Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
ROW
EDWARD LYMAN DILL.
Editor and Proprietor.
J. D. SP1LLANE, Managing Editor.
EXECVTIVE STAFF:
THOS. CAMPBELL-COPELAKD,
W. MURDOCH LIND,
GEO. B. KKLLKR,
BOSTON OFFICE:
CHICAGO OFFICE:
EKNEST L. WAITT, 255 Washington St.
PHILADELPHIA OFFICE:
R. W. KAUFFMAN.
EMILIE FRANCES BAUER,
GIO. W. QUERIPEL.
A. J. NlCKLIN,
E. P. VAN HARLINGEN, S6 La Salle St.
MINNEAPOLIS AND ST. PAUL:
R- J. LEFBBVRK.
SAN FRANCISCO OFFICE:
5T. LOUIS OFFICE :
CHAS. N. VAN BUREN.
ALFEED MBTZGHE, 325 Davis St.
Published Every Saturday at 1 Madison Avenue, New York.
Entered at the New York Post OMce as Second Class Matter.
SVBSCRIPT1ON (including postage), United States, Mexico and Canada, $2.00 per
year; all other countries, $4.00.
ADVERTISEMENTS, $2.00 per inch, single column, per insertion. On quarterly or
yearly contracts a special discount is allowed. Advertising Pages $50.00; opposite reading
matter, $75.00.
REMITTANCES, in other than currency form, should be made payable to Edward
Lyman Bill.
THE ARTISTS'
DEPARTMENT
On the first Saturday of each month The Review contains in its
"Artists' Department" all the current musical news. This is effected
without in any way trespassing on the size or service of the trade
section of the paper. It has a special circulation, and therefore aug-
ments materially the value of The Review to advertisers.
ninFTTrtRY of Pi AND
The directory of piano manufacturing firms and corporations
UANttVir-rim r » « " f o n n d « n P a * e 31 will be of great value as a reference for
MANUFACTURERS
dealers and other*.
_ _
We refer to the recent booklet, "Building the Vose." It is
a history of piano making, interestingly told and attractively
featured by illustrations of more than ordinary interest, carrying
one through the factory until the instruments are boxed for
shipment.
It is a work which Vose dealers should find of much benefit
to them in their exploitation of the product of this famous old
Boston concern.
NUMBER of merchants in other lines than our own are
offering prizes in the way of free trips to the St. Louis World's
Fair. Notices of perhaps fifty of these prize contests have come
to us from different States. All such enterprise has a tendency
to emphasize the fact that St. Louis is to be the most popular
city of the United States this year.
The Fair which will open there at the close of the month will
be the one great attraction which America has to offer this year.
A
NYONE who is at all familiar with the .enormous scope of
this Exposition must realize that it will far eclipse in point
of attractiveness any other Exposition which the world has ever
seen. Its musical features, which have been announced in earlier
numbers of The Review, are particularly inviting—in fact at no
previous Exposition has music come in for such generous treat-
ment as at the hands of the St. Louis Exposition managers. The
pianos to be heard in concert life must be limited to those repre-
sented in the official catalogue, and when we figure the small
number who manufacture grand instruments, the concert pianos
are boiled down to an extremely limited number, and some of
that number are going to receive tremendous publicity through
the musical attractions of St. Louis' great show.
A
LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE-NVMBER 1745 GRAMERCY.
NEW YOMl, APRIL 23, 19O4.
I
NTERESTING information is conveyed by our various corre-
spondents to the effect that there has been an exceptionally
large demand for high grade instruments in the various big dis-
tributing points for the month.
This statement is emphasized by the fact that many of our
manufacturers of the high grades of instruments are extremely
busy, and the same activity extends to the better lines of piano
supplies.
High grade action manufacturers report a busy month and
with plenty of orders placed for future delivery.
T
HIS state of affairs speaks well for the business prospects for
the year, and there is a very satisfactory degree of activity
in practically all departments of the trade. Current business rests
upon the sound basis of excellent conditions throughout the
country, as local merchants are in good shape for trade, and are
surrounded by prosperous communities.
The results of business last year left them in good financial
condition.
T
HERE is danger in letting piano stocks go down too low.
Attractive lines of instruments should always be carried.
There is weakness in permitting warerooms to become too greatly
denuded of piano stock. A dealer should not buy regardless of
his ability to pay, nor should he sell regardless of his ability to
collect.
We have seen a number of warerooms during the past month
which evidently exhibited a timidity on the part of the dealers to
carry a sufficient amount of stock on hand to make their ware-
rooms attractive. Such a plan is carrying conservatism to an ex-
treme point. If it pays to be in business, it pays to have at all
times a line of attractive instruments well kept and attractively
displayed.
V
OSE literature is always artistic and attractive. The latest
product of the advertising department of this house is more
than that, it is impressive.
T
HAT universally esteemed veteran of the music trade, P. j .
Heaiy, remarked some years ago, when wonderful tales
were related to him of astonishing results secured by house to
house canvassers for piano customers by another piano concern:
"They may have the door bells if they'll leave us the news-
papers."
The expression was characteristic of this man of clear and
far sighted business vision, who so many years ago saw the bene-
fits of newspaper advertising.
Lyon & Healy, years ago, were generous patrons of local
publications, and to-day it is almost impossible to take up a
Chicago paper that does not contain their piano advertisement
prominently displayed on its pages.
T
HE house of Lyon & Healy have expended vast sums in
newspaper advertising, and perhaps this attitude which
has been steadfastly maintained for many years by them has had
a deterring effect upon Chicago's department stores entering the
piano business. Their managers only had to look at the vast
emporium of Lyon & Healy and notice the vast amount of space
which they were purchasing in the daily papers, to figure that in
order to compete with them would mean to occupy an additional
business block and to spend as well a fortune yearly in advertis-
ing a single department.
EAR by year the smaller jewelry and furniture stores on
Wabash avenue and State street have gradually folded
their tents like the Arabs and have stolen away, some to the
department stores and others to unknown parts, and still the
number of piano men have multiplied rather than decreased.
This condition, to our mind, emphasizes the fact that through
Mr. Healy's fixed belief in the value of publicity, in the enormous
patronage which his house has given the daily papers, have been
a force which has prevented many of the great department stores
of Chicago from creating piano departments.
That statement of Mr. Healy's, "They can have the door
bells, if they'll leave us the newspapers," is thoroughly character-
istic of the man and his belief in the value of publicity which has
been so thoroughly upheld in all his advertising policy.
Y
READER of The Review in writing us refers to our
editorial of last week wherein reference was made to a
salesman who had quit work for the reason that he was not ap-
preciated in a financial way.
A