Music Trade Review
Issue: 1915 Vol. 60 N. 1 - Page 11
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
corporation was organized, but has severed his
connections with that concern entirely.
Large Proportion of Cash Business and Terms on Substantial Basis—Heavy Demand for Players
W. H. Huttie, manager of the Detroit branch of
and Talking Machines—General Prosperity Means Low-Priced Demand.
the Starr Piano Co., spent the Christmas holiday
( Special to The Review.)
ing stock managed to get by, though they did not visiting in Cleveland, his former home.
DETROIT, MICH., December 2S.—The holiday have much of a margin when it was all over. Those
piano trade of Detroit turned out to be very satis- who have recently entered the business and had TO CONTINUE W1TZMANN BUSINESS.
factory in spite of the late start it obtained, though not had an opportunity to put in much stock were P. H. Kamp, Secretary and Treasurer of Com-
pany, to Take Over Management of Mem-
it was not up to last year's mark. Buying did not
unable to deliver all the machines for which they
phis Concern—Continues Same Piano Line.
start in in earnest until about the 15th of Decem- took orders. The demand ran preponderatingly to
ber. From tlun until two days before Christmas the high-priced styles. Many who desired $200
(Special to The Review.)
there was a rush. Tt seemed as though all the machines were compelled to take lower priced cab-
MKMPHIS, TKNN., December 28.—The business
prospects the salesmen had been lining up for the inets because the finest were unobtainable. Com- of E. Witzmann & Co., Inc., the prominent piano
last three or four months had all concluded at once paratively few of the machines were sold on con- house of this city, following the death of Emil
that they might as well "get it for Christmas," and tract, almost every buyer having the money ready. Witzmann, president of the company, will be con-
the ensuing onslaught on the stores made every The sales of records were enormous. The piano tinued under the management of P. H. Kamp, who
piano concern short of salesmen and made the men are finding that a l'ne of talking machines is a has been secretary and treasurer of the company
movers work nights.
good deal of a necessity in order to round out
for over thirty years. Mr. Witzmann is survived
The trade was of a higher quality than is cus- their lines.
by his wife, one son, Emil Witzmann, Jr., who is
tomary, too. "There was a larger percentage of
Lawrence H. Davis, formerly with the Detroit attending Yale, and one daughter, Mrs. F. O. Gam-
"wealthy buyers among our Christmas customers branch of the Melville Clark Piano Co. and with ble, wife of the popular representative of the Mel-
than ever before," said C. A. Grinnell, in reviewing Stanley & Sons, has joined the sales force of the ville Clark Piano Co. The Witzmann house han-
the month, and the general situation, to The Re- Detroit branch of the Bush & Lane Piano Co. He dles the Knabe, Krakauer and several other makes
view. "That meant, of course, that we had a larger was vice-president of Stanley & Sons when that of pianos and player-pianos.
percentage of cash sales, or large down payments,
and a larger percentage of high-priced instruments
disposed of. It was a season in which grand pianos
and the best player-pianos had the upper hand.
A COMPLETE LINE OF SUPPLIES FOR ALL
"It requires general prosperity to sell low-priced
BRANCHES OF THE PIANO INDUSTRY.
instruments in any quantity. The workingmen buy
them, and when they are idle, or not sure of the
future, they hoard their money against a rainy
day. That is the situation just now. Whi 1 e De-
troit is fairly prosperous as compared with other
cities from which idle workingmen are coming, the
manufacturers are not operating their plants to
capacity, with the exception of a certain few. Some
of them have laid off men altogether, while others
are working short hours, though their force is full.
