Presto
Issue: 1920 1784 - Page 5
PRESXO
October 2, 1920.
detail, the piano manufacturers have advanced greatly. And in the
beauty of the veneers and finish there could be nothing finer or more
satisfying to the artistic eye.
material wealth, thus aiding the economic progress of a country."
erally, but if he had written of pianos specifically, he could not have
This man was dealing with beautifying manufactured articles gen-
hit the nail on the head any truer.
PANAMA PIANOS
H=
A piano man in Panama has sent to Presto specimens of various
native woods which he thinks are superior to anything commonly
used by American manufacturers, especially for the climate of his
country. The purpose of the gentleman in submitting the samples is
to secure an opinion on the probability of success in a piano venture
in his part of the Canal Zone. For he has under consideration a
plan of assembling pianos, the skeletons of which may be made in
New York and the cases in Panama. He believes that the result
would be not only instruments better suited to the climatic condi-
tions, but of considerably smaller cost than finished American
pianos.
The samples of woods sent from Panama are four in variety.
One is of a species of palm, and closely resembles our weathered
oak; another is laurel which closely resembles rosewood; another is
cocobolo of a beautiful golden shade. The fourth is known as "Naza-
rene" and is purple in color and, of course, unlike anything employed
in piano manufacture. The Panama piano man wants to begin by
securing one thousand caseless pianos from some American industry.
He believes that he can make the cases, and so inaugurate what, he
has confidence, will develop quickly into a large business throughout
Central America. And the gentleman asks this paper for advice as
to where he may be able to secure the skeleton instruments with
which to start his enterprise.
Without having made any investigation, the project of the piano
man in Panama seems to have some attractive features. But, on the
other hand, and just now especially, the proposition may meet with
a rather chilly reception, by the piano manufacturers, because of
conditions nearer home. Most of the piano industries are working
to capacity in anticipation of a brisk winter's demand. Others are
short of essential supplies, and still more of them reject the thought
of sending forth their products denuded of the names which often are
a prized asset of the completed piano.
Nevertheless, the plan of the Panama piano man has interest.
More than that, the gentleman is one of the persistent brotherhood,
and he has decided to embark in piano making and to employ the
palm and Nazarene woods in his cases. When he gets well started
we hope that his enterprise may spread afar and that some of the
strangely beautiful woods, of which samples are in Presto's office,
may find their way northward. They would lend a rich variety to
the lines already so varied as to have no competitors the world over.
A contributor to a well-known art magazine writes: "The art
element introduced into manufactured products can increase their
value indefinitely, and is, therefore, a possible boundless source of
*
*
Pianos were about the last of manufactured things to increase
in price. The piano manufacturers fought against their own com-
mon sense in the effort to retain the old prices. And pianos will be
among the last to come down in price, because everything that goes
into their manufacture, from lumber to labor, seems to conspire to
make it hard for the manufacturers to realize a fair margin of real*
profit.
* * *
If Mr. Henry Ford had been making pianos he could not have
cut the wholesale price thirty-one per cent. If a piano manufacturer
could make that kind of a reduction in selling pianos the industry
would be filled with multi-millionaires long ago, whereas, in all the
history of the instrument, there have never been more than a dozen
modern Croesuses.
* * *
It promises to be a good winter for the piano trade. The retail-
ers will have their opportunity. It will be only a matter of hovi
much energy they put into it and the kind of instruments they pro-
mote and the way they make their collections. For "time payments"
are coming back, notwithstanding that spot cash sales are more fre-
quent than formerly.
* * *
It doesn't take long for a live industry to win distinction for a
trade name. The Lyon & Healy "Apartment Grand" is a good illus-
tration. The eastern manager of the big Chicago house says that
there is scarcely a dealer in, his territory who is not familiar with
the description of the little grand, even if they have not all seen it.
* * *
The Baldwin piano is the latest to apply Saturday Evening Post
circulation to the field of its publicity. It has become a habit and,|
we hope, a good one. The piano is no longer a matter of provincial-
ism. It has become an object of the larger promotion, and with the
great industries there is no limit to the cumulative ambitions.
The increase in the "house organs" in the piano trade is notable.
