Presto
Issue: 1920 1790 - Page 23
23
PRESTO
November 13, 1920.
SOME ANOMALIES OF
THE PATENT OFFICE
Musical Instrument Division Does Not Include
Talking Machines, Although Patents Gov-
erning Jewelry Are Issued from There.
One division of the United States Patent Office in
Washington handles everything that could be con-
strued as musical patents, except the patents govern-
ing talking machines. The decision to do so was
originally taken from a technical standpoint. Talking
machines are not grouped with other musical instru-
ments because they are designed to reproduce rather
than to create music. The view taken was that talk-
ing machines are designed for the reproduction of
other sounds than those of music.
But the anomalous thing is that the division of
musical instruments has within its jurisdiction sev-
eral other subjects, such as jewelry and bookbind-
ings, not in any way related to the musical field.
But the staff is mainly taken up with inventions re-
lating to music.
The number of patent applications received each
year are greater than the proportionate increase in
the population of the country. That is held to be
an indication of a healthy interest in music and musi-
cal instruments. It is not odd that the vast pre-
ponderance of patents relating to playerpianos is
for improvements in old or new devices applicable
to. existing types of instruments.
The inventor seeking patent rights covering a
minor attachment can usually secure comparatively
quick action in the music division. But when big
claims of wide scope are made the experts of the
department move slowly and cautiously. The im-
mensity of the work in the department today makes
an interesting subject of comparison with the work
in the early years. For twelve years, from 1790 to
1802, the entire work of the Patent Office was per-
formed by a single clerk in the State Department
and all the records did not fill more than a dozen
pigeon-holes.
PIPE ORGAN MUSIC OPENS
ELECTRICAL MEN'S MEETINGS
NEW INCORPORATIONS
IN MUSIC GOODS TRADE
Whenever a meeting of the Chicago Electrical
Workers' Union becomes too rumbumptious for Mi-
chael Boyle, the business agent, to repress with re-
sounding whacks of his gavel on the presiding offi-
cer's desk, Eddie O'Brien floods the building with
sound from the $20,000 pipe organ. Eddie is a mem-
ber of the Musicians' Union and competent to pump
out anything from George Cohan to Frederick
Chopin.
The new union headquarters at Ogden avenue and
Washington boulevard has an odor of sanctity as
well as the atmosphere of music. It was once a
Greek church. It was once a synagogue. Now it is
the gathering place of Chicago Electrical Workers'
Union. No. 134, and of the plumbers' union. The
former union bought the edifice for $30,000 and spent
$35,000 in remodeling it. Among the improvements
was the overhauling of the big pipe organ.
"The union meetings are opened with a number
on the organ " said Boyle after the formal opening
last week. "Then we have ten minutes or so of
music after the meeting, and all go out feeling fine.
And—O yes—there's no smoking, no swearing, no
chewing, no spitting on the floor at our meetings.
That big pipe organ is some reformer, believe me."
New and Old Concerns Cecure Charters in Various
Places.
Schulze & Gladstone, Manhattan, musical instru-
ments, $50,000; M. E. Sands, W. D. Gladstone, O.
Schulze, 256 West 197th street.
Harris Music Co., Detroit, $100,000. Norman H.
Harris, Robert L. Rosen, D. E. Hoken.
The World's Music Co., Wilmington, Del., $2,000.
J. Vernon Pimm and E. M. McFarland.
GOOD BIT OF ADVICE.
Buy a Gulbransen, advises the Matthewson-Pelz
Jewelry Co., Marshall, Tex., which adds: "If you
cannot play by hand, anybody can play a player-
piano. The stirring melodies of the great pianists
have been recorded on paper so that from the roll
you may hear the artist as if he were present in your
own home. You are not getting all the comforts
of home unless you have a piano. It inspires happi-
ness, harmony and peace and encourages those influ-
ences that make for culture and beauty. Now is the
time to buy; we make these wonderful instruments
easy to purchase."
Arthur Hellrieger is the new manager of the Cable
Pisno Co.'s store in St. Paul, Minn.
TONK
BENCHES
Closes 'Em Too and Soothes Heated Feelings of
Quarrelsome Members in the Interval Between.
Edgar Cleveland, the clever window decorator of
the O. K. Houck Piano Co., Nashville, Tenn., who
has been absent on account of illness for nearly a
year, has returned to his duties.
PIONEER SCHOOL FO PIANO MEN
Established 1901
Jn ii's Mpyear
with upwards of*
1OOO
GO WITH GOOD P ANOS TO
ACTIVE DEALERS' CUSTOMERS
SUCCESSFUL
GRADUATES
WISE DEALERS ALREADY IN LINE
COURT HOUSE SO,
VALPARAISO. IND.
