Presto
Issue: 1923 1905 - Page 6
January 27, 1923
JUST AMONG US
GOOD PIANO MEN
A Series of Articles Drawn from Practical
Experience in Store and on the Road
Selling the Goods and Noting
How Others Do It.
By MARSHALL BREEDON.
A PROUD BOAST.
Whatever else may he said of Us Piano Men,
when we have slipped away on the long trail it
shall not be said that we refused to succumb to color-
ful temptations. Think what a dreary history a man
must have who is compelled to say:
Pomegranates, grapes invited,
And beckoned me, delighted.
I gathered them? Not I!
The breaker came and tempted,
It went from me unemptied,—
I let the chance go by.
No this is not intended exactly as it is written.
That is Us Piano Men do not care to be known as
"'soaks," but in the last line is the norm of the whole
matter.
So many of us let chances go by! There is, for
instance, a dealer in Idaho—on our trip we should
stop and see him. His town is, perhaps, a hundred
miles off the main line. We pass him up, saying to
ourselves that he would not buy any pianos anyway.
That is the sort of chance we all let go by. Tt is
likewise true that we do not often let the easy-to-
reach dealer go by without a visit, nor do we let
the occasional outbursts of nightly merriment pass.
Us Piano Men are like most all other men—envious
of the man who makes more "jack" than we do.
But we are not always ready to pay for our "jack."
ANTICIPATION.
The boss came back, and said in answer to our re-
quest for an order—"nothing doing!" Not exactly
what we had anticipated.
There is, however, another angle to anticipation. It
is that of planning the approach, or argument. An-
ticipate just about what you want to say to the dealer
and then, when the opportunity is ripe, say it. That
preparation is the sort of anticipation a successful
piano traveler learns to use for his profit.
I once knew a young man who, when he was just
starting out in the piano business, made it a nightly
custom to write a sales talk. He did this in the form
of a letter addressed to the prospect he intended to
see the next day. This young man now has several
dozen such letters, and in addition he has one of the
very best wholesale piano businesses on the Coast.
That's the sort of anticipation that will "bring home
the bacon" for the piano traveler.
PUBLIC AND BUYER SENTIMENT.
The piano man, either wholesale or retail, who
knows how to fit his sales-talk to the changing
moods of the times is the man of genuine ability. A
successful salesman on the road, or on the floor, must
study the public, not only materially, but psychologic-
ally as well. He must study the public, because
through public sentiment is created the desire on the
part of the buyer to buy pianos for stock. A wise
traveler will change his line of argument, according
to the locality in which the buyer maintains his store.
He must realize that truth needs to be presented
in a new dress, frequently, as everything else re-
quires occasional new adornment to make it attrac-
tive.
Just as surely as a big new real estate subdivision
appears in a city, and the houses therein, are finished
in ivory, the furniture buyers will be displaying
ivory bed room suites.
The things that the eye has frequently seen, very
often the brain ceases to notice. Therefore ingenuity
must be used constantly to attract the attention of the
buyer, over and over, to the same thing. Do not first
ask the buyer to replenish his stock of the usual
styles. Introduce rather a different part of your line
—a part the buyer has never handled. And then,
It has been aptly said that anticipation is frequently from that, work toward the portion of your line with
better than realization. This is also very true in the which the buyer is already familiar, such as cheaper
wholesale piano business. A piano traveler will instruments.
sometimes anticipate a very large order, and then
Take pianos. If there has recently been a concert
the realization proves something quite the reverse.
pianist in a small town, approach the music merchant
Once, in Texas, we were told by the assistant man- with an argument for Grand Pianos. He will him-
ager of a music store that the boss wanted to buy self lead you around to the cheaper uprights soon
some of our pianos. He was out of town for a day enough.
or so and we had better linger around. In our an-
Next Week:—"Candy to His Wife"; "I Wonder
ticipation we hung around that town for three days. Why," and "Vagabond Salesmen."
CHALIAPIN PLAYS THE BALDWIN
PLAN ACTIVITIES
OF JUNE MEETINGS
Arrangements for National Conventions of
Music Organizations Made at Meetings of
Executive Cummittees This Week.
Plans for the big conventions of the national or-
ganizations of the piano industry, to be held in Chi-
cago on June 4, 5 and 6 were made by the executive
committees of these organizations in midwinter meet-
ings held in Chicago this week. The results of the
meetings indicate a lively time at the annual June
conventions, and an abundance of enthusiasm from
the Chicago entertainers to put the conventions over.
