Music Trade Review
Issue: 1899 Vol. 29 N. 25 - Page 10
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
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the fact that the rumor has already gained
ground that ere 1901 was reached John
Wanamaker would have entered the piano
arena as a manufacturer. In fact we know
of a wager which has already been made
to that effect. Mr. Wanamaker means
what he says, and we have reason to be-
lieve that he is not talking, a la Dold,
through his hat. It is not probable that
he will commence the manufacture of
pianos in the near future, at least not until
he undergoes a change of heart.
Further, Mr. Wanamaker does not be-
lieve in the piirchase of bankrupt stocks.
He says that years ago he believed that
was the proper move, but he has learned that
the demand is always for new things,
and he has nothing now to do with bank-
rupt stocks. John Wanamaker is the
greatest living merchant, and when he
added pianos to his already extensive list,
we affirmed that if John Wanamaker made
a success of the piano business it did not
necessarily follow that other men who con-
trol a colossal aggregation of stores under
one roof could do likewise. Wanamaker
is selling pianos—a good many of them—
both in Philadelphia and New York.
More, a great many more, in the former
than in the latter city, however. But how
many pianos are the other department
stores of the country selling? Very few; sur-
prisingly few; so few that they do not create
a ripple on the piano surface of New York.
ELOQUENT CASH.
'"THE orders from now on for holiday
trade will be telegraphic orders, and
the yellow missives have been coming in at
a rapid rate upon manufacturers during
the past week. That there is a dearth of
pianos is too well known, and those dealers
who profited by The Review advice of last
summer—to lay in a goodly stock in anti-
cipation of a magnificent fall trade—are the
ones who have beeen indulging in self-
congratulations during the present scarcity
of the finished product. They can dispose
of every piano for cash profits.
If" dealers are wise, they will place
marked emphasis upon securing a goodly
slice of the cash trade. There is cash,
and plenty of it, and this industry at the
close of the present year should be in the
best shape that it has ever been since the
days when old Benjamin Crehore first
commenced the manufacture of pianos in
a little Massachusetts hamlet. It is cash
that talks, great, big, eloquent cash, and
plenty of it. It makes the piano business
profitable, and renders both dealers and
manufacturers happy.
It is a fact, too well-known in business
circles to expatiate upon, that the dealer
who has good cold doljars to invest in
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
pianos is the one who receives the quickest
attention. The long-winded element °f
the trade has been the part which has suf-
fered largely during the past few weeks.
We do not mean to be understood that
they have been exclusive sufferers, but
when the decisive point is reached whether
the manufacturer shall bill his wares to a
dealer who has not been following up his
cash business to the extent of being able
to place it on the manufacturers counter
with a good solid plunk, or the man who
comes to market with a plethoric pocket-
book and an elongated bank account, why,
it is evident to those of us who scan the
situation for facts that the manufacturer
has not devoted a great deal of time as to
where his wares shall be sent.
Next year a good trade is assured, and if
a dealer desires to reach a condition where
he can receive as prompt attention as any
other man in the business, why it would
pay him materially to look up a cash busi-
ness and coach every salesman in his de-
partment to place the strongest kind of
work upon cash sales.
There is more good, solid, persuasive
argument in that word "cash" than in al-
most any other word which can be dis-
cussed in the business encyclopedia. Trade
ethics are all right; it is essential to culti-
vate them, but we have noticed invariably
when it comes to be a question between
ethics and cash, the leaning is rather
towards the cash side, for really, we are all
human. No matter how many little petty
theories or eccentricities we may possess, a
man in business—from the largest manu-
facturer down to the smallest merchant—
is looking after the jingling of the guinea.
A SUBSCRIBER who has been reading
some of our trust articles asked:
"What is the hottest kind of a trust? "
We are not well up on the subject. We
incline to the belief, however, that the
match trust will fill the bill, the softest
being the wool trust and the coldest being
the ice trust. An investment there would
be cold—couldn't help being in cold cash.
Advertising Inconsistencies.