Scarcely a month passes that doesn't bring a new one, and often the
new ones bear very old-fashioned names, borne by publications long
extinct. But a very live subject may bear a very old name.
* * *
A live man is far more interested in who's who now than in
who jwas who in the dim and echoing past. The best piano pros-
pects are living who's who's.
NEW CHICKERING HOUSE
AND ITS MANAGER
cant and far-reaching musical achievement of the
age, will also be sold and may b"e had in the famous
Chickering, as well as in pianos of a more moderate
price."
SYRACUSE, N. Y., DEALERS
HELP SUCCESS OP FAIR
Milwaukee Branch of Chicago Firm Has Dis-
tinguished Musician in Charge
of Its Business.
PITTSBURGHERS ACT.
The possibility of a state-wide piano trade organ-
ization for Pennsylvania lies with the Pittsburgh
Piano Dealers' Association, which will hold the first
of its fall monthly meetings this week. It is ex-
pected that local organizations elsewhere will fol-
low the example of the Pittsburgh association in
favoring a state-wide body. W. C. Dierks, of the
C. C. Mellor Co., is head of a special committee pro-
moting action for a state organization.
Efforts of Piano Houses There Agreeably Aided the
Advancement of Music and Growth of Sales.
The announcement in this issue of Presto of the
Bissell-Weisert Piano Co. Milwaukee branch, with
Frederick W. Carberry as local representative, with
headquarters at 420 Jackson street, is of special in-
terest.
Mr. Carberry is one of the well known musicians
and music teachers in Milwaukee, and in the last
three years gained a national reputation as a com-
munity sing leader, having filled engagements in the
largest theaters of the United States. He also has
appeared in all parts of the country as a baritone
soloist. For many years he conducted a studio of
vocal instruction in Milwaukee. Additional interest
is lent by the fact that the Chickering & Sons re-
gain? direct representation in the Milwaukee market
after an interruption of nearly a year. Mr. Car-
berry's announcement is as follows:
• "Mr. Frederick W. Carberry announces the open-
ing of the Chickering Studios at 420 Jackson street.
He will represent in Milwaukee the Bissell-Weisert
Piano Co., of Chicago, general distributors of the
celebrated piano-fortes of Chickering & Sons, Bos-
ton, who for ninety-eight years have occupied the
leading position among American piano makers.
The Ampico Reproducing piano, the most signifi-
PIANO DEPARTMENT GROWS.
The piano department of the big Bloomington,
111., hrm of E. A. Ensenberger & Sons will have the
exclusive use of a new 47-foot show window now
being installed in the store front. "The firm recog-
nizes the wonderful growth of the piano department
and a significant mark of that recognition is the op-
portunities allowed for piano display," said Otto F.
Mueller, manager of the department, this week.
NOW VICTORY ROLL CO.
The name of the Altoona Music Roll Co., with
roll factories at Altoona and Lansdale, Pa., has been
changed to the Victory Music Roll Co., of Lans-
dale, Pa. The factory at Altoona will no longer be
used for making rolls. These will be produced in
the Lansdale factory. Boxes for rolls and other
supplies will be made in the Altoona plant.
The Syracuse, N. Y., piano houses added to the
musical gayety of things during the recent State
Fair held in that city. The Clark Music Co., God-
dard's Music House and the Bolway Co. provided
delightful concerts in front of theii stores and
greatly aided in imparting the old-time spirit to the
events of the week. In the great parade through
the streets preceding the official opening, the God-
dard Music House was represented by one of the
most attractive floats in the parade.
The Clark Music Co. had one of the notable ex-
hibits in the industrial section of the fair. It occu-
pied a space measuring 100 by 150 feet, which was
divided into sections for the display of its different
lines. The first Chickering piano made was one of
the interesting things shown in the Clark Music
Co.'s exhibit.
Another big exhibit was that of the C. F. How-
ard Piano Co., which showed the extensive line of
the Hallet & Davis Piano Company to excellent ad-
vantage. Clever demonstrations of the pianos and
players shown led to many good sales.
Frank C. Nicholson, who for several years has
been a conspicuous figure as a salesman of musical
instruments in Kokomo, Ind., and throughout
Howard county, joined the sales department of the
Pearson Piano Company.
