Music Trade Review
Issue: 1913 Vol. 56 N. 3 - Page 7
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
Can Artistic Traditions Be Moved Like Freight.
AN anyone transplant all of the virtues which go with an old-
established piano manufacturing business with them into any
new enterprise?
Can the essential elements which have contributed to success
in the upbuilding of a piano name be transferred like freight over
night ?
If so, then what does name value amount to? What does
trade-mark value count?
What does the cumulative result of decades of workmen figure
if these things can be done? And yet, to read the advertisements
of a St. Louis department store, "The Grand Leader," one would
imagine that this could be successfully accomplished like the trans-
portation of merchandise.
The attractive advertisements recently put forth by the Grand
Leader regarding the Knabe Bros, piano would seem intended to
convince readers that when Ernest J. and Win. Knabe, 3rd, left
the American Piano Co. they not only took with them the family
name, but all of the knowledge of how to build a piano and that
the workmen left behind in the Baltimore factory quickly followed
them in their new enterprise.
Does such advertising show the right spirit on the part of the
Grand Leader? In a recent advertisement put forth by this house
appeared the following: "The possibility of making great gains
out of the word 'Knabe' suggested itself to a group of modern-
day capitalists. In the effort for increased dividends many of the
underlying principles handed down by Wm. Knabe, 1st, were com-
pletely lost sight of, his teachings were disregarded, simply because
doing so meant increased gain, then Ernest J. Knabe, Jr., and
Wm. Knabe, 3rd, the only living Knabes, came West to Cincinnati
with a band of faithful workers, some of whose great grandfathers
had worked at the side of Wm. Knabe, 1st.
"Here in an atmosphere not dominated solely by dollars and
cents problems, they came, actuated by a noble purpose."
Then the advertisement goes on to say that quite naturally
that purpose was to build a good piano. That one of them "per-
sonally draws the scales of every Knabe Bros, piano which is sent
out," and that they personally supervise all of the pianos in the
various processes of construction.
If the advertisement simply embodied claims made for the
new Knabe Bros, piano, we might stop there, and say that was the
advertiser's privilege, but obviously it involves a very hard stab at
the American Piano Co. and its business methods, its present man-
agement and the pianos which the division of Wm. Knabe & Co.
produces.
The advertising put forth by the St. Louis house has been of
such a character that the American Piano Co. has brought suit
against the Grand Leader and Knabe Bros. Co. to have the de-
partment store enjoined from selling pianos having the name of
"Knabe" on the fallboard.
In the advertisement of the Grand Leader appears the follow-
ing as a special note: "The Knabes of the present generation,
Messrs Wm. Knabe, 3rd, and Ernest J. Knabe, Jr., are now engage!
in making the Knabe Bros, piano, which is the only piano manu-
factured by Knabe to-day. Their piano must not be confused with
the original "Knabe" of Baltimore, formerly made by them, but
with the making of which no Knabe is now connected."
It is hardly necessary to analyze the insinuations made in the
advertising matter put forth. It might be said that the American
Piano Co. is suing Knabe Bros. Co. for infringement of name and
in other actions and the actual position of the piano manufactured
by the Knabe Bros. Co. has been determined by a United States
court, which decided that every piano made by them must be dis-
tinctly marked that it is "not an original Knabe."
The natural inference from the court decision would be that a
legal tribunal accepts the Knabe piano made in Baltimore as em-
bodying the prestige associated for seventy-five years with the
Knabe name.
The question which is quite naturally asked would be why this
decision unless for the purpose of protecting stockholders of the
American Piano Co. and the piano purchasing public?
In this connection it is only right to say that Charles Keidel,
now president of Wm. Knabe & Co., a division of the American
C
Piano Co., is a grandson on the maternal side of Wm. Knabe the
first, and nearly all of his business life has been passed in close
association with the Knabe business.
The two Knabe brothers, after leaving the American Piano Co.,
secured the piano manufacturing plant owned by Smith & Nixon,
located in a suburb of Cincinnati. This plant was subsequently de-
stroyed by fire, and the Knabe Bros. Co. became established in its
present factory.
The question of comparison of values of the different instru-
ments is hardly necessary, but, so far as any deterioration of the
piano made in the Baltimore factory is concerned, we might add
that recently dealers and experts have stated in the most unquali-
fied language that the present Knabe piano is a quality instrument
in the truest sense of the word, and surely the great artists who
have played upon it recently in public performances have given
their approval of its artistic qualities.
The officers of the American Piano Co. have stated in the
strongest possible terms that no expense would be spared in main-
taining the Knabe standard. That they have backed up this state-
ment by acts would seem to be conclusively proven in the testi-
monials given in the widespread approval of their work.