There is unconscious humor in a large
advertisement published in a Newark paper
by a dealer in musical instruments. He
gives notice first that if anyone who may
buy a piano from him should not be pleased
with the instrument he need but say so and
will at once receive another one in, ex-
change. Then the advertiser says, in the
next paragraph: "If you are not perfectly
pleased with any piano purchased from us
the fault is yours." The man who wrote that
advertisement would never make a diplomat.
Theodore-Bertram, the famous baritone
of the Grau Opera Co., states that he in-
tends to purchase a Weber grand to take
with him to Europe.
Pianola Pointers.
The introduction of the Pianola into the
warerooms of enterprising piano dealers
all over the country has resulted, as pre-
dicted by The Review, in a quick appre-
ciation throughout the trade and the mu-
sical world of its merits and its virtues as
a producer of supplementary profit.
If ordinary tact and good business meth-
ods are brought into play, it frequently
happens now that the person in comforta-
ble circumstances who purchases a t piano
also purchases a pianola, in order that an
evening's entertainment be made sure.
Dealers have discovered also that the ad-
vent of the Pianola into the world of retail
trade has opened up infinite possibilities
for new business among old customers.
From a list of patrons who have purchased
pianos, they can select at least a fair per-
centage who can afford to purchase the
Pianola and are open to conviction.
The first of the two illustrations on this
page shows the Pianola in front of the
piano and about to be moved into position.
The second picture shows the Pianola in
position. The simplicity of the arrange-
ment and easiness of adjustment enables
dealers to handle the Pianola readily and
successfully.
R. A. Saalfield's Assets.
Richard A. Saalfield, residing at No. 65
West Sixty-ninth street, has filed a petition
in bankruptcy, with liabilities $87,885 and
assets nominal, consisting of a claim for
$50,000 against W. Bayard Cutting, for
work, and 100,000 shares of stock of the
British North America Trading and Ex-
ploration Company, pledged as collateral
and considered worthless. Mr. Saalfield
was a long number of years in the music
publishing business and quite recently
sallied into the impresario field with every
evidence of failure. Of the liabilities $15,-
000 is in judgments and $45,000 is for
indorsement on forty-six notes for J. A.
Bacon, of Boston. The debts were con-
tracted from 1892 to 1899.
\2
the fact that the rumor has already gained
ground that ere 1901 was reached John
Wanamaker would have entered the piano
arena as a manufacturer. In fact we know
of a wager which has already been made
to that effect. Mr. Wanamaker means
what he says, and we have reason to be-
lieve that he is not talking, a la Dold,
through his hat. It is not probable that
he will commence the manufacture of
pianos in the near future, at least not until
he undergoes a change of heart.
Further, Mr. Wanamaker does not be-
lieve in the piirchase of bankrupt stocks.
He says that years ago he believed that
was the proper move, but he has learned that
the demand is always for new things,
and he has nothing now to do with bank-
rupt stocks. John Wanamaker is the
greatest living merchant, and when he
added pianos to his already extensive list,
we affirmed that if John Wanamaker made
a success of the piano business it did not
necessarily follow that other men who con-
trol a colossal aggregation of stores under
one roof could do likewise. Wanamaker
is selling pianos—a good many of them—
both in Philadelphia and New York.
More, a great many more, in the former
than in the latter city, however. But how
many pianos are the other department
stores of the country selling? Very few; sur-
prisingly few; so few that they do not create
a ripple on the piano surface of New York.
ELOQUENT CASH.
'"THE orders from now on for holiday
trade will be telegraphic orders, and
the yellow missives have been coming in at
a rapid rate upon manufacturers during
the past week. That there is a dearth of
pianos is too well known, and those dealers
who profited by The Review advice of last
summer—to lay in a goodly stock in anti-
cipation of a magnificent fall trade—are the
ones who have beeen indulging in self-
congratulations during the present scarcity
of the finished product. They can dispose
of every piano for cash profits.
If" dealers are wise, they will place
marked emphasis upon securing a goodly
slice of the cash trade. There is cash,
and plenty of it, and this industry at the
close of the present year should be in the
best shape that it has ever been since the
days when old Benjamin Crehore first
commenced the manufacture of pianos in
a little Massachusetts hamlet. It is cash
that talks, great, big, eloquent cash, and
plenty of it. It makes the piano business
profitable, and renders both dealers and
manufacturers happy.
