Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE
39
REVIEW
GREAT EXPORT TRADE
WITH THE TALKING MACHINE MEN.
TALK=O-PHONE CO. TO EXPAND.
some talking salesmen, it would stop at the right
place and not sicken the customer with injudici-
ous abuse of competitors. Machines, when well
adjusted, are dependable. This cannot be said of
all piano salesmen.
Officers Elected for the Ensuing Year—Plant
to Be Enlarged and New Equipment to Be
Installed—Active Campaign to Be Inaugu-
rated—Eastern Branch in Charge of O. C.
Reed—Other Changes Inaugurated by Gen-
eral Manager Hubbell—Prosperity All Along
the Line.
Somewhat on the Tabard Inn Plan in Vogue in
London—Could be Established Here With
At Toledo, O., on January 27, in the general
Profit.
A RECORD EXCHANGE
offices of the company, the following officers of
the Talk-O-Phone Co. were elected for the ensu-
ing term: President and treasurer, A. L. Irish;
vice-president, G. G. Metzger, a prominent bank-
er; secretary, W. P. Tyler, of Swayne, Hayes &
Tyler, a leading mercantile firm of that city.
The new board of directors includes the fore-
going gentlemen and Rathbun A. Fuller and O.
C. Reed.
The plant is to be enlarged, and with an en-
tirely new equipment for manufacturing certain
talking machine specialties, and developing other
patented articles which they own, the outlay will
be upward of $90,000. In fact, when these addi-
tions and improvements are completed, the Talk-
O-Phone Co. will possess one of the few model
factories of its kind in the country. E. P. Hub-
bell, general manager of the company, is now in
New York reorganizing the staff, and hereafter
the eastern branch will be under the experienced
office management of O. C. Reed. The city trade
and large premium houses will be looked after
by S. H. Stearns, one of the best equipped men
in the business, and who recently relinquished
the management of the Chicago office.
Paul
Hayes is to be Mr. Stearns' side partner, looking
after the smaller accounts.
The New York branch, at 244 West 23d street,
occupies the entire store floor, 60 x 125 feet, and
the basement, which is now being remodeled,
decorated and furnished, so that hereafter a com-
plete stock will be carried, where only a com-
paratively small line could be accommodated in
their former restricted quarters. With the room
so long needed at their disposal, Mr. Reed stated
that at least three carloads of machines and
100 or more records of each selection will always
be kept on hand. The office force has also been
greatly augmented, and six men will travel out
of New York covering the tributary territory,
which practically is everything east of Pittsburg,
and including the Canadian provinces to the Gulf.
For the present E. W. Shewey will have charge
of the Chicago house.
TALKING MACHINE AS SALESMAN.
A German Suggests a Happy Idea Which Af-
fords Scope for Development.
An enterprising" German has patented a device
for fitting phonographs to doors. As a customer
enters the door of a shop a voice will call out:
"Flour is cheaper to-day," "New consignment of
special quality mincemeat just, received; try
some," and similar invitations.
We fail to see why some such plan would not
work beautifully in the piano business, as Presto
suggests. Why not have the talking device ad-
justed to sing out a cheerful welcome as the door
of the piano store opens? "Ah! glad you've
come; we've just the instrument you want!"
That might be the starter. Then, as the sales-
man plays softly on the piano, the machine
might speak u p clearly to this effect; "Notice
the sweet tone; listen to the silvery treble and
the rich, full bass!" "See the beautiful finish,
and remember the price is for to-day only!"
"Prices go up next week, and this is the cheap-
est place in town!" "Easy payments, too; pay
what you like and let us arrange balance for
you!" Some such work as that, while the sales-
man plays and looks innocent, might do great
things.
And one thing is certain. The talking ma-
chine would say only the right thing. Unlike
The time is coming supposedly when talking
machine records, both disk and cylinder, will be
handled on the library plan, which is now util-
ized by the Tabard Inn in connection with books,
and by a few piano player concerns in connection
with music rolls. In London there is a library
devoted to disks organized somewhat on this
plan at 142 Wardour street, which has won its
way into no limited degree of popularity. The
membership is divided into four classes. Sub-
scribers who pay $2.50 a year are entitled to six
seven-inch records at once, while the payment of
$5 entitles one to double that number. Alter-
nately the subscribers may elect to have ten-inch
records in proportion to the sum paid. A charge
of two cents per record is made on each seven-
inch record, and four cents on each of the ten-
inch size when changing. If records are not ox-
changed within the two weeks the extra charge
of a penny or two, as the case may be, must be
remitted for each record retained. All records
are forwarded to subscribers postpaid, but must
be returned at their expense. A sale of surplus
stock is held every six months so that members
are also assured of having constantly a fresh
selection.
