Music Trade Review
Issue: 1924 Vol. 78 N. 14 - Page 10
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THE
10
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
APRIL 5,
1924
Gether Piano Co. of Milwaukee Plans
Its Formal Opening of New Store April 15
Music Merchants Generally Report a Steady Advance in the Volume of Their Sales—Committee
for National Music Week Favors Establishment of Annual Musical Festival
WIS., March 31.—Music
M ILWAUKEE,
business in Milwaukee has been picking
"The first touch tells"
Aside from its
Superior Tone
Quality
The
Christman
Studio
Grand
(5 feet)
on account of its
artistic design and
finish has additional
attention compelling
value.
Such care is taken
in the selection of
veneers and with the
finishing of the case
that its distinctive-
ness immediately
appeals.
"The first touch tells"
597 East 137th St., New Yorh
up somewhat in the. past week and Milwaukee
merchants give encouraging reports as to the
outlook for the rest of the year. Player and
reproducing pianos are still given the prefer-
ence in volume of sales. Trade in phonographs
has fallen off slightly but the majority of dealers
state that the record business is very good and
that radio sales have more than offset the re-
duction in phonographs.
Business as a whole is very good this year,
according to R. J. Gierach, advertising man-
ager for the Kesselman-O'Driscoll Co. The
Kesselman-O'Driscoll store recently held a
Spring opening when the public was invited to
inspect the changes which have been made in
the establishment. The store has been taste-
fully redecorated from top to bottom, new hang-
ings added, Oriental rugs laid on the floors and
several rearrangements accomplished. The first
floor, which is finished in French grey and gold,
is given over to radios and supplies, records,
sheet music, band and orchestra instruments
and similar merchandise. The Audak system
has been installed for record demonstration and
has proved most successful. The grand piano
display is located in the main room of the second
floor. Two side rooms are used for the Ampico,
one being furnished as a music room in a home
with only one instrument displayed. The second
Ampico room contains Knabe, Marshall & Wen-
dell and Haines Bros, pianos, with the Ampico
attachment. Smaller rooms on this floor are
used for displaying console types of Victor,
Edison and Brunswick phonographs. Uprights
and players are displayed on the third floor.
Opening of the new Wisconsin Theatre across
the street has been of importance to the Kessel-
man-O'Driscoll store. As this is one of the
largest theatres in Milwaukee, and as there arc
two other theatres in the vicinity the store has
planned to remain open in the evenings to ac-
commodate customers. A beautiful l-ouis fif-
teenth Style Knabe Ampico, which has been
displayed in the window of the store, is to be
placed on the mezzanine floor of the new the-
atre and sixty racks have been supplied for the
orchestra.
Business has been exceptionally good at the
Badger Music Shop, home of the Chickering,
according to Leslie C. Parker, president and
manager. Pianos have been very good, espe-
cially in the reproducing lines, and several very
fine high-priced instruments have been sold to
prominent people. The player-piano depart-
ment of this store is now under the direction
of W. A. Bialucha, and Vesey Walker, well-
known musician, is being very successful in his
management of the band and orchestra instru-
ment department.
The Steinway business has been very big at
the Edmund Gram Music House, according to
Edward Herzog, sales manager. Reproducing
lines have also been active and a number of
good sales were made in the past ten days. The
store features the Steinway and the A. B. Chase
with the Celco reproducing medium. A very
successful used piano sale has been completed
by Gram's. This sale is a semi-annual event.
Grands and reproducing pianos have been
very good and business in general has been
better during the past week, according to H. M.
Holmes, sales manager of the J. B. Bradford
Piano Co. A Steinway Duo-Art at $4,500 was
sold to W. C. Brickner, of Sheboygan Falls, and
several Duo-Art sales were made to prominent
Milwaukee people. Mr. Holmes also reports a
very good record business which is ahead of
that of last year.
F. F. Planner, vice-president of the Flanncr-
Hafsoos Music House, Inc., home of the Kurtz-
lnann, states that business has been very good
in the past month with pianos and small goods
leading in volume of sales. This house is look-
ing forward to better business this year than
last. The Cutting-Washington radios, which
have been installed very recently, have been
starting out very well. The record business
has been unusually good and Mr. Flanner be-
lieves that the radio has been responsible for
the improvement in this line.
Al Bernard, Brunswick artist, and J. Russel
Robinson, Q R S roll artist, who appear under
the name, The Dixie Stars, gave a recital which
featured the opening of the new piano, phono-
graph and radio department of Giinbel Bros,
store. The departments are now consolidated in
one display room, which is considered the larg-
est in the Northwest, and the formal opening
was held in connection with the Spring opening
of the store. The program of The Dixie Stars
was broadcasted.
