Presto
Issue: 1923 1909 - Page 4
PRESTO
The American Music Trade Weekly
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY AT 407 SOUTH DEAR-
BORN STREET, OLD COLONY BUILDING, CHICAGO, ILL.
Editors
C. A. DANIELL and FRANK D. ABBOTT
Telephones, Local and Long Distance, Harrison 234. Private Phones to all De-
partments. Cable Address (Commercial Cable Co.'s Code), " P R E S T O , " 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. No extra
charge in United States possessions. Cuba and Mexico.
Address all communications for the editorial or business departments to PRESTO
PUBLISHING CO., 407 So. Dearborn Street, Chicago, III.
Advertising Rates:—Five dollars per Inch (13 ems pica) for single Insertions.
Complete schedule of rates for standing cards and special displays will be furnished
on request. The Presto does not sell Its editorial space. Payment Is not accepted for
articles of descriptive character or other matter appearing in the news columns. Busi-
ness notices will be Indicated by the word "advertisement" In accordance with the
Act of August 24, 1912.
Photographs of general trade interest are always welcome, and when used. If of
•pedal concern, a charge will be made to cover cost of the engravings.
Rates for advertising in Presto Tear Book Issue and Export Supplements of
Presto will be made known upon application. Presto Year Book and Export issues
have the most extensive circulation of any periodicals devoted to. the musical In-
strument trades and industries in all parts of the world, and reach completely and
effectually all the houses handling musical Instruments of both the Eastern ana West-
ern hemispheres.
Presto Buyers' Guide Is the only reliable index to the American Piano* and
Player-Pianos, It analyzes all Instruments, classifies them, gives accurate estimate*
•f their value and contains a directory of their manufacturers.
Items of news and other matter of general interest to the music trades are ln-
rited and when accepted will be paid for. All communications should be addressed to
Presto Publishing Co., 407 So. Dearborn Street. Chicago, III.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1923
PRESTO CORRESPONDENCE
IT IS NOT CUSTOMARY WITH THIS PAPER TO PUBLISH REGU-
LAR CORRESPONDENCE FROM ANY POINTS. WE, HOWEVER,
HAVE RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVES IN NEW YORK, BOSTON,
SAN FRANCISCO, PORTLAND, CINCINNATI, INDIANAPOLIS, MIL-
WAUKEE AND OTHER LEADING MUSIC TRADE CENTERS, WHO
KEEP THIS PAPER INFORMED OF TRADE EVENTS AS THEY HAP-
PEN. AND PRESTO IS ALWAYS GLAD TO RECEIVE REAL NEWS
OF THE TRADE FROM WHATEVER SOURCES ANYWHERE AND
MATTER FROM SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS, IF USED, WILL BE
PAID FOR AT SPACE RATES. USUALLY P.IANO MERCHANTS OR
SALESMEN IN THE SMALLER CITIES, ARE THE BEST OCCA-
SIONAL CORRESPONDENTS, AND THEIR ASSISTANCE IS INVITED.
ADVERTISING INFORMATION
Forms close promptly at noon every Thursday. N e w s matter for
publication should be in not later than eleven o'clock on the same
day. Advertising copy should be in hand before Tuesday, five p. m.,
to insure preferred position. Full page display copy should be in
hand by Monday noon preceding publication day. Want advs. for cur-
rent week, to insure classification, must be at office of publication not
later than Wednesday noon.
SALE
< <
fe,w pja i n ; 6 n menV
menV ifany, ar.e/.nipre widely k n o w n than Mr.
Gusts ^ d . Anderson, who is now helping- to kejep the customers of H.
C. Bay Company happy. H e is a popular traveler, a clear writer, a
r e a d y . s p e a k e r and always a model of affability. He is well supplied
wit-It..;all the characteristics that win friends, and he knows t h e
value of a friend.
Mr. Anderson has been everything- that any piano man can be.
H e has " w o r k e d a t the bench," has been at the head of his own fac-
tory, has sold pianos at retail, and in car-load lots to the trade. Nat-
urally under such circumstances he possesses a fund of useful piano
experience. And t h a t justifies the following- recital of a retail sale,
made by Mr. Anderson when he was associated with the Haddorff
Piano Co., whose i n s t r u m e n t s have attained to fame.
