Music Trade Review
Issue: 1908 Vol. 47 N. 10 - Page 7
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE: MUSIC TRADE
MISREPRESENTATION NOT WISE
In Special Sales or in Anything Else—"Selling
Below Cost," Etc., Injure Rather Than Help
—Plain Facts for Plain People.
Piano dealers who, in an effort to boom busi-
ness, hold special sales annually or semi-annu-
ally, a t which times they advertise pianos at
"cost," very likely do not realize the effect such
advertising may have on some people.
If the dealer does not sell at cost he has no
right to represent the prices, and when the de-
ception is discovered his trade is bound to suffer.
Even the honest dealer who makes such a claim,
and holds to it, is liable to suffer at the hands
of those who cry "fake" at any unusual offer,
but there is a still greater danger to be consid-
ered. There has to be a liberal profit allowed on
a piano in order to cover the heavy expenses
of the dealer and give him a fair margin.
The average dealer has to maintain a store,
in a good location, provide for lighting, heating,
and pay salaries to a staff of salesmen and office
men, the naturally heavy expenses being divided
among the fifteen to thirty, or possibly less,
pianos sold during the month. This naturally
makes the gross cost of the instruments much
higher than the invoice price.
If the gross cost is given as the basis of the
advertising, well and good, for the profit is only
moderate in proportion to the amount of the
transaction; but if the net factory cost is given,
what would be a wonderful margin of profit ap-
pears to be the portion of the dealer. And,
moreover, there are a surprisingly large number
of people who, having priced a piano when prices
were normal, will turn up during the sale and
compare notes, and unless the dealer is very
cautious in his statement he will be looked upon
with suspicion, and his methods dubbed as
"fake."
The only safe way in conducting special sale
advertising is to stick to the straight and nar-
row path and make only conservative statements
regarding values. "Greatly reduced prices" will
appeal to the skeptical much more strongly than
"Selling out at less than cost," for the former
has a true business ring, while the latter indi-
cates either direct falsehood or that the adver-
tiser is "up against it."
Pianos are not in the class with clothing or
edibles, for they do not go out of style at the
end of the season or get stale after a short time.
There is no more staple line, in matter of style,
in existence than pianos, and a special form of
argument should be used when conducting a
sale.
INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION
The Subject of a Three Days' Convention to be
Held at Atlanta in November.
The National Society for the Promotion of In-
dustrial Education announces that its next an-
nual meeting will be held at Atlanta, Ga., No-
vember 19, 20 and 21. The first day will be
devoted to the meetings of State branches and
State committees and to the annual meeting of
the Georgia branch.
A banquet will take place on the evening of
November 19, at which the president of the
Georgia State branch, Asa G. Candler, who is
president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce,
will preside. Industrial education, as it relates
to the prosperity of the country, will be discussed
at the banquet by eminent men representing the
educational and industrial interests of the people
of the United States. Governor Hoke Smith has
already accepted an invitation to extend the wel-
come of the State and to point out how an ef-
fective system of industrial education will result
in lasting prosperity to the country, and, there-
fore, in benefit to the industrial workers. The
other banquet speakers are to be Dr. Elmer E.
Brown, United States Commissioner of Educa-
tion; Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of the De-
partment of Agriculture; Andrew Carnegie, and
the president of the National Society for the
REVIEW
Promotion of Industrial Education; Dr. Carroll
D. Wright, former United States Commissioner
of Labor and now president of Clark College.
An exhibition of trade school work from all
over the United States will be one of the features
of the convention. This exhibition is being pre-
pared under the direction of Prof. K. G. Mathew-
son, president of the Georgia School of Tech-
nology, Atlanta.
SCHMIDT & SONS' NEW QUARTERS
Which Are to be Located at 322 Brady Street,
Will be Splendidly Equipped.
(Special to The Review.)
Davenport, la., August 29, 1908.
