Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
MARCH 24,
1923
NEW COLUMBIA_NATIONAL DRIVE
BRUNSWICK DEALERS IN CONVENTION
COLUMBIA DEALERS TIE UP
Pages in Saturday Evening Post Make Prestige
Appeal in New National Campaign
Dealers in the Pittsburgh District Meet and
Close Session With Dinner at Fort Pitt Hotel
—Leslie I. King Makes Address
Chicago Appearance of Van and Schenck Fea-
tured in Window Displays and Special Drive
Starting a few weeks ago, the Columbia
Graphophone Co. inaugurated a new full-page
campaign in the Saturday Evening Post. This
campaign will supplement the extensive news-
paper advertising campaign which is credited
largely with the increase in record sales volume
reported by Columbia dealers this year. These
new pages are aimed directly at the prestige
appeal with a well-defined explanation of the
New Process record feature.
The opening advertisement prepared the
ground for the real purpose of the campaign.
On March 31 a full-page describing a special
Columbia record, Ponselle's "Ernani Involani,"
is directed to attract the attention of people
who know good music. Comparison is invited
and six other symphony series records are listed.
It is suggested that Columbia dealers tie up
to this campaign with local window displays,
as such displays will give them an opportunity
of getting maximum results from this adver-
tising. All Columbia dealers will receive copies
of the advertisements to be run in the Saturday
Evening Post well in advance of their ap-
pearance.
NEW MEIER & FRANK DEPARTMENT
PORTLAND, ORK., March 21.—Among the remod-
eled stores and departments that are attract-
ing much attention from talking machine and
View of Interior of Establishment
record buyers in this city is the elaborate de-
partment of the Meier & Frank store, which
has been greatly enlarged, well equipped and
attractively furnished. The department occu-
pies an entire floor of the big store and, in ad-
dition to liberal space for the display of ma-
chines, has a battery of a dozen or more dem-
onstration booths, which will take care of the
steadily increasing trade.
A. H. CURRY ON EXTENDED TRIP
Vice-president of Thos. A. Edison, Inc., Making
a Visit to Important Southern Points
A. H. Curry, vice-president in charge of the
phonograph division of Thomas A. Edison, Inc.,
left Orange on the thirteenth of this month on
a business trip. His fir.st stop was at Pitts-
burgh, where he addressed the Dealers' Conven-
tions, held in that city under the auspices of the
Buehn Phonograph Co., Edison jobber in the
Pittsburgh district. From there Mr. Curry pro-
ceeded to Dallas, Tex., where he will survey the
business of his Edison jobbing house in Dallas
and the Texas territory it serves. On the way
back from the South Mr. Curry plans to stop
off at New Orleans and Atlanta, where he will
call on the local Edison jobbing houses, posting
himself in a first-hand way on trade conditions
in the Louisiana and Georgia sections.
The regular Victor April supplement con-
tains, in its list, a new Caruso selection which
will undoubtedly have a wide appeal, as well
as four numbers from "William Tell."
March 17.—Brunswick phono-
graph dealers of the Pittsburgh district were
guests at an informal dinner held at the Fort
Pitt Hotel last evening. Dealers were present
from western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and
West Virginia. An excellent dinner preceded
the business session. George Meyer, Jr., the
well-known and popular Brunswick representa-
tive, presided and introduced Leslie I. King, of
Cleveland, divisional sales manager. Mr. King
made a very interesting and forceful address
and presented a number of reasons for better
business conditions in 1923.
He pointed out that the industrial situation
throughout the country was materially improv-
ing and that all indications pointed to a brisk
season in all lines of business for the next
twelve months. He stated that as the result
of a survey of the phonograph business taken
in forty-nine retail stores between New York
and Chicago the analysis indicated that the
unit of sale for 1922 was $111, whereas the
previous year it was only $81, which indicated
a public trend to purchase better merchandise.
Thirteen of the dealers included in this number,
Mr. King stated, had an increase of 31 per cent
over the previous year. Twenty-two had an
increase on the average of 10 per cent. Seven
of this number discontinued business and the
balance was on a par with 1921.
Mr. King laid no small stress on the subject
of dealers expecting a return on their invest-
ments in merchandise for advertising and talked
very strongly on the point that the dealers
should find an original idea to link up with the
national advertising copy which had been pre-
pared for them by national organizations and
that they should always seek the advice of news-
paper advertising staffs who were adequately in-
formed to serve them. Mr. King's outlook for
the Pittsburgh district Brunswick business was
most optimistic and he predicted larger and more
diversified sales of the Brunswick line in this
section. L. S. McLeod, branch manager of the
Brunswick at Cleveland, also attended the
dinner.
PITTSBURGH, PA.,
ARTISTIC EDIS0N_SL0GAN USED
In Advertising Campaigns of Jobbers and Deal-
ers Throughout the Country
CHICAGO, III., March 19.—-Van and Schenck, ex-
clusive Columbia artists and one of the finest
popular teams on the big time vaudeville cir-
cuit, appeared recently at the Palace Music Hall
Featuring Van and Schenck Records
in this city, where they were given an enthusias-
tic ovation. The act stopped the show at prac-
tically every performance and the management
was obliged to turn away thousands who could
not secure admission during that week.
The local Columbia dealers throughout the
city tied up to the appearance of Van and
Schenck through the medium of attractive window
displays, featuring the artists and their record-
ings. During Van and Schenck's stay in Chi-
cago Columbia dealers reported a substantial
increase in the demand for the Columbia records
made by this famous team.
SONORA ART POSTER FOR MARCH
The art posters prepared by the Sonora ad-
vertising department for the use of Sonora
dealers during March are especially fitting the
season of the year, as they embody the period
Thomas A. Edison, Inc., has recently pre-
pared a series of electrotypes, decalcomanias,
etc., for the use of Edison jobbers and Edison
dealers in their advertising campaigns. This
new series was built around the slogan "Com-
parison With the Living Artist Reveals No Dif-
ference," which has been adopted as "standard
equipment" for Edison publicity and promo-
tion matter. The name of the instrument and
this slogan, which appears in Edison ads, pages
32-3, this issue, have been humanized by the
illustration of the singer and the whole has
been set into a form which partakes of a trade-
mark and is shaped and colored so that it will
quickly attract attention.
The Victor Co. has just sent out a number of
foreign supplements in the following languages:
Arabian, Bohemian, German, Greek, Hebrew
(Yiddish), Italian, Lithuanian, Mexican, Polish,
Portuguese, Russian, Swedish.
Dealers who are keen to the development of
their business should see to it that greater
stress is put upon the sale of the foreign records
represented in catalogs like these referred to.
of Spring. The accompanying illustration, show-
ing one of the March posters, will give some
idea of their attractiveness, although the black
and white reproduction hardly does justice to
the color theme. This poster features a scene
from "Hansel and Gretel" and the popular
Louis XV Sonora is shown in actual color.