It is a fact, too well-known in business
circles to expatiate upon, that the dealer
who has good cold doljars to invest in
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
pianos is the one who receives the quickest
attention. The long-winded element °f
the trade has been the part which has suf-
fered largely during the past few weeks.
We do not mean to be understood that
they have been exclusive sufferers, but
when the decisive point is reached whether
the manufacturer shall bill his wares to a
dealer who has not been following up his
cash business to the extent of being able
to place it on the manufacturers counter
with a good solid plunk, or the man who
comes to market with a plethoric pocket-
book and an elongated bank account, why,
it is evident to those of us who scan the
situation for facts that the manufacturer
has not devoted a great deal of time as to
where his wares shall be sent.
Next year a good trade is assured, and if
a dealer desires to reach a condition where
he can receive as prompt attention as any
other man in the business, why it would
pay him materially to look up a cash busi-
ness and coach every salesman in his de-
partment to place the strongest kind of
work upon cash sales.
There is more good, solid, persuasive
argument in that word "cash" than in al-
most any other word which can be dis-
cussed in the business encyclopedia. Trade
ethics are all right; it is essential to culti-
vate them, but we have noticed invariably
when it comes to be a question between
ethics and cash, the leaning is rather
towards the cash side, for really, we are all
human. No matter how many little petty
theories or eccentricities we may possess, a
man in business—from the largest manu-
facturer down to the smallest merchant—
is looking after the jingling of the guinea.
A SUBSCRIBER who has been reading
some of our trust articles asked:
"What is the hottest kind of a trust? "
We are not well up on the subject. We
incline to the belief, however, that the
match trust will fill the bill, the softest
being the wool trust and the coldest being
the ice trust. An investment there would
be cold—couldn't help being in cold cash.
Advertising Inconsistencies.
There is unconscious humor in a large
advertisement published in a Newark paper
by a dealer in musical instruments. He
gives notice first that if anyone who may
buy a piano from him should not be pleased
with the instrument he need but say so and
will at once receive another one in, ex-
change. Then the advertiser says, in the
next paragraph: "If you are not perfectly
pleased with any piano purchased from us
the fault is yours." The man who wrote that
advertisement would never make a diplomat.
Theodore-Bertram, the famous baritone
of the Grau Opera Co., states that he in-
tends to purchase a Weber grand to take
with him to Europe.
Pianola Pointers.
The introduction of the Pianola into the
warerooms of enterprising piano dealers
all over the country has resulted, as pre-
dicted by The Review, in a quick appre-
ciation throughout the trade and the mu-
sical world of its merits and its virtues as
a producer of supplementary profit.
If ordinary tact and good business meth-
ods are brought into play, it frequently
happens now that the person in comforta-
ble circumstances who purchases a t piano
also purchases a pianola, in order that an
evening's entertainment be made sure.
Dealers have discovered also that the ad-
vent of the Pianola into the world of retail
trade has opened up infinite possibilities
for new business among old customers.
From a list of patrons who have purchased
pianos, they can select at least a fair per-
centage who can afford to purchase the
Pianola and are open to conviction.
The first of the two illustrations on this
page shows the Pianola in front of the
piano and about to be moved into position.
The second picture shows the Pianola in
position. The simplicity of the arrange-
ment and easiness of adjustment enables
dealers to handle the Pianola readily and
successfully.
R. A. Saalfield's Assets.
Richard A. Saalfield, residing at No. 65
West Sixty-ninth street, has filed a petition
in bankruptcy, with liabilities $87,885 and
assets nominal, consisting of a claim for
$50,000 against W. Bayard Cutting, for
work, and 100,000 shares of stock of the
British North America Trading and Ex-
ploration Company, pledged as collateral
and considered worthless. Mr. Saalfield
was a long number of years in the music
publishing business and quite recently
sallied into the impresario field with every
evidence of failure. Of the liabilities $15,-
000 is in judgments and $45,000 is for
indorsement on forty-six notes for J. A.
Bacon, of Boston. The debts were con-
tracted from 1892 to 1899.
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