Presto
Issue: 1923 1918 - Page 8
PRESTO
TWO PRESTO CARTOONS
ILLUSTRATE AN IDEA
Apt Use for Pictures Found in Emphasizing
One-Price, No Commission Policy of
O. K. Houck Piano Co.
The trade-mark of the O. K. Houck Piano Co.,
Memphis, Term., is a design in which the enblazoned
center is "One Price." It is the declaration of an
unequivocal policy on which the company's selling
methods are founded and the salesmen's actions
based. In the canvassing activities of the representa-
tives of the of the O. K. Houck Piano Co., the "One
Price" policy prevails.
Naturally there is nothing equivocal about the ad-
vertising of the C). K. Houck Piano Co. There is
never anything ambiguous in relation to piano prices.
Plain words and sincere statements always convey
the simple fact that the O. K. Houck Piano Co. "is a
one-price house and that for obvious reasons the
prices quoted are in accordance with careful mer-
chandising and honest trading. The obvious reason
is that the house pays no commissions.
In a recent page advertisement in the Memphis
newspapers the company printed its "Affidavit of
Protection" which is the sworn statement of the late
(). K. Houck, which embodies the policy of the
house. It conveys the fact that the O. K. Houck
Piano Co. does business as a one-price house and that
a definite fixed price on every new, used or second-
hand instrument is maintained absolutely.
To illustrate the point of the advertisement the
company reproduced two cartoons from a series
printed some years ago by Presto. The cartoons
showed up some evils of the trade, some of which un-
fortunately still persist,. One pictured a piano store
. window with a "was and now" setting; the piano that
Was $599 marked down to $187. With the cartoon
the original caption was reprinted:
XVII—Do you remember the dealer whose riotous
cutting of imaginary high prices reverberated in the
marts of the piano trade? You do, even if your mem-
ory is the poorest. With a satirical smile you recall
how, in his generosity, he piffled his profit and
marked his prices with "now" quotations that made
the multitude gape in amazement when the "was"
price was noted. But his method was only a clumsy
camouflaging of deceit, although he was disgracefully
successful handing out the raspberry.
The commission evil which the Memphis house
so steadily combats was illustrated by the second
Presto cartoon which showed a row of piano stores
and entering the one in the foreground was the blithe
commission fiendess with a dotted line showing the
pilgrim's progress in peddling her piano sale tip. For
this the O. K. Houck adman provided a clever cap-
tion:
The days of paying a commission on a piano salt
are not over. Where there is such industry as
above, your name given to various dealers as a pros-
pect and the lady gets her rake-off at your expense,
no matter from whom you purchase, do you think the
nice dealer pays the commission himself? Puzzle:
Who is to be the goat?
The stand of the O, K. Houck Piano Co. is ex-
plained in the convincing text:
When a teacher or friend recommends our goods
you can depend upon the fact that such recommenda-
tion is sincere and genuine and not caused by our
paying 5 or 10 or 15 per cent for her influence.
Where commission is- paid, it is a certainty the
amount is considered in the price the purchaser pays.
Where no fixed prices are adhered to and fictitious
discounts are given as a selling proposition, the com-
mission to be paid certainly affects the reductions
which may be offered you.
MARKETING PIANOS IN CUBA.
It is estimated that about 75 per cent of the pianos
sold in Cuba at the present time, are paid for on a
monthly-installment plan, according to Commercial
Attache Paul L. Edwards, Havana.. In some cases
the installment payments are made over a period as
great as 36 months. This necessarily involves a con-
siderable capital outlay on the part of the piano mer-
chants, as they are unable to. obtain corresponding
credit terms from their foreign suppliers.
WAREROOM WARBLES
(A New One Every Week.)
By The Presto Poick.
WHAT'S THE USE?
And now get your paper and pencil, and write
The words of crude wisdom that I will indite,
And when it is written, be sure that 'tis hid
Up there in your hat, o'er the dome of your lid!