Mr. Anderson is a w a r m admirer of Mr. Charles Haddorff, t o
whose skill the unchallenged merits of the piano from Rockford are
responsible. One day the former gentleman was asked by a fine local
pianist—a lady'of musical'eminence—what instrument he could most
highly commend. The lady mentioned the one of her choice, which
is, perhaps, the most distinguished in the list. Mr. Anderson agreed
t h a t her j u d g m e n t was above criticism. The lady mentioned a n o t h e r
instrument which she t h o u g h t was so fine that she hesitated be-
t w e e n the t w o . Again Mr. Anderson agreed t h a t the lady's judg-
ment was infallible.
February 24, 1923
"But," asked the pianist, "as an expert, do you know of any other
piano to compare with the two I have named?"
"Well, madam," replied Mr. Anderson, "the first instrument you
named you said was perfect; the second, you say is so fine that you
can't decide which is best. Why, then, may there not be a third equally
fine? The rose is most perfect until we see another rose equally
glorious in its beauty. Perhaps there is nothing so absolutely per-
fect as to be above the possibility of being surpassed—that is, anything
made by man. And so I know of one more piano so fine, in my judg-
ment, that I'd be proud to have you consider it."
"And what piano is that ?"
"The Haddorff I'd like to have you try it, actually try it, and let
it speak for itself by comparison with the two great ones you have
named."
The lady was interested. She agreed that a good plan would be
to have the Haddorff grand put into her music room and to have one
of each of the other two placed there also. The Haddorff arrived in
due time and the representatives of the two others were invited to
ship on the same conditions. But they didn't care to do it, and the
lady soon became so. attached to Mr. Anderson's choice that she for- •
warded her check for it.
So the piano had no actual competition and really "sold itself."
Soon after, a friend asked Mr. Anderson why he felt so confident as
to run such a chance.
"Well," he replied, "I knew the powers of my Haddorff piano.
And I also knew that the other two wouldn't be sent out on trial!"
There was salesmanship for you! But even so, it would not have
worked but for the faith of the salesman in the J lia ; d
•
•
THE PRICE PROBLEM
From a number of communications which have come from piano
dealers, in reply to an editorial which recently appeared in these col-
umns, we select the following as being typical of them all and as rep-
resenting, without doubt the views of scores of others :
Oconto, Wis., Feb. 15, 1923.
Editor Presto: In your article, "Too Cheap,'' of February 10, you overlook
the position of the small town dealer whose territory comprises the farmer and
people who are ignorant as regards the qualities of a good piano.
I carry a first class line of pianos. I have lost the sale of three players in a
month because I could not sell at prices which my competitors are doing. It costs
me the amount they accept, with freight, bench, rolls, etc., for the piano I have. The
mail order catalogues and the
ads paint this cheap piano into the skies,
and no argument of mine can make these people believe that I am not a crook be-
cause I ask more for my piano.
The only thing for tne to do is to have one of these cheap pianos on my floor,
so that I can offset my competitors. Where can I get such an instrument?
Sincerely yours,
WM. L. LOYD.
It is perfectly easy to see the force of that letter-writer's argu-
ment. Most retailers are in the- same condition, for most of them are
doing business outside the large cities and have the same class of
customers, and the same kind of competition. But our correspondent
seems to have comprehended but one side of our argument.
We certainly did not mean to advise the average dealer not to
carry in stock any but high-grade instruments. That may be suc-
cessfully done in large cities and by exclusive representatives of fa-
mous ^pianos. In the smaller places, as our correspondent intimates,
there is always a large proportion of the "prospects" who are wholly
lacking in piano information. To them, all pianos "look alike" and
even sound alike. They want pianos—nothing more—and the only
influence and guide in their selection is in the presentation of the
salesman.
But even then the work of the dealer may be more effective in a
missionary way, than that of the city salesman who meets a larger
proportion of w r ell posted piano people. For the small-town dealer
usually knows his customer personally. He is in the position of a
professional adviser, and can instruct the prospects in matters by
which to judge of a piano's w r orth aside from the price.
What we most wanted to say in the "Too Cheap" editorial was
that the dealer may easily cheapen himself in his sale of commercial
pianos. He may lose sight of the purposes of his business and
slaughter his profits in his determination to overcome his competitor.
And in this he may even sacrifice the better grade of piano and, rih
his eagerness to close the sale, cheapen that also, and so sacrifice
a valuable asset as well as his immediate possibility of gain.
