Presto
Issue: 1920 1751 - Page 5
THE PRESTO BUYERS'
GUIDE CLASSIFIES ALL
PIANOS AND PLAYERS
AND THEIR MAKERS
PRESTO
E.tabli.hed 1884
SUDDEN DEATH OF
J. HARRY ESTEY
Treasurer of Organ Industry at Brattleboro,
Vt., and Conspicuous in Piano Circles,
Passed Away in Boston on
Saturday Last.
A break in the closing events last week in New
York, and to very many a sad ending of a succession
of gala experiences, was the announcement of the
death of J. Harry Estey of Brattleboro, Vt. The
passing of the prominent member of the Estey
Organ Company came to Presto in the following
telegram, early last Saturday morning:
Brattleboro, Vt.
Presto Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 111.
With profound sorrow we announce the sudden
death of Harry Estey. Funeral services Monday at
2 o'clock.—Estey Organ Co.
Mr. Estey died of influenza in his apartments at
the Parker House, Boston. He was 46 years old. He
He was stricken with a severe cold a few days ago on
his return from New York, where he had been in
attendance at the piano manufacturers' convention.
He is survived by his wife, who was Althare Chase;
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE WEEKLY
/• Cent.} t2.00 a Year
nary meaning of the word, but he was thoroughly
liked by all who had reason to know him well, for
he was one of the rare characters who "wear well."
The funeral of the late J. Harry Estey took place
in Brattleboro last Monday afternoon and was
largely attended, many prominent members of the
piano trade being in attendance.
MONTANA'S GREATNESS IS
SPOKEN OF BY C. J. KOPS
Packard Enthusiast Tells of Resources of Mining
and Cattle State.
C. J. Kops, owner of a great retail piano business
at Great Falls, Mont., and an accomplished musi-
cian, was found delighting himself by playing on
Packard instruments in the Packard Chicago ware-
rooms, Republic Building, on Monday of this week
by a Presto representative. Mr. Kops is a man of
independent fortune whose hobby is music, and he
is also fond of travel.
"Montana is a great state with many resources,"
said Mr. Kops, "although it has suffered in grain
production for three successive seasons, owing to
the drouths. It is unlike Chicago in being a land
of sunshine. We have an average of 320 days of
sunshine yearly in Montana.
''Great Falls has a vast copper smelting works
employing 2,500 persons. There are also coal mines
near by and other lines of minerals. Other promi-
nent interests in Montana are cattle and sheep rais-
ing and the timber business. Mining is the chief in-
dustry in the vicinity of Great Falls. Grain would
probably go ahead of mining if we could have the
moisture. But Great Falls is also a trading center
of large business; it has wholesale houses, retail
businesses and manufacturing interests."
Mr. Kops said he did not do much of the piano
business at the store, leaving that to his brother.
The Kops house is the Packard representative at
Great Falls.
W. J. ROSE BUYS CONTROL
OF KNOXVILLE, TENN., FIRM
HANNIBAL CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE ELECTS E. A. PARKS
Business Body in Missouri City Makes Head of
Parks' Music House Company Its New President.
E. A. Parks, head of
the P a r k s
Music
House Company, Han-
nibal, Mo., has been
chosen as president of
the Hannibal Chamber
of Commerce. In its
choice the Chamber of
Commerce secures one
of the most active men
in the Missouri city,
and head of one of the
city's l e a d i n g retail
businesses. Mr. Parks
h a s b e e n identified
with civic movements
since coming to Han-
nibal some years ago.
The Hannibal Cham-
ber of Commerce is a
body which already
E. A. PARKS.
has made a record for
achievements resulting in benefits to the munici-
pality. Mr. Parks is identified with projects which
will now engage his interest in his capacity as head
of the Hannibal Chamber of Commerce. The most
important of these is the housing problem which is
as acute in Hannibal as elsewhere. Following the
election the Chamber instructed Mr. .Parks to rep-
resent the body at the Pike's Peak Ocean to Ocean
highway meeting to be held in St. Joseph, Mo.,
February 24 and 25.
