Music Trade Review
Issue: 1919 Vol. 68 N. 23 - Page 6
JUNE
7, 1919
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
7
~Iilllllllllllllrlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllil11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111I1I1II1I1I1I1I1Il1I1I1I1I1II1II1II1II1I1II1!1I1I11I1I1I1I1I1I11I1I1I1I1lI1I111II1II1IIri1ll1l1ll1l1ll1l1l1l1l1ll11 II II IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIillIIIIIlIIIIlIIIIIIlIilIlIIIIIIIIIIIlIlililIllllillIIIIIIlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII1I111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111~
MISLEADING ADVERTISING AL WA YS
A DETRIMENT TO GOOD BUSINESS
Sensational Methods of Attracting Attention to So-called Sales and Alleged Price
Reductions Work Positive and Lasting Harm to the Industry
~lIIll1l1illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!1II1I1II11II11II1I1I1I1I1l11I1I1I1I1I111iI11I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1II11I1I1I1II11I1II1I1I11I1I11I11I1I1I1I1I11I1I1I1I11I1I1I1I1I1II1I1111111 1 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111II11lillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllHllllilllllllllllllllllil1IIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIilllllllllllllllllllllllllllrr;~
If there is anyone thing that tends to cheapen
trade.
When the merchant cannot find valid
class work that· this man was doing, especially
and injure the music industry it is cheap mis
excuses for sales and has t o resort to fal se state
in building liP prestige, and working from the
leading advertising, based merely on the plan of ments he is cheapening his o wn hous e and the arti s tic standpoint. He decided that the 'salary
selling merchandise r egardless of the effect on
C'ntire trade.
None of the really important wa s too higll, and let him go, He secured an
the industry and on the house involved. The
piano houses go in fo r this sort of thing, and assistant advertising manager from a hardware
advertising education of some piano merchants some of the leading manufacture rs would with
hou se, at less than $5,,000 a year.
He has
has apparently been negJe'cted if the advertise draw their lines from a house which continued
since had a number of advertising men and
ments printed in daily newspapers indicate their to injure the industry.
has made a strong effort to get his good man
ideas of clever advertising.
Quite frequently the piano merchant is not
back with no success.
Many men who know little about the adver
so much at fault as the newspaper adv e rtising
MallY adv e rtisers do not take advertising se
tising game endeavor to write advertisements.
solicitor who is called upon to fram e the ad.
ri o usly e!1ou g h,
They feel that almost any
Some of them think that Printers' Ink is a paper In one case an advertising so licitor, . wh o was· llll'mbe r of the ~ rm, a bookkeeper, or clerk, can
devoted to printing. Some have nevn heard of fr,rmerly a cigar store clerk, kn e \\ almost noth
handl e the adv e rtising department as a side
A dvertising & Selling, They have difficulty in ing about advertising. As an advertising man
is,u e, This cannot be done successfully Ull
writing a strong and appealing advertisement,
he was a good cigar clerk, and his ideas of ad
less that man s tudies advertising and has a
or one that displays good taste. There is no vertising were along the line of display, not
natural talent for th e work. There are many
one lin~ in which common sen se, frequently re along the lin e of appealing to the public,
men who learn all th a t there is to be learned
ferred to as horse sense, plays a more impor
Where Ignorance Was Bliss
about laying out an ad, but a good typesetter
tant part than in ad vertising.
The advertiser
The writer recently called o n a piano merchant
ca n often lay it out a s well or be tter.
It is
who believes that the readers of his advertise
wllom he hadn't seen for se veral weeks.
He the ideas behind the type that count.
ments cannot think for themselves is mistaken.
found a big sale advertised 011 the front of the
So me adverti sers believe in the plan of chang
In one of the cities of the Middle \Nest two store,
The merchant was in a happy frame
ing a d ve rtising men frequ e ntly.
One retailer
piano houses have within the last few months
or mind.
He said: "Did you see those pagE ,changes his ad writer at 1east once a year,
b('en using the most unsuitable advertising that ads 1 had ill the Sunday papers?"