The organizations represented at the midwinter
meetings in Chicago were the Music Industries
Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of
Music Merchants, the National Piano Manufacturers'
Association, and the Musical Supply Association of
America. The first of the meetings was that of the
National Association of Music Merchants, at the
Drake Hotel, Thursday morning at 10 o'clock. The
other meeting that morning was the Supply Associa-
tion. All of the committees held their meetings at
the Drake.
The National Piano Manufacturers' Association held
its committee meeting Thursday afternoon, January
25, it being the last of the divisional organizations.
Final plans were then referred to the executive com-
mittee and directors of the Music Industries Cham-
ber of Commerce, which held its meeting Friday
morning, January 26. At this meeting all the matters
were thrashed out and final discussions held.
A large majority of the members of the committee
were present. The members of the various commit-
tees of the organizations are:
Chamber directors—James T. Bristol, J. Edwi||
Butler, C. C. Chickering, M. V. DeForeest, Percy A.
Deutsch, Charles Deutschmann, C. D. Greenleaf, C.
A. Grinnell, E. Paul Hamilton, William C. Hamilton,
Hermann Irion, E. R. Jacobson, Paul B. Klugh, Rich-
ard W. Lawrence, Thomas M. Pletcher and James
T. Rose.
National Piano Manufacturers' Association of
America—C. C. Chickering, E. R. Jacobson, James T.
Bristol, Charles Jacob, Max J. de Rochemont, George
J. Dowling, Webster E. Janssen, R. W. Lawrence,
C. H. Smith, A, G. Gulbransen and C. G. Steger.
Musical Supply Association of America—William
C. Hess, A. W. Johnston and James T. Rose.
National Association of Music Merchants—J. Ed-
win Butler, president; Wm. C. Hamilton, first vice-
president; Robert N, Watkin, second vice-president;
Matt J. Kennedy, secretary; Carl A. Droop, treasurer;
and members of the advisory board.
On Thursday night, January 25, the visiting com-
mitteemen and directors were the guests of the Chi-
cago Piano & Organ Association at the annual ban-
quet at the Palmer House. The attendance was very
heavy, and the program such as to justify the good
turnout. The speakers were R. W. Lawrence, of
New York, president of the Music Industries Cham-
ber of Commerce; C. C. Chickering, of Chicago, pres-
ident of the National Piano Manufacturers' Associa-
tion, and J. Edwin Butler, of Marion, Ind., president
of the National x\ssociation of Music Merchants.
There were also several impromptu talks and good
entertainment features.
SMITH ORGANIZATIONS
HOLD ANNUAL ELECTIONS
The accompanying cut was made from a very fine
photograph of Feodor Chaliapin, the great Russian
singer, which shows him seated at the Baldwin Grand
Piano which he selected at the Cincinnati factories
of the Baldwin Piano Co. for use in his home in
London, England. Chaliapin is using the Baldwin
piano exclusively for accompaniments during all of
his concert appearances in this country. He admires
the Baldwin piano so much that he purchased one for
use in his own home.
Appearing in the picture with Chaliapin are Lucien
Wulsin, treasurer of the Baldwin Piano Company;
Miss Wright, secretary to Chaliapin, and Max
Rabinowitch, who plays the accompaniments at the
Chaliapin concerts.
Chicago Factory and Affiliated Retail Companies
Elect New Officers and Directors.
The Smith, Barnes & Strohber Company, of Chi-
cago, and the two retail corporations which are allied
with it, have selected the officers to head each in-
dividual concern for the coming year. The annual
meetings were held in the Chicago office of Smith,
Barnes & Strohber Co.
The officers of Smith, Barnes & Strohber Co. are:
C. H. Smith, president; J. R. Wolfenden, first vice-
president and secretary; H. W. Egeland, treasurer;
E. M. Eastman, second vice-president; George P.
Elbert, third vice-president. The old board of direc-
tors Was elected again.
The election of the Smith Piano Co. of Illinois re-
sulted as follows: C. H. Smith, president; J. R.
Wolfenden, vice-president; George P. Elbert, secre-
tary; H. W. Egeland, treasurer. These four and
H. S. Elbert constitute the board of directors.
The new executives of the Smith Piano Co., of Wis-
consin, are C. H. Smith, president; J. R. Wolfenden,
vice-president; John J. Stenger, secretary; and H. W.
Egeland, treasurer. These four, with George P. El-
bert, make up the board of directors.
William Ackerman has taken over the music busi-
ness of Goetz & Co., Rockaway Beach, N. Y.