LUMBER MILL PROPERTY
FOR WESSEL, NICKEL & GROSS
New York Piano Action Manufacturers Secure Ex-
cellent Facilities in Vermont.
W. J. Rose has purchased the interest of his
partner in Sheely & Rose, Knoxville, Tenn., piano
merchants, and will continue the business under
the name of W. J. Rose & Co. Mr. Sheely will con-
tinue with the Lynn-Sheely company of Morris-
town, Bristol, Greenville and Johnson City.
Mr. Rose plans to extend the scope of the busi-
ness, adding several new lines, including phono-
graphs and music rolls. Sheely & Rose recently
acquired a long time lease on the Ross building, 422
Gay street, now occupied by the Board of Com-
merce, though this lease is not effective for some
time to come. Mr. Rose in taking over the business
here also takes over this lease, which, with the
lease on the present location of the company, forms
a valuable asset.
Wessell, Nickel & Gross, New York manufactur-
ers of high grade piano actions, has purchased a
mill property in Barton, Vt., and plans to build a
dry kiln in the town as soon as the first frost is out
of the ground. The company is already buying
maple logs and will saw them out in its mill. The
company expects to employ at least 50 men and
may have double that number by the winter of 1920.
Other developments are planned during the sum-
mer. The firm will use about 600,000 feet of lum-
ber a year.
It is understood that the company, in addition
to making the wood materials for its piano actions,
is planning to make wood novelties from the waste
in its mills.
The town of Barton grants the company a low
electric power rate, exemption from taxation, and
a small water concession.
A number of towns in
the state were trying to get Wessel, Nickel & Gross
to locate within their boundaries, according to the
St. Albans, Vt., Messenger.
NO RAISE IN 63 YEARS.
THOMPSON BACK FROM NEW YORK.
J. C. Freeman of Lyon & Healy, Chicago, is one
of a committee of six appointed by the Chicago
Association of Commerce to handle a campaign
for an increase in the salaries of employes of the
U. S. customs.
"For sixty-three years the salaries of employes
in Uncle Sam's customs have remained the same—
while living costs have jumped and jumped again."
This is the basis of a national campaign of which
the committee is part. In New York, Chicago and
San Francisco reports from the customs houses
show scores of men leaving the service to become
longshoremen, chauffeurs and laborers, that they
may make enough to support their families, accord-
ing to the statistics gathered by the foreign trade
committee of the Chicago Association of Commerce.
T. B. Thompson, of the Gulbransen-Dickinson
Company, Chicago, returned Monday morning from
a week's work in New York in connection with the
Gulbransen baby-at-the-pedals exhibit and the con-
ventions. When Mr. Thompson left New York that
city was completely tied up under a blanket of deep,
wet, soggy snow. The surface cars and auto-trucks
were mostly at a standstill. The Gulbransen player-
piano exhibit attracted a good deal of attention from
visitors at the show. H. A. Stewart, of Gulbran-
sen's, arrived home Wednesday morning from the
New York Music Show.
In Reorganization Name of Sheely & Rose Is
Changed to W. J. Rose & Co.
two children and a brother, Col. J. G. Estey, presi-
dent of the Estey Organ Company. He was a
prominent member of the National Piano Manufac-
turers' Association and was also a prominent Mason.
Active in Association Work.
Not many of the active members of the industry
could pass out of life and leave such general regret.
Few of the younger men in the business have made
so deep a mark in the history of the industry, and
fewer still could have so splendidly carried the re-
sponsibilities of a great name and a family record of
generations of progress. For the name of Estey is
alone suggestive of a high order of accomplishment
and has been borne by a succession of representa-
tive and very progressive workers in the American
musical instrument industry.