He pulled ',,\a iming that he brings new men and new ideas
the writer has seen in any newspaper, class
th e m out, convinced that they we re perfect, into the bu s iness, It is doubtful whether this
journal or magazine. The piano houses were and was rcally very proud of them.
is a good plan, as it tak es a long time to learn
endeavoring to create reasons for a sale,
VVhen asked where the cuts came from and
ho w a certain line of il)dustry can be handled
Some Examples of Poor Advertising
who designed the ads, he stated that the news
to the best aclvan,tage.
Side Street Methods
One house on several occasions has made use
paper furnished the stuff, If he had been told
of small improvements to the building as an ex
the real opinion of a large per Ct' ntage of the
\.\'henever a piano merchant endeavors to
cuse for page advertisements and big sales. One
people who read the advertisem e nts he would
handle his piano advertisin g on the saine basis
startling advertisement was headed "Our Ceiling have been greatly surpri s ed.
Th e advertising as that employed in a side street dry goods
Has Fallen in on Us," and went on to state
was largely wasted, for it fai led to pu.ll business.
hCluse he becomes a side street merchant, al
that immediate r e pairs were necessary.
An
Th ese advertisements may have app ealed to a
tllough he may be on tll~ leading street of the
other stated that due to big improvements it few, b\!t were of no value in inter esting the
city. Some side street merchants make money
would be necessary to dispose of stock to give class who would naturally buy pianos. They and get on the leading street, but many of them
the contraC£ors room.
A third stated that a were designed along the g en e ral lines of the are forced back again, through not knowing
big contractor had been secured to make some advertis em e nts u sed by side s treet dry goods
how to handle the better class of trade.
improvements and had notified the piano house
houses who depend e ntirely on sa les, and were
A furniture ho us e which handles some musical
tha t he would have to have the store on a cer ex tra vagant in their sta temen ts, The class ' of lin es, and which has a chain of stores featur
tain date.
people coming into th e store testified to the
ing in s talment plan business on the "You fur
This last was the least plausible, for any drawing pow e rs of th e advertisement.
The nish the girl, we'll furnish the house" basis, de
reader of the advertisement knows that the mef ver y class of people ente ring the store would
cided to start a new store in the fashionable re
chant tells the contractor when to begin work drive away the better typ es . While som e busi
tail distnct after several y ears in poorer neigh
and the contractor must act accordingly.
ness was done on cheap pianos, etc., business
b o rhoods. The store carried really good lines,
Another piano house in handling a sale used in the sheet music, talking machine, small goods
but had secured a cheap reputation.
It failed
cuts of the front of the store, showing the en and oth e r departm e nts fell off at on ce .
to make good and was. closed after a few
tire street blocked up with a crowd trying to
About a year ago one of the larger houses,
months, The manager in commenting on the
get in to buy pianos, and showing a long string which is a branch of on e o f the big manufac store said : "In the fi rst place, we can make
of delivery vans at the rear trying to load up turing and distributing con cerns, handl ed a sale.
more mou ey "ith cheaper trade and cheaper
deliveries resulting from the sale.
Cunsid e rable spac e was used in the n e ws papers,
m c rchandi "e , on the side street, We've not had
Another showed a parade of pianos from a
but the advertising was clean.
It was s tated
th e experien ce with the better classes. Vve had
cal: door to the store, the parade being led by that the factory and salesroo ms were over
to build up a new organization, as the clerks
citizens with banners, and two porters to each stocked through h ea vy production and lack of in o ur chain of stores are not used to handling
piano walking along in the rear. In this ad export demand due to the war. It was a clean- high-class trade and made many blunders. We
vertisement the dealer also featured the fact
cut reduction sale, with prices quoted on new
l1Cvei' a g ain expect to go after the high-class
that he was going to enlarge his store, had a and used s toc k and not worthless articles.
business."
large stock coming from the East, and must
Th e house reproduced an advertisement run
. Incidentally his clerks in the present stores
di5pose of the stock before improvements during normal times in which the prices of the
do not make ' a real effort to sell to the better
started.