It is as possible to be "cheap" with a fine piano as with a poor
one. It would be folly for a dealer situated as is our correspondent to
neglect the opportunities of the commercial piano. We made this
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/
The American Music Trade Weekly
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY AT 407 SOUTH DEAR-
BORN STREET, OLD COLONY BUILDING, CHICAGO, ILL.
Editors
C. A. DANIELL and FRANK D. ABBOTT
Telephones, Local and Long Distance, Harrison 234. Private Phones to all De-
partments. Cable Address (Commercial Cable Co.'s Code), " P R E S T O , " 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. No extra
charge in United States possessions. Cuba and Mexico.
Address all communications for the editorial or business departments to PRESTO
PUBLISHING CO., 407 So. Dearborn Street, Chicago, III.
Advertising Rates:—Five dollars per Inch (13 ems pica) for single Insertions.
Complete schedule of rates for standing cards and special displays will be furnished
on request. The Presto does not sell Its editorial space. Payment Is not accepted for
articles of descriptive character or other matter appearing in the news columns. Busi-
ness notices will be Indicated by the word "advertisement" In accordance with the
Act of August 24, 1912.
Photographs of general trade interest are always welcome, and when used. If of
•pedal concern, a charge will be made to cover cost of the engravings.
Rates for advertising in Presto Tear Book Issue and Export Supplements of
Presto will be made known upon application. Presto Year Book and Export issues
have the most extensive circulation of any periodicals devoted to. the musical In-
strument trades and industries in all parts of the world, and reach completely and
effectually all the houses handling musical Instruments of both the Eastern ana West-
ern hemispheres.
Presto Buyers' Guide Is the only reliable index to the American Piano* and
Player-Pianos, It analyzes all Instruments, classifies them, gives accurate estimate*
•f their value and contains a directory of their manufacturers.
Items of news and other matter of general interest to the music trades are ln-
rited and when accepted will be paid for. All communications should be addressed to
Presto Publishing Co., 407 So. Dearborn Street. Chicago, III.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1923
PRESTO CORRESPONDENCE
IT IS NOT CUSTOMARY WITH THIS PAPER TO PUBLISH REGU-
LAR CORRESPONDENCE FROM ANY POINTS. WE, HOWEVER,
HAVE RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVES IN NEW YORK, BOSTON,
SAN FRANCISCO, PORTLAND, CINCINNATI, INDIANAPOLIS, MIL-
WAUKEE AND OTHER LEADING MUSIC TRADE CENTERS, WHO
KEEP THIS PAPER INFORMED OF TRADE EVENTS AS THEY HAP-
PEN. AND PRESTO IS ALWAYS GLAD TO RECEIVE REAL NEWS
OF THE TRADE FROM WHATEVER SOURCES ANYWHERE AND
MATTER FROM SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS, IF USED, WILL BE
PAID FOR AT SPACE RATES. USUALLY P.IANO MERCHANTS OR
SALESMEN IN THE SMALLER CITIES, ARE THE BEST OCCA-
SIONAL CORRESPONDENTS, AND THEIR ASSISTANCE IS INVITED.
ADVERTISING INFORMATION
Forms close promptly at noon every Thursday. N e w s matter for
publication should be in not later than eleven o'clock on the same
day. Advertising copy should be in hand before Tuesday, five p. m.,
to insure preferred position. Full page display copy should be in
hand by Monday noon preceding publication day. Want advs. for cur-
rent week, to insure classification, must be at office of publication not
later than Wednesday noon.
SALE
< <
fe,w pja i n ; 6 n menV
menV ifany, ar.e/.nipre widely k n o w n than Mr.
Gusts ^ d . Anderson, who is now helping- to kejep the customers of H.
C. Bay Company happy. H e is a popular traveler, a clear writer, a
r e a d y . s p e a k e r and always a model of affability. He is well supplied
wit-It..;all the characteristics that win friends, and he knows t h e
value of a friend.
Mr. Anderson has been everything- that any piano man can be.
H e has " w o r k e d a t the bench," has been at the head of his own fac-
tory, has sold pianos at retail, and in car-load lots to the trade. Nat-
urally under such circumstances he possesses a fund of useful piano
experience. And t h a t justifies the following- recital of a retail sale,
made by Mr. Anderson when he was associated with the Haddorff
Piano Co., whose i n s t r u m e n t s have attained to fame.
