Music Trade Review

THE
AUGUST 4, 1923
... ,
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
13
JOHN H. WILSON. 324 WASHINCTON STREET, TELEPHONE. MAIN 6950
........
BOSTON, j\,IASS., July 31.- Plans app ear to be
moving on apa ce for the National Music Ex­
positio-n whi ch is being arrange d for the week
of November 26 at Mechanics Building by the Na­
tional Exhibition 'l.ssociation, Inc. In a leallet issued
by the Association under the caption "Why Go to
Boston?" the a nswe r is thus give n t o the query:
"It is the Ameri can met ropolis of art, literature
and music. And it is located in the midst of
a section famed for the skill of its craftsmen
an d the excellence of their produ cts." The
plan for this expos ition has been endorsed by
Secretary Vlfi llia m F. Merrill, of the ?-Jew Eng­
land Music Trade Associat ion, who is thus put
on record: " You r enterprise will lead in ev itably
to a more widespread appreciation and patron­
age of mu sic, in which the music trad e wi ll ben­
efit." Harry L. Katz is tlJe prime mover in thi s
project ed exposition and he and thos e co -opcr­
;'!;l1g with him are just now callin g on the local
music tr ade in an effo rt to get \\idespr ead in­
terest. The trad e in New York, Chicago and
·other pl aces, it is u nderstoo d, is also being ap­
proached for its endo rsement.
Preparing New Asso ciation Booklet
By way of co -operating and whetting a nev.
nterest in music trade associatio:: oct iv ities,
'secretary Merrill, of the New England Music
Trade Association, has mapped out the text of
!the circular to be sent to the trade, mention of
~Yhich was made in last we ek's issue of The
Review. "'Actionists' in the Music Trade­
''''ho Are They?" is the title of the leallet, which
wi ll probably go o ut to the trade some time in
Septemher
To Continue Westfield Plant
There is considerable local interest in the
story that the Skinner Organ Co., whose local
establishm ent is located at 215 Sydney street,
Dorch ester, is not to dismantle its Westfield
plant. The Skinner Co. a while ago purchased
the prop er ty of the Steere Organ Co. at vVest­
field and after continuing the bu~iness there
for a time decided to transf er the equipment
to it s Dorchester plant, and this work already
had got under way. In the last few months
business has taken such a boom that it has
been decided to continue the vVestfield plant
and additional employes are being hired.
Special Poole Styles Please
"'Every day it is gellin g s trong er," ,ay s Dan
Fabyan when asked about the Poole Piano Co.'s
business. Fabyan ha~ ju:,t ,·durned from a
s hort trip among the New Hamp shire dealers,
who, he reports, were especially enth usiastic
over the new walnut upri ghts, known as styles
30, U and 20, whic h are being built for fairs
~nd carnivals only, and there has been an instant
demand for these, dnticip ating the Fall season
of town and country shows which always are
a fea ture of suburban life throughout New Eng­
land. Treasurer E. C. Parkhurst, of the Poole
Co., spent the week-end at Litchfie ld, N. H.,
goi ng over the road on Saturday with a group
of fri ends.
Vase & Sons Executives Entertain
Both D. D. Luxton and Fred C. Harlow, of
Vose & Sons, have been busy entertaining
guests lately. Arthur H. Howes, manager of
the piano departm :Mich., was one of those to vis it the Vase fac­
tory, and Mr. Harlow took him for an automo­
bile driv e along the North Shore and as far as
Newcas tle, N. H., wh ich was a great treat
.to Mr. Howes. Following his visit here Mr.
Howes went to Vermont, his home State. An­
Mher visitor here was kobert O. Armstro ng, the
Albany and Troy manager for Cluett & Sons.
Mr. Armstro nr; was in town with his family and
motored here and back. Business at the Vase
factory is movin g along very well and the new
Watertown factory is daily attracting more and
more attention as it nears completion.
Getting Settled in New Offices
By degrees the new executive offices of the
Mason & Hamlin Co. arc getting in to shape
at 146 Boyl s ton street, but it will be several
months before things here will be finall y se ttled,
as the company w ill not come into full posses­
sion of the building before the end of the year.
Meamvhil e th e new factory in Harriso n avenue
is now in complete operation in all departments,
though there yet is work to be don e on some
of the smaller huildings on the property. /\.
welcou e ca ll er at the Mason & Hamlin offices
has been Pau l Hahn, the well-known piano mer­
chant of Toronto, Canada, who handl es the in­
s trum ents of this Boston house.
At the Hallet & Davis Offices
C. C. Conway is expected here from New
York this we ek to spend several days at th e
Hallet & Davis Co.'s Boylston street offices.
A. ]. Cullen, the Chicago repres entative of the
house, is h ere from that Middle \Vest city
spending a few days. Mr. Cullen , it will be
~ r ca ll eJ, wa~ located line a couple of years
ago as manager for the Lan ~ in g Sales Co . at
170 Harrison aven ue.
McPhail Co. Makes Good Showing
Business at the A. M. McPhail Co . has been
making a very good showing for mid-Summer
and the late sty les of instruments are proving
especially popu lar in the trade.