For what I will say seems to fit every day,
Perhaps it may help your courage alway;
It's simply to warn you to kick yourself loose
From cowardly snivel like, "Oh, what's the use?"
n
You'll never arrive at the place you aspire—
Not even keep out of the murk and the mire
That clogs your ambition and shuts off your steam,
Destroying the triumphs of which you may dream,
Unless you can rise with the will in your eyes
To drive off depression and doubts that arise,
To tempt you to grumble at fortune's abuse
That leads you to question with "Oh, what's the use?"
If thoughts are the things that we think they are,
'Tis well to remember they may have a share
In making or breaking the progress you'd win,
And driving success from the work you are in;
There's nothing in twisting the tail of your luck
And nutting the brakes on the wheels of your pluck,
Tt's all in your courage to push like the deuce,
Forgetting such folly as "Oh, what's the use!"
BALDWIN IN RECITAL.
The Baldwin piano was used by Frank Watson in
OPENS IN BEND, ORE.
his recital at Jordan Hall, Boston, last week. It
Orlow and Ocla White, Bend, Ore., have signed a was one of the notable occasions recently on which
lease on one of the store rooms in the Mutzig build- the fine grand of the Baldwin Piano Co. was played
ing, which is to be erected there. They will fit the before a discriminative Boston audience. The piano
room out as a music store. While waiting for the was supplied by the A. M. Hume Music Co., Boston,
new quarters they are temporarily located at 824 Wall able representative of the Baldwin line at the Hub.
street. The firm is known as the White Bros. Music
Store. Orlow White was manager for the E. M.
NEW LAWRENCE BRANCH.
Thompson Music Co., and has also been a traveling
The Lawrence, Mass., branch of the Lord Piano
man for the Bush & Lane Piano Co.
Co.. of Boston, Mass., is now located in its new
quarters at 44 Essex street, where the first floor is
W. Hausler, superintendent of the Christman Piano devoted exclusively to pianos. A balcony is occupied
Co., was elected president of the Superintendents' by phonograph and playerpiano booths. Included in
Club of the New York Piano Manufacturers' Asso- the line of pianos handled by the Lord Co. are the
ciation at a recent meeting.
Story & Clark, McPhail and Cable-Nelson.
SWAN PIANOS
SWAN ORGANS
are of the highest grade
t h a t c a n be obtained
through over 50 years of
p r a c t i c a l experience in
piano and organ building.
Illustrations a n d c a t a -
logues of various styles
will be furnished p i a n c
merchants on application.
The tremendous superi-
ority of the SWAN Reed
Organs over all others lies
in the absolute mechanism
and scientific perfection i©
the bellows action andstoo
action, making it the best
value in modern o r g a n
building,
FREEPORT, ILL
S. N. SWAN & SONS,
April 28, 1923
KROEGER
(Established 1952)
fhe name alone is enough to suggest to dealers the Best
Artistic and Commercial Values.
The New Styl« Players Are Finest Yet. If you can
get the Agency you ought to / ive it.
KROEGER PIANO CO-
tORti, N. V.
and
STAMFORD, CONK.
BRINKERHOFF
Player-Pianos and Pianos
The Line That Sell* Easily and Satisfies Always
Quick Sales and
Satisfied Customers
B8INKERH0FF PIANO CO. ""StSSKy 1 1 *- CHICAGO
That's what you want and that's what you gel when you self Straube-
made players and pianos.
The constant and growing demand for Straube-made instruments is
Jue to their high quality which is indicated by the kind of people
who buy them. You can see that they are being selected by those
who choose most carefully.
As a dealer you know the advantage of selling a line of instruments
For QUALITY, SATISFACTION and PROFIT
with a standing of this sort.
dealer proposition.
Let us tell you about our interesting
STRAUBE PIANO CO., Hammond, Ind.
NEWMAN BROTHERS PIANOS
NEWMAN BROS. CO.