J. Harry Estey had been actively associated with
both the Estey Organ Company of Brattleboro, of
which he was treasurer, and the Estey Piano Co., of
New York, in the management of which he was at
one time conspicuous, in association with his brother,
J. Gray Estey, and others. He was thoroughly fa-
miliar with every angle of the business, and had
been almost literally "brought up" in the business.
He had been active in the Piano Manufacturers'
Association, and his counsel was always welcomed.
He was secretary of the association in 1908-9 and
president in 1910-11—the fourteenth in executive
succession.
A Many-Sided Man.
- A characteristic of Mr. Estey was his reluctancy
to have known some of the abilities of a kind of which
most men are proud. In his home community he was
known for his aptness as an entertainer, having the
rare gift of elocution and ready speech. He was a
stickler for absolute correctness in business, and
everything that fell to his charge was made to con-
form to a high order of ethical judgment.
And among those who knew him, J. Harry Estey
was popular. He was not a "mixer," in the ordi-
THE PRESTO YEAR BOOK
IS THE ONLY ANNUAL
REVIEW OF
THE MUSIC TRADES
IMPERIAL ROLLS AT RETAIL.
L. G. Tompkins, of the Cable Piano Company,
Chicago, has opened a new player roll department at
retail on the balcony floor of the Cable Building,
Wabash avenue and Jackson boulevard. Here he
sells the Imperial Rolls, manufactured by the Im-
perial Roll Company, Chicago, to a great many
eager customers.
PIANO MAN LOSES BROTHER.
A. J. Bruett, general manager of the Gether Piano
Co., 625 Grand avenue, Milwaukee, received word
of the sudden death from influenza of his brother,
Joseph A. Bruett, at Butte, Mont., last week. Mr.
Bruett was on a western business trip when stricken
on a train, being removed at Butte and taken to
the Thornton hotel, where he passed away in a few
hours. He was general sales manager of the Inter-
state Mfg. Co. of Milwaukee. Mr. Bruett was born
in Milwaukee thirty-two years ago. His mother,
three sisters and two brothers survive..
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/
GUIDE CLASSIFIES ALL
PIANOS AND PLAYERS
AND THEIR MAKERS
PRESTO
E.tabli.hed 1884
SUDDEN DEATH OF
J. HARRY ESTEY
Treasurer of Organ Industry at Brattleboro,
Vt., and Conspicuous in Piano Circles,
Passed Away in Boston on
Saturday Last.
A break in the closing events last week in New
York, and to very many a sad ending of a succession
of gala experiences, was the announcement of the
death of J. Harry Estey of Brattleboro, Vt. The
passing of the prominent member of the Estey
Organ Company came to Presto in the following
telegram, early last Saturday morning:
Brattleboro, Vt.
Presto Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 111.
With profound sorrow we announce the sudden
death of Harry Estey. Funeral services Monday at
2 o'clock.—Estey Organ Co.
Mr. Estey died of influenza in his apartments at
the Parker House, Boston. He was 46 years old. He
He was stricken with a severe cold a few days ago on
his return from New York, where he had been in
attendance at the piano manufacturers' convention.
He is survived by his wife, who was Althare Chase;
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADE WEEKLY
/• Cent.} t2.00 a Year
nary meaning of the word, but he was thoroughly
liked by all who had reason to know him well, for
he was one of the rare characters who "wear well."
The funeral of the late J. Harry Estey took place
in Brattleboro last Monday afternoon and was
largely attended, many prominent members of the
piano trade being in attendance.
MONTANA'S GREATNESS IS
SPOKEN OF BY C. J. KOPS
Packard Enthusiast Tells of Resources of Mining
and Cattle State.
C. J. Kops, owner of a great retail piano business
at Great Falls, Mont., and an accomplished musi-
cian, was found delighting himself by playing on
Packard instruments in the Packard Chicago ware-
rooms, Republic Building, on Monday of this week
by a Presto representative. Mr. Kops is a man of
independent fortune whose hobby is music, and he
is also fond of travel.
