Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
FROM PENNSYLVANIA'S MUSICAL CENTER.
Trade for the New Year Is Making a Very Excellent Showing—Much Attention Being Given
Nowadays to Interior Decoration and Improvement of Piano Parlors—The Situation Gone
Over Interestingly by Our Philadelphia Correspondent.
(Special to The Review.)
Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 10, 1906.
The Philadelphia trade has opened in a very
encouraging way. The first ten days of the new
year business has been brisk and pianos have
been moving out at a pretty lively gait. The deal-
ers generally are in the best of spirits, and are
making big plans for the spring trade. The
warehouses that looked pretty dilapidated after
the holidays are beginning to take on their nat-
ural appearance again, and considerable stock
has arrived in Philadelphia since the first of the
year. Business is going to be pushed very hard
this spring. A number of the houses are prepar-
ing for a series of recitals and for other methods
to bring their names before the public, and ad-
vertising has been heavy.
* * * *
I notice a marked Improvement in the appear-
ance of the piano houses in the way of interior
arrangement of instruments, and strikingly so in
window decorations. The Heppe house has the
best window display that that firm has had in a
year at present. There was a time when the
Heppe windows always looked attractive enough
to take the attention of any one passing, and it
was rarely that there were not several people
looking in the window. No firm in town has
such a varied line of goods for the making of a
window display, and no firm has two such fine
windows as the Heppes for such a display. The
window display is considerable as an advertise-
ment for a firm, that brings people inside. But
they must be given a good impression when they
are inside. If the piano dealers of Philadelphia
desire to see a model interior of a first floor of
a piano store, they want to make a call on Henry
F. Miller & Sons, and look over James C.
Miller's first floor arrangement of stock. Noth-
ing is congested, but every piano stands free that
it can be moved about at will, and can be seen
from all sides, and a little distance away a per-
spective view can be had of it. This is Mr. Mil-
ler's idea, and all he feels that it is necessary to
display on his first floor is one each of his vari-
ous styles of Miller uprights, specimens of the
few other agencies he carries, and four grand
pianos, a concert grand and three Lyric grands.
This is all that is necessary, and all the pianos
that would look well even in as large warerooms
as the Miller house enjoys. The Miller Co. is not
the only piano firm with an artistic eye as to
the arrangement of pianos, but there are more
firms that have bad taste in this matter than
good, and this refers to those firms who have
their floors so stocked with pianos that you can
hardly move about, that you can never pull them
out to look them over, and then have them mixed
with a lot of secondhand pianos, old squares and
some cheap organs. Who could see the real
beauty of a fine piano under such circumstances?
Is it any wonder that the dealers ask them-
selves why they do not succeed better in their
business.
* * * *
Gimbel Bros, have been doing very well since
the holidays. B. F. Owen has been in the West
for a week in an effort to urge the shipment of
stock In order to fill up their depletion. When
I called there on Tuesday they had but one
Sohmer-Cecilian to show, and had .orders for sev-
eral of these instruments. 0. W. Williams, rep-
resenting the Packard piano, was a visitor at
the Gimbel store this week. He is very well
pleased with the way the firm is handling the
Packard, the best seller of that instrument being
the- Style R, which is very rich in veneer, but
very plain. The Gimbels have also recently re-
ceived several of the new style Ivers & Pond
pianos, style 266. They have the best tone of any
instruments yet turned out by this house.
* * * *
George Baker, of the Blasius house, reports
that the holiday business with them was fine,
and that it has been keeping up right along.
"We could not ask for anything better," he said.
"The factory is working full time and things are
booming." J. W. Kline, traveling representative,
is at present in San Francisco. E. J. Smith, an-
other Blasius traveler, is in Michigan. They
are pretty nearly sold out of the Krell Auto-
grands. They had a big run on these instru-
ments during the holidays, but they are begin-
ning to come in again slowly. The firm expect to
conduct a series of recitals in their warerooms
the latter part of this month, February and
March. Two new catalogues, an Albrecht and a
ulasius, are about to be gotten out.