Established 1870
Factories, 816 DIX ST., Chicago, I]
. Leins Piano Company
Makers of Pianos That Are Leaders
in Any Reliable Store
Kindler & Collins
Pianos
NEW FACTORY. 304 W. 42nd St.. NEW YORK
520-524 W. 48th S
NEW YORK
Try a Presto Want Ad and Get It
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/
TWO PRESTO CARTOONS
ILLUSTRATE AN IDEA
Apt Use for Pictures Found in Emphasizing
One-Price, No Commission Policy of
O. K. Houck Piano Co.
The trade-mark of the O. K. Houck Piano Co.,
Memphis, Term., is a design in which the enblazoned
center is "One Price." It is the declaration of an
unequivocal policy on which the company's selling
methods are founded and the salesmen's actions
based. In the canvassing activities of the representa-
tives of the of the O. K. Houck Piano Co., the "One
Price" policy prevails.
Naturally there is nothing equivocal about the ad-
vertising of the C). K. Houck Piano Co. There is
never anything ambiguous in relation to piano prices.
Plain words and sincere statements always convey
the simple fact that the O. K. Houck Piano Co. "is a
one-price house and that for obvious reasons the
prices quoted are in accordance with careful mer-
chandising and honest trading. The obvious reason
is that the house pays no commissions.
In a recent page advertisement in the Memphis
newspapers the company printed its "Affidavit of
Protection" which is the sworn statement of the late
(). K. Houck, which embodies the policy of the
house. It conveys the fact that the O. K. Houck
Piano Co. does business as a one-price house and that
a definite fixed price on every new, used or second-
hand instrument is maintained absolutely.
To illustrate the point of the advertisement the
company reproduced two cartoons from a series
printed some years ago by Presto. The cartoons
showed up some evils of the trade, some of which un-
fortunately still persist,. One pictured a piano store
. window with a "was and now" setting; the piano that
Was $599 marked down to $187. With the cartoon
the original caption was reprinted:
XVII—Do you remember the dealer whose riotous
cutting of imaginary high prices reverberated in the
marts of the piano trade? You do, even if your mem-
ory is the poorest. With a satirical smile you recall
how, in his generosity, he piffled his profit and
marked his prices with "now" quotations that made
the multitude gape in amazement when the "was"
price was noted. But his method was only a clumsy
camouflaging of deceit, although he was disgracefully
successful handing out the raspberry.
The commission evil which the Memphis house
so steadily combats was illustrated by the second
Presto cartoon which showed a row of piano stores
and entering the one in the foreground was the blithe
commission fiendess with a dotted line showing the
pilgrim's progress in peddling her piano sale tip. For
this the O. K. Houck adman provided a clever cap-
tion:
The days of paying a commission on a piano salt
are not over. Where there is such industry as
above, your name given to various dealers as a pros-
pect and the lady gets her rake-off at your expense,
no matter from whom you purchase, do you think the
nice dealer pays the commission himself? Puzzle:
Who is to be the goat?
The stand of the O, K. Houck Piano Co. is ex-
plained in the convincing text:
When a teacher or friend recommends our goods
you can depend upon the fact that such recommenda-
tion is sincere and genuine and not caused by our
paying 5 or 10 or 15 per cent for her influence.
Where commission is- paid, it is a certainty the
amount is considered in the price the purchaser pays.
Where no fixed prices are adhered to and fictitious
discounts are given as a selling proposition, the com-
mission to be paid certainly affects the reductions
which may be offered you.
MARKETING PIANOS IN CUBA.
It is estimated that about 75 per cent of the pianos
sold in Cuba at the present time, are paid for on a
monthly-installment plan, according to Commercial
Attache Paul L. Edwards, Havana.. In some cases
the installment payments are made over a period as
great as 36 months. This necessarily involves a con-
siderable capital outlay on the part of the piano mer-
chants, as they are unable to. obtain corresponding
credit terms from their foreign suppliers.
WAREROOM WARBLES
(A New One Every Week.)
By The Presto Poick.
WHAT'S THE USE?
And now get your paper and pencil, and write
The words of crude wisdom that I will indite,
And when it is written, be sure that 'tis hid
Up there in your hat, o'er the dome of your lid!
