Presto
Issue: 1920 1754 - Page 6
PRESTO
PRESTO
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT 407 SOUTH DEAR-
BORN STREET, OLD COLONY BUILDING, CHICAGO, ILL.
C- A. DANIELL and FRANK D. ABBOTT
Editors
Telephones: Chicago Tel. Co., Harrison 234; Auto. Tel. Co., Automatic 61-703.
Private Phones to all Departments. Cable Address (Commercial Cable Co.'s Code).
"PRESTO," Chicago.
Entered as second-class matter Jan. 29, 1896, at the Post Office, Chicago. Illinois.
*
under Act of March 3, 1879.
Subscription, $2 a year; 6 months, $1; Foreign, $4. Payable in advance.
tti*
•uarge in U. S. possessions, Canada. Cuba and Mexico
'
~
Address all communications for the editorial or business departments to PRESTO
PUBLISHING CO., Chicago, III.
Advertising Ratesfcj>Three dollars per inch (13 ems pica) for single insertions.
8Ix dollars per inch per month, less twenty-five per cent on yearly contracts. Th«
Presto does not sell Its editorial space. Payment Is not accepted for articles of de-
scriptive character or other matter appearing in the news columns. Business notices;
will .be indicated by the word "advertisement" in accordance with the Act of August
24, 1912.
Rates for advertising in the Tear Book issue and Export Supplements of The
Presto will be made known upon application. The Presto Year Book and Export
Issues have the most extensive circulation of any periodicals devoted to the musical
instrument trades and industries in all parts of the world, and reach completely and
effectually all the houses handling musical instruments of both the Eastern and West-
ern hemispheres.
^
The Presto Buyeis' Guide is the only reliable Index to the American MusicaJ
Instruments; it analyzes all Pianos and Player-Pianos, gives accurate estimate! W
their values and contains a directory of their manufacturers.
Presto Publishing Co., Chicago, III.
THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 1920.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
PRESTO IS ALWAYS GLAD TO RECEIVE NEWS OF THE
TRADE—ALL KINDS OF NEWS EXCEPT PERSONAL SLANDER
AND STORIES OF PETTY MISDEEDS BY INDIVIDUALS. PRESTO
WILL PRINT THE NAMES OF CORRESPONDENTS WHO SEND IN
"GOOD STUFF" OR ARE ON THE REGULAR STAFF. DON'T SEND
ANY PRETTY SKETCHES, LITERARY ARTICLES OR "PEN-PIC-
TURES." JUST PLAIN NEWS ABOUT THE TRADE—NOT ABOUT
CONCERTS OR AMATEUR MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENTS, BUT
ABOUT THE MEN WHO MAKE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND
THOSE WHO SELL THEM. REPORTS OF NEW STORES AND
THE MEN WHO MAKE RECORDS AS SALESMEN ARE GOOD. OF-
TEN THE PIANO SALESMEN ARE THE BEST CORRESPONDENTS
BECAUSE THEY KNOW WHAT THEY LIKE TO READ AND HAVE
THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR FINDING OUT WHAT IS "DOING" IN
THE TRADE IN THEIR VICINITY. SEND IN THE N E W S -
ALL YOU CAN GET OF IT—ESPECIALLY ABOUT YOUR OWN
BUSINESS.
THE PIANOPHONE
The, at best, imperfect phonograph is given a new dignity by its
application to the older and more stately piano. While as yet there
are only two or three of the combinations existent, it is probable that
in time the piano with talking machine attachment will be common
enough.
And, when that time comes it will be as customary to talk about
"pianophones" as it is to discuss player-pianos today. The phono-
graph, as we have it today, will then return to its original place as a
low-priced article of mere amusement, a member of the larger toy
family, with little consideration of its musical possibilities. And the
"pianophone" will present the compact and completed combination
of all instruments in one, because it will be made to synchronize in its
effects with the player-piano, and will be regulated and controlled by
the same motive power applied simultaneously and simply.
The only reason why the combination alluded to has not already
become fairly common is that there seems danger of depreciating
the piano by any such close association with the lesser and, until
recently, more experimental mechanism. It has required the coopera-
tion of the great piano makers to bring the phonograph to the point
where it might be made, in any sense, an integral part of the larger
instrument.
