Presto
Issue: 1923 1924 - Page 9
PRESTO
June 9, 1923
POSSIBILITIES OF THE
ORGAN INDUSTRY
A Dealer
In
New Jersey
Writes:
"A style H Orchestrion
I sold for $2,800 as
easily as an ordinary
$600 home player be-
cause I showed the
buyer that his custo-
mers' nickles paid the
bill."
Write Us Today
Secretary's Report at Annual Convention This
Week Tells of Greater Opportunities in
Growing Field.
The reading of the report of S. E. Gruenstein, sec-
retary of the Organ Builders' Association of America,
at the annual convention at the Drake Hotel, Chi-
cago, June 5, disclosed some very interesting facts
about the industry. Telling about the year since the
previous meeting Mr. Gruenstein said:
"In the business of manufacturing organs it has
been one of the most healthy activity. Contracts have
been numerous and prices as a whole seem- to have
been well maintained. As a class organ builders ap-
pear to be learning gradually that there is no reason
why their product should be sold at a ridiculously low
profit, or no profit at all, and that even the art of
organ building is not polluted by honest and reason-
able gains.
"The first thing to occur to anyone surveying the
organ field naturally would be that an industry of
this size and importance, with an ever-widening field
for its product, should make united efforts to pro-
tect itself and to further its own interests, eliminating
unhealthy forms of competition and substituting
therefor co-operative effort to make the situation bet-
ter not only for the maker, but also for the pur-
chaser. There has been some effort in this direction,
but it has not been as strong as the conditions war-
rant, in the opinion of your secretary.
The association has a membership of forty-four,
according to the secretary's figures. The possibili-
ties of the industry were pointed out by him in this
way: "There is no question as to the growing popu-
larity of the organ. The moving picture theater and
the residence have offered most fruitful fields and
continue to do so. The municipal organ is not a pass-
ing fad and by judicious publicity more cities may
be made to see the wisdom of purchasing such in-
struments. That the churches are ordering larger
organs than formerly."
Leaders in the Automatic Field
1510-1516 Dayton Street
CHICAGO
CHARGES OF GRAFT IN
SCHOOL PHONOGRAPH SALES
Chicago's Board of Education Called to Defend
Itself in Music Department Frauds.
The educational department of the great city of
Chicago is on trial charged with embezzlement in
public school purchases. Among the items included
in the excessive bills is one for "Hiawatha" phono-
graphs for which too much money was paid. Accord-
ing to the prosecutor in the case this is the testi-
mony:
"Phonographs were bought from the Hiawatha
company at a price of $157.50. These phonographs
were to come up to certain specifications, which they
did not do. Other bids had been submitted, one at
$100 and one at $115, but the board paid no atten-
tion to these bids. The cost price of the phonographs
to the Hiawatha company was a little over $40."
SELLS BUSH & LANE
GRAND IN EIGHT MINUTES TUESDAY'S DINNER AN
EVENT OF CONVENTION
J. C. Gallagher Closed Deal and Got Check in That
Short Time.
J. C. Gallagher, manager of the Bush & Lane Piano
Co., of Portland, Ore., left the store, went to the
Multnomah Hotel several blocks away, sold a Bush
& Lane grand to the hotel and was back at his desk
in eight minutes with a check in his pocket for the
instrument. Mr. Gallagher said he did not have to
speak of the merits of the Bush & Lane, as the hotel
already had a grand Bush & Lane. He only had to
convince them that they needed the second instru-
ment, and the sale was made.
The Blue Moon Serenaders is the name of a new
orchestra recently organized of eight pieces tha*
have ordered a complete set of burnished gold in-
struments from the musical merchandise department
of the Bush & Lane Piano Co., of Portland, Ore.
COMPETITIVE AWARDS
FOR MUSIC STUDENTS
Cleveland Musical Association Stimulating Advanced
Performers Prepares Model Program.
J. P. SEEBURG PIANO CO
candidate. Liszt—Love's Dreams; Etude D Mat;
Rhapsodie No. 2 or equivalent.
