Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
SPECIALTY TALKS.
QUESTIONS PROPOUNDED BY THE
"REVIEW"
UPON
THE LIVE
MATTERS OF
THE
DAY AND
ANSWERED BY LEADING MEN IN THE TRADE.
Interview XIII—Chas. N. Post.
T TNDER the above head THE REVIEW
yj proposes to give weekly the expressed
views of some members of the trade upon
matters which are of live interest.
It
should be understood that the answers to
these inquiries will be published in every
instance without editorial criticism. In
other words, every "specialty talk" will
fairly express the sentiment of the individ-
ual under whose name it appears, rather
than the editorial belief of THE REVIEW.
There will be no distortion; no boiling
down. The answers will be published with-
out change or comment, and in every case
the individuality of the one whose opinions
are written will be preserved. We propose
in this way to build one of the most inter-
esting features which a trade paper can offer
to its readers. This week Mr. Post favors
us with a talk.
REVIEW—The wonderful development of
the Lyon & Healy "small goods" trade, Mr.
Post, and your experience on the road in
connection with this particular branch of
your business, would fully warrant your
speaking very authoritatively on any mat-
ters pertaining to the manufacture or dis-
tribution of what are commonly desig-
nated "small goods."
MR. POST — I have spent over thirty years
of my life in this house. The last twenty
years have been devoted entirely to the
small goods part of the business in selling
and manufacturing, ten years of which was
spent in traveling in the interests of the
house.
REVIEW—With the "turn of the tide" in
business conditions, which is "so devout-
ly to be wished," do you think the small
goods business will receive a decided
"boom ?"
MR. POST — I can see no reason why, upon
the return of general prosperity, the small
goods business should not feel the effects
at once. While I look for no boom in any
line, I do think that sound money is a
sure winner, and that confidence will be
restored almost immediately after election.
That, to my mind, means that business will
take an upper turn, but capital that begins
to move at the top, must percolate |^ell
down through the body commercial before
it raises the mechanic's wages, or makes
the farmer's wheat or potatoes worth more,
both of which conditions must exist before
genuine prosperity is assured, and which
will take time to bring about.
Mr. Healy said to me in July, 1893, just
after the panic had struck us: " I t takes
five years for a panic to run its course in
this country.' We will not recover from
this one short of that length of time, I am
sure."
As it was in its early stages then, I dif-
fered with him, as we all did here in the
house. We know now that he was right,
as he usually is on such questions. That
would mean that it will be the fall of '98
before it has spent its course.
REVIEW—Competition in your special de-
partment, Mr. Post, is, we presume, as se-
vere as in the majority of other depart-
ments in the music trade industry?
MR. POST—While competition in small
goods is always with us, it does not cut so
important a figure in our small goods bus-
iness as it does with the other departments.
The reason is probably easily found in the
unique position that this concern occupies
as the largest manufacturers and jobbers
of this class of goods in the world, which
gives a strong prestige and attracts trade
from many countries.
We are not con-
fined to any locality or class with the
goods we manufacture, as our banjos sell
CHARLES N. POST.
in England, while this trade has passed its
zenith here; our bandurrias in Mexico,
while there is no demand for them as yet in
the United States; our harps in Germany,
England and other foreign countries, and
so on. Our Washburn instruments, now
so well known all over the world, practically
have no competition, and such slight falling
off as there may be just at present in their
sales, is due only to the hard times.
REVIEW—In point of absolute popularity,
would you consider the mandolin, guitar,
banjo, bandurria, zither or autoharp (in-
cluding the various instruments of the
autoharp family) the greater favorite?
MR. POST—I should place the relative
positions of the instruments you mention,
in regard to popularity, just as you have
above, except that the zither should come
before the bandurria. As for the autoharp
it cannot be really classified as one of that
family, and while its sales are considerable
yet it is sold to an entirely different class of
people, and should be considered more in
the light of a musical novelty which has
scored a wonderful success.
REVIEW—We believe, Mr. Post, your
house has worked up a very considerable
trade with the "Washburn" instruments
in Mexico and South America. Have you
found business in that quarter to turn out
satisfactorily, and is the outlook good for an
increased trade in these localities?
MR. POST—The small instrument trade
in Mexico and South America so far as our
experience goes is largely overdrawn. In
the latter country what business we have
secured has cost us more thus far than the
profits have amounted to. In Mexico I did
some business during my visit there last
winter, but most of the instruments have
to be made 3specially for that trade and
differ very materially from standard styles
required here. Besides, there are only a
few towns in the whole country where
goods of this class can be sold, even if one
has just what is wanted. Free silver is ex-
emplified to its greatest extent in business
in Mexico. A mandolin that we retail here
at $2.50, must be sold there at $10.00. I
sold, while there, a harp that retails here
at $700 gol(/, as they would say, which they
must sell for $2,200 in silver for the same
instrument.
REVIEW—Of the merits of the Lyon &
Healy harp we presume you could dilate at
considerable length. Is the harp, as a
home instrument, increasing in popularity
in this country?
MR. POST—Space would not be allowed
me, I presume, except at so much per
line, to say what I would like concerning
the merits of the Lyon & Healy harp. As
a home instrument it is slowly but surely
increasing in popularity, and with the re-
turn of good times the sales for these in-
struments must rapidly increase. It is an
instrument that will always appear to be
high in price, as purchasers seem to "size it
up " with the piano, and cannot understand
why it should cost so much more. If those
who desire this information will write us,
I will see that they receive a prompt ex-
planation and plenty of literature bearing
upon this subject.
REVIEW—You consider, do you not, Mr.
Post, that the Lyon & Healy harp is, in
point of tone, workmanship and general
appearance, equal to any similar instru-
ment of domestic or imported manufacture ?
MR. POST—No harp ever made can com-
pare with the harps we are now producing,
in quality or quantity of tone, in beautiful
workmanship and perfect finish. The fact
that we are shipping harps constantly to
Europe, the last one a few days ago to Herr
Ohme, the harpist at the Stadt Theater,
Hamburg, Germany, should be conclusive
evidence that they are considered even
there, where prejudice must first be over-
come, superior to those produced elsewhere.
Of all professional musicians a harpist
seeks the best instrument that he can buy,
and the Lyon & Healy harps, with their
many important improvements, appeal
instantly to a person who thoroughly under-
stands this instrument. A player who has
at times almost given up in despair at the
impossibility of keeping his old style harp
in repair, sees at a glance the remarkable