Now that we have such a splendid specimen as the Apollophone,
there no longer exists any doubt about the character of the combina-
tion, or its possibilities from the art point of view. The obvious waste
of furniture in the average phonograph, the superfluous amplitude of
cabinet which usually forms a palatial and empty support for the
meager mechanism required, is done away with in the combination
of piano and phonograph. In time the really marvelous little device
due to the genius of Edison, will be snugly laid away within the
upright piano case and the phonograph, as we now have it, will be
no longer a special article of expense often largely out of proportion
to its essential cost of production. The phonograph, then, as a sep-
March 4, 1920.
arate article, will have its place, but it will not be the place it now
occupies, and occupies largely because of its novelty and the fact that
it has not yet found its place within the upright piano case of ''popu-
lar price."
There was, as we all know, a time when the playerpiano con-
sisted of two separate bodies, or units of encased mechanism. The
piano was simply the "straight" piano, as we still have it, and the
piano-player was the pneumatic power which is now concealed inside
the piano. By the ingenious condensation of the myriad parts, the
completed instrument became the wonder which is now the foremost
item of sale in the music trade. In time the same ingenuity will cause
the pianophone to supplant the two instruments which now occupy
the attention of the trade and invite the public to two instruments
where one will in time suffice. For the larger share of the first cost
of the combination already goes into the piano, to say nothing of
the floor space grudgingly accorded to the separate instruments in
homes of moderate size, and the obvious neglect of the piano by rea-
son of the presence there of the smaller and, as yet, more novel,
instrument.
The Apollophone was the first combined piano and phonograph.
We have seen somewhere an item about a proposed "Phonopiano,"
but we hope that no such name will be adopted. It would be the
eld mistake of a nomenclature calculated to "swing the dog by the
tail." The fine old musical instrument must not be made to seem
secondary to the newer wonder, the chief value of which is in its
power to imitate and give back again the sound, speech and songs of
flesh-and-blood genius, skill and accomplishment.
TRADE PAPER BOOSTERS
There have been several notable testimonials of late to the value
of trade papers as mediums of publicity that pay the manufacturers.
Two peculiarly strong endorsements were by Mr. C. C. Conway, of
the Hallet & Davis Piano Co., and Mr. Chas. E. Byrne of the Steger
& Sons Piano Co., respectively. And both of these gentlemen possess
so great a gift of verbal expression that what they wrote and pub-
lished seems to permit of no discussion.
Both Mr. Conway and Mr. Byrne gave reasons for their faith,
and the latter gentleman presented figures to show some of the actual
results of his trade paper work to the great industry he represents.
The articles by both gentlemen have appeared in this paper, so that
it is not necessary to make extracts or direct quotations. And that is
not the present purpose.
The thought just now is in the way of research into the cause of
indifference in some places of the influence of the trade paper, as
indicated by slipshod and careless attention to the requirements of
the press if the cooperation of advertiser and publication is necessary
to the realization of good results. And he must be lacking in thought
who could deny that such cooperation is essential.
It has been customary with some trade papers to set forth claims
of "service departments" designed to supply advertisers with sug-
gestions and material of publicity. But there is no such thing as
blanket service for all manufacturers which, in any trade paper office,
can do justice to all advertisers without doing injustice to any. While
it requires special knowledge of the piano business to prepare the
best kind of promotion matter, it requires equally the skill, even the
special genius of printers' ink promotion plus the allegiance to the
individual advertiser, to do good work. And the cost of that kind of
service is a very large item to any advertiser who entrusts his pub-
licity program to any expert advertising specialist.
The trade paper—especially, we believe, this particular trade
paper—gives time, attention and expert experience to the service of
any advertiser. And the cost of that usually costly service is not
added to the contract for advertising space. Do we not see right here
one of the reasons why some piano manufacturers fail to place a fair
estimate upon the value of the trade paper?
When a piano industry feels the thrill of enterprise to the extent
that a page is wanted in some largely circulated popular magazine—
say the Saturday Evening Post—there is no hesitation because of the
princely price of the printed page. It is deemed sufficient that the
paper's circulation is large. And yet the vast circulation of the most
popular publication may not carry nearly as far, in the long run, as
the more modest distribution of the trade paper. It is probably true
that not one-half of one per cent of the million circulation reaches
actual prospective piano buyers. Of course even that small percentage
indicates a great many sales, if the advertiser gets them. The trade
paper, with a circulation of ten thousand, reaches just that many
potential buyers of pianos to be sold again. If the same proportion
become buyers as in the illustration of the great circulation, and each
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/
PRESTO
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT 407 SOUTH DEAR-
BORN STREET, OLD COLONY BUILDING, CHICAGO, ILL.
