Presto

PRESTO
March 25, 1920.
salesmen are in the matter of getting the trade paper, there are five
old-timers who insist that Presto pay heed to their ever-shifting
addresses so that the paper may not fail them at any time. In two
instances the salesmen have for years sent regularly timed itineraries;
in others, post cards came weekly in advance, giving the next address.
We believe this subject is an interesting one, but we have not
yet touched upon the real theme of it. It involved, when we started,
consideration of what we believe to be the only real danger of a widely
read trade paper to its loyal advertisers. It is a recognized fact that,
whether consciously or not, an advertiser in an old trade publication
comes to consider the readers of that paper as in some sense indorsed
by that fact alone. It sometimes happens, too, that because a rep-
utable paper will not print unfair advertising, new advertisers seem
to apply the same ruling to the character of the paper's subscribers.
Presto can not vouch for all of its readers; the impossibility is
obvious. And it has come to our notice more than once that a small
number of persistently dishonest subscribers make it a practice to
watch the advertising pages for the purpose of promptly ordering
goods "to be shipped at once," or similarly phrased. In one case
during the past week a scoundrel even gave this paper as "reference."
There is one veteran of devious reputation, in northern New York
state, who has been doing this trick for the past twenty years, and
during that time has sent in his subscription under nearly a dozen
names. It is wise to use deliberation in sending goods to new cus-
tomers, at least until some investigation can be made. And the trade
paper is often a pretty good credit rating institution. Certainly this
trade paper is always as ready to protect its advertisers as it is to
extend to them the facilities of publicity.
over" and inspection, has received a vast amount of personal care
and special skill. Should there, even now, seem a scarcely perceptible
blemish, or should there be anywhere a tarnished screw-head, the
wonder of the critical dealer may overcome him! But he can have
little idea of what was required to get that particular piano, of that
special style, into its box and on its way to the impatient dealer.
Pianos belong to the manufactured things that are made "one
at a time" and that come only "one in a box." The man who breaks
into piano manufacture with no knowledge of the "game" beyond an
inadequate notion of the size of the investment required, is doomed to
disappointment and some despair before he can get over the rough
part of the road. The retail piano man who can not in some degree
get under the hide of the factory troubles, is also in line for his
own unprofitable troubles. He must learn to exercise patience; to
acquire the habit of letting his own customers into some of the secrets
of the business, and to adjust the difficulties that belong to his end
of things, without worrying the source of his supplies.
The merchandise of the florist may fade and decay over night.
But the florist has no recourse upon the greenhouse. Pianos may,
and do, last a lifetime. But the price paid for them does not justify
the expectation that they will last a lifetime, under any and all cir-
cumstances.
PIANO MAN'S OPPORTUNITY
I day.
In a perfectly natural manner of observing things a few pessi-
mistic piano men "viewed with alarm" when the Eighteenth amend-
ment was written into the Constitution. Their alarm was not for the
national ban on booze, for some of the alarmists were teetotalers and
not a few were and now of necessity are of the class who could take
it or leave it and who generally left it. The piano pessimist's alarm
was for the expected dire effects the national prohibition would have
on the sale of electric pianos.
But instead of the expected slam to the sales of electric pianos
an insistent demand for the instruments came to pass. What the
piano merchants are witnessing is the transition of business from
the saloon to the ice cream parlors and the coffee shops. Many a
place formerly occupied by a pianoless saloon is now made joyful by
soft drinks, the cold stuff and the obedient and ever-ready nickel-in-
the slot piano. There are more opportunities than ever before in the
electric pianos.
The electric piano offers almost limitless opportunities. In the
cities especially is the field large and fruitful. With the growth of
the moving picture industry that field is extended and continues to
expand every day.
In all large cities, and in many of the smaller cities, the automatic
electric piano is almost an absolute necessity in the cafes and other
public places. A good electric coin-operated piano will go very far
toward paying the fixed expenses. In the moving picture show it is
as essential as the film, or nearly so. The cost of the pianist is a big
item. The difficulty of finding competent performers is another. The
electric piano fills the void perfectly, and some of the special instru-
ments designed for the "movies" are as nearly perfect as the in-
genuity of man can make them.
In the cafes the coin-operated piano is a money-maker. It not
only gathers the nickels. It gathers also the customers. Music is
an irresistible magnet. Every man who knows anything knows that.
The methods by which sales may be made—the terms—are also easily
attractive. The electric piano actually pays for itself.
Don't overlook the electric piano as a profit-winner in your busi-
ness. There are several fine ones now on the market. Their makers
also advertise in Presto. Read their advertisements and get busy in
a way that insures profit, and a lot of it.
To the average piano dealer it often seems incredible that, after
I he has found the sale and closed it, there should be any further hitch
I in counting the profits and making the new piano owner happy. But,
las a matter of fact, the wonder is that the manufacturers have kept
|the trade as nearly supplied as has been the rule. If the impatient
lealer with deliveries waiting could understand the troubles of the
factory heads, he would quickly realize that his own disappointments
ire comparatively small. He would perhaps understand more nearly
fhat piano manufacture means. He would see that in the long list
)f manufactured products not many demand a wider selection of parts
md materials, or a more perplexing advance-estimate of the absolutely
[ndispensable supplies.
The beautiful instrument that is rolled glistening from its box
|n the piano wareroom had its beginning a good while ago. It has
>een handled by a good many skilled men. Its every part, from the
irst sawing of the timber for the case, to the last delicate "going
It is certain the National Association of Music Merchants would
not presume to dictate to the government of any church, but the
association was discreetly potent in passing one resolution—that
favoring the removal of the ban on dancing which is part of the
Methodist Church laws. The removal of that ban would result in
an added stimulation to the business in dance records and music rolls.
Methodists are notable for their rigid observance of church rules, but
the young Methodists of both sexes are human and just as sociable
as the youth of other churches which do not forbid the pleasures of
the dance. It is possible the ban will be lifted. The Methodist Gen-
eral Conference has been strongly memorialized to that end."
* * *
Who makes the smallest grand piano in the world; the smallest
talking machine, the smallest record? These questions would prob-
ably be answered gladly and promptly by those who think the credit
WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE
There are other considerations in the labor problem besides
wages and hours of work. And many piano manufacturers too had
and still have a vexatious time in solving those considerations. In a
story elsewhere in this paper it is good to see that the Baldwin Piano
Co., Cincinnati, is not distressed by one of the most vital causes to
an unsatisfactory labor situation—the remoteness of factories from
desirable residence districts. In the choice of the site for the new
million dollar factory of the Baldwin Piano Co., on Gilbert avenue,
opposite the Eden Park entrance, the fact that seventy per cent of the
employes of the great piano plant lived within walking distance of
their work, was a determining one.
The housing problem is nation wide today. There is not a city
in the country where the supply of dwellings is nearly equal to the
demand. The condition too has a hampering effect on the labor
supply in a great many industrial plants. In many cities cheap and
roomy factory sites are undesirable because of the scarcity of houses
for employes in the vicinity. The Baldwin Piano Company is fortu-
nate in occupying a location in Cincinnati where problems of homes
for its employes and transportation to and from work do not vex.
FROM FACTORY TO STORE
When the average piano dealer writes, or wires, the manufac-
turer, impatiently demanding explanation of the delay in shipping
the instrument some retail customer has selected, he probably has
little idea of conditions at the factory. Very few piano men have any
[knowledge of what the shipping department has to contend with.
I The beautifully printed catalogues, with the telegraphic code, gives
no suggestion of the condition of the stock room, and the impatience
of any individual dealer is only a small part of the sum of the entire
clamor that comes to the manufacturer in the mails, perhaps every
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