Opening of the Gether Piano Co. in its new
location on the corner of Seventh and Grand
avenue will be held about April 15. The com-
pany has been holding a closing out sale at the
old location, 625 Grand avenue, which was most
satisfactory. Used and shop-worn instruments
were disposed of, as well as a number of new
ones. In the new store the company will dis-
play the Decker, Davenport-Treacy, Holland,
George B. Norris and Jesse French pianos and
will feature the Sonora phonograph with Odeon
and Pathe records.
As a device for attracting the attention of
people passing on the street, the Orth music
house has connected a Brunswick phonograph
with a tube which leads to the Ventilator at the
front of the store. Popular records are played
in the store and the music is carried to the
street, where it seems to be coming from under
the feet of pedestrians.
The twenty-fifth business anniversary will be
celebrated April 1 by Mrs. George H. Eichhoiz,
who with her husband manages one of Mil-
waukee's big musical stores at 542 Twelfth
street. The store does a good business in
period types of Edison, Victor and Brunswick
phonographs and records, as well as other
styles. Mrs. Eichholz entered the music trade
when the Edison cylindrical phonograph first
appeared and when this instrument was looked
upon with great suspicion. Realizing the great
piospects for the phonograph business, she
opened a store on Fond du Lac avenue and
has continued in business with great success.
She is the only woman in Wisconsin who is
manager of a music store.
The establishment of an annual music festival
each May was favored by the forty-five mem-
bers of the committee for the National Music
Week in Milwaukee. The co-operation dis-
played by musical clubs and individuals in activi-
ties for the Music Week, May 4 to 10, has led
to the belief that an annual affair would be
very successful. At the meeting of the com-
mittee, which included choir and orchestral
directors, Edmund Gram, of the Edmund Gram
Music House, chairman, presented the tentative
program which has been arranged for the week.
"The History and Development of the Saxo-
phone" was the subject of an address given by
William F. Buech, of the Buech Saxophone
Shop, in the program which he arranged for the
radio broadcasting station WIAO. The re-
mainder of the program was given by a Mil-
waukee saxophone quartette.
Only the second sale in twenty-five years is
advertised by Schefft's Music House, which
operated for a number of years under the name
Ross, SohefTi & Weinman I'iano Co. The store
is reducing its stock in a general sale al the
present time.
THE
10
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
APRIL 5,
1924
Gether Piano Co. of Milwaukee Plans
Its Formal Opening of New Store April 15
Music Merchants Generally Report a Steady Advance in the Volume of Their Sales—Committee
for National Music Week Favors Establishment of Annual Musical Festival
WIS., March 31.—Music
M ILWAUKEE,
business in Milwaukee has been picking
"The first touch tells"
Aside from its
Superior Tone
Quality
The
Christman
Studio
Grand
(5 feet)
on account of its
artistic design and
finish has additional
attention compelling
value.
Such care is taken
in the selection of
veneers and with the
finishing of the case
that its distinctive-
ness immediately
appeals.
"The first touch tells"
597 East 137th St., New Yorh
up somewhat in the. past week and Milwaukee
merchants give encouraging reports as to the
outlook for the rest of the year. Player and
reproducing pianos are still given the prefer-
ence in volume of sales. Trade in phonographs
has fallen off slightly but the majority of dealers
state that the record business is very good and
that radio sales have more than offset the re-
duction in phonographs.
Business as a whole is very good this year,
according to R. J. Gierach, advertising man-
ager for the Kesselman-O'Driscoll Co. The
Kesselman-O'Driscoll store recently held a
Spring opening when the public was invited to
inspect the changes which have been made in
the establishment. The store has been taste-
fully redecorated from top to bottom, new hang-
ings added, Oriental rugs laid on the floors and
several rearrangements accomplished. The first
floor, which is finished in French grey and gold,
is given over to radios and supplies, records,
sheet music, band and orchestra instruments
and similar merchandise. The Audak system
has been installed for record demonstration and
has proved most successful. The grand piano
display is located in the main room of the second
floor. Two side rooms are used for the Ampico,
one being furnished as a music room in a home
with only one instrument displayed. The second
Ampico room contains Knabe, Marshall & Wen-
dell and Haines Bros, pianos, with the Ampico
attachment. Smaller rooms on this floor are
used for displaying console types of Victor,
Edison and Brunswick phonographs. Uprights
and players are displayed on the third floor.
