Music Trade Review
Issue: 1918 Vol. 67 N. 23 - Page 11
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
DECEMBER 7, 1918
11
CHRISTMAS TRADE GETTING^ELL UNDER WAY IN BUFFALO
Piano Dealers Note Beginning of Unusually Brisk Holiday Season—Labor Situation Clearing Up—
Death of W. H. Hotchkiss—Trade Goes "Over the T o p " in War Fund Drive
BUFFALO, N. Y., December 2.—The sale of
pianos, players and talking machines for gift pur-
poses is lively at the Buffalo stores this week.
Even if many instruments intended for Christ-
mas presents were bought in November and the
first part of this month on account of the early-
shopping propaganda of the Council of National
Defense, it is expected that the Yuletide business
will show no cessation until Christmas eve.
Traveling salesmen representing piano fac-
tories were rather scarce in Buffalo during the
past year. Now that the country is trying to
get on a peace basis it is expected that a small
army of these drummers may arrive here after
January 1. The shortage of goods and the ex-
cessive cost of passenger transportation during
the war helped to lessen the number of trips
of these salesmen to Buffalo.
Mr. McAdoo's
elimination of the half-cent extra Pullman fare
may help materially in restoring the local activ-
ity of. the piano drummers. What will help
still more to bring back their old-time competi-
tion will be a return to normal production at the
factories.
Now that some of the munition plants are
closing, the genus errand boy, whose parents
again declare that they want him to "learn the
piano business," is beginning to make the rounds
of the local piano stores for a new job. Gone
are the days when such a youth, who could
adapt himself to be a fair lathe hand, could
make his little $25, $30 or $35 a week. Now
he is trying to adapt himself to the prospect of
earning $7 to $10 a week, but he doesn't submit
without a struggle. If he gets work at a local
piano store, for instance, unless he soon shows
marked ability as a salesman, he is likely to be-
gin below the salary quoted. Piano merchants
say that during the summer it was difficult to
hold an errand boy for more than a week, and
that his services were far from efficient. They
expect that by the end of the year there will be
available plenty of boys willing to work and
stay on the job. Some of the successful piano
men of Buffalo say that when they entered the
business the average wages of a beginner was $3
a week.
The "musical instruments section" went "over
the top" in the United War Workers' campaign.
B. E. Neal, of Neal, Clark & Neal, was chair-
man. The quota was $7,500.
C. M. Wall, road representative of the Co-
lumbia Co.'s Buffalo branch, has recovered from
an attack of the "flu." Marion Dorian, chief
auditor of the company, was a recent visitor.
F. A. Denison, who was recently appointed man-
ager of this branch, reports that he has several
thousand dollars' worth of unfilled orders.
"Every home should have a Pianola on
Thanksgiving Day" was last week's principal
announcement of Denton, Cottier & Daniels.
The Buffalo Community Chorus gave an im-
pressive program at the Elmwood Music Hall
Thanksgiving Day. Another feature was an ad-
dress by Secretary of the Navy Josephus
Daniels.
'
William Henry Hotchkiss, formerly one of the
owners of J. N. Adam & Co.'s department store,
which has a complete piano section, died at his
home here Saturday night. He was one of the
LANGDON
The
Remarkable
PLAYER-PIANO
The Best DEALERS' Proposition
on the Market Today
LANGDON PIANO CO.
Player-Piano*
82-88 Brown Place
Exclusively
New Yorfc
wealthiest men in Buffalo and was credited with
having had the largest individual real estate
holdings of any individual in this city. Mr.
Hotchkiss was born in Ansonia, Conn., and came
here with the late J. N. Adam, with whom he
opened a department store in 1882. That part-
nership continued until Mr. Adam withdrew to
enter municipal politics. Mr. Hotchkiss con-
tinued the business alone for a time. He bought
out the William Hengerer Co.'s department
store, which handles Victrolas, and later sold
both properties to the Associated Merchants'
Co., of New York.
"Our trade last month was four times that of
November, 1917," said A. F. Koenig, of the Koe-
nig Piano Co. "We could have sold twenty-
five more players if we hadn't been short of
stock." This firm handles the Hallet & Davis
and Pathe lines. Mr. Koenig has received a new
holiday shipment of Q R S and Universal rolls.
C. N. Andrews, of W. D. .& C. N. Andrews,
recently visited the Victor factory. New York
and Washington were also included in his jour-
ney.
The Government has issued an order cutting
down by 50 per cent, the $1,650,000 war housing
program at Niagara Falls. The original pro-
gram, if it had gone through, would have opened
a big field for the piano merchants of this ter-
ritory. Chamber of Commerce and industrial
leaders of the Cataract city are trying to in-
duce the Government to carry out the original
plans in their entirety.
