, Percy Tonk, head of Tonk Mfg. Co.,
bench manufacturers, when asked what he did ta the Fair,
replied, "I saw the 1893 Fair as a little kid in a wheel
chair. But please bear in mind my father (the late Max
Tonk) was quite prominent in the 1893 Fair.''
Fifteenth
of Publication Moll
THE MUSIC BUSINESS AND THE
NRA
Various units of the music industries: manufacturing,
publishing, jobbing, have been signed up on a code of
"Fair Competition," which action was ratified at Wash-
ington. Music merchants all over the country accepted
the NRA principle wholeheartedly and gave general sup-
port to the NRA movement. In their newspaper adver-
tising as well as the publicity in general put out by the
retail trade acceptance of the code and illustration of
the insignia is prominently displayed.
Newspaper advertisements of most of the prominent
music houses of the country such as Mellor's, Sherman
Clay & Company. Birkel, Platt Music House, Jenkins,
Cluett, Hoffman (Pittsburgh), the Griffith stores in New
Jersey, the Outlet Company (Providence), copies of
whose advertisements are at this moment before us, in-
dicate the prominence given to displaying the NRA in-
signia in their publicity.
Although a like degree of unanimity in support of the
NRA was not at first manifested by the piano manufac-
turers as existing in other divisions of the music indus-
tries and as particularly shown by music merchants,
nevertheless, piano manufacturers that carry on their own
retail establishments, such as Aeolian-American, Bald-
win, Grinnell Brothers, Cable, Lester, Mathushek, Starck,
Steinert, Steinway & Sons, Sohmer & Company, Wur-
litzer. are in line with the retail trade in general.
The term, "Piano Manufacturing Industry" as used in
the code includes the building, fabricating, repairing, re-
constructing, remodeling and assembling of pianos and of
materials, supplies and parts thereof. Article 6 provides
for a Code Control Committee to consist of five represen-
tatives of the industry elected by a fair method of selec-
tion to be approved by the administrator and three mem-
bers without vote appointed by the president of the
United States. The National Piano Manufacturers As-
sociation of America is designated the Administrative
Agency for carrying out the provisions of this code un-
der the direction of the code control committee. Copies
of this code with text in full may be had from Superin-
tendent of Documents at 5 cents per copy and applying
for registry number 1640-04, "Proposed Code of Fair
Competition for the Piano Manufacturing Industry."
The piano manufacturing industry application was
signed by Lucien Wulsin, president, and attested by
Harry Meixell, secretary. Frank Helle, of the Interna-
tional Piano and Organ Workers Union of America,
was appointed one of the labor advisors for this code.
In a circular letter sent by Delbert L. Loomis, secre-
tary, to the members of the National Association of
Music Merchants and other dealers Mr. Loomis says:
"The Master Retail Code as accepted and signed by the
president of the United States has become the Law of
Retailing and its provisions as to hours, wages and prac-
tices of Fair Competition are applicable to your busi-
ness."
In this same circular letter the new rates of annual dues
for membership, ranging from $10 for concerns whose
business is not over $150,000 per year to $100 whose
business is one million dollars a year or over. A clause
relating new schedule of dues says: "This will be
equitable to all and work a hardship on none."
Secretary Loomis informs Presto-Times that the music
merchants united with nine other of the largest retail
national associations in sponsoring this master retail code
which has recently been accepted at Washington. "These
associations," say Mr. Loomis, "together with ours, cover
practically the entire field of retailing, outside the food
and drug stores and they touch the fields of retail fur-
niture, dry goods, boots and shoes, hardware, mail
order, specialty shops, such as Woolworth's. and de-
partment stores."
The Music Publishing interests made excellent progress
in getting attention at Washington. The music publish-
ing and distributing industry, as represented by the Music
Publishers' Association of the United States, claiming
to represent approximately 75 per cent of the standard
music publishers, Music Publishers Protective Associa-
tion, claiming to represent 75 per cent of the popular
music publishers, and the National Association of Sheet
Music Dealers, claiming to represent 75 per cent of the
sheet music dealers, submitted a proposed Basic Code of
Fair Competition.
The hearing on these which was announced to take
place October 17th in room "Eye," United States Cham-
ber of Commerce Building, Washington, was postponed
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/