Class B: Bach—Prelude from W. T. Clavier; Bee-
thoven—1st Movement from op. 2; or ditto op. 13;
ditto op. 10 No. 1; Chopin—Waltz op. 64 No. 1; Im-
promptu op. 29; or Nocturne (selected); Mazurka op.
33-4; Schumann—Wanim, Grillcn, or Romance in F
Sharp.
The committee on the violin, comprising Sol Mar-
cosson, Johann H. Beck and Chas. V. Rychlik, have
selected the following compositions:
Class A: 1st Movement of Mendelssohn or Bruch
concerto; Wieniawski—D minor concerto, or equiva-
lent.
Class B: Concerto by Viotti, Rhode or Kreutzer;
Handel—Sonata or equivalent.
The committee on the organ, composed of Albert
Riemenschneider, Jas. H. Rogers and Edwin Arthur
Kraft, have decided as follows:
Each contestant must be prepared to play one of
the modern numbers and one of the Bach numbers
selected from the list of the class in which he decides
to compete. When a Prelude and Fugue, or Toccata
and Fugue are grouped they are considered as a
single number. The address of the Cleveland Asso-.
ciation is 2063 E. Fourth street.
The Cleveland Musical Association, numbering
some 400 members, will award, on June 29, through
competitive examination, the Wilson G. Smith Gold
Medals to talented Cleveland music students. Two
medals each, an A and B for piano, violin, voice, and
organ, are offered.
The winners will have an opportunity of appearing
in a concert to be given by the Association at Ma-
sonic Hall, Sept. 28, 1923.
The committee on voice, composed of Edwin H.
Douglass, Francis J. Sadlier, William Saal, and John
O. Samuels, have chosen the following arias and
songs for the competition:
Class A: One operatic aria or one oratorio aria;
"Nymphs and Fauns," Bemberg; "Villanelle Dell'
Aqua"; song by Schubert, Schumann, Franz or Grieg.
Class B: Flower Song from Faust, or Gavotte from
Mignon. Songs by Tosti, Grief, Franz or some other
modern composer, to be selected by candidate.
The committee on piano, composed of Wilson G.
Smith, Wm. A. Becker, J. R. Hall and Carl Riemen-
schneider, have chosen the following compositions:
Class A: Bach—Prelude and Fugue from Well
Tempered Clavier.
Beethoven—Movement from
Sonata op. 31-3; op. 26; op. 27 or op. 53; Chopin—
Ballade in A flat or G minor. Etude to be selected by
One of Week's Bright Spots, at Which Los Angeles
Bid for Next Convention.
The Tuesday dinner was a delightfully crowded
affair. There were as many present as at the big
luncheon of Monday, the number being estimated at
about 725. It was held in the Drake main dining
room and was one of the week's events.
Tuesday was known as Rocky Mountain and Pa-
cific Coast States Day; Wednesday was Southern
Day, and Thursday Eastern Day. Jas. T. Bristol pre-
sided at all these luncheons, hut on Tuesday the
president of the Chicago Piano Club introduced E.
Palmer Tucker, manager of the Los Angeles branch
house of Wiley B. Allen Co., who spoke for the Pa-
cific Coast states. Other western men at the speakers'
table were Frank Anrys, general manager of Wiley
B. Allen Co., San Francisco; Geo. P. Bent, now of
Los Angeles; B. Platt, also of Los Angeles; P. T.
Clay, of Sherman, Clay Co., San Francisco, and S. S.
Hockett, of the Hockett-Cowan Co., Fresno.
The California delegation, through their spokesman,
Mr. Tucker, put in a bid for the next convention to
go to Los Angeles. A letter was read from the Los
Angeles Chamber of Commerce, asking that the 1924
meeting be held there.
Prof. Sandelman, leader of the Marine Band, was
introduced by Mr. Bristol. A long stride of enter-
tainments brought the Tuesday noon-day dinner to a
close, after which the gathering was asked to get to-
gether in a group for a photograph.