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/
October 2, 1920.
detail, the piano manufacturers have advanced greatly. And in the
beauty of the veneers and finish there could be nothing finer or more
satisfying to the artistic eye.
material wealth, thus aiding the economic progress of a country."
erally, but if he had written of pianos specifically, he could not have
This man was dealing with beautifying manufactured articles gen-
hit the nail on the head any truer.
PANAMA PIANOS
H=
A piano man in Panama has sent to Presto specimens of various
native woods which he thinks are superior to anything commonly
used by American manufacturers, especially for the climate of his
country. The purpose of the gentleman in submitting the samples is
to secure an opinion on the probability of success in a piano venture
in his part of the Canal Zone. For he has under consideration a
plan of assembling pianos, the skeletons of which may be made in
New York and the cases in Panama. He believes that the result
would be not only instruments better suited to the climatic condi-
tions, but of considerably smaller cost than finished American
pianos.
The samples of woods sent from Panama are four in variety.
One is of a species of palm, and closely resembles our weathered
oak; another is laurel which closely resembles rosewood; another is
cocobolo of a beautiful golden shade. The fourth is known as "Naza-
rene" and is purple in color and, of course, unlike anything employed
in piano manufacture. The Panama piano man wants to begin by
securing one thousand caseless pianos from some American industry.
He believes that he can make the cases, and so inaugurate what, he
has confidence, will develop quickly into a large business throughout
Central America. And the gentleman asks this paper for advice as
to where he may be able to secure the skeleton instruments with
which to start his enterprise.
Without having made any investigation, the project of the piano
man in Panama seems to have some attractive features. But, on the
other hand, and just now especially, the proposition may meet with
a rather chilly reception, by the piano manufacturers, because of
conditions nearer home. Most of the piano industries are working
to capacity in anticipation of a brisk winter's demand. Others are
short of essential supplies, and still more of them reject the thought
of sending forth their products denuded of the names which often are
a prized asset of the completed piano.
Nevertheless, the plan of the Panama piano man has interest.
More than that, the gentleman is one of the persistent brotherhood,
and he has decided to embark in piano making and to employ the
palm and Nazarene woods in his cases. When he gets well started
we hope that his enterprise may spread afar and that some of the
strangely beautiful woods, of which samples are in Presto's office,
may find their way northward. They would lend a rich variety to
the lines already so varied as to have no competitors the world over.
A contributor to a well-known art magazine writes: "The art
element introduced into manufactured products can increase their
value indefinitely, and is, therefore, a possible boundless source of
*
*
Pianos were about the last of manufactured things to increase
in price. The piano manufacturers fought against their own com-
mon sense in the effort to retain the old prices. And pianos will be
among the last to come down in price, because everything that goes
into their manufacture, from lumber to labor, seems to conspire to
make it hard for the manufacturers to realize a fair margin of real*
profit.
* * *
If Mr. Henry Ford had been making pianos he could not have
cut the wholesale price thirty-one per cent. If a piano manufacturer
could make that kind of a reduction in selling pianos the industry
would be filled with multi-millionaires long ago, whereas, in all the
history of the instrument, there have never been more than a dozen
modern Croesuses.
* * *
It promises to be a good winter for the piano trade. The retail-
ers will have their opportunity. It will be only a matter of hovi
much energy they put into it and the kind of instruments they pro-
mote and the way they make their collections. For "time payments"
are coming back, notwithstanding that spot cash sales are more fre-
quent than formerly.
* * *
It doesn't take long for a live industry to win distinction for a
trade name. The Lyon & Healy "Apartment Grand" is a good illus-
tration. The eastern manager of the big Chicago house says that
there is scarcely a dealer in, his territory who is not familiar with
the description of the little grand, even if they have not all seen it.
* * *
The Baldwin piano is the latest to apply Saturday Evening Post
circulation to the field of its publicity. It has become a habit and,|
we hope, a good one. The piano is no longer a matter of provincial-
ism. It has become an object of the larger promotion, and with the
great industries there is no limit to the cumulative ambitions.
The increase in the "house organs" in the piano trade is notable.
