Established
MUSIC
Year. ..$1.00. 6 Months. .. .60 cento
MUSIC MERCHANTS 1 ASSOCIATION
SELECTED CHICAGO FOR THE
1936 GATHERING
Stevens Hotel, July 27, 28, 29
Exhibit Space Selections Started February 10
Active work has already started for the annual
convention of the National Association of Music
Merchants and the trade show of the music indus-
tries, to be held at Chicago July 27-29, inclusive, at
the Stevens Hotel. All through the month of Feb-
ruary the secretary's office at 45 West 45th street,
New York, has been a scene of great activity in
preparation for the various events to take place, main-
ly to get ready and make preparations for the ex-
hibits.
Already there is much enthusiasm and the 1936
convention promises to surpass the very important
gathering of last year, which is saying a good deal
and in fact to surpass any like convention of the
association.
In Secretary Mennie's circular letter of announce-
ments he says: "With the cooperation of the whole
sale men of all branches of the industry, the National
Retail Musical Instrument Dealers' Association, the
music trade papers and newspaper publicity, we are
assured of a larger attendance of dealers than at any
previous convention."
Secretary Mennie enclosed in his letter plans of
both the fifth and sixth floors of the Stevens Hotel
where the exhibits will be shown, and along with
this a rate sheet for guidance of prospective exhibitors.
There was also an application form enclosed which
when properly filled out for display was to be mailed
to John F. Bowman, the manager of the exhibits de-
partment, Stevens Hotel, Chicago, indicating in this
blank requirements and choice of space. One quite
interesting feature of the exhibits this year is that
members of their respective associations who ex-
hibited at the 1935 convention were given the^ option
of using the same space again this year. The ex-
hibit fee of fifteen dollars is the same as last year.
Anyone interested in exhibits or use of space on
the fifth or sixth floor and who did not receive the
circular letter sent out by Secretary Mennie may have
a copy with all the information desired upon writing
to him, 45 West 45th street, New York City.
THE
The Chicago Piano & Organ Associa-
tions Efforts in Behalf of Musical
Enterprises
O TIMES
AMERICAN
-INDUSTRIES
CHICAGO, ILL., MARCH-APRIL, 1936
Steinway the World Over
The Steinway is actually today the world's greatest
universal piano. From the facory at Hamburg go
shipments to all countries of the civilized world, bar-
ring only the United States.
And the Steinway has become, too, an important
figure in radio broadcasting the world over. In Aus-
tralia the Steinway is used by the Australian Broad-
casting Commission, while in South Africa, South
America, India and through the Orient, Mexico, Can-
ada, the United States the Steinway is used as the
official broadcasting piano.
The illustration herewith shows a lineup of Stein -
way grands, several of them concert grands, fourteen
in all in the shipment, taken at the Steinway factory
in Hamburg just as they were loading and taken to
a steamer hound for Australia. The Australian Broad -
STEINWAY GRANDS AT HAMBURG, GERMANY, FAC-
TORY READY FOR SHIPMENT TO AUSTRALIAN
BROADCASTING STATION
casting Commission ordered these instruments some-
time ago and they are intended for use at Melbourne,
Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
Other countries are important purchasers of Stein
way pianos for their broadcasting stations, such coun-
tries as Argentina, Brazil, Finland, Poland, Hungary
and numerous stations in India and South Africa. In
fact, something like twenty-four countries throughout
the world use the Steinway as their broadcasting in-
strument, all of which have been purchased outright
and it is well to bear in mind that they are purchases
by the stations and not loaned or contributed by
Steinway. This, of itself, is undisputed proof of
Steinway excellence and preeminence.
