Music Trade Review
Issue: 1932 Vol. 91 N. 9 - Page 13
THE
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW,
November,
1932
JOHN W. JENKINS, NOTED KANSAS CITY
MUSIC MERCHANT, KILLED IN ACCIDENT
J
OHN W. JENKINS, SR., president of
the Jenkins Music Co., Kansas City, Mo.,
and one of the most widely known
music dealers in the country, was killed
Tuesday evening when his motor car skidded
on the ice on the state highway near Creigh-
ton, Mo., en route home from a duck hunting
trip. He was 68 years old.
A soft-spoken man who usually kept in
the background, John W. Jenkins was the
driving force behind the Jenkins Music Co.,
which grew from a little hole in the wall
to one of the three largest businesses of its
kind in the country.
He was essentially a business man, only
two or three little tunes were in his musical
education. The love of instruments, especial-
ly the piano, was one of the secrets of his
ability to sell musical instruments.
Mr. Jenkins first married Miss Alfreda
Reams, who died thirty-nine years ago.
About thirty-five years ago he was married
to Miss Edith Kanaga of Lawrence, Kas.,
who survives him.
One of his greatest activities outside his
business was his church. He was chairman
of the official board and a trustee of the
Trinity Methodist. Many years he had been
active in the support of missions in foreign
countries, and equally active in the support
of small, struggling churches in the United
States. His charities entered practically
every need. Although his specialty was re-
ligious giving, he refused no worthy cause.
The chain of music stores in growing to
an eight-million-dollar business came to in-
clude sixteen stores. Three are located in
Kansas City. Other stores are in Kansas
City, Kas.; Joplin, Mo.; St. Joseph, Mo.;
Topeka, Kas.; Salina, Kas.; Wichita, Kas.;
Leavenworth, Kas.; Tulsa, Okla.; Okla-
homa City, Okla.; Bartlesville, Okla.; Sem-
inole, Okla.; Amarillo, Texas, and Ft. Smith,
Ark.
BRADFORD'S, MILWAUKEE, TO SELL MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS EXCLUSIVELY IN NEW QUARTERS
A
FTER sixty-one years in the same
block on Broadway, and must of the
time in the same building at 715
North Broadway, Milwaukee, Wis., the J.
B. Bradford Piano Co. will soon move into
larger quarters. According to Hugh W.
Randall, president of Bradford's, announce-
ment of the new location will not be made
immediately, but will be on the east side of
Milwaukee's downtown business section. The
present building has been headquarters for
the music store through most of the years ii
has been in business, having been established
in 1872. The firm uses the slogan: "Brad-
ford's, Wisconsin's Oldest, Largest and Most
Complete Music House."
In announcing the removal of Bradfords,
Inc., Hugh W. Randall, president of the
company, has advised the public of his
faith in the future of the music business.
That his statements are not just conversation
is proven by the fact that the elaborate gift
studios conducted successfully by the com-
pany for some years past are being closed
out and in the future all efforts will be
directed to the handling of musical instru-
ments, of which the Bradford company car-
ries a notable line, including the Mason &
Hamlin, Steinway Duo-Art, Chickering,
Weber, Steck and Wheelock. In an inter-
view published in "Club Life," the official
organ of the Milwaukee Athletic Club, Mr.
Randall said, in part:
"There is a decided tendency these days
for the American family to once more turn
to the home for their entertainment as well
as for eating and sleeping.
"I base my opinion on the trend in sales
of pianos, music and phonograph records.
There was a time when every family had
its piano. The person who could play it
was always in demand to entertain guests.
If there was no piano player, the phono-
graph was called into service. That sort
of intimate amusement ceased when the
whole family, father and mother included,
started to seek thrills at the many roadhouses
that have sprung up at nearly every cross-
road. No one had time to play the piano
and if they ever did get that wild idea
they found the instrument out of tune.
"The depression of the last couple of
years has changed this picture. Money for
fast amusement is not so plentiful and so
you see the drift towards the home, as in-
dicated by the demand for music, which
down through the ages has always been our
one important source of enjoyment.
"People are once more having their
pianos tuned. They are buying sheet music,
so that they can gather around the piano
and sing the latest numbers. The move-
ment of records has increased tremendously.
One music house in New York recently sold
$250,000 worth of pianos in one month,
clearly showing that the east is already on
a home basis, and so will we be soon.
"I so firmly believe this to be the case,"
he concluded, "that I am having a removal
sale at Bradfords to clear out all of our
present stock so that I can get into the music
business, pianos and radios, stronger than
ever. We are not going out of business, but
in our new location, that we expect to move
into early next year, we are going to devote
our entire energies to music."