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/
JUST AMONG US
GOOD PIANO MEN
A Series of Articles Drawn from Practical
Experience in Store and on the Road
Selling the Goods and Noting
How Others Do It.
By MARSHALL BREEDON.
A PROUD BOAST.
Whatever else may he said of Us Piano Men,
when we have slipped away on the long trail it
shall not be said that we refused to succumb to color-
ful temptations. Think what a dreary history a man
must have who is compelled to say:
Pomegranates, grapes invited,
And beckoned me, delighted.
I gathered them? Not I!
The breaker came and tempted,
It went from me unemptied,—
I let the chance go by.
No this is not intended exactly as it is written.
That is Us Piano Men do not care to be known as
"'soaks," but in the last line is the norm of the whole
matter.
So many of us let chances go by! There is, for
instance, a dealer in Idaho—on our trip we should
stop and see him. His town is, perhaps, a hundred
miles off the main line. We pass him up, saying to
ourselves that he would not buy any pianos anyway.
That is the sort of chance we all let go by. Tt is
likewise true that we do not often let the easy-to-
reach dealer go by without a visit, nor do we let
the occasional outbursts of nightly merriment pass.
Us Piano Men are like most all other men—envious
of the man who makes more "jack" than we do.
But we are not always ready to pay for our "jack."
ANTICIPATION.
The boss came back, and said in answer to our re-
quest for an order—"nothing doing!" Not exactly
what we had anticipated.
There is, however, another angle to anticipation. It
is that of planning the approach, or argument. An-
ticipate just about what you want to say to the dealer
and then, when the opportunity is ripe, say it. That
preparation is the sort of anticipation a successful
piano traveler learns to use for his profit.
I once knew a young man who, when he was just
starting out in the piano business, made it a nightly
custom to write a sales talk. He did this in the form
of a letter addressed to the prospect he intended to
see the next day. This young man now has several
dozen such letters, and in addition he has one of the
very best wholesale piano businesses on the Coast.
That's the sort of anticipation that will "bring home
the bacon" for the piano traveler.
PUBLIC AND BUYER SENTIMENT.
The piano man, either wholesale or retail, who
knows how to fit his sales-talk to the changing
moods of the times is the man of genuine ability. A
successful salesman on the road, or on the floor, must
study the public, not only materially, but psychologic-
ally as well. He must study the public, because
through public sentiment is created the desire on the
part of the buyer to buy pianos for stock. A wise
traveler will change his line of argument, according
to the locality in which the buyer maintains his store.
He must realize that truth needs to be presented
in a new dress, frequently, as everything else re-
quires occasional new adornment to make it attrac-
tive.
Just as surely as a big new real estate subdivision
appears in a city, and the houses therein, are finished
in ivory, the furniture buyers will be displaying
ivory bed room suites.
The things that the eye has frequently seen, very
often the brain ceases to notice. Therefore ingenuity
must be used constantly to attract the attention of the
buyer, over and over, to the same thing. Do not first
ask the buyer to replenish his stock of the usual
styles. Introduce rather a different part of your line
—a part the buyer has never handled. And then,
It has been aptly said that anticipation is frequently from that, work toward the portion of your line with
better than realization. This is also very true in the which the buyer is already familiar, such as cheaper
wholesale piano business. A piano traveler will instruments.
sometimes anticipate a very large order, and then
Take pianos. If there has recently been a concert
the realization proves something quite the reverse.
pianist in a small town, approach the music merchant
Once, in Texas, we were told by the assistant man- with an argument for Grand Pianos. He will him-
ager of a music store that the boss wanted to buy self lead you around to the cheaper uprights soon
some of our pianos. He was out of town for a day enough.
or so and we had better linger around. In our an-
Next Week:—"Candy to His Wife"; "I Wonder
ticipation we hung around that town for three days. Why," and "Vagabond Salesmen."
CHALIAPIN PLAYS THE BALDWIN
PLAN ACTIVITIES
OF JUNE MEETINGS
Arrangements for National Conventions of
Music Organizations Made at Meetings of
Executive Cummittees This Week.
Plans for the big conventions of the national or-
ganizations of the piano industry, to be held in Chi-
cago on June 4, 5 and 6 were made by the executive
committees of these organizations in midwinter meet-
ings held in Chicago this week. The results of the
meetings indicate a lively time at the annual June
conventions, and an abundance of enthusiasm from
the Chicago entertainers to put the conventions over.