Established 1 8 8 1
JOURNAL
Fifteenth of Publication Month
Julius Breckwoldt Has a Good Word
for the Future, The Breckwoldt
Piano Supply Mills Active
The milling and manufacturing plant of the Julius
Breckwoldt & Son concern at Dolgeville, N. Y., where
the leading supply of piano case material and piano
sounding-boards are produced, piano backs, bridges,
braces, moldings and wood parts and materials thai
go into the construction of pianos, is a busy institu-
tion these days, active in consequence of the upturn
of piano manufacturing, and almost if not quite
doubled up by the added line of special household
equipment which was taken on during the piano let-
down following the heyday of piano making in
Speaking of piano conditions and operations which
have been governing the Breckwoldt business Mr.
Julius Breckwoldt says that "during the past three or
four months the piano business has recovered a great
deal and take it for a twelve months' period this
line of our plant has been much more active than for
several years past. The outlook for 1936 appears
good, unless unforeseen circumstances arise causing
a general breakup again. The depression gave us a
good object lesson and we have learned a good deal
by it. We have a better line on all our work and
are not so easygoing as we used to be.
"Having four different factories in each of which
we made different lines of goods, we have been able
to consolidate some of this work so that we could
take on the manufacture of other lines, such as novel
furniture and various other lines of woodwork and
construction. We are now very busy in the manu-
facture of certain household equipment and one as-
sociated with the plumbing business gives us an out-
put of something like 350,00(1 units a year. In fact
this business has grown so extensively that we have
been regarded as the third largest concern in the
I'nited States and our quality production has been
regarded as the finest and best.
"On the strength of this incidental work coupled
with piano prospects we have commenced heavy lum-
bering operations and when the piano business gets
in full swing again we will have great quantities of
the finest lumber to carry on our regular line of
piano work."
Mr. Breckwoldt goes on to say that with these con-
ditions prevailing and in sight, he, himself, personally,
and all his associates in the great Julius Breckwoldt
& Son plant feel better now than they have for a
long time.
Mr. Breckwoldt's words and his statement on con-
ditions is remarkably optimistic and is a self-evident
assurance that the piano business is on the eve of
great prosperity.
The last meeting of the Chicago Piano & Organ
Association, well attended, was made up of a well
diversified element of the music trades and industries
of Chicago and vicinity. It was tinged with reviews
of the things the association is taking up.
One of the plans for sponsoring some of these ex-
pected events of musical importance and allied as-
BIG NEWSPAPER OF SCOTLAND RE-
sociation convention festivities booked for the July
music trade convention (July, 22-24), was coopera-
LATES STORY OF MUSIC TRADE
The genera! sales offices of the Wurlitzer (irand
tion for putting over a big piano playing contest set
MAN AND EX-BALIE WILLIAM
forth by a Chicago newspaper. This was outlined
Piano Co., which have been in Chicago for some
THOMSON
and gone over pretty thoroughly in behalf of the in- months, are moved back to the factory at De Kalb.
The (ilasgow Weekly Herald, published in (Glasgow,
terest of the National Piano Manufacturers' Associa-
The change of location of the Chicago branch of the Scotland, and a leading newspaper of Scotland, contains
tion by Lawrence Selz. the advisory expert publicity
Rudolph Wurlitzer Company store to 111 Wabash a storv of Kx-Bailie William Thomson, head of Thomson
representative. Mr. Selz's explanation of the news-
avenue brought this change about just at this time & Son Music House, (ilasgow, and with the story an ex-
paper proposition gave a quite complete outline and
cellent portrait of that estimable and distinguished Scot
synopsis of the proposition for putting over a prize which, however, is a very advantageous move.
and gentleman. The heading of the story is "A Man with
winning contest, witli the Executive Committee o!
In the absence of Sales Alanager Hugh A. Stewart, a Mission" and it goes on to relate some of the various
the Piano & Organ Association on hand to help in
who has just returned to his office from a special activities in helping mankind in which Bailie Thomson
exemplifying a prize winning contest of this character.
mission in the south, Chief Assistant K. F. Roths- finds_himself associated particularly his work in advocat-
Later on the Chicago Tribune came into the pic-
(Continued on page 4)
child has been in charge.
(.Continued
page 4)
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