"MAKING THE OFFICE PAY"
Valuable and Interesting Volume on That Im-
portant Subject by W. H. Leffingwell Just
Published by the A. W. Shaw Co.
Making the office pay is a problem that faces
practically every business man to-day, whether
he is large or small, and, therefore, a new
volume on this important subject, under the
title of "Making the Office Pay," of which W.
H. Leffingwell is the author, just published by
the A. W. Shaw Co., Chicago, should prove of
tremendous interest. The problems of the of-
fice, especially the large office, are many and
complex, because the office for the most part
is a consuming and not a producing factor in
the business.
In the treatment of his subject, Mr. Leffing-
well has apparently overlooked no important
detail. He tells, for instance, how to check up
the office work; how to secure greater results
in proportion to the payroll, by gingering up
the office workers; accepted methods for select-
ing the right employes; plans for making
sure of good letters and of saving money
and correspondence; of filing methods that
save time, and of the use of efficient of-
fice forms.
He tells in a practical manner
of methods for increasing his stenographic out-
put, and gives some valuable hints on reducing
the cost of supplies through systematizing; on
short cuts in accounting; on handling office
callers; speeding up mail; rushing orders
through; checking up advertising, and systems
for watching collections.
The volume, a substantial one of nearly 400
pages, is elaborately illustrated with photo-
graphs and charts; is carefully indexed and has
side indexes on each page to call attention to
the exact matter handled in the various para-
graphs. In this time of reconstruction, when
every dollar counts in the office, when it must
be made to produce the greatest results in mak-
ing the business pay, it is a volume .that should
be welcome as an addition to the business man's
library. The price is $4 net.
C. D. Young, the music and book, dealer, of,,
Escondido, Cal., has recently remodeled t\\t in-
terior of his store so as to allow for demon-
stration rooms for musical instruments.
"The Piano for Dry
Territory"
AN
Entirely New
Easy Selling
PROFITable
Player Proposition
for
Piano Merchants
SEEBURG
•X"
"Pression"
Electric Reproducing
Piano
Embodying the coin-oper-
ated principle.
Every hotel, restaurant,
candy store and lunch-room
proprietor wants good music
for his patrons. The only
practical solution is to be
found in the SEEBURG
coin-operated reproducing
piano, playing expression
rolls.
Music: not noise!
J. P. S e e b u r g
Piano Company
Leaders in the Automatic Field
Republic Bldg., 209 S. State St.
Factories: Seeburg Bldg., 419 W. Erie St.
CHICAGO
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
DECEMBER 7, 1918
11
CHRISTMAS TRADE GETTING^ELL UNDER WAY IN BUFFALO
Piano Dealers Note Beginning of Unusually Brisk Holiday Season—Labor Situation Clearing Up—
Death of W. H. Hotchkiss—Trade Goes "Over the T o p " in War Fund Drive
BUFFALO, N. Y., December 2.—The sale of
pianos, players and talking machines for gift pur-
poses is lively at the Buffalo stores this week.
Even if many instruments intended for Christ-
mas presents were bought in November and the
first part of this month on account of the early-
shopping propaganda of the Council of National
Defense, it is expected that the Yuletide business
will show no cessation until Christmas eve.
Traveling salesmen representing piano fac-
tories were rather scarce in Buffalo during the
past year. Now that the country is trying to
get on a peace basis it is expected that a small
army of these drummers may arrive here after
January 1. The shortage of goods and the ex-
cessive cost of passenger transportation during
the war helped to lessen the number of trips
of these salesmen to Buffalo.
Mr. McAdoo's
elimination of the half-cent extra Pullman fare
may help materially in restoring the local activ-
ity of. the piano drummers. What will help
still more to bring back their old-time competi-
tion will be a return to normal production at the
factories.
Now that some of the munition plants are
closing, the genus errand boy, whose parents
again declare that they want him to "learn the
piano business," is beginning to make the rounds
of the local piano stores for a new job. Gone
are the days when such a youth, who could
adapt himself to be a fair lathe hand, could
make his little $25, $30 or $35 a week. Now
he is trying to adapt himself to the prospect of
earning $7 to $10 a week, but he doesn't submit
without a struggle. If he gets work at a local
piano store, for instance, unless he soon shows
marked ability as a salesman, he is likely to be-
gin below the salary quoted. Piano merchants
say that during the summer it was difficult to
hold an errand boy for more than a week, and
that his services were far from efficient. They
expect that by the end of the year there will be
available plenty of boys willing to work and
stay on the job. Some of the successful piano
men of Buffalo say that when they entered the
business the average wages of a beginner was $3
a week.
The "musical instruments section" went "over
the top" in the United War Workers' campaign.
B. E. Neal, of Neal, Clark & Neal, was chair-
man. The quota was $7,500.