The organizations represented at the midwinter
meetings in Chicago were the Music Industries
Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of
Music Merchants, the National Piano Manufacturers'
Association, and the Musical Supply Association of
America. The first of the meetings was that of the
National Association of Music Merchants, at the
Drake Hotel, Thursday morning at 10 o'clock. The
other meeting that morning was the Supply Associa-
tion. All of the committees held their meetings at
the Drake.
The National Piano Manufacturers' Association held
its committee meeting Thursday afternoon, January
25, it being the last of the divisional organizations.
Final plans were then referred to the executive com-
mittee and directors of the Music Industries Cham-
ber of Commerce, which held its meeting Friday
morning, January 26. At this meeting all the matters
were thrashed out and final discussions held.
A large majority of the members of the committee
were present. The members of the various commit-
tees of the organizations are:
Chamber directors—James T. Bristol, J. Edwi||
Butler, C. C. Chickering, M. V. DeForeest, Percy A.
Deutsch, Charles Deutschmann, C. D. Greenleaf, C.
A. Grinnell, E. Paul Hamilton, William C. Hamilton,
Hermann Irion, E. R. Jacobson, Paul B. Klugh, Rich-
ard W. Lawrence, Thomas M. Pletcher and James
T. Rose.
National Piano Manufacturers' Association of
America—C. C. Chickering, E. R. Jacobson, James T.
Bristol, Charles Jacob, Max J. de Rochemont, George
J. Dowling, Webster E. Janssen, R. W. Lawrence,
C. H. Smith, A, G. Gulbransen and C. G. Steger.
Musical Supply Association of America—William
C. Hess, A. W. Johnston and James T. Rose.
National Association of Music Merchants—J. Ed-
win Butler, president; Wm. C. Hamilton, first vice-
president; Robert N, Watkin, second vice-president;
Matt J. Kennedy, secretary; Carl A. Droop, treasurer;
and members of the advisory board.
On Thursday night, January 25, the visiting com-
mitteemen and directors were the guests of the Chi-
cago Piano & Organ Association at the annual ban-
quet at the Palmer House. The attendance was very
heavy, and the program such as to justify the good
turnout. The speakers were R. W. Lawrence, of
New York, president of the Music Industries Cham-
ber of Commerce; C. C. Chickering, of Chicago, pres-
ident of the National Piano Manufacturers' Associa-
tion, and J. Edwin Butler, of Marion, Ind., president
of the National x\ssociation of Music Merchants.
There were also several impromptu talks and good
entertainment features.
SMITH ORGANIZATIONS
HOLD ANNUAL ELECTIONS
The accompanying cut was made from a very fine
photograph of Feodor Chaliapin, the great Russian
singer, which shows him seated at the Baldwin Grand
Piano which he selected at the Cincinnati factories
of the Baldwin Piano Co. for use in his home in
London, England. Chaliapin is using the Baldwin
piano exclusively for accompaniments during all of
his concert appearances in this country. He admires
the Baldwin piano so much that he purchased one for
use in his own home.
Appearing in the picture with Chaliapin are Lucien
Wulsin, treasurer of the Baldwin Piano Company;
Miss Wright, secretary to Chaliapin, and Max
Rabinowitch, who plays the accompaniments at the
Chaliapin concerts.
Chicago Factory and Affiliated Retail Companies
Elect New Officers and Directors.
The Smith, Barnes & Strohber Company, of Chi-
cago, and the two retail corporations which are allied
with it, have selected the officers to head each in-
dividual concern for the coming year. The annual
meetings were held in the Chicago office of Smith,
Barnes & Strohber Co.
The officers of Smith, Barnes & Strohber Co. are:
C. H. Smith, president; J. R. Wolfenden, first vice-
president and secretary; H. W. Egeland, treasurer;
E. M. Eastman, second vice-president; George P.
Elbert, third vice-president. The old board of direc-
tors Was elected again.
The election of the Smith Piano Co. of Illinois re-
sulted as follows: C. H. Smith, president; J. R.
Wolfenden, vice-president; George P. Elbert, secre-
tary; H. W. Egeland, treasurer. These four and
H. S. Elbert constitute the board of directors.
The new executives of the Smith Piano Co., of Wis-
consin, are C. H. Smith, president; J. R. Wolfenden,
vice-president; John J. Stenger, secretary; and H. W.
Egeland, treasurer. These four, with George P. El-
bert, make up the board of directors.
William Ackerman has taken over the music busi-
ness of Goetz & Co., Rockaway Beach, N. Y.
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).