Music Trade Review
Issue: 1924 Vol. 78 N. 1 - Page 5
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
JANUARY 5,
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
1924
THE POINT OF REVIEW
HIS, the beginning of a new year, has started with a sur-
T prisingly
large fund of optimism in the music industries, all
of which is justified by the facts. Pessimism and pianos seem
no longer to be a pair of alliterative twins, to judge by the gen-
eral opinion in the industry. And it is a good thing that they
have been separated, for more than once a crisis in the music
industries has been more or less "psychological," to use the phrase
to which former President Wilson once upon a time gave cur-
rency. A good many of us can still remember the piano man
who never saw a rift in the clouds, that is for quotation at any
rate, whose gloom was perennial and whose forebodings were
eternal. What joy he took out of constantly seeing the dark
side of things no one could ever fathom—perhaps it was the
satisfaction of having himself proved wrong, as more often than
not he was. At any rate his number are growing fewer and
fewer every year, until this year, even with a presidential cam-
paign staring him in the face, he is a difficult man to find. Which
is as it should be.
*
*
*
HERE is many a piano man who conceals hidden talents and
who, to the surprise of his friends in the industry, at some time
or other in his career, blushingly reveals them. Such a one is
John L. Cotter, of the Hallet & Davis Piano Co. Mr. Cotter
is known to all of us as a good piano man; in fact, one of the
best. But all these years he has been hiding from his many
friends in the industry no mean talent as a poet as well as a re-
markable ability to tell a story. Few suspected these hidden tal-
ents until Mr. Cotter blossomed forth as a full-fledged author
with "Facts and Fancies Along the Way," which gave the writer
a mighty pleasant hour in going through it. With becoming mod-
esty Mr. Cotter attributes the responsibility for his appearance
in print to his wife, Ruth Emily Cotter, and so his friends' thanks
are due to her. Mrs. Cotter is not only to be thanked but to be
congratulated, for poets are not so many among piano men that
the industry's literary ability should be hidden from view and
permitted to molder among old and forgotten accumulations of
papers. Mr. Cotter heads his little volume with an apology. It
only takes a few minutes' reading to discover that the apology
is quite unnecessary, for the facile and graceful pen that he wields
would do credit to a professional writer. Light verse, that is
good light verse, is a difficult thing to write and few succeed
where many are found wanting. But Mr. Cotter is not among
the latter, if the samples he has given us are to be taken as the
real type of his work. Those who have not been so fortunate
as to receive one of these little volumes have missed a rare treat,
all the more so since it contained such an element of surprise.
It is to be hoped that this is not the last of the work of Mr.
Cotter we shall see and, as the newspaper literary critics say:
"We look forward to his next effort with anticipation and
T
pleasure."
•
*
*
the 'seventies the silver cornet band used to be a leading
I N social
feature of every Middle Western town. To play in
the band was one of the greatest ambitions of the average young-
ster of that time, and never was he so happy as when he finally
marched down Main street tooting lustily at a cherished horn
and, in his opinion at least, the admired of all beholders. During
the past few years the same ambition seems once more to have
made its appearance with the result that today the average boy
and girl, too, for that matter, again vizualize themselves as fu-
ture Sousas or other famous bandmasters. All of which is bring-
ing scores of sales to the stores of the music merchants who have
been wise enough to handle these instruments on the proper basis.
Now the proper basis in this case means organizing the bands
themselves and, especially, children's bands. There is not a city or
town in the country where a youngsters' band can not be organ-
ized, provided someone is on the job to give the first impetus.
That is distinctly up to the music merchant himself and a good
many of them are succeeding in doing it and reaping the profits.
The Band Instrument Manufacturers' Association has done its
part in promoting the national contest which attracted so much
attention and which was so successful last year; it is up to the
individual merchant to do his part and create the bands which
are going to take part in the future contests of this type, for
they have been made an annual fixture. And here it might be
the proper thing to point out that Association work of any kind
is rarely of much use to the individual merchant unless he co-
operates to the greatest extent with the national work that is
being carried on.
*
*
*
ACK in the old days New York had a Piano Row in Union
Square, and there are still a good many members of the
trade who remember the hot competitive fights that took place in
the old warerooms that fronted on that open space. But like
most things in New York, the location was temporary and the
trend uptown soon became apparent. Fifth avenue in the Twenties
and then Fifth avenue in the Thirties and the Forties followed, and
now Fifty-seventh street, on the west side, has succeeded it. There is
one thing, however, noticeable in all this trend, and that is that one
house seemed to lead the procession. The piano executives who
had foresight enough to hold this place are those who have directed
the destinies of the House of Sohmer. From Fourteenth street
to Thirtieth street and from Thirtieth street to Fifty-seventh street
is the path this house has followed, and always first. Without plac-
ing too much confidence in speculation on the future, it seems now
that New York's Piano Row has found a permament home, for it
is unlikely that New York's best retail shopping section can go much
further north due to the physical limitations of the city's layout.