In Talking Machines May be Looked for—The
Good Result of a World-Wide Campaign.
Big developments may be looked for this
year in the export demand for phonographs, ac-
cording to the manager of the export department
of the National Phonograph Co., New York.
"Until a year or so ago," he said, "we paid little
attention to export possibilities, as our home de-
mand was about all we could attend to. Never-
theless we received quite a few orders from
abroad through export commission houses and
from our general advertising. During the past
year we have sent agents to various foreign
countries to introduce our machines, and their
success has been wonderful. We are going ahead
on the plan of giving our foreign customers just
what they want and have introduced 'local color'
where possible by having records made by for-
eign bands and singers right in the countries
where we expect to sell the records. We have
sold thousands of machines in Mexico and Cuba
and have an agent out now who is making a
grand tour of South America. The Spanish
speaking people in those countries are great lov-
ers of music, consequently we sell more band
records and such than any other kind. We now
have orchestras and singers in all parts of the
world turning out records so that we are pre-
pared to handle any foreign demand that may
arise. We expect this year's foreign business to
be three or four times greater than last year,
which in turn was more than twice as great as
the year before."
DISKS DUTIABLE AT 45 PER CENT.
Board of General Appraisers Affirms Collector's
Ruling in the Importations of Metal Disks
for Talking Machinesv
(Special to The Review.)
Washington, D. C, Feb. 6, 1905.
The protest of R. F. Downing & Co. entered
with the General Appraisers, against an assess-
ment of duty of 45 per cent, by the collector of
customs for the port of New York, has been de-
cided against the importers. The merchandise
covered by these protests consisted of an impor-
tation of metal disks, from which the records
used in talking machines, for the reproduction
of articulate speech and musical selections are
made. They are assessed for duty at 45 per cent,
ad valorem under paragraph 193 of the present
tariff act, while the importers claimed in their
protest that the goods were electrotype plates.
UNIVERSAL CO.'S LABORATORY
Now Established at 256 West 23d Street—
After May Bronx Plant Will be Consoli-
dated.
At 256 West 23d street, New York, the Uni-
versal Talking Machine Mfg. Co. have established
a new laboratory, and records are now coming
through in fine shape. The entire top floor, 125x
25 feet is occupied, and on the expiration of their
lease in May, their uptown record plant, Brook
avenue and 134th street, will be removed and
both laboratories consolidated under one roof.
The journey to the Bronx is something of an un-
dertaking from 28 Warren street, the company's
general offices, especially when frequent, and the
desirability of a nearer location has long been
felt. Their machine works will continue to re-
main at Park avenue and 132d and 133d streets.
With the arrival of the Universal Co. on West
23d street, they make the third house in the line
there, the others being the Talk-o-Phone Co. and
the American Record Co., all within a few doors
of each other.
PACIFIC COAST MEN BUOYANT.
Jobbers and Dealers Speak Encouragingly of
Conditions in San Francisco.
(Special to The Review.)
San Francisco, Cal., Feb. 4, 1905.
It is surprising how the talking machine busi-
ness has developed on the Pacific coast during the
past two or three years. Aside from large mu-
sical houses which do an enormous business in
these machines, there are hundreds of exclusive
talking machine stores scattered all over the Pa-
cific coast.
It is safe to say that San Francisco is the best
town in the United States in proportion to popu-
lation for the sale of talking machines. One of
the prominent music houses here sold over fifty
thousand dollars' worth of instruments and rec-
ords last year. There is no point in the country
where the talking machine has a hold on the
No small goods man who is interested, di-
rectly or indirectly, in Talking Machines,
can afford to get along without
"THE TALKING
MACHINE WORLD
the first issue of which made its appearance
Jan. 15, 1905.
It has won the approbation of dealers and
manufacturers who are a unit in proclaim-
ing it "Just what was needed." It con-
tains talking machine news from all parts
of the world, interviews with leading men,
technical improvements of value, and many
pages of chat of interest to talking ma-
chine men.
Send five cents in stamps for a copy; or,
better still, send fifty cents in stamps, or
check, and secure this publication for a year.
Address,
THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD
(EDWARD LYMAN BILL, Publisher),
Madison Ave.
NEW YORK