Music Trade Review

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THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
POORLY MADE PLAYERS GETTING DEALERS INTO TROUBLE.
like those they cannot use in their own homes.
With the high-grade player-pianos I noticed that
Interesting Remarks on Trade Conditions by A. L. Jewett, of the National Piano Co., Who
there was very little trouble or complaint. I am
speaking about this cheap player problem more as
Passed Through New York This Week from a Ten-Weeks' Trade Trip.
a warning than anything else.
Bearing evidence of a very fruitful journey, A.
that a reputation for handling pianos that are ab-
"One thing I noticed very strongly is the ad-
L. Jewett, of the National Piano Co., Boston,
solutely and permanently satisfactory is the great-
vancement of the bench. Stools and chairs seem
passed through New York this week en route est help toward their success."
to be gradually going by the board. Benches even
home. Mr. Jewett has been away ten weeks, dur-
Commenting upon the player situation, Mr. in the small towns are coming right into favor,
ing which time he made over 100 cities in eighteen Jewett said: "In the smaller places I found that
both m for pianos and players. There was a time
different States, going as far West as Omaha and
the cheap player-pianos were getting the dealer
when the bench was sort of a novelty, but this
as far South as Mobile.
into all sorts of trouble. I mean by this the small,
so termed novelty is to-day the seat for musical
isolated towns where it is impossible to secure the
He found business generally good, except in
instruments.
a few places, where local conditions have affected
"As far as the National business is concerned,
dealers, but the latter were few. As a whole,
which includes, as the trade knows, the Briggs,
everybody visited seemed prosperous and well
Merrill, and Norris & Hyde pianos and player-
pleased at the volume of business being conducted
pianos, I found the dealers are very enthusiastic
and satisfied that the outlook for the next month
and very pleased with the results coming from this
or so would result in the largest holiday business
combined energetic work.
that they ever had.
"We have attempted to create a line of instru-
In the course of the trip Mr. Jewett crossed and
ments that will meet every purse, and with these
recrossed the Mississippi river ten times, and in
three lines have succeeded in doing so. The com-
answer to The Review's request, he reported that
bination has proved a strong business builder in
in the upper part of the Mississippi business was
the trade and we have a class of dealers who are
very good, while some of the more southerly points
actually boosters ; dealers who believe in the merits
in the region, where the flood occurred, had not
of these pianos and talk accordingly. National
fully recovered from the devastation.
dealers are practically one family, and the secret
One thing that impressed Mr. Jewett was the
of good houses is co-operative organization-, and
tremendous increase in the player business, the
our aim is to build pianos as though each cus-
proportion of players to pianos growing rapidly.
tomer's order were a special one. Every order gets
He considered that one-fourth of the instruments
individual care, every piano receives individual
sold in the territory he visited were player-pianos.
attention, and our standard of quality eliminates
the possibility of securing anything but good
"The general tone of piano business seems much
pianos, handsome in appearance, high in quality,
improved," said Mr. Jewett. "There are not very
and durable. Added to this, the tone quality of the
many of the real 'fake' sales now, and it was my
three lines, each piano possessing a peculiar tone
impression as I traveled from one place to another
A. L. Jewett.
of its own, and you have the National story in a
that there was an earnest desire on the part of
nutshell."
dealers to raise the standard of their pianos as services of player experts. These cheap players
well as of the players, believing it better to pay soon begin leaking and stopping up, and I should
Mr. Jewett spent a day at C. H. Ditson & Co.,
more attention to quality and save later trouble imagine there were more cheap players in use in
who has handled the Briggs piano for thirty years,
and expense. Taken as a whole the retail selling
those places than the average person has any idea
the piano department being under the able man-
terms appear to be improving and collections are of. I consider that this is working against the
agement of Louis R. Dressier. Mr. Jewett made
being looked after more carefully than for some advancement of the player industry, the impression
a few stops New Englardward and arrived home
years past. Dealers are realizing more and more being in those communities that all players are
last Tuesday.
SCIENTIFIC MANUFACTURING
is not a cold-blooded mechanical
process of increasing the output
of workmen,—just a more effec-
tive method of slave-driving. It
is rather a wise and carefully
thought-out plan of helping the
other fellow to make the most
possible of himself. Its benefits
are divided among employer, em-
ployee and customer. It pays
dividends in good feeling as well
as cash. The piano so made is
the piano to tie to. May we tell
you more about it ?
CABLE-NELSON STYLE "F"
CABLE-NELSON PIANO COMPANY
Republic Building, CHICAGO
Factory: SOUTH HAVEN, MICH.