The firm of H. Sclunidt & Sons, proprietors of
the Aeolian naa on Main street, in consequence
of their having outgrown their present quarters,
have leased the building at 322 Brady street,
where they will remove their stock. The new
location will oe entirely remodeled to suit the
requirements of the new store. Four sound-proof
salesrooms will be built with the room, a new
front will be erected, with large plate glass win-
dows, and other modern needs of the up-to-date
music store will be installed. With the new
location the firm will be given about double the
floor space they now have. The occupation of
the store will be made about Oct. 1.
Since the establishment of the Schmidt music
houses in 1862 the firm has grown and now oper-
ates a store in Muscatine as well as the one in
Davenport. The Schmidt music house is about
the oldest in this State and was incorporated in
1901. In addition to their regular grade of goods,
such as the Steck, Ludwig and Lawson pianos,
the firm will handle a complete talking machine
department, making a specialty of the Victor
Victrola, the hornless talking machine. The Mus-
catine store is at present in charge of Herman
Schmidt, Sr., Carl and Julius, and the Davenport
store is in charge of Edward and Herman, Jr.
Ernest Schmidt, with the Aeolian Co., of New
York, is also indirectly interested in the local
stores.
"J. & C. Fischer, Pianos—Taft, Republican, 49;
Bryan, Democrat, 7; Hisgen, Independence Party,
0; Debs, Socialist, 2; Chafln, Prohibition, 2; un-
decided, 3.
"Twenty-eight of the Republicans did not say
how they voted in 1904, and six of the Democrats
were also non-committal. The vast majority of
the voters in this piano factory were for Taft.
The Independence candidate did not get a single
vote, and Debs had only three out of the sixty-
four. A Prohibitionist of 1904 has not made up
his mind under what banner he will fight this
year." This was the only piano house visited
last week.
A $100 GIFT TO^LIFE CONVICT.
H. B. Hale, in the Kansas Prison, Wrote W. W.
Kimball on a Card 1,609 Times.
(Special to The Review.)
Kansas City, Mo., August 29, 1908.
The W. W. Kimball Piano Co. received a letter
this morning from Howard B. Hale, a life pris-
oner in the Kansas State Penitentiary in Lan-
sing, enclosing a card on which the prisoner had
written the name, W. W. Kimball, 1,609 times.
It was too late for a prize in the contest, but the
company sent him $100, anyway. The winner
of the first prize in the contest wrote the name
on a card 2,264 times.
DEATH OF JAMES A. CLAPP.
(Special to The Review.)
Interlaken, N. Y., August 29, 1908.
James A. Clapp, one of the most widely-known
and respected business men in this community,
died at his home, on Seneca street, a few days
ago. Mr. Clapp was nearly 70 years of age, and
had been engaged in the music business for more
than forty years, during which time he had
trained many students in music. His whole life
had been lived within a few miles of this village.
He leaves his widow and three sisters, Mrs.
Charles Cairns, of Eau Claire, Wis.; Mrs. Gard-
iner Riggs, of Kinzua, Pa., and Mrs. Louis Elli-
son, of this village.
AMERICAN PATENT LAWS BEST.
BIDS FOR GREAT ORGAN.
E. B. Moore Says Other Countries Will Doubt-
less Modify Theirs.
Thirteen bids have been submitted for building
the great organ for the Milwaukee, Wis., Audi-
The International Congress for the Protection torium. It is said that $20,000 will be expended
of Industrial Property, which has been in ses- for the instrument. Those who bid were the
sion in Stockholm, brought its meetings to a William Schuelke Organ Co., Milwaukee; E. S.
close last Saturday. Edward B. Moore, United Haskell, Philadelphia; A. B. Felgenaker Organ
States Patent Commissioner, summing up the Co., Erie, Pa.; Hope-Jones Organ Co., Elmira,
conclusions of the congress, said:
N. Y.; Estey Organ Co., Brattleboro, Vt; Austin
"The congress believes it necessary to alter the Organ Co., Hartford, Conn.; Hann, Mangerin,
laws of various countries regarding the design Weickhardt Co., Milwaukee; W. W. Kimball Co.,
of patents, and as a result it is probable that Chicago; Hook & Hastings Co., Kendall Green,
such laws will be changed. I t is probable that Mass.; M. P. Moller, Hagerstown, Md.; Wirsching
several nations will endeavor to make conven- Organ Co., Salem, O.; Bennett Organ Co., Rock
tions with China, Japan, and the countries of Island, 111., and E. M. Skinner Co., Boston, Mass.