SPINETGRAND FINDS WAY
INTO MANY FINE HOMES
The acceptance of the Mathushek Spinet-
Grand not only as an instrument of un-
usual and attractive design but also one of
decidedly acceptable quality from a musical
standpoint has been indicated in no uncertain
manner by the purchase of many of these
instruments for placement in fine homes
throughout the country. Originally designed
to fit into smaller homes and apartments
where space is at a premium, dealers report
that sales have been made to prominent own-
ers of large mansions not alone to carry out
authentic Colonial decorative treatments but,
with the introduction of a variety of period
styles, to provide an unusual touch to the
decorative scheme in general.
The interest shown in the SpinetGrand
can be emphasized no more strongly than
by referring to the fact that the retail price
of the instrument is considerably higher than
prices asked for a number of small grands
at present on the market, which is a tribute
not only to its structural qualities but also
to its tonal value and general appearance.
As a display feature the SpinetGrand has
proven the salvation of numerous dealers as
they are free to confess, for, being placed in
the show window in a proper setting, the
instrument invariably brings numerous pros-
pects into the wareroom. One dealer, who
has sold several, by the way, was frank to
confess that if he had not sold one, the sam-
ple instrument in the show window had
proven the cheapest advertising medium and
prospect getter he has used for many years.
As has already been announced in THE
REVIEW, the SpinetGrand originally produced
in a Colonial style is now available in a
variety of period models including Duncan
Phyfe and Italian designs, with others in
process. It has, in many respects, proven
the biggest surprise in the trade for many
years, for, being first regarded by many as
a novelty likely to prove of short duration,
it now appears to be recognized as a per-
manent factor in piano design.
P. H. BILHUBER CHAIRMAN
OF W O O D INDUSTRIES GROUP
Paul H. Bilhuber, assistant factory man-
ager of Steinway & Sons, played an impor-
tant part in the two-day convention of the
Wood Industries division of the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers, held at
Jamestown, N. Y., on November 15 and 16,
he being chairman of the veneer and ply-
wood session which occupied the entire eve-
ning of the second day. Mr. Bilhuber and
Dr. William Braid White, technical editor
of THE REVIEW, are associate members of the
executive committee of the Wood Industries
Division.
HARDMAN, PECK & Co.
Manufacturers of
Fine Pianos for 91 years
433 Fifth Avenue
13
New York
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW,
November,
1932
JOHN W. JENKINS, NOTED KANSAS CITY
MUSIC MERCHANT, KILLED IN ACCIDENT
J
OHN W. JENKINS, SR., president of
the Jenkins Music Co., Kansas City, Mo.,
and one of the most widely known
music dealers in the country, was killed
Tuesday evening when his motor car skidded
on the ice on the state highway near Creigh-
ton, Mo., en route home from a duck hunting
trip. He was 68 years old.
A soft-spoken man who usually kept in
the background, John W. Jenkins was the
driving force behind the Jenkins Music Co.,
which grew from a little hole in the wall
to one of the three largest businesses of its
kind in the country.
He was essentially a business man, only
two or three little tunes were in his musical
education. The love of instruments, especial-
ly the piano, was one of the secrets of his
ability to sell musical instruments.
Mr. Jenkins first married Miss Alfreda
Reams, who died thirty-nine years ago.
About thirty-five years ago he was married
to Miss Edith Kanaga of Lawrence, Kas.,
who survives him.
One of his greatest activities outside his
business was his church. He was chairman
of the official board and a trustee of the
Trinity Methodist. Many years he had been
active in the support of missions in foreign
countries, and equally active in the support
of small, struggling churches in the United
States. His charities entered practically
every need. Although his specialty was re-
ligious giving, he refused no worthy cause.
The chain of music stores in growing to
an eight-million-dollar business came to in-
clude sixteen stores. Three are located in
Kansas City. Other stores are in Kansas
City, Kas.; Joplin, Mo.; St. Joseph, Mo.;
Topeka, Kas.; Salina, Kas.; Wichita, Kas.;
Leavenworth, Kas.; Tulsa, Okla.; Okla-
homa City, Okla.; Bartlesville, Okla.; Sem-
inole, Okla.; Amarillo, Texas, and Ft. Smith,
Ark.
BRADFORD'S, MILWAUKEE, TO SELL MUSICAL
INSTRUMENTS EXCLUSIVELY IN NEW QUARTERS
A
FTER sixty-one years in the same
block on Broadway, and must of the
time in the same building at 715
North Broadway, Milwaukee, Wis., the J.
B. Bradford Piano Co. will soon move into
larger quarters. According to Hugh W.