In either case the amount of money they are pay-
ing out is considerably less than normally. Con-
Not to grumble about hard times but
sequently the workingmen haven't enough confi-
dence in the situation to invest their money."
to realize how much better off one is
The Bush & Lane Piano Co. had a highly satis-
here than in Europe.
factory holiday business. "It was quiet with us un-
til a little over a week ago; then the people began
to wake up," said Manager C. W. Cross. "The
To lay aside Prejudice which poses
result was that we almost cleaned out our stock in
the last ten days. In the middle of the month we
in the raiment of Experience and to
had the pianos backed up against each other in
make an unbiased comparison of the
order to conserve our space. All the rooms were
full. Now, as you observe, we have tho pianos set
merits of imported and American-made
singly, at angles, and spread out, in order to make
goods.
the rooms look as though we had a fairly com-
plete stock. Our movers actually have been unable
to take care of the business, and we will be lucky
To buy American -made goods when-
if we get all of the Christmas gifts delivered by
Christmas.
ever they are equal or superior to
"There was a big call for players. Another good
imported ones.
feature was the fact that we were not bothered
very much with taking in used pianos in exchange.
An unusually large proportion of the business was
That to rely on Europe to supply
absolutely new business. In view of what has just
happened, we are looking forward to a very good
materials is something to hush up
year, especially in view of the fact that we have
rather than boast of, whereas to use
one or two surprises in store for the public that
will be announced shortly after January I.' 1
American materials in an American
Probably a large share of the sudden burst of
piano shall be a point of pride.
speed in the holiday trade was a simultaneous pur-
chase of advertising space. Everybody advertised,
and, in the main, it was quality advertising. Few
appealed to the public with the low-price slogan.
The outcome of quality advertising was quality
trade. The people who responded desired some-
thing good, not something cheap. Even the stores
which had been addicted to the "was-now" adver-
tising talked quality. Their advertising was a reve-
SUCCESSORS TO THE
lation to people who read it; it disclosed that there
PIANO AND ORGAN DEPT.
is no necessity for cheap advertising, for a quality
OF THE
argument can be put up by firms who in the past
AMERICAN FELT GQ
have acknowledged, by talking cheapness, that they
NEW YORK
CHICAGO
had little or no quality to offer.
A wonderful feature of the holiday business of
the music trade stores was the demand for talking
machines. Nearly all of the big piano stores now
carry the talkers, and they are as much interested
in them as they are in pianos. Those who had
been wise enough to lay in a seemingly overwhelm-
QUALITY PIANOS FEATURE OF HOLIDAY SALES IN DETROIT.
Good Resolutions For 1915
,1
AMERICAN PIANO SUPPLY CO.
THE MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
corporation was organized, but has severed his
connections with that concern entirely.
Large Proportion of Cash Business and Terms on Substantial Basis—Heavy Demand for Players
W. H. Huttie, manager of the Detroit branch of
and Talking Machines—General Prosperity Means Low-Priced Demand.
the Starr Piano Co., spent the Christmas holiday
( Special to The Review.)
ing stock managed to get by, though they did not visiting in Cleveland, his former home.
DETROIT, MICH., December 2S.—The holiday have much of a margin when it was all over. Those
piano trade of Detroit turned out to be very satis- who have recently entered the business and had TO CONTINUE W1TZMANN BUSINESS.
factory in spite of the late start it obtained, though not had an opportunity to put in much stock were P. H. Kamp, Secretary and Treasurer of Com-
pany, to Take Over Management of Mem-
it was not up to last year's mark. Buying did not
unable to deliver all the machines for which they
phis Concern—Continues Same Piano Line.
start in in earnest until about the 15th of Decem- took orders. The demand ran preponderatingly to
ber. From tlun until two days before Christmas the high-priced styles. Many who desired $200
(Special to The Review.)
there was a rush. Tt seemed as though all the machines were compelled to take lower priced cab-
MKMPHIS, TKNN., December 28.—The business
prospects the salesmen had been lining up for the inets because the finest were unobtainable. Com- of E. Witzmann & Co., Inc., the prominent piano
last three or four months had all concluded at once paratively few of the machines were sold on con- house of this city, following the death of Emil
that they might as well "get it for Christmas," and tract, almost every buyer having the money ready. Witzmann, president of the company, will be con-
the ensuing onslaught on the stores made every The sales of records were enormous. The piano tinued under the management of P. H. Kamp, who
piano concern short of salesmen and made the men are finding that a l'ne of talking machines is a has been secretary and treasurer of the company
movers work nights.
good deal of a necessity in order to round out
for over thirty years. Mr. Witzmann is survived
The trade was of a higher quality than is cus- their lines.