South America, under the terms of which they
will receive the same consideration as is now
CATLIN DOING WELL WITH McPHAIL.
extended them in America by the treaties re-
E. L. Catlin, the piano dealer in New Haven,
cently ratified which attracted so much attention
Conn., who recently took the agency for the Mc-
at the congress.
"The American laws, especially those relative Phail, reports a pleasing demand for these crea-
to patents on inventions, seem more satisfactory tions. He also handles the Starr and Richmond
and far-reaching than those of any other coun- pianos very successfully.
try, and, doubtless, the other countries will
WM. CHESHIRE'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY.
modify their laws so as to conform to the Ameri-
can regulations.
William Cheshire, of Seventh street, Rockford,
"Several changes advocated by different coun-
tries will be presented to the official congress at 111., celebrated the twentieth anniversary of his
Washington next spring, at which the delegates music business in that city recently by giving
will have full power from their respective gov- his friends a picnic at one of the popular Illi-
ernments to enter into international agreements." nois resorts. Mr. Cheshire has always made
Seventh street his place of business.
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FAVORED.
CHRISTOPHER WILL CONTINUE.
The New York Times, which, as related in last
week's Review, is taking a straw vote of the
leading factories in New York for the purpose of
ascertaining the predilections of the voters in
connection with the Presidential contest, printed
the following, among the list of concerns visited,
in last Sunday's Times:
John W. Champ has retired from the Christo-
pher-Champ Piano Co., Fort Worth, Tex., to en-
gage in another line of business, and Edgar E.
Christopher, the remaining partner, will continue
the business under the name of the Christopher
Piano Co.
THE: MUSIC TRADE
MISREPRESENTATION NOT WISE
In Special Sales or in Anything Else—"Selling
Below Cost," Etc., Injure Rather Than Help
—Plain Facts for Plain People.
Piano dealers who, in an effort to boom busi-
ness, hold special sales annually or semi-annu-
ally, a t which times they advertise pianos at
"cost," very likely do not realize the effect such
advertising may have on some people.
If the dealer does not sell at cost he has no
right to represent the prices, and when the de-
ception is discovered his trade is bound to suffer.
Even the honest dealer who makes such a claim,
and holds to it, is liable to suffer at the hands
of those who cry "fake" at any unusual offer,
but there is a still greater danger to be consid-
ered. There has to be a liberal profit allowed on
a piano in order to cover the heavy expenses
of the dealer and give him a fair margin.
The average dealer has to maintain a store,
in a good location, provide for lighting, heating,
and pay salaries to a staff of salesmen and office
men, the naturally heavy expenses being divided
among the fifteen to thirty, or possibly less,
pianos sold during the month. This naturally
makes the gross cost of the instruments much
higher than the invoice price.
If the gross cost is given as the basis of the
advertising, well and good, for the profit is only
moderate in proportion to the amount of the
transaction; but if the net factory cost is given,
what would be a wonderful margin of profit ap-
pears to be the portion of the dealer. And,
moreover, there are a surprisingly large number
of people who, having priced a piano when prices
were normal, will turn up during the sale and
compare notes, and unless the dealer is very
cautious in his statement he will be looked upon
with suspicion, and his methods dubbed as
"fake."
The only safe way in conducting special sale
advertising is to stick to the straight and nar-
row path and make only conservative statements
regarding values. "Greatly reduced prices" will
appeal to the skeptical much more strongly than
"Selling out at less than cost," for the former
has a true business ring, while the latter indi-
cates either direct falsehood or that the adver-
tiser is "up against it."