Last summer, on the seventy-fifth anniversary of the estab-
lishment of the house of Wm. Knabe & Co., the old factory em-
ployees signed a statement addressed to the American Piano Co.,
in which it was stated that the Knabe piano made in the Baltimore
factory at the present time takes precedent over the product of
previous years.
So it would seem that the position of the Knabe piano as a
high grade instrument has not only been sustained, but has been
materially augmented within a recent period.
So far as the Grand Leader advertising is concerned, the pro-
prietors of this house, Messrs. Stix, Baer & Fuller, have a splendid
reputation in St. Louis, which they have acquired through years
of honorable dealing, and it is safely assumed that a form of mis-
representative advertising is not in accordance with the wishes or
desires of the principals of the house.
It is also assumed that investigation has not been made by them
as to the claims put forth by the advertising department of that
institution.
Investigation concerning piano history is at all times interest-
ing, and the more one delves into the history of an instrument like
the Knabe, the more one point is impressed upon the mind, and
that is to produce instruments of high grade throughout a long
period of years there must be an organization created which shall
work in harmony, because it is through organized effort that results
must be achieved, and, as we asked at the beginning of this article,
if a creative organization—if good will—if accumulated values of
various kinds, including sentiment, can be transferred over night,
then what does high grade piano manufacturing amount to?
The best posted men of the industry know that it takes years
of intelligent effort to create a truly artistic piano, and every new
piano which is placed upon the market should be exploited simply
upon its own merits and not through an attempt to pull down
another instrument and another position by reference to it.
Such methods invariably react upon the individuals making
them, and any house which puts forth an announcement extolling
its own goods with an intent to belittle or discredit others, usually
is unsuccessful.
The piano business has been one of evolution and when we
go back seventy-five years and compare the instruments of those
days with the present, the comparison is educating to say the least,
and if an institution has existed through all of a period of seventy-
five years, it is self-evident that it must have created an organiza-
tion which in itself constitutes an element of strength in order that
the great piano name can be successfully upheld.
Granted, that a name value is the result of continuous effort
for an indefinite period and has been created as the result of organ-
ized effort, can all of these virtues be transferred like freight from
one end of the country to the other?
If this can be successfully accomplished, why then it will be
necessary to write an entirely new chapter upon family patronymics
which insure to the public a certain standard of values.
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
Can Artistic Traditions Be Moved Like Freight.
AN anyone transplant all of the virtues which go with an old-
established piano manufacturing business with them into any
new enterprise?
Can the essential elements which have contributed to success
in the upbuilding of a piano name be transferred like freight over
night ?
If so, then what does name value amount to? What does
trade-mark value count?
What does the cumulative result of decades of workmen figure
if these things can be done? And yet, to read the advertisements
of a St. Louis department store, "The Grand Leader," one would
imagine that this could be successfully accomplished like the trans-
portation of merchandise.
The attractive advertisements recently put forth by the Grand
Leader regarding the Knabe Bros, piano would seem intended to
convince readers that when Ernest J. and Win. Knabe, 3rd, left
the American Piano Co. they not only took with them the family
name, but all of the knowledge of how to build a piano and that
the workmen left behind in the Baltimore factory quickly followed
them in their new enterprise.
Does such advertising show the right spirit on the part of the
Grand Leader? In a recent advertisement put forth by this house
appeared the following: "The possibility of making great gains
out of the word 'Knabe' suggested itself to a group of modern-
day capitalists. In the effort for increased dividends many of the
underlying principles handed down by Wm. Knabe, 1st, were com-
pletely lost sight of, his teachings were disregarded, simply because
doing so meant increased gain, then Ernest J. Knabe, Jr., and
Wm. Knabe, 3rd, the only living Knabes, came West to Cincinnati
with a band of faithful workers, some of whose great grandfathers
had worked at the side of Wm. Knabe, 1st.
"Here in an atmosphere not dominated solely by dollars and
cents problems, they came, actuated by a noble purpose."
Then the advertisement goes on to say that quite naturally
that purpose was to build a good piano. That one of them "per-
sonally draws the scales of every Knabe Bros, piano which is sent
out," and that they personally supervise all of the pianos in the
various processes of construction.
If the advertisement simply embodied claims made for the
new Knabe Bros, piano, we might stop there, and say that was the
advertiser's privilege, but obviously it involves a very hard stab at
the American Piano Co. and its business methods, its present man-
agement and the pianos which the division of Wm. Knabe & Co.
produces.
The advertising put forth by the St. Louis house has been of
such a character that the American Piano Co. has brought suit
against the Grand Leader and Knabe Bros. Co. to have the de-
partment store enjoined from selling pianos having the name of
"Knabe" on the fallboard.