But it is a mighty good bet that, if at some future time, there is
another move, and there are chances for it since New York has
never been a city of permanencies and would lose much of its char-
acter if it were, that Sohmer & Co. will be found making the first
move once more.
*
*
*
EFIGHTING old battles is a tedious process, but it always has
to be done in the piano trade. Some time ago, after a hard-
fought battle, it was thought that the mania so many retail piano
dealers have to present the purchaser of a piano or player with
everything loose in the warerooms, had been effectually scotched,
but lo and behold! it has raised its head once more and evidently
the whole struggle has to be gone through with again. Why a cer-
tain type of piano dealer loves to pose as a philanthropist, at least
in his advertising, is beyond reason. He at least might leave that
reputation to Rockefeller, who can beat him hands down, and only
indulge in competition where he stands a chance of winning out.
But no; he prefers to dodge the good old competition that is based
on honest values and fair business methods, and confine himself
to competition in so-called "free gifts," which are anything but free
and anything but gifts, if the truth is to be told about them. It
may be confidently expected that some day a budding genius, which
has not yet come to flower, will startle the trade and the public with
an advertisement that if any young couple who have just been mar-
ried will buy a piano, he will willingly and, with great pleasure,
throw in the rest of the furniture for the loving little nest. It's a
wonder some philanthropic dealer has never hit on this idea, so
herewith we give the suggestion, absolutely gratis. In the mean-
time it seems that the trade might well once more begin a campaign
against the pernicious practice of "free gifts" and kill them off.
*
* *
ERHAPS in beginning this department an apology is due to its
elder brother further back in The Review, where happenings in
the Mid-West section of the music industries have been commented
on freely and happily for many years. Two commentators holding
forth weekly is perhaps more than this paper's readers can stand,
and possibly too ambitious a hope for this page ever to expect to
win the standing of its Mid-West brother. However, there is always
plenty of room for comment in the music industries, we say.
B
R
P
THE REVIEWER.
JANUARY 5,
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
1924
THE POINT OF REVIEW
HIS, the beginning of a new year, has started with a sur-
T prisingly
large fund of optimism in the music industries, all
of which is justified by the facts. Pessimism and pianos seem
no longer to be a pair of alliterative twins, to judge by the gen-
eral opinion in the industry. And it is a good thing that they
have been separated, for more than once a crisis in the music
industries has been more or less "psychological," to use the phrase
to which former President Wilson once upon a time gave cur-
rency. A good many of us can still remember the piano man
who never saw a rift in the clouds, that is for quotation at any
rate, whose gloom was perennial and whose forebodings were
eternal. What joy he took out of constantly seeing the dark
side of things no one could ever fathom—perhaps it was the
satisfaction of having himself proved wrong, as more often than
not he was. At any rate his number are growing fewer and
fewer every year, until this year, even with a presidential cam-
paign staring him in the face, he is a difficult man to find. Which
is as it should be.
*
*
*
HERE is many a piano man who conceals hidden talents and
who, to the surprise of his friends in the industry, at some time
or other in his career, blushingly reveals them. Such a one is
John L. Cotter, of the Hallet & Davis Piano Co. Mr. Cotter
is known to all of us as a good piano man; in fact, one of the
best. But all these years he has been hiding from his many
friends in the industry no mean talent as a poet as well as a re-
markable ability to tell a story. Few suspected these hidden tal-
ents until Mr. Cotter blossomed forth as a full-fledged author
with "Facts and Fancies Along the Way," which gave the writer
a mighty pleasant hour in going through it. With becoming mod-
esty Mr. Cotter attributes the responsibility for his appearance
in print to his wife, Ruth Emily Cotter, and so his friends' thanks
are due to her. Mrs. Cotter is not only to be thanked but to be
congratulated, for poets are not so many among piano men that
the industry's literary ability should be hidden from view and
permitted to molder among old and forgotten accumulations of
papers. Mr. Cotter heads his little volume with an apology. It
only takes a few minutes' reading to discover that the apology
is quite unnecessary, for the facile and graceful pen that he wields
would do credit to a professional writer. Light verse, that is
good light verse, is a difficult thing to write and few succeed
where many are found wanting. But Mr. Cotter is not among
the latter, if the samples he has given us are to be taken as the
real type of his work. Those who have not been so fortunate
as to receive one of these little volumes have missed a rare treat,
all the more so since it contained such an element of surprise.