Pianos are not in the class with clothing or
edibles, for they do not go out of style at the
end of the season or get stale after a short time.
There is no more staple line, in matter of style,
in existence than pianos, and a special form of
argument should be used when conducting a
sale.
INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION
The Subject of a Three Days' Convention to be
Held at Atlanta in November.
The National Society for the Promotion of In-
dustrial Education announces that its next an-
nual meeting will be held at Atlanta, Ga., No-
vember 19, 20 and 21. The first day will be
devoted to the meetings of State branches and
State committees and to the annual meeting of
the Georgia branch.
A banquet will take place on the evening of
November 19, at which the president of the
Georgia State branch, Asa G. Candler, who is
president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce,
will preside. Industrial education, as it relates
to the prosperity of the country, will be discussed
at the banquet by eminent men representing the
educational and industrial interests of the people
of the United States. Governor Hoke Smith has
already accepted an invitation to extend the wel-
come of the State and to point out how an ef-
fective system of industrial education will result
in lasting prosperity to the country, and, there-
fore, in benefit to the industrial workers. The
other banquet speakers are to be Dr. Elmer E.
Brown, United States Commissioner of Educa-
tion; Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of the De-
partment of Agriculture; Andrew Carnegie, and
the president of the National Society for the
REVIEW
Promotion of Industrial Education; Dr. Carroll
D. Wright, former United States Commissioner
of Labor and now president of Clark College.
An exhibition of trade school work from all
over the United States will be one of the features
of the convention. This exhibition is being pre-
pared under the direction of Prof. K. G. Mathew-
son, president of the Georgia School of Tech-
nology, Atlanta.
SCHMIDT & SONS' NEW QUARTERS
Which Are to be Located at 322 Brady Street,
Will be Splendidly Equipped.
(Special to The Review.)
Davenport, la., August 29, 1908.
The firm of H. Sclunidt & Sons, proprietors of
the Aeolian naa on Main street, in consequence
of their having outgrown their present quarters,
have leased the building at 322 Brady street,
where they will remove their stock. The new
location will oe entirely remodeled to suit the
requirements of the new store. Four sound-proof
salesrooms will be built with the room, a new
front will be erected, with large plate glass win-
dows, and other modern needs of the up-to-date
music store will be installed. With the new
location the firm will be given about double the
floor space they now have. The occupation of
the store will be made about Oct. 1.
Since the establishment of the Schmidt music
houses in 1862 the firm has grown and now oper-
ates a store in Muscatine as well as the one in
Davenport. The Schmidt music house is about
the oldest in this State and was incorporated in
1901. In addition to their regular grade of goods,
such as the Steck, Ludwig and Lawson pianos,
the firm will handle a complete talking machine
department, making a specialty of the Victor
Victrola, the hornless talking machine. The Mus-
catine store is at present in charge of Herman
Schmidt, Sr., Carl and Julius, and the Davenport
store is in charge of Edward and Herman, Jr.
Ernest Schmidt, with the Aeolian Co., of New
York, is also indirectly interested in the local
stores.
"J. & C. Fischer, Pianos—Taft, Republican, 49;
Bryan, Democrat, 7; Hisgen, Independence Party,
0; Debs, Socialist, 2; Chafln, Prohibition, 2; un-
decided, 3.
"Twenty-eight of the Republicans did not say
how they voted in 1904, and six of the Democrats
were also non-committal. The vast majority of
the voters in this piano factory were for Taft.
The Independence candidate did not get a single
vote, and Debs had only three out of the sixty-
four. A Prohibitionist of 1904 has not made up
his mind under what banner he will fight this
year." This was the only piano house visited
last week.
A $100 GIFT TO^LIFE CONVICT.
H. B. Hale, in the Kansas Prison, Wrote W. W.
Kimball on a Card 1,609 Times.
(Special to The Review.)
Kansas City, Mo., August 29, 1908.