various grades were given. Below these prices
cla,ss 'of .buyer's . when they come to the store,
An interesting example of false advertising is were listed, and to the side the prices that wer,e becau s'e-they know that the store does not have
found in one city wh e re half a dozen talking
being quot ed during the sale. There was . ·no ." tb e· lE,~ I~cl~a. l;1 dise, and the clerk feels beaten be
machine hous e's are using daily announcements
mistaking the fact that prices were being actu·al- " fore 'he .. ~£art~ . :, It's a peculiar fact, but some
tn the effect that they are the largest dealers
Jy cut.
of ·h{s ' cfefks" are· knbwn to have calmly told
and carry the largest stocks in the State. Some
The average man or woman in r eading an ad
b e tter Duye r's )Jiat t,he house had nothing that
one is prevaricating, There are a great many deal vertisement of a $600 instrument for $400 im
would suit the ' c'usto'rper, and in some cases did
ers who could not justly place the "True-:\d" agines that the instrument has been marked up
not even take the tr.ouble to ,show the stock.
seal, used by the Advertisers' Clubs of the World, at least $200 for the sale, and in some stores
The piano hOllse wp(~h)s . endeavoring to se
upon their advertising, Some manage to stay
this is true. This one house, in reproducing a cure the low-class tra,cle' cart perhaps afford to
within the truth, and that is about all.
previous advertisement showing normal prices use any sort of, sen sational advertising, but all
One of the old forms of misrepresentation was
and showing a reaL cut from the normal prices, of tile h01.lses .referred to in this article have been
made up ' of testimonial letters, which were
worked out a convincing advertisement, which making a clr,ive Jor the best-trade, featuring
imaginary, but which were reproduced in the
brought business.
·
",
themselv
Retailers are not the only ones that hav,e o n. the most important streets, but it is hard
There is no other industry in the world in mistaken ideas concerning ad'Vertising: ' A eel''>. ' t e:esee.;·how th¢y :c,a n expect to build up a sound
whic:h a greater appeal could be made to the" .YtaiH l ~nufactll
7, 1919
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
7
~Iilllllllllllllrlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllil11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111I1I1II1I1I1I1I1Il1I1I1I1I1II1II1II1II1I1II1!1I1I11I1I1I1I1I1I11I1I1I1I1lI1I111II1II1IIri1ll1l1ll1l1ll1l1l1l1l1ll11 II II IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIillIIIIIlIIIIlIIIIIIlIilIlIIIIIIIIIIIlIlililIllllillIIIIIIlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII1I111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111~
MISLEADING ADVERTISING AL WA YS
A DETRIMENT TO GOOD BUSINESS
Sensational Methods of Attracting Attention to So-called Sales and Alleged Price
Reductions Work Positive and Lasting Harm to the Industry
~lIIll1l1illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!1II1I1II11II11II1I1I1I1I1l11I1I1I1I1I111iI11I1I1I1I1I1I1I1I1II11I1I1I1II11I1II1I1I11I1I11I11I1I1I1I1I11I1I1I1I11I1I1I1I1I1II1I1111111 1 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111II11lillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllHllllilllllllllllllllllil1IIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIilllllllllllllllllllllllllllrr;~
If there is anyone thing that tends to cheapen
trade.
When the merchant cannot find valid
class work that· this man was doing, especially
and injure the music industry it is cheap mis
excuses for sales and has t o resort to fal se state
in building liP prestige, and working from the
leading advertising, based merely on the plan of ments he is cheapening his o wn hous e and the arti s tic standpoint. He decided that the 'salary
selling merchandise r egardless of the effect on
C'ntire trade.
None of the really important wa s too higll, and let him go, He secured an
the industry and on the house involved. The
piano houses go in fo r this sort of thing, and assistant advertising manager from a hardware
advertising education of some piano merchants some of the leading manufacture rs would with
hou se, at less than $5,,000 a year.
He has
has apparently been negJe'cted if the advertise draw their lines from a house which continued
since had a number of advertising men and
ments printed in daily newspapers indicate their to injure the industry.
has made a strong effort to get his good man
ideas of clever advertising.