Write Us NOW for Information
TONK MANUFACTURING CO.
6170
1912 Lewis Street
CHICAGO
Piano, Player-Piano and Organ Tuning, Repairing, Regula-
ting and Voicing. Best equipped school in the U. S.
Diplomas awarded and positions secured. Private and claw
instructions, both sexes.
School all the year. Illustrated catalogues Iree.
POLK'S SCHOOL OF TUNING, VALPARAISO, IND.
WESSELL, NICKEL & GROSS
Manufacturers •(
PIANO ACTIONS
ONE GRADE ONLY
FACTORIES:
W«st Forty-Fifth Street, Tentk Arenue and Weat
Forty-Sixth Street
OFFICE:
457 West 45th Street
HIGHEST GRADE
Ihe Sign of Supreme
Achievement in Piano
ctions.
CABLE-NELSON PIANO CO.
Manufactures fine pianos and player-pianos and
Wholesales them at lair prices and terms.
The agency is a source of both
profit and prestige.
REPUBLIC BUILDING, CHICAGO
NEW YORK
Comstock, Cheney & Co.
(vory Cutters and Manufacturers
Piano Keys, Actions •! Hammers
sVORY AND COMPOSITION-COVERED ORGAN KEYS
D)9 only Com( any Furnishing the Keys, Actions, Hammers and Brackets
The Best High-Grade Piano for the Money
Newman Bros. Pianos have tonal quality second to none.
Their many superior points and their forty-six years of pres-
tige give the dealer interesting facts to ' ell his prospects.
When you take on the Newman line of pianos and players you
become one of us, and we give you real help when you need it.
Don't just think we are a fine firm to deal with, find out for
sure and you will stay right with us.
Newman Bros. Company
Factories, 806-16 Dix St.
ttofegraph a n d R. R. S t a t i o n : Essex, C o n n ,
Chicago, Illinois
Office a n d F a c t o r i e s : Ivoryrrm.
FOR TONE, BEAUTY
AND LASTING
A
ACCOMPLISHMENT <
,
The WERNER INDUSTRIES CO. CJnci
P I A N O S
AND
P LAY E R S
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
November 13, 1920.
SOME ANOMALIES OF
THE PATENT OFFICE
Musical Instrument Division Does Not Include
Talking Machines, Although Patents Gov-
erning Jewelry Are Issued from There.
One division of the United States Patent Office in
Washington handles everything that could be con-
strued as musical patents, except the patents govern-
ing talking machines. The decision to do so was
originally taken from a technical standpoint. Talking
machines are not grouped with other musical instru-
ments because they are designed to reproduce rather
than to create music. The view taken was that talk-
ing machines are designed for the reproduction of
other sounds than those of music.
But the anomalous thing is that the division of
musical instruments has within its jurisdiction sev-
eral other subjects, such as jewelry and bookbind-
ings, not in any way related to the musical field.
But the staff is mainly taken up with inventions re-
lating to music.
The number of patent applications received each
year are greater than the proportionate increase in
the population of the country. That is held to be
an indication of a healthy interest in music and musi-
cal instruments. It is not odd that the vast pre-
ponderance of patents relating to playerpianos is
for improvements in old or new devices applicable
to. existing types of instruments.
The inventor seeking patent rights covering a
minor attachment can usually secure comparatively
quick action in the music division. But when big
claims of wide scope are made the experts of the
department move slowly and cautiously. The im-
mensity of the work in the department today makes
an interesting subject of comparison with the work
in the early years. For twelve years, from 1790 to
1802, the entire work of the Patent Office was per-
formed by a single clerk in the State Department
and all the records did not fill more than a dozen
pigeon-holes.
PIPE ORGAN MUSIC OPENS
ELECTRICAL MEN'S MEETINGS
NEW INCORPORATIONS
IN MUSIC GOODS TRADE
Whenever a meeting of the Chicago Electrical
Workers' Union becomes too rumbumptious for Mi-
chael Boyle, the business agent, to repress with re-
sounding whacks of his gavel on the presiding offi-
cer's desk, Eddie O'Brien floods the building with
sound from the $20,000 pipe organ. Eddie is a mem-
ber of the Musicians' Union and competent to pump
out anything from George Cohan to Frederick
Chopin.