The W. W. Kimball Piano Co. received a letter
this morning from Howard B. Hale, a life pris-
oner in the Kansas State Penitentiary in Lan-
sing, enclosing a card on which the prisoner had
written the name, W. W. Kimball, 1,609 times.
It was too late for a prize in the contest, but the
company sent him $100, anyway. The winner
of the first prize in the contest wrote the name
on a card 2,264 times.
DEATH OF JAMES A. CLAPP.
(Special to The Review.)
Interlaken, N. Y., August 29, 1908.
James A. Clapp, one of the most widely-known
and respected business men in this community,
died at his home, on Seneca street, a few days
ago. Mr. Clapp was nearly 70 years of age, and
had been engaged in the music business for more
than forty years, during which time he had
trained many students in music. His whole life
had been lived within a few miles of this village.
He leaves his widow and three sisters, Mrs.
Charles Cairns, of Eau Claire, Wis.; Mrs. Gard-
iner Riggs, of Kinzua, Pa., and Mrs. Louis Elli-
son, of this village.
AMERICAN PATENT LAWS BEST.
BIDS FOR GREAT ORGAN.
E. B. Moore Says Other Countries Will Doubt-
less Modify Theirs.
Thirteen bids have been submitted for building
the great organ for the Milwaukee, Wis., Audi-
The International Congress for the Protection torium. It is said that $20,000 will be expended
of Industrial Property, which has been in ses- for the instrument. Those who bid were the
sion in Stockholm, brought its meetings to a William Schuelke Organ Co., Milwaukee; E. S.
close last Saturday. Edward B. Moore, United Haskell, Philadelphia; A. B. Felgenaker Organ
States Patent Commissioner, summing up the Co., Erie, Pa.; Hope-Jones Organ Co., Elmira,
conclusions of the congress, said:
N. Y.; Estey Organ Co., Brattleboro, Vt; Austin
"The congress believes it necessary to alter the Organ Co., Hartford, Conn.; Hann, Mangerin,
laws of various countries regarding the design Weickhardt Co., Milwaukee; W. W. Kimball Co.,
of patents, and as a result it is probable that Chicago; Hook & Hastings Co., Kendall Green,
such laws will be changed. I t is probable that Mass.; M. P. Moller, Hagerstown, Md.; Wirsching
several nations will endeavor to make conven- Organ Co., Salem, O.; Bennett Organ Co., Rock
tions with China, Japan, and the countries of Island, 111., and E. M. Skinner Co., Boston, Mass.
South America, under the terms of which they
will receive the same consideration as is now
CATLIN DOING WELL WITH McPHAIL.
extended them in America by the treaties re-
E. L. Catlin, the piano dealer in New Haven,
cently ratified which attracted so much attention
Conn., who recently took the agency for the Mc-
at the congress.
"The American laws, especially those relative Phail, reports a pleasing demand for these crea-
to patents on inventions, seem more satisfactory tions. He also handles the Starr and Richmond
and far-reaching than those of any other coun- pianos very successfully.
try, and, doubtless, the other countries will
WM. CHESHIRE'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY.
modify their laws so as to conform to the Ameri-
can regulations.
William Cheshire, of Seventh street, Rockford,
"Several changes advocated by different coun-
tries will be presented to the official congress at 111., celebrated the twentieth anniversary of his
Washington next spring, at which the delegates music business in that city recently by giving
will have full power from their respective gov- his friends a picnic at one of the popular Illi-
ernments to enter into international agreements." nois resorts. Mr. Cheshire has always made
Seventh street his place of business.
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FAVORED.
CHRISTOPHER WILL CONTINUE.
The New York Times, which, as related in last
week's Review, is taking a straw vote of the
leading factories in New York for the purpose of
ascertaining the predilections of the voters in
connection with the Presidential contest, printed
the following, among the list of concerns visited,
in last Sunday's Times:
John W. Champ has retired from the Christo-
pher-Champ Piano Co., Fort Worth, Tex., to en-
gage in another line of business, and Edgar E.
Christopher, the remaining partner, will continue
the business under the name of the Christopher
Piano Co.
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