For what I will say seems to fit every day,
Perhaps it may help your courage alway;
It's simply to warn you to kick yourself loose
From cowardly snivel like, "Oh, what's the use?"
n
You'll never arrive at the place you aspire—
Not even keep out of the murk and the mire
That clogs your ambition and shuts off your steam,
Destroying the triumphs of which you may dream,
Unless you can rise with the will in your eyes
To drive off depression and doubts that arise,
To tempt you to grumble at fortune's abuse
That leads you to question with "Oh, what's the use?"
If thoughts are the things that we think they are,
'Tis well to remember they may have a share
In making or breaking the progress you'd win,
And driving success from the work you are in;
There's nothing in twisting the tail of your luck
And nutting the brakes on the wheels of your pluck,
Tt's all in your courage to push like the deuce,
Forgetting such folly as "Oh, what's the use!"
BALDWIN IN RECITAL.
The Baldwin piano was used by Frank Watson in
OPENS IN BEND, ORE.
his recital at Jordan Hall, Boston, last week. It
Orlow and Ocla White, Bend, Ore., have signed a was one of the notable occasions recently on which
lease on one of the store rooms in the Mutzig build- the fine grand of the Baldwin Piano Co. was played
ing, which is to be erected there. They will fit the before a discriminative Boston audience. The piano
room out as a music store. While waiting for the was supplied by the A. M. Hume Music Co., Boston,
new quarters they are temporarily located at 824 Wall able representative of the Baldwin line at the Hub.
street. The firm is known as the White Bros. Music
Store. Orlow White was manager for the E. M.
NEW LAWRENCE BRANCH.
Thompson Music Co., and has also been a traveling
The Lawrence, Mass., branch of the Lord Piano
man for the Bush & Lane Piano Co.
Co.. of Boston, Mass., is now located in its new
quarters at 44 Essex street, where the first floor is
W. Hausler, superintendent of the Christman Piano devoted exclusively to pianos. A balcony is occupied
Co., was elected president of the Superintendents' by phonograph and playerpiano booths. Included in
Club of the New York Piano Manufacturers' Asso- the line of pianos handled by the Lord Co. are the
ciation at a recent meeting.
Story & Clark, McPhail and Cable-Nelson.
SWAN PIANOS
SWAN ORGANS
are of the highest grade
t h a t c a n be obtained
through over 50 years of
p r a c t i c a l experience in
piano and organ building.
Illustrations a n d c a t a -
logues of various styles
will be furnished p i a n c
merchants on application.
The tremendous superi-
ority of the SWAN Reed
Organs over all others lies
in the absolute mechanism
and scientific perfection i©
the bellows action andstoo
action, making it the best
value in modern o r g a n
building,
FREEPORT, ILL
S. N. SWAN & SONS,
April 28, 1923
KROEGER
(Established 1952)
fhe name alone is enough to suggest to dealers the Best
Artistic and Commercial Values.
The New Styl« Players Are Finest Yet. If you can
get the Agency you ought to / ive it.
KROEGER PIANO CO-
tORti, N. V.
and
STAMFORD, CONK.
BRINKERHOFF
Player-Pianos and Pianos
The Line That Sell* Easily and Satisfies Always
Quick Sales and
Satisfied Customers
B8INKERH0FF PIANO CO. ""StSSKy 1 1 *- CHICAGO
That's what you want and that's what you gel when you self Straube-
made players and pianos.
The constant and growing demand for Straube-made instruments is
Jue to their high quality which is indicated by the kind of people
who buy them. You can see that they are being selected by those
who choose most carefully.
As a dealer you know the advantage of selling a line of instruments
For QUALITY, SATISFACTION and PROFIT
with a standing of this sort.
dealer proposition.
Let us tell you about our interesting
STRAUBE PIANO CO., Hammond, Ind.
NEWMAN BROTHERS PIANOS
NEWMAN BROS. CO.
Established 1870
Factories, 816 DIX ST., Chicago, I]
. Leins Piano Company
Makers of Pianos That Are Leaders
in Any Reliable Store
Kindler & Collins
Pianos
NEW FACTORY. 304 W. 42nd St.. NEW YORK
520-524 W. 48th S
NEW YORK
Try a Presto Want Ad and Get It
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).