"Montana is a great state with many resources,"
said Mr. Kops, "although it has suffered in grain
production for three successive seasons, owing to
the drouths. It is unlike Chicago in being a land
of sunshine. We have an average of 320 days of
sunshine yearly in Montana.
''Great Falls has a vast copper smelting works
employing 2,500 persons. There are also coal mines
near by and other lines of minerals. Other promi-
nent interests in Montana are cattle and sheep rais-
ing and the timber business. Mining is the chief in-
dustry in the vicinity of Great Falls. Grain would
probably go ahead of mining if we could have the
moisture. But Great Falls is also a trading center
of large business; it has wholesale houses, retail
businesses and manufacturing interests."
Mr. Kops said he did not do much of the piano
business at the store, leaving that to his brother.
The Kops house is the Packard representative at
Great Falls.
W. J. ROSE BUYS CONTROL
OF KNOXVILLE, TENN., FIRM
HANNIBAL CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE ELECTS E. A. PARKS
Business Body in Missouri City Makes Head of
Parks' Music House Company Its New President.
E. A. Parks, head of
the P a r k s
Music
House Company, Han-
nibal, Mo., has been
chosen as president of
the Hannibal Chamber
of Commerce. In its
choice the Chamber of
Commerce secures one
of the most active men
in the Missouri city,
and head of one of the
city's l e a d i n g retail
businesses. Mr. Parks
h a s b e e n identified
with civic movements
since coming to Han-
nibal some years ago.
The Hannibal Cham-
ber of Commerce is a
body which already
E. A. PARKS.
has made a record for
achievements resulting in benefits to the munici-
pality. Mr. Parks is identified with projects which
will now engage his interest in his capacity as head
of the Hannibal Chamber of Commerce. The most
important of these is the housing problem which is
as acute in Hannibal as elsewhere. Following the
election the Chamber instructed Mr. .Parks to rep-
resent the body at the Pike's Peak Ocean to Ocean
highway meeting to be held in St. Joseph, Mo.,
February 24 and 25.
LUMBER MILL PROPERTY
FOR WESSEL, NICKEL & GROSS
New York Piano Action Manufacturers Secure Ex-
cellent Facilities in Vermont.
W. J. Rose has purchased the interest of his
partner in Sheely & Rose, Knoxville, Tenn., piano
merchants, and will continue the business under
the name of W. J. Rose & Co. Mr. Sheely will con-
tinue with the Lynn-Sheely company of Morris-
town, Bristol, Greenville and Johnson City.
Mr. Rose plans to extend the scope of the busi-
ness, adding several new lines, including phono-
graphs and music rolls. Sheely & Rose recently
acquired a long time lease on the Ross building, 422
Gay street, now occupied by the Board of Com-
merce, though this lease is not effective for some
time to come. Mr. Rose in taking over the business
here also takes over this lease, which, with the
lease on the present location of the company, forms
a valuable asset.
Wessell, Nickel & Gross, New York manufactur-
ers of high grade piano actions, has purchased a
mill property in Barton, Vt., and plans to build a
dry kiln in the town as soon as the first frost is out
of the ground. The company is already buying
maple logs and will saw them out in its mill. The
company expects to employ at least 50 men and
may have double that number by the winter of 1920.
Other developments are planned during the sum-
mer. The firm will use about 600,000 feet of lum-
ber a year.
It is understood that the company, in addition
to making the wood materials for its piano actions,
is planning to make wood novelties from the waste
in its mills.
The town of Barton grants the company a low
electric power rate, exemption from taxation, and
a small water concession.
A number of towns in
the state were trying to get Wessel, Nickel & Gross
to locate within their boundaries, according to the
St. Albans, Vt., Messenger.
NO RAISE IN 63 YEARS.
THOMPSON BACK FROM NEW YORK.