Randall, president of Bradford's, announce-
ment of the new location will not be made
immediately, but will be on the east side of
Milwaukee's downtown business section. The
present building has been headquarters for
the music store through most of the years ii
has been in business, having been established
in 1872. The firm uses the slogan: "Brad-
ford's, Wisconsin's Oldest, Largest and Most
Complete Music House."
In announcing the removal of Bradfords,
Inc., Hugh W. Randall, president of the
company, has advised the public of his
faith in the future of the music business.
That his statements are not just conversation
is proven by the fact that the elaborate gift
studios conducted successfully by the com-
pany for some years past are being closed
out and in the future all efforts will be
directed to the handling of musical instru-
ments, of which the Bradford company car-
ries a notable line, including the Mason &
Hamlin, Steinway Duo-Art, Chickering,
Weber, Steck and Wheelock. In an inter-
view published in "Club Life," the official
organ of the Milwaukee Athletic Club, Mr.
Randall said, in part:
"There is a decided tendency these days
for the American family to once more turn
to the home for their entertainment as well
as for eating and sleeping.
"I base my opinion on the trend in sales
of pianos, music and phonograph records.
There was a time when every family had
its piano. The person who could play it
was always in demand to entertain guests.
If there was no piano player, the phono-
graph was called into service. That sort
of intimate amusement ceased when the
whole family, father and mother included,
started to seek thrills at the many roadhouses
that have sprung up at nearly every cross-
road. No one had time to play the piano
and if they ever did get that wild idea
they found the instrument out of tune.
"The depression of the last couple of
years has changed this picture. Money for
fast amusement is not so plentiful and so
you see the drift towards the home, as in-
dicated by the demand for music, which
down through the ages has always been our
one important source of enjoyment.
"People are once more having their
pianos tuned. They are buying sheet music,
so that they can gather around the piano
and sing the latest numbers. The move-
ment of records has increased tremendously.
One music house in New York recently sold
$250,000 worth of pianos in one month,
clearly showing that the east is already on
a home basis, and so will we be soon.
"I so firmly believe this to be the case,"
he concluded, "that I am having a removal
sale at Bradfords to clear out all of our
present stock so that I can get into the music
business, pianos and radios, stronger than
ever. We are not going out of business, but
in our new location, that we expect to move
into early next year, we are going to devote
our entire energies to music."
SPINETGRAND FINDS WAY
INTO MANY FINE HOMES
The acceptance of the Mathushek Spinet-
Grand not only as an instrument of un-
usual and attractive design but also one of
decidedly acceptable quality from a musical
standpoint has been indicated in no uncertain
manner by the purchase of many of these
instruments for placement in fine homes
throughout the country. Originally designed
to fit into smaller homes and apartments
where space is at a premium, dealers report
that sales have been made to prominent own-
ers of large mansions not alone to carry out
authentic Colonial decorative treatments but,
with the introduction of a variety of period
styles, to provide an unusual touch to the
decorative scheme in general.
The interest shown in the SpinetGrand
can be emphasized no more strongly than
by referring to the fact that the retail price
of the instrument is considerably higher than
prices asked for a number of small grands
at present on the market, which is a tribute
not only to its structural qualities but also
to its tonal value and general appearance.
As a display feature the SpinetGrand has
proven the salvation of numerous dealers as
they are free to confess, for, being placed in
the show window in a proper setting, the
instrument invariably brings numerous pros-
pects into the wareroom. One dealer, who
has sold several, by the way, was frank to
confess that if he had not sold one, the sam-
ple instrument in the show window had
proven the cheapest advertising medium and
prospect getter he has used for many years.
As has already been announced in THE
REVIEW, the SpinetGrand originally produced
in a Colonial style is now available in a
variety of period models including Duncan
Phyfe and Italian designs, with others in
process. It has, in many respects, proven
the biggest surprise in the trade for many
years, for, being first regarded by many as
a novelty likely to prove of short duration,
it now appears to be recognized as a per-
manent factor in piano design.
P. H. BILHUBER CHAIRMAN
OF W O O D INDUSTRIES GROUP
Paul H. Bilhuber, assistant factory man-
ager of Steinway & Sons, played an impor-
tant part in the two-day convention of the
Wood Industries division of the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers, held at
Jamestown, N. Y., on November 15 and 16,
he being chairman of the veneer and ply-
wood session which occupied the entire eve-
ning of the second day. Mr. Bilhuber and
Dr. William Braid White, technical editor
of THE REVIEW, are associate members of the
executive committee of the Wood Industries
Division.
HARDMAN, PECK & Co.
Manufacturers of
Fine Pianos for 91 years
433 Fifth Avenue
13
New York
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).