Mr. Anderson is a w a r m admirer of Mr. Charles Haddorff, t o
whose skill the unchallenged merits of the piano from Rockford are
responsible. One day the former gentleman was asked by a fine local
pianist—a lady'of musical'eminence—what instrument he could most
highly commend. The lady mentioned the one of her choice, which
is, perhaps, the most distinguished in the list. Mr. Anderson agreed
t h a t her j u d g m e n t was above criticism. The lady mentioned a n o t h e r
instrument which she t h o u g h t was so fine that she hesitated be-
t w e e n the t w o . Again Mr. Anderson agreed t h a t the lady's judg-
ment was infallible.
February 24, 1923
"But," asked the pianist, "as an expert, do you know of any other
piano to compare with the two I have named?"
"Well, madam," replied Mr. Anderson, "the first instrument you
named you said was perfect; the second, you say is so fine that you
can't decide which is best. Why, then, may there not be a third equally
fine? The rose is most perfect until we see another rose equally
glorious in its beauty. Perhaps there is nothing so absolutely per-
fect as to be above the possibility of being surpassed—that is, anything
made by man. And so I know of one more piano so fine, in my judg-
ment, that I'd be proud to have you consider it."
"And what piano is that ?"
"The Haddorff I'd like to have you try it, actually try it, and let
it speak for itself by comparison with the two great ones you have
named."
The lady was interested. She agreed that a good plan would be
to have the Haddorff grand put into her music room and to have one
of each of the other two placed there also. The Haddorff arrived in
due time and the representatives of the two others were invited to
ship on the same conditions. But they didn't care to do it, and the
lady soon became so. attached to Mr. Anderson's choice that she for- •
warded her check for it.
So the piano had no actual competition and really "sold itself."
Soon after, a friend asked Mr. Anderson why he felt so confident as
to run such a chance.
"Well," he replied, "I knew the powers of my Haddorff piano.
And I also knew that the other two wouldn't be sent out on trial!"
There was salesmanship for you! But even so, it would not have
worked but for the faith of the salesman in the J lia ; d
•
•
THE PRICE PROBLEM
From a number of communications which have come from piano
dealers, in reply to an editorial which recently appeared in these col-
umns, we select the following as being typical of them all and as rep-
resenting, without doubt the views of scores of others :
Oconto, Wis., Feb. 15, 1923.
Editor Presto: In your article, "Too Cheap,'' of February 10, you overlook
the position of the small town dealer whose territory comprises the farmer and
people who are ignorant as regards the qualities of a good piano.
I carry a first class line of pianos. I have lost the sale of three players in a
month because I could not sell at prices which my competitors are doing. It costs
me the amount they accept, with freight, bench, rolls, etc., for the piano I have. The
mail order catalogues and the
ads paint this cheap piano into the skies,
and no argument of mine can make these people believe that I am not a crook be-
cause I ask more for my piano.
The only thing for tne to do is to have one of these cheap pianos on my floor,
so that I can offset my competitors. Where can I get such an instrument?
Sincerely yours,
WM. L. LOYD.
It is perfectly easy to see the force of that letter-writer's argu-
ment. Most retailers are in the- same condition, for most of them are
doing business outside the large cities and have the same class of
customers, and the same kind of competition. But our correspondent
seems to have comprehended but one side of our argument.
We certainly did not mean to advise the average dealer not to
carry in stock any but high-grade instruments. That may be suc-
cessfully done in large cities and by exclusive representatives of fa-
mous ^pianos. In the smaller places, as our correspondent intimates,
there is always a large proportion of the "prospects" who are wholly
lacking in piano information. To them, all pianos "look alike" and
even sound alike. They want pianos—nothing more—and the only
influence and guide in their selection is in the presentation of the
salesman.
But even then the work of the dealer may be more effective in a
missionary way, than that of the city salesman who meets a larger
proportion of w r ell posted piano people. For the small-town dealer
usually knows his customer personally. He is in the position of a
professional adviser, and can instruct the prospects in matters by
which to judge of a piano's w r orth aside from the price.
What we most wanted to say in the "Too Cheap" editorial was
that the dealer may easily cheapen himself in his sale of commercial
pianos. He may lose sight of the purposes of his business and
slaughter his profits in his determination to overcome his competitor.
And in this he may even sacrifice the better grade of piano and, rih
his eagerness to close the sale, cheapen that also, and so sacrifice
a valuable asset as well as his immediate possibility of gain.
It is as possible to be "cheap" with a fine piano as with a poor
one. It would be folly for a dealer situated as is our correspondent to
neglect the opportunities of the commercial piano. We made this
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).