The new union headquarters at Ogden avenue and
Washington boulevard has an odor of sanctity as
well as the atmosphere of music. It was once a
Greek church. It was once a synagogue. Now it is
the gathering place of Chicago Electrical Workers'
Union. No. 134, and of the plumbers' union. The
former union bought the edifice for $30,000 and spent
$35,000 in remodeling it. Among the improvements
was the overhauling of the big pipe organ.
"The union meetings are opened with a number
on the organ " said Boyle after the formal opening
last week. "Then we have ten minutes or so of
music after the meeting, and all go out feeling fine.
And—O yes—there's no smoking, no swearing, no
chewing, no spitting on the floor at our meetings.
That big pipe organ is some reformer, believe me."
New and Old Concerns Cecure Charters in Various
Places.
Schulze & Gladstone, Manhattan, musical instru-
ments, $50,000; M. E. Sands, W. D. Gladstone, O.
Schulze, 256 West 197th street.
Harris Music Co., Detroit, $100,000. Norman H.
Harris, Robert L. Rosen, D. E. Hoken.
The World's Music Co., Wilmington, Del., $2,000.
J. Vernon Pimm and E. M. McFarland.
GOOD BIT OF ADVICE.
Buy a Gulbransen, advises the Matthewson-Pelz
Jewelry Co., Marshall, Tex., which adds: "If you
cannot play by hand, anybody can play a player-
piano. The stirring melodies of the great pianists
have been recorded on paper so that from the roll
you may hear the artist as if he were present in your
own home. You are not getting all the comforts
of home unless you have a piano. It inspires happi-
ness, harmony and peace and encourages those influ-
ences that make for culture and beauty. Now is the
time to buy; we make these wonderful instruments
easy to purchase."
Arthur Hellrieger is the new manager of the Cable
Pisno Co.'s store in St. Paul, Minn.
TONK
BENCHES
Closes 'Em Too and Soothes Heated Feelings of
Quarrelsome Members in the Interval Between.
Edgar Cleveland, the clever window decorator of
the O. K. Houck Piano Co., Nashville, Tenn., who
has been absent on account of illness for nearly a
year, has returned to his duties.
PIONEER SCHOOL FO PIANO MEN
Established 1901
Jn ii's Mpyear
with upwards of*
1OOO
GO WITH GOOD P ANOS TO
ACTIVE DEALERS' CUSTOMERS
SUCCESSFUL
GRADUATES
WISE DEALERS ALREADY IN LINE
COURT HOUSE SO,
VALPARAISO. IND.
Write Us NOW for Information
TONK MANUFACTURING CO.
6170
1912 Lewis Street
CHICAGO
Piano, Player-Piano and Organ Tuning, Repairing, Regula-
ting and Voicing. Best equipped school in the U. S.
Diplomas awarded and positions secured. Private and claw
instructions, both sexes.
School all the year. Illustrated catalogues Iree.
POLK'S SCHOOL OF TUNING, VALPARAISO, IND.
WESSELL, NICKEL & GROSS
Manufacturers •(
PIANO ACTIONS
ONE GRADE ONLY
FACTORIES:
W«st Forty-Fifth Street, Tentk Arenue and Weat
Forty-Sixth Street
OFFICE:
457 West 45th Street
HIGHEST GRADE
Ihe Sign of Supreme
Achievement in Piano
ctions.
CABLE-NELSON PIANO CO.
Manufactures fine pianos and player-pianos and
Wholesales them at lair prices and terms.
The agency is a source of both
profit and prestige.
REPUBLIC BUILDING, CHICAGO
NEW YORK
Comstock, Cheney & Co.
(vory Cutters and Manufacturers
Piano Keys, Actions •! Hammers
sVORY AND COMPOSITION-COVERED ORGAN KEYS
D)9 only Com( any Furnishing the Keys, Actions, Hammers and Brackets
The Best High-Grade Piano for the Money
Newman Bros. Pianos have tonal quality second to none.
Their many superior points and their forty-six years of pres-
tige give the dealer interesting facts to ' ell his prospects.
When you take on the Newman line of pianos and players you
become one of us, and we give you real help when you need it.
Don't just think we are a fine firm to deal with, find out for
sure and you will stay right with us.
Newman Bros. Company
Factories, 806-16 Dix St.
ttofegraph a n d R. R. S t a t i o n : Essex, C o n n ,
Chicago, Illinois
Office a n d F a c t o r i e s : Ivoryrrm.
FOR TONE, BEAUTY
AND LASTING
A
ACCOMPLISHMENT <
,
The WERNER INDUSTRIES CO. CJnci
P I A N O S
AND
P LAY E R S
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).