Quite frequently the piano merchant is not
back with no success.
Many men who know little about the adver
so much at fault as the newspaper adv e rtising
MallY adv e rtisers do not take advertising se
tising game endeavor to write advertisements.
solicitor who is called upon to fram e the ad.
ri o usly e!1ou g h,
They feel that almost any
Some of them think that Printers' Ink is a paper In one case an advertising so licitor, . wh o was· llll'mbe r of the ~ rm, a bookkeeper, or clerk, can
devoted to printing. Some have nevn heard of fr,rmerly a cigar store clerk, kn e \\ almost noth
handl e the adv e rtising department as a side
A dvertising & Selling, They have difficulty in ing about advertising. As an advertising man
is,u e, This cannot be done successfully Ull
writing a strong and appealing advertisement,
he was a good cigar clerk, and his ideas of ad
less that man s tudies advertising and has a
or one that displays good taste. There is no vertising were along the line of display, not
natural talent for th e work. There are many
one lin~ in which common sen se, frequently re along the lin e of appealing to the public,
men who learn all th a t there is to be learned
ferred to as horse sense, plays a more impor
Where Ignorance Was Bliss
about laying out an ad, but a good typesetter
tant part than in ad vertising.
The advertiser
The writer recently called o n a piano merchant
ca n often lay it out a s well or be tter.
It is
who believes that the readers of his advertise
wllom he hadn't seen for se veral weeks.
He the ideas behind the type that count.
ments cannot think for themselves is mistaken.
found a big sale advertised 011 the front of the
So me adverti sers believe in the plan of chang
In one of the cities of the Middle \Nest two store,
The merchant was in a happy frame
ing a d ve rtising men frequ e ntly.
One retailer
piano houses have within the last few months
or mind.
He said: "Did you see those pagE ,changes his ad writer at 1east once a year,
b('en using the most unsuitable advertising that ads 1 had ill the Sunday papers?"
He pulled ',,\a iming that he brings new men and new ideas
the writer has seen in any newspaper, class
th e m out, convinced that they we re perfect, into the bu s iness, It is doubtful whether this
journal or magazine. The piano houses were and was rcally very proud of them.
is a good plan, as it tak es a long time to learn
endeavoring to create reasons for a sale,
VVhen asked where the cuts came from and
ho w a certain line of il)dustry can be handled
Some Examples of Poor Advertising
who designed the ads, he stated that the news
to the best aclvan,tage.
Side Street Methods
One house on several occasions has made use
paper furnished the stuff, If he had been told
of small improvements to the building as an ex
the real opinion of a large per Ct' ntage of the
\.\'henever a piano merchant endeavors to
cuse for page advertisements and big sales. One
people who read the advertisem e nts he would
handle his piano advertisin g on the saine basis
startling advertisement was headed "Our Ceiling have been greatly surpri s ed.
Th e advertising as that employed in a side street dry goods
Has Fallen in on Us," and went on to state
was largely wasted, for it fai led to pu.ll business.
hCluse he becomes a side street merchant, al
that immediate r e pairs were necessary.
An
Th ese advertisements may have app ealed to a
tllough he may be on tll~ leading street of the
other stated that due to big improvements it few, b\!t were of no value in inter esting the
city. Some side street merchants make money
would be necessary to dispose of stock to give class who would naturally buy pianos. They and get on the leading street, but many of them
the contraC£ors room.
A third stated that a were designed along the g en e ral lines of the are forced back again, through not knowing
big contractor had been secured to make some advertis em e nts u sed by side s treet dry goods
how to handle the better class of trade.
improvements and had notified the piano house
houses who depend e ntirely on sa les, and were
A furniture ho us e which handles some musical
tha t he would have to have the store on a cer ex tra vagant in their sta temen ts, The class ' of lin es, and which has a chain of stores featur
tain date.
people coming into th e store testified to the
ing in s talment plan business on the "You fur
This last was the least plausible, for any drawing pow e rs of th e advertisement.