* * * *
Oscar Jones has left the employ of C. J. Heppe
OE Son. He has been connected with the house
about a year, first as an assistant to the late W.
J. Street, and assumed his place at his death.
Mr. Jones, it is said, has gone back to New York,
from whence he came. R. M. Stultz has as-
sumed his place temporarily. Mr. Stultz is one
of the best all-around piano men in Philadelphia,
and besides being a good salesman is also a fine
player and composer. Edmund Wolsieffer has
been ill at home for nearly a week, but is again
about.
* * * *
The Estey Co. took a contract this week for the
building of one of their fine pipe organs in the
St. John's Reformed Church of Red Lion, York
County, Pa. At present they are fitting up a
very nice music room on the second floor of their
building, which, when completed, will look just
like a room in a private house, the object being
to show their instruments as they will look in
your own home.
* * * *
The Simplex Co. have shipped all of the instru-
ments they had on hand in Philadelphia to the
factory, and all the second-hand pianos to the
Estey wareroms. They have closed their Phila-
delphia barnch entirely, and as yet have found no
one to represent them in this city.
* * * *
D. E. Woolley says he has received no further
answers to his circular letter sent out some time
ago. Only five men out of all the Philadelphia
organization answered his letter. This shows the
calibre of only too many of the Philadelphia
piano dealers, who take no earthly interest in
their association, and yet when they get hurt it
is to the association that they first look for re-
dress or for some suggestion to help them out of
their difficulty.
* * * *
William H. Sherwood, the pianist, played here
recently, and for some reason or other the piano
that he plays at all his recitals failed to arrive.
He looked the situation over and paid the Henry
F. Miller & Sons the compliment of coming to
their warerooms for the piano that he played on.
THE
ERNEST A.
TONK
PIANO
He was very much delighted with the Miller
grand he used, and personally told the audience
so at an interval between his numbers.
* * * *
Burton R. Miller, a son of James C. Miller,
and who at present is connected with the Boston
house, spent the holidays with his father in this
city.
EASTERN
MAN.
C. A. Longwell Pays a Visit to the Factory—
Will Make His Headquarters in New York.
C. A. Longwell, who, as stated in a former
issue of The Review, has recently been appointed
Eastern representative of the A. B. Chase Co.,
is passing a few days at Norwalk, O., in con-
sultation with officers of the company and ac-
quainting himself with the construction part of
the business.
Mr. Longwell, who is himself a musician of
ability, expressed himself in enthusiastic terms
to The Review regarding the new player-piano
('. A. LONUWULL.
to be placed upon the market by the distin-
guished Norwalk concern. During a former visit
to the factory he gave the A. B. Chase player an
exhaustive test and was surprised at many of the
strong points which were developed through
trial. Mr. Longwell brings to bear in his work
a most valuable experience covering many de-
partments of trade which will be of special
benefit to him in his new position.
He stated to The Review that he had long been
an admirer of the A. B. Chase piano and that he
felt proud to be identified with such a worthy in-
strument. It is his intention to make his head-
quarters in New York, from which point he will
cover New England and adjacent territory.
The Santa Cruz Emporium Co., recently or-
ganized in Santa Cruz, Cal., will represent the
Sherman, Clay & Co.'s line of instruments. An-
other new dealer for this house is J. D. Stalland,
of Grass Valley, Cal., who will handle their line
for Nevada County.
Lyman Page, the well-known dealer of Middle-
town, Conn., is having a splendid demand for
the Mehlin, which has won a big following in that
locality.
E XTRAORDINARY
DURABILITY
A R T I S T I D C E S I G N
T
11
REVIEW
OUCH LIGHT AND
RESPONSIVE
Correspondence with active
dealers solicited.
William Tonk&Bro.
INCORPORATED
452-456 Tenth AY*., New York