It is to be hoped that this is not the last of the work of Mr.
Cotter we shall see and, as the newspaper literary critics say:
"We look forward to his next effort with anticipation and
T
pleasure."
•
*
*
the 'seventies the silver cornet band used to be a leading
I N social
feature of every Middle Western town. To play in
the band was one of the greatest ambitions of the average young-
ster of that time, and never was he so happy as when he finally
marched down Main street tooting lustily at a cherished horn
and, in his opinion at least, the admired of all beholders. During
the past few years the same ambition seems once more to have
made its appearance with the result that today the average boy
and girl, too, for that matter, again vizualize themselves as fu-
ture Sousas or other famous bandmasters. All of which is bring-
ing scores of sales to the stores of the music merchants who have
been wise enough to handle these instruments on the proper basis.
Now the proper basis in this case means organizing the bands
themselves and, especially, children's bands. There is not a city or
town in the country where a youngsters' band can not be organ-
ized, provided someone is on the job to give the first impetus.
That is distinctly up to the music merchant himself and a good
many of them are succeeding in doing it and reaping the profits.
The Band Instrument Manufacturers' Association has done its
part in promoting the national contest which attracted so much
attention and which was so successful last year; it is up to the
individual merchant to do his part and create the bands which
are going to take part in the future contests of this type, for
they have been made an annual fixture. And here it might be
the proper thing to point out that Association work of any kind
is rarely of much use to the individual merchant unless he co-
operates to the greatest extent with the national work that is
being carried on.
*
*
*
ACK in the old days New York had a Piano Row in Union
Square, and there are still a good many members of the
trade who remember the hot competitive fights that took place in
the old warerooms that fronted on that open space. But like
most things in New York, the location was temporary and the
trend uptown soon became apparent. Fifth avenue in the Twenties
and then Fifth avenue in the Thirties and the Forties followed, and
now Fifty-seventh street, on the west side, has succeeded it. There is
one thing, however, noticeable in all this trend, and that is that one
house seemed to lead the procession. The piano executives who
had foresight enough to hold this place are those who have directed
the destinies of the House of Sohmer. From Fourteenth street
to Thirtieth street and from Thirtieth street to Fifty-seventh street
is the path this house has followed, and always first. Without plac-
ing too much confidence in speculation on the future, it seems now
that New York's Piano Row has found a permament home, for it
is unlikely that New York's best retail shopping section can go much
further north due to the physical limitations of the city's layout.
But it is a mighty good bet that, if at some future time, there is
another move, and there are chances for it since New York has
never been a city of permanencies and would lose much of its char-
acter if it were, that Sohmer & Co. will be found making the first
move once more.
*
*
*
EFIGHTING old battles is a tedious process, but it always has
to be done in the piano trade. Some time ago, after a hard-
fought battle, it was thought that the mania so many retail piano
dealers have to present the purchaser of a piano or player with
everything loose in the warerooms, had been effectually scotched,
but lo and behold! it has raised its head once more and evidently
the whole struggle has to be gone through with again. Why a cer-
tain type of piano dealer loves to pose as a philanthropist, at least
in his advertising, is beyond reason. He at least might leave that
reputation to Rockefeller, who can beat him hands down, and only
indulge in competition where he stands a chance of winning out.
But no; he prefers to dodge the good old competition that is based
on honest values and fair business methods, and confine himself
to competition in so-called "free gifts," which are anything but free
and anything but gifts, if the truth is to be told about them. It
may be confidently expected that some day a budding genius, which
has not yet come to flower, will startle the trade and the public with
an advertisement that if any young couple who have just been mar-
ried will buy a piano, he will willingly and, with great pleasure,
throw in the rest of the furniture for the loving little nest. It's a
wonder some philanthropic dealer has never hit on this idea, so
herewith we give the suggestion, absolutely gratis. In the mean-
time it seems that the trade might well once more begin a campaign
against the pernicious practice of "free gifts" and kill them off.
*
* *
ERHAPS in beginning this department an apology is due to its
elder brother further back in The Review, where happenings in
the Mid-West section of the music industries have been commented
on freely and happily for many years. Two commentators holding
forth weekly is perhaps more than this paper's readers can stand,
and possibly too ambitious a hope for this page ever to expect to
win the standing of its Mid-West brother. However, there is always
plenty of room for comment in the music industries, we say.
B
R
P
THE REVIEWER.
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