C- A. DANIELL and FRANK D. ABBOTT
Editors
Telephones: Chicago Tel. Co., Harrison 234; Auto. Tel. Co., Automatic 61-703.
Private Phones to all Departments. Cable Address (Commercial Cable Co.'s Code).
"PRESTO," Chicago.
Entered as second-class matter Jan. 29, 1896, at the Post Office, Chicago. Illinois.
*
under Act of March 3, 1879.
Subscription, $2 a year; 6 months, $1; Foreign, $4. Payable in advance.
tti*
•uarge in U. S. possessions, Canada. Cuba and Mexico
'
~
Address all communications for the editorial or business departments to PRESTO
PUBLISHING CO., Chicago, III.
Advertising Ratesfcj>Three dollars per inch (13 ems pica) for single insertions.
8Ix dollars per inch per month, less twenty-five per cent on yearly contracts. Th«
Presto does not sell Its editorial space. Payment Is not accepted for articles of de-
scriptive character or other matter appearing in the news columns. Business notices;
will .be indicated by the word "advertisement" in accordance with the Act of August
24, 1912.
Rates for advertising in the Tear Book issue and Export Supplements of The
Presto will be made known upon application. The Presto Year Book and Export
Issues have the most extensive circulation of any periodicals devoted to the musical
instrument trades and industries in all parts of the world, and reach completely and
effectually all the houses handling musical instruments of both the Eastern and West-
ern hemispheres.
^
The Presto Buyeis' Guide is the only reliable Index to the American MusicaJ
Instruments; it analyzes all Pianos and Player-Pianos, gives accurate estimate! W
their values and contains a directory of their manufacturers.
Presto Publishing Co., Chicago, III.
THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 1920.
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
PRESTO IS ALWAYS GLAD TO RECEIVE NEWS OF THE
TRADE—ALL KINDS OF NEWS EXCEPT PERSONAL SLANDER
AND STORIES OF PETTY MISDEEDS BY INDIVIDUALS. PRESTO
WILL PRINT THE NAMES OF CORRESPONDENTS WHO SEND IN
"GOOD STUFF" OR ARE ON THE REGULAR STAFF. DON'T SEND
ANY PRETTY SKETCHES, LITERARY ARTICLES OR "PEN-PIC-
TURES." JUST PLAIN NEWS ABOUT THE TRADE—NOT ABOUT
CONCERTS OR AMATEUR MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENTS, BUT
ABOUT THE MEN WHO MAKE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND
THOSE WHO SELL THEM. REPORTS OF NEW STORES AND
THE MEN WHO MAKE RECORDS AS SALESMEN ARE GOOD. OF-
TEN THE PIANO SALESMEN ARE THE BEST CORRESPONDENTS
BECAUSE THEY KNOW WHAT THEY LIKE TO READ AND HAVE
THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR FINDING OUT WHAT IS "DOING" IN
THE TRADE IN THEIR VICINITY. SEND IN THE N E W S -
ALL YOU CAN GET OF IT—ESPECIALLY ABOUT YOUR OWN
BUSINESS.
THE PIANOPHONE
The, at best, imperfect phonograph is given a new dignity by its
application to the older and more stately piano. While as yet there
are only two or three of the combinations existent, it is probable that
in time the piano with talking machine attachment will be common
enough.
And, when that time comes it will be as customary to talk about
"pianophones" as it is to discuss player-pianos today. The phono-
graph, as we have it today, will then return to its original place as a
low-priced article of mere amusement, a member of the larger toy
family, with little consideration of its musical possibilities. And the
"pianophone" will present the compact and completed combination
of all instruments in one, because it will be made to synchronize in its
effects with the player-piano, and will be regulated and controlled by
the same motive power applied simultaneously and simply.
The only reason why the combination alluded to has not already
become fairly common is that there seems danger of depreciating
the piano by any such close association with the lesser and, until
recently, more experimental mechanism. It has required the coopera-
tion of the great piano makers to bring the phonograph to the point
where it might be made, in any sense, an integral part of the larger
instrument.
