Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE
ers' banquet. He has been a liberal support-
er of art, and he has recently shown his pre-
eminence as a cabinet maker. His inven-
tion of a so-called collapsible table for use
at the theatres shows that he is possessed of
talents which would make him an invaluable
/ ^ \ N E of the wideawake piano men of the employee of the modern Chippendale or
South said recently: "While it does not Sheraton.
pay to pay too close attention to the other fel-
This table is, in fact, a veritable side-board,
low, it is safe to say that no piano man can room enough to hold decanter, selzer si-
lay claim to up-to-dateness unless he has phons, glasses and cigars, but so arranged by
methods of keeping tab on what his compet- economy of space as to fold up and carry by
itors are doing."
a handle like a satchel. Many a play now
We cannot agree with our friend in this damned by a cold audience of critical first-
statement, for the man who is eternally nighters might achieve an hilarious success
watching the other fellow is losing time by the presence of one of these convenient
which had a mighty sight better be devoted aides to optimism. Many kings have learned
to the furtherance of his own business ends. useful trades for the purpose of making
Naturally a merchant who does not keep them secure when the deluge came, but it was
himself posted, is in the dark as to the real arranged for King Edward to produce a
situation, but the most successful business novelty in the way of cabinet work. No
man of to-day could not spend time figuring wonder the English piano-makers toasted
what his competitors are doing; he goes him!
ahead and acts.
possible, the photographs should be finished
in a dark reddish-brown tint on paper having
' a medium degree of gloss. This produces a
far better engraving than one which is fin-
ished up in more attractive style.
H E crop prospects have improved mate-
rially recently. So much so that that
part of the business situation is worthy of
comment. In the great wheat fields of the
West the weather has been all that could be
expected at this season. In Kansas and Ne-
braska the needed rain has fallen over the
vast region where there was a marked defic-
iency of moisture, and the crops have gener-
ally made satisfactory progress. The wheat
and corn states embrace vast distributing
areas for pianos and organs, and naturally
the condition of crops in those states is of
obvious interest to manufacturer and to
dealer.
T T is interesting to notice the difference be-
tween the banquet of the American music
trade and that of the English trade, the latter
recently holding its fourteenth annual dinner
in London. The president is Major Rose,
the head of the Broadwood concern. In Eng-
land they first toasted the King, compliment-
ing him upon his sportsmanship qualities and
regretting that his candidate for the Derby
had gone lame. Next in line the toasts of
Her Majesty the Queen, their Royal High-
nesses the Prince and Princess of Wales and
members of the Royal Family were in order.
Then the Houses of Parliament were toasted
and a lot of others. There was no end to
toasting.
.
At the piano men's banquet in this coun-
try, there was a touching tribute paid to our
late President Wm. McKinley, by Mr. Dut-
ton.
The forms observed at the two dinners well
illustrated the two forms of government.
There were other reasons, however, save
those of kingly origin, why Edward VII.
should have been mentioned at a piano-mak-
Ho < w —
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Trade Journalism
• : >
has been honored at great
expositions through
The "REVIEW
w h i c h w a s a \v a r d c d
GRAND "PRIX
"Paris Exposition 1900
DIPLOMA
'Buffalo Exposition 1901
may say that it is reported in trade circles
that the block fronting on the east side of
Broadway between 33rd and 34th streets,
with a frontage of 206 feet on Greeley
Square, has been leased to a big firm who
will erect a department store on the site at
an early date. Of course the report includes
that this concern will handle pianos.
"T* IME was when it was quite the common
practice to see signs emblazon the wind-
ows of piano emporiums bearing the names
of certain leading instruments long after the
proprietors had for certain reasons lost the
agency of these self-same pianos. In fact,
years ago it was difficult indeed for even the
trade expert to locate the correct agency of
certain leading pianos in various towns ow-
ing to the fact that dealers would continue
using great names as a drawing card when
they did not have the instruments to show,
or were not the legal representatives of the
pianos named.
Then, too, some of these dealers took es-
pecial pains to blacken the reputation of the
pianos in the estimation of the visitor who
was attracted by the sign. There are a few
notable instances where these practices are
continued to-day. One is in Baltimore, and
we understand that this dealer who has the
sign of one of the great pianos upon his
building has been urgently requested on sev-
eral occasions by the local representatives
of the piano to withdraw the misleading
sign. It is to be hoped that he will accede
to this fair request.
SILVER MEDAL
A N old and tried salesman recently said,
"The young fellows of to-day have a
better chance to win big salaries than we old
fellows ever had, and I believe that piano
T N many sections of the United States there manufacturers never were as quick to realize
is a dearth of banking facilities, and some the real merits in men as they are to-day.
of our piano men in localities remote from They don't travel as hard to-day as we used
great centers are unable to obtain the credit to, and drinking bouts arc no longer in vogue.
that in a live business provides a large part In fact a man's success on the road does not
of the sinews of war. Even in towns where depend upon his ability to get away with big
banks exist it frequently happens that the dinners and wine ad lib., but he must be a
rates of interest are so high as to deter the clean-cut business fellow, do good work. Of
business man from borrowing.
course he must dress neatly and plainly, for
It is indeed the opinion of many authorit- an up-to-date business man marks a man as
ies that rates of interest in such instances a fool who apparels himself with extrava-
could be considerably lowered by the adop- gance.
tion of a system of branch banks such as are
"I am rather glad of the new condition of
now carried on in Canada and in various affairs. It isn't a question of intrigue to-
countries of Europe.
This question of day, but the matter of a fair presentation
branch banks which is obviously of great im- of business facts."
portance to the retail trade in all lines is
There is no question but there is a bright
now attracting the attention of some of the future to-day in this industry for energetic
best authorities on financial matters.
young traveling men who endeavor to make
Charleston Exposition 1902
themselves valuable to their employers.
|Vf EWS concerning new moves of depart-
ment stores is of considerable interest
among piano circles in New York at the pres-
ent time, as so many of these establishments
have taken on pianos. Tn this connection we
j \ j OW that Blumie is again in perfect erup-
tive condition, it is believed that he
can discount Mt. Pelee and make that aged
volcano so tired that she will quit.