Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
JULY 19,
1924
THE TALKING MACHINE TRADE
Artistic New Victor Exhibition Salons
in Atlantic City Opened to the Public
Showrooms, Recital Hall and Recording Laboratory, Located in Center of Boardwalk Activities,
Opened July 8—Offers Many Attractions—T. L. Husselton in Charge
A TLANTIC CITY, N. J., July 14.—The new
^*- exhibition salons of the Victor Talking
Machine Co., regarding which much has been
predicted, were thrown open to the public for
the first time on Tuesday of last week and the
attractiveness of the display served to draw
the attention of many Boardwalk strollers, as
well as to bring visits from a number of Victor
dealers sojourning at this resort.
The new salons are located at 1731 Board-
walk, adjoining the Hotel Traymore, and only
a half block from the Marlboro-Blenheim Hotel,
being about midway between the Steel Pier and
the Million Dollar Pier and in the heart of
Atlantic City's Boardwalk activities.
The Boardwalk quarters represent the second
exhibit center to be opened by the Victor Co.,
the first being on Fifth avenue, New York,
which has been in operation for a month or
more, and which has been fully described in
The World. The quarters here are designed
to make a particularly strong appeal to the
hundreds of thousands of substantial people
from all over, the country who flock to At-
lantic City for more or less extended vacations
during the year and who, while here, are in
a mood and have the leisure to study new and
interesting things, such as, for instance, the
comprehensive character of the Victor Co.'s
line of standard and custom-made Victrolas and
the great musical possibilities of the Victor
record library.
If the Victor Co. had purchased its own site
and erected its own building it could hardly
have secured quarters more desirable for the
purpose intended. From the Boardwalk proper
the visitor steps into a generous-sized store,
finished entirely in ivory, and handsomely fur-
nished with rich Oriental rugs on the floor,
comfortable chairs, a battery of record booths
for demonstration purposes and record racks
along one side containing every record in the
Victor Co.'s domestic catalog, together with all
records in the foreign catalog that are sold in
this country.
On the Boardwalk there are two large plate
glass show windows and on the side facing an
arcade another large window through which
those passing along the Boardwalk may obtain
a view of the interior of the establishment.
For the opening the original oil painting of the
Victor trade-mark was shown in one window, a
number of newspaper cartoons based on "His
Master's Voice" in the other, and a handsome
Sheraton model finished in ivory white and
decorated in color placed in the center of the
store so that it might be seen through the side
window. Both the show windows and the ma-
chine in the center were made to stand out at
night through the medium of spotlights so de-
signed that the color effect may be changed at
will according to the character of the display.
Along the wall of the store will be hung origi-
nal oil paintings of. noted Victor artists.
In the rear of the store is a small mezzanine
upon which will be displayed various custom-
built Victrolas and on the second mezzanine
are located the offices of those in charge of the
establishment. The big features, however, are
found on the second floor, where are located a
large and impressive recital hall and the record-
ing rooms. The recital hall, which will seat
several hundred people on the main floor and
on the balconies is equipped with a regulation
stage, with apron and lighting facilities, suffi-
ciently large to accommodate the average dance
orchestra. At the other end of the hall is a
hidden motion picture operator's booth so that
when desired motion pictures of various sorts,
associated with the Victor product or with mu-
sic may be shown, while from the same booth
special lights may be projected on the stage.
It is expected that the complete recording
room will be the center of interest for all visi-
tors, for therein lies one of the mysteries of
record making from the layman's point of view.
The recording apparatus will be placed behind
a special partition provided with the necessary
openings through which the recording horns
will project into the recording room proper,
which is large enough to provide facilities for
the recording of music by orchestras.
The chief appeal of the recording room, how-
ever, will be the fact that it will provide facili-
ties for the making of individual records by
those who desire to secure records of their
own voices or the voices of their loved ones.
This special service is an innovation, so far as
the Victor Co. is concerned, and will, without
question, arouse much interest from the thou-
sands of Atlantic City visitors who will not
only desire to have their voices recorded and
will appreciate the opportunity, but who are
also in a position to pay the necessary fee.