by his wife, one son, Emil Witzmann, Jr., who is
tomary, too. "There was a larger percentage of
Lawrence H. Davis, formerly with the Detroit attending Yale, and one daughter, Mrs. F. O. Gam-
"wealthy buyers among our Christmas customers branch of the Melville Clark Piano Co. and with ble, wife of the popular representative of the Mel-
than ever before," said C. A. Grinnell, in reviewing Stanley & Sons, has joined the sales force of the ville Clark Piano Co. The Witzmann house han-
the month, and the general situation, to The Re- Detroit branch of the Bush & Lane Piano Co. He dles the Knabe, Krakauer and several other makes
view. "That meant, of course, that we had a larger was vice-president of Stanley & Sons when that of pianos and player-pianos.
percentage of cash sales, or large down payments,
and a larger percentage of high-priced instruments
disposed of. It was a season in which grand pianos
and the best player-pianos had the upper hand.
A COMPLETE LINE OF SUPPLIES FOR ALL
"It requires general prosperity to sell low-priced
BRANCHES OF THE PIANO INDUSTRY.
instruments in any quantity. The workingmen buy
them, and when they are idle, or not sure of the
future, they hoard their money against a rainy
day. That is the situation just now. Whi 1 e De-
troit is fairly prosperous as compared with other
cities from which idle workingmen are coming, the
manufacturers are not operating their plants to
capacity, with the exception of a certain few. Some
of them have laid off men altogether, while others
are working short hours, though their force is full.
In either case the amount of money they are pay-
ing out is considerably less than normally. Con-
Not to grumble about hard times but
sequently the workingmen haven't enough confi-
dence in the situation to invest their money."
to realize how much better off one is
The Bush & Lane Piano Co. had a highly satis-
here than in Europe.
factory holiday business. "It was quiet with us un-
til a little over a week ago; then the people began
to wake up," said Manager C. W. Cross. "The
To lay aside Prejudice which poses
result was that we almost cleaned out our stock in
the last ten days. In the middle of the month we
in the raiment of Experience and to
had the pianos backed up against each other in
make an unbiased comparison of the
order to conserve our space. All the rooms were
full. Now, as you observe, we have tho pianos set
merits of imported and American-made
singly, at angles, and spread out, in order to make
goods.
the rooms look as though we had a fairly com-
plete stock. Our movers actually have been unable
to take care of the business, and we will be lucky
To buy American -made goods when-
if we get all of the Christmas gifts delivered by
Christmas.
ever they are equal or superior to
"There was a big call for players. Another good
imported ones.
feature was the fact that we were not bothered
very much with taking in used pianos in exchange.
An unusually large proportion of the business was
That to rely on Europe to supply
absolutely new business. In view of what has just
happened, we are looking forward to a very good
materials is something to hush up
year, especially in view of the fact that we have
rather than boast of, whereas to use
one or two surprises in store for the public that
will be announced shortly after January I.' 1
American materials in an American
Probably a large share of the sudden burst of
piano shall be a point of pride.
speed in the holiday trade was a simultaneous pur-
chase of advertising space. Everybody advertised,
and, in the main, it was quality advertising. Few
appealed to the public with the low-price slogan.
The outcome of quality advertising was quality
trade. The people who responded desired some-
thing good, not something cheap. Even the stores
which had been addicted to the "was-now" adver-
tising talked quality. Their advertising was a reve-
SUCCESSORS TO THE
lation to people who read it; it disclosed that there
PIANO AND ORGAN DEPT.
is no necessity for cheap advertising, for a quality
OF THE
argument can be put up by firms who in the past
AMERICAN FELT GQ
have acknowledged, by talking cheapness, that they
NEW YORK
CHICAGO
had little or no quality to offer.
A wonderful feature of the holiday business of
the music trade stores was the demand for talking
machines. Nearly all of the big piano stores now
carry the talkers, and they are as much interested
in them as they are in pianos. Those who had
been wise enough to lay in a seemingly overwhelm-
QUALITY PIANOS FEATURE OF HOLIDAY SALES IN DETROIT.
Good Resolutions For 1915
,1
AMERICAN PIANO SUPPLY CO.
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