Scarcely a month passes that doesn't bring a new one, and often the
new ones bear very old-fashioned names, borne by publications long
extinct. But a very live subject may bear a very old name.
* * *
A live man is far more interested in who's who now than in
who jwas who in the dim and echoing past. The best piano pros-
pects are living who's who's.
NEW CHICKERING HOUSE
AND ITS MANAGER
cant and far-reaching musical achievement of the
age, will also be sold and may b"e had in the famous
Chickering, as well as in pianos of a more moderate
price."
SYRACUSE, N. Y., DEALERS
HELP SUCCESS OP FAIR
Milwaukee Branch of Chicago Firm Has Dis-
tinguished Musician in Charge
of Its Business.
PITTSBURGHERS ACT.
The possibility of a state-wide piano trade organ-
ization for Pennsylvania lies with the Pittsburgh
Piano Dealers' Association, which will hold the first
of its fall monthly meetings this week. It is ex-
pected that local organizations elsewhere will fol-
low the example of the Pittsburgh association in
favoring a state-wide body. W. C. Dierks, of the
C. C. Mellor Co., is head of a special committee pro-
moting action for a state organization.
Efforts of Piano Houses There Agreeably Aided the
Advancement of Music and Growth of Sales.
The announcement in this issue of Presto of the
Bissell-Weisert Piano Co. Milwaukee branch, with
Frederick W. Carberry as local representative, with
headquarters at 420 Jackson street, is of special in-
terest.
Mr. Carberry is one of the well known musicians
and music teachers in Milwaukee, and in the last
three years gained a national reputation as a com-
munity sing leader, having filled engagements in the
largest theaters of the United States. He also has
appeared in all parts of the country as a baritone
soloist. For many years he conducted a studio of
vocal instruction in Milwaukee. Additional interest
is lent by the fact that the Chickering & Sons re-
gain? direct representation in the Milwaukee market
after an interruption of nearly a year. Mr. Car-
berry's announcement is as follows:
• "Mr. Frederick W. Carberry announces the open-
ing of the Chickering Studios at 420 Jackson street.
He will represent in Milwaukee the Bissell-Weisert
Piano Co., of Chicago, general distributors of the
celebrated piano-fortes of Chickering & Sons, Bos-
ton, who for ninety-eight years have occupied the
leading position among American piano makers.
The Ampico Reproducing piano, the most signifi-
PIANO DEPARTMENT GROWS.
The piano department of the big Bloomington,
111., hrm of E. A. Ensenberger & Sons will have the
exclusive use of a new 47-foot show window now
being installed in the store front. "The firm recog-
nizes the wonderful growth of the piano department
and a significant mark of that recognition is the op-
portunities allowed for piano display," said Otto F.
Mueller, manager of the department, this week.
NOW VICTORY ROLL CO.
The name of the Altoona Music Roll Co., with
roll factories at Altoona and Lansdale, Pa., has been
changed to the Victory Music Roll Co., of Lans-
dale, Pa. The factory at Altoona will no longer be
used for making rolls. These will be produced in
the Lansdale factory. Boxes for rolls and other
supplies will be made in the Altoona plant.
The Syracuse, N. Y., piano houses added to the
musical gayety of things during the recent State
Fair held in that city. The Clark Music Co., God-
dard's Music House and the Bolway Co. provided
delightful concerts in front of theii stores and
greatly aided in imparting the old-time spirit to the
events of the week. In the great parade through
the streets preceding the official opening, the God-
dard Music House was represented by one of the
most attractive floats in the parade.
The Clark Music Co. had one of the notable ex-
hibits in the industrial section of the fair. It occu-
pied a space measuring 100 by 150 feet, which was
divided into sections for the display of its different
lines. The first Chickering piano made was one of
the interesting things shown in the Clark Music
Co.'s exhibit.
Another big exhibit was that of the C. F. How-
ard Piano Co., which showed the extensive line of
the Hallet & Davis Piano Company to excellent ad-
vantage. Clever demonstrations of the pianos and
players shown led to many good sales.
Frank C. Nicholson, who for several years has
been a conspicuous figure as a salesman of musical
instruments in Kokomo, Ind., and throughout
Howard county, joined the sales department of the
Pearson Piano Company.
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).