On one side of the concert hall is arranged
a liberal space wherein will be placed a Victor
factory exhibit showing the materials entering
into the manufacture of machine and records,
with the names of the countries from which
they are obtained, together with displays of the
processes through which machines and records
must go before they are ready for the market.
On the upper floor, too, is an open-air veranda
or "deck" overlooking the Boardwalk and the
ocean which is equipped with awnings and
comfortable chairs so that visitors may relax
for an hour or so when they desire.
Although definite arrangements for concerts
and recitals have not been completed, the tenta-
tive program calls for record recitals in the
auditorium each afternoon and at frequent in-
tervals concerts by prominent Victor artists
and recording organizations in the evening. The
fact that the exhibition rooms are located so
near Camden and that many artists spend a
good part of the Summer at the shore facilitat-
ing the arrangement of such concert programs.
The children are to have special attention in
the afternoon through the medium of the edu-
cational department of the Victor Co. At the
present time Miss Mabel Rich, of that depart-
ment, is making her headquarters at the Board-
walk salons and is planning a series of music
hours for children, for which a definite schedule
will be provided. One period will be given
over to youngsters ranging in age from four
to eight and another to children from eight to
fourteen. The leading hotels have shown an
inclination to co-operate in providing juvenile
audiences of the proper calibre for these chil-
dren's hours, and local Summer schools are
also expected to take part. It is the plan of
the educational department to have a represent-
ative at Atlantic City throughout the greater
part of the year.
Special signs call attention to the fact that
the salons are designed to house and exhibit,
and that sales are not solicited. For the con-
venience of those, however, who are impressed
with certain records, or some special type of
Victrola, a form is provided upon which the
records can be listed, or a memorandum of the
special Victrola type made, so that the cus-
tomer can present the slip to the Victor dealer
nearest his home and secure the records or
machine desired. These slips are in duplicate,
one part going to the customer and the other
part being kept on file at the salons. The
bottom of the slip bears the paragraph:
"This memorandum for your convenience
contains a list of the Victor records it has just
been our pleasure to play for and suggest to
you. Just check those you wish .to own; give
the memorandum to your local dealer in Victor
products, or mail it to him, and he will see that
you get the records promptly."
Victor dealers everywhere are also urged to
use the special cards of introduction provided
by the factory for issuance to customers who
plan to visit New York or Atlantic City, so that
they may feel free to visit the exhibition rooms
at either point. The local salons will be open
from 10 a. m. to 10 p. m.
The local exhibition rooms arc in charge of
T. L. Husselton, who for a number of years
represented the Victor Co. as traveler in Kan-
sas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Assist-
ing him is F. G. Hawkinson, and a carefully
selected staff who understand the peculiar re-
quirements of the work.
New Sonora Jobber Cov-
ering Southern California
Commercial Associates of Los Angeles to Cover
Important Southern Counties, Arizona and
Hawaii for Sonora Phonograph Co.
The Sonora Phonograph Co., Inc., announced
this week the appointment of the Commercial
Associates, 724 South Broadway, Los Angeles,
Cal., as a jobber for Sonora products covering
the following territory: Southern California
counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los An-
geles, San Bernardino, Orange, Riverside, San
Diego and Imperial, together with the State of
Arizona and the Hawaiian Islands. At the pres-
ent time negotiations are pending for the ap-
pointment of a Sonora jobber to cover the
counties in Northern California and the States
of Washington and Oregon and, pending the
completion of these arrangements, the Com-
mercial Associates, Inc., will cover this terri-
tory. This organization, which succeeds the
Magnavox Co. as a Sonora jobber, is sponsored
by well-known Los Angeles business men who
are keenly enthusiastic regarding the sales pos-
sibilities for Sonora product in this important
territory.
Annual Outing of Talking
Machine and Radio Men, Inc.
Elaborate Program Prepared for Outing of That
Organization to Be Held at Roton Point,
Conn., on Wednesday, August 6
Final arrangements have been completed for
the annual outing of the Talking Machine and
Radio Men, Inc., New York, which will be held
at Roton Point Park, near Stamford, Conn.,
on August 6. Buses and a number of private
cars will leave from l avenue promptly at 9 <5*clock in the morning
traveling over the Boston Post road to Darien
and then directly to the park. A number of
dealers in Connecticut are also planning to at-
tend.