Opening of the new Wisconsin Theatre across
the street has been of importance to the Kessel-
man-O'Driscoll store. As this is one of the
largest theatres in Milwaukee, and as there arc
two other theatres in the vicinity the store has
planned to remain open in the evenings to ac-
commodate customers. A beautiful l-ouis fif-
teenth Style Knabe Ampico, which has been
displayed in the window of the store, is to be
placed on the mezzanine floor of the new the-
atre and sixty racks have been supplied for the
orchestra.
Business has been exceptionally good at the
Badger Music Shop, home of the Chickering,
according to Leslie C. Parker, president and
manager. Pianos have been very good, espe-
cially in the reproducing lines, and several very
fine high-priced instruments have been sold to
prominent people. The player-piano depart-
ment of this store is now under the direction
of W. A. Bialucha, and Vesey Walker, well-
known musician, is being very successful in his
management of the band and orchestra instru-
ment department.
The Steinway business has been very big at
the Edmund Gram Music House, according to
Edward Herzog, sales manager. Reproducing
lines have also been active and a number of
good sales were made in the past ten days. The
store features the Steinway and the A. B. Chase
with the Celco reproducing medium. A very
successful used piano sale has been completed
by Gram's. This sale is a semi-annual event.
Grands and reproducing pianos have been
very good and business in general has been
better during the past week, according to H. M.
Holmes, sales manager of the J. B. Bradford
Piano Co. A Steinway Duo-Art at $4,500 was
sold to W. C. Brickner, of Sheboygan Falls, and
several Duo-Art sales were made to prominent
Milwaukee people. Mr. Holmes also reports a
very good record business which is ahead of
that of last year.
F. F. Planner, vice-president of the Flanncr-
Hafsoos Music House, Inc., home of the Kurtz-
lnann, states that business has been very good
in the past month with pianos and small goods
leading in volume of sales. This house is look-
ing forward to better business this year than
last. The Cutting-Washington radios, which
have been installed very recently, have been
starting out very well. The record business
has been unusually good and Mr. Flanner be-
lieves that the radio has been responsible for
the improvement in this line.
Al Bernard, Brunswick artist, and J. Russel
Robinson, Q R S roll artist, who appear under
the name, The Dixie Stars, gave a recital which
featured the opening of the new piano, phono-
graph and radio department of Giinbel Bros,
store. The departments are now consolidated in
one display room, which is considered the larg-
est in the Northwest, and the formal opening
was held in connection with the Spring opening
of the store. The program of The Dixie Stars
was broadcasted.
Opening of the Gether Piano Co. in its new
location on the corner of Seventh and Grand
avenue will be held about April 15. The com-
pany has been holding a closing out sale at the
old location, 625 Grand avenue, which was most
satisfactory. Used and shop-worn instruments
were disposed of, as well as a number of new
ones. In the new store the company will dis-
play the Decker, Davenport-Treacy, Holland,
George B. Norris and Jesse French pianos and
will feature the Sonora phonograph with Odeon
and Pathe records.
As a device for attracting the attention of
people passing on the street, the Orth music
house has connected a Brunswick phonograph
with a tube which leads to the Ventilator at the
front of the store. Popular records are played
in the store and the music is carried to the
street, where it seems to be coming from under
the feet of pedestrians.
The twenty-fifth business anniversary will be
celebrated April 1 by Mrs. George H. Eichhoiz,
who with her husband manages one of Mil-
waukee's big musical stores at 542 Twelfth
street. The store does a good business in
period types of Edison, Victor and Brunswick
phonographs and records, as well as other
styles. Mrs. Eichholz entered the music trade
when the Edison cylindrical phonograph first
appeared and when this instrument was looked
upon with great suspicion. Realizing the great
piospects for the phonograph business, she
opened a store on Fond du Lac avenue and
has continued in business with great success.
She is the only woman in Wisconsin who is
manager of a music store.
The establishment of an annual music festival
each May was favored by the forty-five mem-
bers of the committee for the National Music
Week in Milwaukee. The co-operation dis-
played by musical clubs and individuals in activi-
ties for the Music Week, May 4 to 10, has led
to the belief that an annual affair would be
very successful. At the meeting of the com-
mittee, which included choir and orchestral
directors, Edmund Gram, of the Edmund Gram
Music House, chairman, presented the tentative
program which has been arranged for the week.
"The History and Development of the Saxo-
phone" was the subject of an address given by
William F. Buech, of the Buech Saxophone
Shop, in the program which he arranged for the
radio broadcasting station WIAO. The re-
mainder of the program was given by a Mil-
waukee saxophone quartette.
Only the second sale in twenty-five years is
advertised by Schefft's Music House, which
operated for a number of years under the name
Ross, SohefTi & Weinman I'iano Co. The store
is reducing its stock in a general sale al the
present time.
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