Laurence
Barry, head of the company, is spending hi,
vacatio·n at Jackman, );Ie., with his family, and
John]. Clark has just returned from his vaca­
tion, which was spen t do wn on Cape Cod, where
the fi shing is good.
With the Vacationists
Thomas .'\. A. Hazlitt, who is in charge of
the stock room of the Q R S music rolls head­
quart ers in Harrison avenue, is home from his
vacation, wllich wa s spent with his bro ther in
a canoe trip along the Charles River.
Frank C. Gorman. manager of the music roll
department of the C. C. Harvey Co., starte d last
Saturday for a two weeks' vacation at Old
Orchard, Me.
Jame s A. Smith, retail manager of the sheet
music d epa rtment of the Oliver Ditson Co., is
away on his vacation. He motored over the
roads with Mrs. Smith to Springfield, Vt., where
Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the guests of her family.
Sheppard J.'o ncl, who made a definite as"ocia­
lion with the Ivers & l'ond Co. as director prior
to going to Europe in the Spring, has returned
hom e after a pleasa nt visit on the Continent.
Walte r Goodwin and \l a rk Erickson, local
piano salesmen, have been spending their vaca­
tion at Moosehead Lake, M I".
V\'. S. Stackhouse, of the r eta il staff of the
A. M. Hume Music Co., has started on his an­
nual vacation, which is usually taken in Mary­
land, where he has relativ es.
Vi;. M. Milton, also of the Hume Co., has
gone to Boothbay, Me., for a fortnight.
Wallace Flagg, the ve teran sa lesman of the
C. C. Harvey Co., starts on his vaca tion on
August 11 for Jackson, N. H., where for a num­
ber of Summe rs he has found rest and enjoy­
ment a t Gray's Inn.
Thomas F. Carr, salesman at Miller's, has re­
turn ed fro tTl his vacation, spent with his family
at Derry, N. H .
Clarence A. Woodma n, of the Oliver Ditson
Co., is spending his vacation at Nant ucke t with
Mrs '''!oodman.
Horace O. Jones, manager of the 0 R S in
this territory. whose marriage was announced
in this department severa l weeks ago, has leased
an apartment at 1391 Commonwealth avenue,
,\l1ston, where he and his bride are pleasantly
located.
Arthur F. Olsen, tr8yeling man for the Q R S,
was here from New York a few days ago.
Joe J . Horan, lllanager of the piano depart­
ment for the Shepard Stores, has just got back
from a motor trip taken throu gh the '''!hite
Mountains and into Canada.
V:. S. Birdsa ll , m:1nab chine departm ent of Aeolian Hall, has been on
an automobile' trip through the Adirondacks and
into Vermont. Charles Foote, of th e sales force
of Aeolian Hall, has been over in New York
for a week.
Roy Sylv este r, in charge of the music roll
department for Ch ickering & Sons, is planning
hi s vacation for the latter part of August and
will go to th e Provinces.
William G. Adams, of the staff of the Pardee
Ellenberger Co., Edison distributor, is start­
in g this coming Saturday for his vacation, which
will be sp ent in the Moosehead L ake region of
Main e.
CHECKING UP SALESMEN'S VALUE
Effective Plan for Keeping Track of Earning
Value of Salesmen Worked Out by a Mer­
chant in the West-Nan-producers Found Out
.\ mtl~ic dealer on the Western Coast has
work ed out a plan that keeps him informed at
all times on jus t which clerks and departments
are paying their way and which are simply bur­
dens to the store. He figures that a clerk's
sa lary should r epresent no more th~ n ~. fixed
sa les expe nse p!ln:enqge of the tota l merchan­
dise he se lls. He figures from his records that
he cc n ;>.!low 5 cents out of every dollar's worth
of goods sold for the salary. Then, if he is pay­
ing a clerk $25 a week and that clerk sells $500
worth of goods in the cours e of a week he is
just barely earning his wages. If he sells less
he is an expense.
There are two simple records in his system.
They are headed "Sales by Clerks" and "Sales
by Departments." The "C lerk" s lips have a
date line at the top and vertical columns with
the names 01 each of the clerks at the top.
The fi rs t thing each morning the bookkeeper
sorts the sales slips of the previous day, each
sale of each clerk is listed under his name and
at the bottom are the total sales of the day by
each clerk. Below that are appended the total
sales of eac h clerk for that part of the month
which has elapsed and also his sales for the en­
tire previous month. Thlls the proprietor has
at his finger tips complete information about
the usefulness of each clerk. He pays every
man a fair wage and everyone knows that he
is rated on results alone.
\Iv'hen the time comes to adjust salaries this
merchant consults his "Record of Sales by
Clerks" and thus those with good records are
rewarded, while the poor ones, after being given
warn in g and a fair trial, are dropped. This
system results in keeping every man on his toes
and they all dflvelop into real salesmen, instead
of mere order takers. This does not mean that
th ey adopt the attitude of trying to force goods
on unwilling customers (for that cheap policy
always defeats its own end in the long run), but
that they stu dy the good points of their mer­
chandise, the right method of app roach to a
customer and other points that go to make a
top-not ch sa lesman .