The nish the girl, we'll furnish the house" basis, de
reader of the advertisement knows that the mef ver y class of people ente ring the store would
cided to start a new store in the fashionable re
chant tells the contractor when to begin work drive away the better typ es . While som e busi
tail distnct after several y ears in poorer neigh
and the contractor must act accordingly.
ness was done on cheap pianos, etc., business
b o rhoods. The store carried really good lines,
Another piano house in handling a sale used in the sheet music, talking machine, small goods
but had secured a cheap reputation.
It failed
cuts of the front of the store, showing the en and oth e r departm e nts fell off at on ce .
to make good and was. closed after a few
tire street blocked up with a crowd trying to
About a year ago one of the larger houses,
months, The manager in commenting on the
get in to buy pianos, and showing a long string which is a branch of on e o f the big manufac store said : "In the fi rst place, we can make
of delivery vans at the rear trying to load up turing and distributing con cerns, handl ed a sale.
more mou ey "ith cheaper trade and cheaper
deliveries resulting from the sale.
Cunsid e rable spac e was used in the n e ws papers,
m c rchandi "e , on the side street, We've not had
Another showed a parade of pianos from a
but the advertising was clean.
It was s tated
th e experien ce with the better classes. Vve had
cal: door to the store, the parade being led by that the factory and salesroo ms were over
to build up a new organization, as the clerks
citizens with banners, and two porters to each stocked through h ea vy production and lack of in o ur chain of stores are not used to handling
piano walking along in the rear. In this ad export demand due to the war. It was a clean- high-class trade and made many blunders. We
vertisement the dealer also featured the fact
cut reduction sale, with prices quoted on new
l1Cvei' a g ain expect to go after the high-class
that he was going to enlarge his store, had a and used s toc k and not worthless articles.
business."
large stock coming from the East, and must
Th e house reproduced an advertisement run
. Incidentally his clerks in the present stores
di5pose of the stock before improvements during normal times in which the prices of the
do not make ' a real effort to sell to the better
started.
various grades were given. Below these prices
cla,ss 'of .buyer's . when they come to the store,
An interesting example of false advertising is were listed, and to the side the prices that wer,e becau s'e-they know that the store does not have
found in one city wh e re half a dozen talking
being quot ed during the sale. There was . ·no ." tb e· lE,~ I~cl~a. l;1 dise, and the clerk feels beaten be
machine hous e's are using daily announcements
mistaking the fact that prices were being actu·al- " fore 'he .. ~£art~ . :, It's a peculiar fact, but some
tn the effect that they are the largest dealers
Jy cut.
of ·h{s ' cfefks" are· knbwn to have calmly told
and carry the largest stocks in the State. Some
The average man or woman in r eading an ad
b e tter Duye r's )Jiat t,he house had nothing that
one is prevaricating, There are a great many deal vertisement of a $600 instrument for $400 im
would suit the ' c'usto'rper, and in some cases did
ers who could not justly place the "True-:\d" agines that the instrument has been marked up
not even take the tr.ouble to ,show the stock.
seal, used by the Advertisers' Clubs of the World, at least $200 for the sale, and in some stores
The piano hOllse wp(~h)s . endeavoring to se
upon their advertising, Some manage to stay
this is true. This one house, in reproducing a cure the low-class tra,cle' cart perhaps afford to
within the truth, and that is about all.
previous advertisement showing normal prices use any sort of, sen sational advertising, but all
One of the old forms of misrepresentation was
and showing a reaL cut from the normal prices, of tile h01.lses .referred to in this article have been
made up ' of testimonial letters, which were
worked out a convincing advertisement, which making a clr,ive Jor the best-trade, featuring
imaginary, but which were reproduced in the
brought business.
·
",
themselv
Retailers are not the only ones that hav,e o n. the most important streets, but it is hard
There is no other industry in the world in mistaken ideas concerning ad'Vertising: ' A eel''>. ' t e:esee.;·how th¢y :c,a n expect to build up a sound
whic:h a greater appeal could be made to the" .YtaiH l ~nufactll
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).