In the advertisement of the Grand Leader appears the follow-
ing as a special note: "The Knabes of the present generation,
Messrs Wm. Knabe, 3rd, and Ernest J. Knabe, Jr., are now engage!
in making the Knabe Bros, piano, which is the only piano manu-
factured by Knabe to-day. Their piano must not be confused with
the original "Knabe" of Baltimore, formerly made by them, but
with the making of which no Knabe is now connected."
It is hardly necessary to analyze the insinuations made in the
advertising matter put forth. It might be said that the American
Piano Co. is suing Knabe Bros. Co. for infringement of name and
in other actions and the actual position of the piano manufactured
by the Knabe Bros. Co. has been determined by a United States
court, which decided that every piano made by them must be dis-
tinctly marked that it is "not an original Knabe."
The natural inference from the court decision would be that a
legal tribunal accepts the Knabe piano made in Baltimore as em-
bodying the prestige associated for seventy-five years with the
Knabe name.
The question which is quite naturally asked would be why this
decision unless for the purpose of protecting stockholders of the
American Piano Co. and the piano purchasing public?
In this connection it is only right to say that Charles Keidel,
now president of Wm. Knabe & Co., a division of the American
C
Piano Co., is a grandson on the maternal side of Wm. Knabe the
first, and nearly all of his business life has been passed in close
association with the Knabe business.
The two Knabe brothers, after leaving the American Piano Co.,
secured the piano manufacturing plant owned by Smith & Nixon,
located in a suburb of Cincinnati. This plant was subsequently de-
stroyed by fire, and the Knabe Bros. Co. became established in its
present factory.
The question of comparison of values of the different instru-
ments is hardly necessary, but, so far as any deterioration of the
piano made in the Baltimore factory is concerned, we might add
that recently dealers and experts have stated in the most unquali-
fied language that the present Knabe piano is a quality instrument
in the truest sense of the word, and surely the great artists who
have played upon it recently in public performances have given
their approval of its artistic qualities.
The officers of the American Piano Co. have stated in the
strongest possible terms that no expense would be spared in main-
taining the Knabe standard. That they have backed up this state-
ment by acts would seem to be conclusively proven in the testi-
monials given in the widespread approval of their work.
Last summer, on the seventy-fifth anniversary of the estab-
lishment of the house of Wm. Knabe & Co., the old factory em-
ployees signed a statement addressed to the American Piano Co.,
in which it was stated that the Knabe piano made in the Baltimore
factory at the present time takes precedent over the product of
previous years.
So it would seem that the position of the Knabe piano as a
high grade instrument has not only been sustained, but has been
materially augmented within a recent period.
So far as the Grand Leader advertising is concerned, the pro-
prietors of this house, Messrs. Stix, Baer & Fuller, have a splendid
reputation in St. Louis, which they have acquired through years
of honorable dealing, and it is safely assumed that a form of mis-
representative advertising is not in accordance with the wishes or
desires of the principals of the house.
It is also assumed that investigation has not been made by them
as to the claims put forth by the advertising department of that
institution.
Investigation concerning piano history is at all times interest-
ing, and the more one delves into the history of an instrument like
the Knabe, the more one point is impressed upon the mind, and
that is to produce instruments of high grade throughout a long
period of years there must be an organization created which shall
work in harmony, because it is through organized effort that results
must be achieved, and, as we asked at the beginning of this article,
if a creative organization—if good will—if accumulated values of
various kinds, including sentiment, can be transferred over night,
then what does high grade piano manufacturing amount to?
The best posted men of the industry know that it takes years
of intelligent effort to create a truly artistic piano, and every new
piano which is placed upon the market should be exploited simply
upon its own merits and not through an attempt to pull down
another instrument and another position by reference to it.
Such methods invariably react upon the individuals making
them, and any house which puts forth an announcement extolling
its own goods with an intent to belittle or discredit others, usually
is unsuccessful.
The piano business has been one of evolution and when we
go back seventy-five years and compare the instruments of those
days with the present, the comparison is educating to say the least,
and if an institution has existed through all of a period of seventy-
five years, it is self-evident that it must have created an organiza-
tion which in itself constitutes an element of strength in order that
the great piano name can be successfully upheld.
Granted, that a name value is the result of continuous effort
for an indefinite period and has been created as the result of organ-
ized effort, can all of these virtues be transferred like freight from
one end of the country to the other?
If this can be successfully accomplished, why then it will be
necessary to write an entirely new chapter upon family patronymics
which insure to the public a certain standard of values.
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).