J. C. Freeman of Lyon & Healy, Chicago, is one
of a committee of six appointed by the Chicago
Association of Commerce to handle a campaign
for an increase in the salaries of employes of the
U. S. customs.
"For sixty-three years the salaries of employes
in Uncle Sam's customs have remained the same—
while living costs have jumped and jumped again."
This is the basis of a national campaign of which
the committee is part. In New York, Chicago and
San Francisco reports from the customs houses
show scores of men leaving the service to become
longshoremen, chauffeurs and laborers, that they
may make enough to support their families, accord-
ing to the statistics gathered by the foreign trade
committee of the Chicago Association of Commerce.
T. B. Thompson, of the Gulbransen-Dickinson
Company, Chicago, returned Monday morning from
a week's work in New York in connection with the
Gulbransen baby-at-the-pedals exhibit and the con-
ventions. When Mr. Thompson left New York that
city was completely tied up under a blanket of deep,
wet, soggy snow. The surface cars and auto-trucks
were mostly at a standstill. The Gulbransen player-
piano exhibit attracted a good deal of attention from
visitors at the show. H. A. Stewart, of Gulbran-
sen's, arrived home Wednesday morning from the
New York Music Show.
In Reorganization Name of Sheely & Rose Is
Changed to W. J. Rose & Co.
two children and a brother, Col. J. G. Estey, presi-
dent of the Estey Organ Company. He was a
prominent member of the National Piano Manufac-
turers' Association and was also a prominent Mason.
Active in Association Work.
Not many of the active members of the industry
could pass out of life and leave such general regret.
Few of the younger men in the business have made
so deep a mark in the history of the industry, and
fewer still could have so splendidly carried the re-
sponsibilities of a great name and a family record of
generations of progress. For the name of Estey is
alone suggestive of a high order of accomplishment
and has been borne by a succession of representa-
tive and very progressive workers in the American
musical instrument industry.
J. Harry Estey had been actively associated with
both the Estey Organ Company of Brattleboro, of
which he was treasurer, and the Estey Piano Co., of
New York, in the management of which he was at
one time conspicuous, in association with his brother,
J. Gray Estey, and others. He was thoroughly fa-
miliar with every angle of the business, and had
been almost literally "brought up" in the business.
He had been active in the Piano Manufacturers'
Association, and his counsel was always welcomed.
He was secretary of the association in 1908-9 and
president in 1910-11—the fourteenth in executive
succession.
A Many-Sided Man.
- A characteristic of Mr. Estey was his reluctancy
to have known some of the abilities of a kind of which
most men are proud. In his home community he was
known for his aptness as an entertainer, having the
rare gift of elocution and ready speech. He was a
stickler for absolute correctness in business, and
everything that fell to his charge was made to con-
form to a high order of ethical judgment.
And among those who knew him, J. Harry Estey
was popular. He was not a "mixer," in the ordi-
THE PRESTO YEAR BOOK
IS THE ONLY ANNUAL
REVIEW OF
THE MUSIC TRADES
IMPERIAL ROLLS AT RETAIL.
L. G. Tompkins, of the Cable Piano Company,
Chicago, has opened a new player roll department at
retail on the balcony floor of the Cable Building,
Wabash avenue and Jackson boulevard. Here he
sells the Imperial Rolls, manufactured by the Im-
perial Roll Company, Chicago, to a great many
eager customers.
PIANO MAN LOSES BROTHER.
A. J. Bruett, general manager of the Gether Piano
Co., 625 Grand avenue, Milwaukee, received word
of the sudden death from influenza of his brother,
Joseph A. Bruett, at Butte, Mont., last week. Mr.
Bruett was on a western business trip when stricken
on a train, being removed at Butte and taken to
the Thornton hotel, where he passed away in a few
hours. He was general sales manager of the Inter-
state Mfg. Co. of Milwaukee. Mr. Bruett was born
in Milwaukee thirty-two years ago. His mother,
three sisters and two brothers survive..
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).