C. M. Wall, road representative of the Co-
lumbia Co.'s Buffalo branch, has recovered from
an attack of the "flu." Marion Dorian, chief
auditor of the company, was a recent visitor.
F. A. Denison, who was recently appointed man-
ager of this branch, reports that he has several
thousand dollars' worth of unfilled orders.
"Every home should have a Pianola on
Thanksgiving Day" was last week's principal
announcement of Denton, Cottier & Daniels.
The Buffalo Community Chorus gave an im-
pressive program at the Elmwood Music Hall
Thanksgiving Day. Another feature was an ad-
dress by Secretary of the Navy Josephus
Daniels.
'
William Henry Hotchkiss, formerly one of the
owners of J. N. Adam & Co.'s department store,
which has a complete piano section, died at his
home here Saturday night. He was one of the
LANGDON
The
Remarkable
PLAYER-PIANO
The Best DEALERS' Proposition
on the Market Today
LANGDON PIANO CO.
Player-Piano*
82-88 Brown Place
Exclusively
New Yorfc
wealthiest men in Buffalo and was credited with
having had the largest individual real estate
holdings of any individual in this city. Mr.
Hotchkiss was born in Ansonia, Conn., and came
here with the late J. N. Adam, with whom he
opened a department store in 1882. That part-
nership continued until Mr. Adam withdrew to
enter municipal politics. Mr. Hotchkiss con-
tinued the business alone for a time. He bought
out the William Hengerer Co.'s department
store, which handles Victrolas, and later sold
both properties to the Associated Merchants'
Co., of New York.
"Our trade last month was four times that of
November, 1917," said A. F. Koenig, of the Koe-
nig Piano Co. "We could have sold twenty-
five more players if we hadn't been short of
stock." This firm handles the Hallet & Davis
and Pathe lines. Mr. Koenig has received a new
holiday shipment of Q R S and Universal rolls.
C. N. Andrews, of W. D. .& C. N. Andrews,
recently visited the Victor factory. New York
and Washington were also included in his jour-
ney.
The Government has issued an order cutting
down by 50 per cent, the $1,650,000 war housing
program at Niagara Falls. The original pro-
gram, if it had gone through, would have opened
a big field for the piano merchants of this ter-
ritory. Chamber of Commerce and industrial
leaders of the Cataract city are trying to in-
duce the Government to carry out the original
plans in their entirety.
"MAKING THE OFFICE PAY"
Valuable and Interesting Volume on That Im-
portant Subject by W. H. Leffingwell Just
Published by the A. W. Shaw Co.
Making the office pay is a problem that faces
practically every business man to-day, whether
he is large or small, and, therefore, a new
volume on this important subject, under the
title of "Making the Office Pay," of which W.
H. Leffingwell is the author, just published by
the A. W. Shaw Co., Chicago, should prove of
tremendous interest. The problems of the of-
fice, especially the large office, are many and
complex, because the office for the most part
is a consuming and not a producing factor in
the business.
In the treatment of his subject, Mr. Leffing-
well has apparently overlooked no important
detail. He tells, for instance, how to check up
the office work; how to secure greater results
in proportion to the payroll, by gingering up
the office workers; accepted methods for select-
ing the right employes; plans for making
sure of good letters and of saving money
and correspondence; of filing methods that
save time, and of the use of efficient of-
fice forms.
He tells in a practical manner
of methods for increasing his stenographic out-
put, and gives some valuable hints on reducing
the cost of supplies through systematizing; on
short cuts in accounting; on handling office
callers; speeding up mail; rushing orders
through; checking up advertising, and systems
for watching collections.
The volume, a substantial one of nearly 400
pages, is elaborately illustrated with photo-
graphs and charts; is carefully indexed and has
side indexes on each page to call attention to
the exact matter handled in the various para-
graphs. In this time of reconstruction, when
every dollar counts in the office, when it must
be made to produce the greatest results in mak-
ing the business pay, it is a volume .that should
be welcome as an addition to the business man's
library. The price is $4 net.
C. D. Young, the music and book, dealer, of,,
Escondido, Cal., has recently remodeled t\\t in-
terior of his store so as to allow for demon-
stration rooms for musical instruments.
"The Piano for Dry
Territory"
AN
Entirely New
Easy Selling
PROFITable
Player Proposition
for
Piano Merchants
SEEBURG
•X"
"Pression"
Electric Reproducing
Piano
Embodying the coin-oper-
ated principle.
Every hotel, restaurant,
candy store and lunch-room
proprietor wants good music
for his patrons. The only
practical solution is to be
found in the SEEBURG
coin-operated reproducing
piano, playing expression
rolls.
Music: not noise!
J. P. S e e b u r g
Piano Company
Leaders in the Automatic Field
Republic Bldg., 209 S. State St.
Factories: Seeburg Bldg., 419 W. Erie St.
CHICAGO
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