Now that we have such a splendid specimen as the Apollophone,
there no longer exists any doubt about the character of the combina-
tion, or its possibilities from the art point of view. The obvious waste
of furniture in the average phonograph, the superfluous amplitude of
cabinet which usually forms a palatial and empty support for the
meager mechanism required, is done away with in the combination
of piano and phonograph. In time the really marvelous little device
due to the genius of Edison, will be snugly laid away within the
upright piano case and the phonograph, as we now have it, will be
no longer a special article of expense often largely out of proportion
to its essential cost of production. The phonograph, then, as a sep-
March 4, 1920.
arate article, will have its place, but it will not be the place it now
occupies, and occupies largely because of its novelty and the fact that
it has not yet found its place within the upright piano case of ''popu-
lar price."
There was, as we all know, a time when the playerpiano con-
sisted of two separate bodies, or units of encased mechanism. The
piano was simply the "straight" piano, as we still have it, and the
piano-player was the pneumatic power which is now concealed inside
the piano. By the ingenious condensation of the myriad parts, the
completed instrument became the wonder which is now the foremost
item of sale in the music trade. In time the same ingenuity will cause
the pianophone to supplant the two instruments which now occupy
the attention of the trade and invite the public to two instruments
where one will in time suffice. For the larger share of the first cost
of the combination already goes into the piano, to say nothing of
the floor space grudgingly accorded to the separate instruments in
homes of moderate size, and the obvious neglect of the piano by rea-
son of the presence there of the smaller and, as yet, more novel,
instrument.
The Apollophone was the first combined piano and phonograph.
We have seen somewhere an item about a proposed "Phonopiano,"
but we hope that no such name will be adopted. It would be the
eld mistake of a nomenclature calculated to "swing the dog by the
tail." The fine old musical instrument must not be made to seem
secondary to the newer wonder, the chief value of which is in its
power to imitate and give back again the sound, speech and songs of
flesh-and-blood genius, skill and accomplishment.
TRADE PAPER BOOSTERS
There have been several notable testimonials of late to the value
of trade papers as mediums of publicity that pay the manufacturers.
Two peculiarly strong endorsements were by Mr. C. C. Conway, of
the Hallet & Davis Piano Co., and Mr. Chas. E. Byrne of the Steger
& Sons Piano Co., respectively. And both of these gentlemen possess
so great a gift of verbal expression that what they wrote and pub-
lished seems to permit of no discussion.
Both Mr. Conway and Mr. Byrne gave reasons for their faith,
and the latter gentleman presented figures to show some of the actual
results of his trade paper work to the great industry he represents.
The articles by both gentlemen have appeared in this paper, so that
it is not necessary to make extracts or direct quotations. And that is
not the present purpose.
The thought just now is in the way of research into the cause of
indifference in some places of the influence of the trade paper, as
indicated by slipshod and careless attention to the requirements of
the press if the cooperation of advertiser and publication is necessary
to the realization of good results. And he must be lacking in thought
who could deny that such cooperation is essential.
It has been customary with some trade papers to set forth claims
of "service departments" designed to supply advertisers with sug-
gestions and material of publicity. But there is no such thing as
blanket service for all manufacturers which, in any trade paper office,
can do justice to all advertisers without doing injustice to any. While
it requires special knowledge of the piano business to prepare the
best kind of promotion matter, it requires equally the skill, even the
special genius of printers' ink promotion plus the allegiance to the
individual advertiser, to do good work. And the cost of that kind of
service is a very large item to any advertiser who entrusts his pub-
licity program to any expert advertising specialist.
The trade paper—especially, we believe, this particular trade
paper—gives time, attention and expert experience to the service of
any advertiser. And the cost of that usually costly service is not
added to the contract for advertising space. Do we not see right here
one of the reasons why some piano manufacturers fail to place a fair
estimate upon the value of the trade paper?
When a piano industry feels the thrill of enterprise to the extent
that a page is wanted in some largely circulated popular magazine—
say the Saturday Evening Post—there is no hesitation because of the
princely price of the printed page. It is deemed sufficient that the
paper's circulation is large. And yet the vast circulation of the most
popular publication may not carry nearly as far, in the long run, as
the more modest distribution of the trade paper. It is probably true
that not one-half of one per cent of the million circulation reaches
actual prospective piano buyers. Of course even that small percentage
indicates a great many sales, if the advertiser gets them. The trade
paper, with a circulation of ten thousand, reaches just that many
potential buyers of pianos to be sold again. If the same proportion
become buyers as in the illustration of the great circulation, and each
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).