PIANO TUNER KILLED BY FALL.
Frank Toner, 67 years old, 7340 Emerald avenue,
Chicago, a piano tuner, employed by Story & Clark
Piano Company, 315 South Wahash avenue, was in-
stantly killed when he either jumped or fell from a
fifth floor window in the rear of the building. Mr.
Toner was known to hundreds of piano men and the
Story & Clark Piano Co. considered him a valuable
member of its Chicago staff.
NEW SOUTHAMPTON BRANCH.
S. T. Meskell will open up a new department in
Northampton, Mass., this week for Forbes & Wal-
lace, Springfield, Mass. Mr. Meskell has been man-
ager for McCallum & Co. in Northampton, during
the last six months and has made numerous friends
there. He is succeeded by E. J. Berube, who has
been in the employ of the J. L. Meisse Music Com-
pany for the past six months.
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/
June 9, 1923
POSSIBILITIES OF THE
ORGAN INDUSTRY
A Dealer
In
New Jersey
Writes:
"A style H Orchestrion
I sold for $2,800 as
easily as an ordinary
$600 home player be-
cause I showed the
buyer that his custo-
mers' nickles paid the
bill."
Write Us Today
Secretary's Report at Annual Convention This
Week Tells of Greater Opportunities in
Growing Field.
The reading of the report of S. E. Gruenstein, sec-
retary of the Organ Builders' Association of America,
at the annual convention at the Drake Hotel, Chi-
cago, June 5, disclosed some very interesting facts
about the industry. Telling about the year since the
previous meeting Mr. Gruenstein said:
"In the business of manufacturing organs it has
been one of the most healthy activity. Contracts have
been numerous and prices as a whole seem- to have
been well maintained. As a class organ builders ap-
pear to be learning gradually that there is no reason
why their product should be sold at a ridiculously low
profit, or no profit at all, and that even the art of
organ building is not polluted by honest and reason-
able gains.
"The first thing to occur to anyone surveying the
organ field naturally would be that an industry of
this size and importance, with an ever-widening field
for its product, should make united efforts to pro-
tect itself and to further its own interests, eliminating
unhealthy forms of competition and substituting
therefor co-operative effort to make the situation bet-
ter not only for the maker, but also for the pur-
chaser. There has been some effort in this direction,
but it has not been as strong as the conditions war-
rant, in the opinion of your secretary.
The association has a membership of forty-four,
according to the secretary's figures. The possibili-
ties of the industry were pointed out by him in this
way: "There is no question as to the growing popu-
larity of the organ. The moving picture theater and
the residence have offered most fruitful fields and
continue to do so. The municipal organ is not a pass-
ing fad and by judicious publicity more cities may
be made to see the wisdom of purchasing such in-
struments. That the churches are ordering larger
organs than formerly."
Leaders in the Automatic Field
1510-1516 Dayton Street
CHICAGO
CHARGES OF GRAFT IN
SCHOOL PHONOGRAPH SALES
Chicago's Board of Education Called to Defend
Itself in Music Department Frauds.
The educational department of the great city of
Chicago is on trial charged with embezzlement in
public school purchases. Among the items included
in the excessive bills is one for "Hiawatha" phono-
graphs for which too much money was paid. Accord-
ing to the prosecutor in the case this is the testi-
mony:
"Phonographs were bought from the Hiawatha
company at a price of $157.50. These phonographs
were to come up to certain specifications, which they
did not do. Other bids had been submitted, one at
$100 and one at $115, but the board paid no atten-
tion to these bids. The cost price of the phonographs
to the Hiawatha company was a little over $40."
SELLS BUSH & LANE
GRAND IN EIGHT MINUTES TUESDAY'S DINNER AN
EVENT OF CONVENTION
J. C. Gallagher Closed Deal and Got Check in That
Short Time.
J. C. Gallagher, manager of the Bush & Lane Piano
Co., of Portland, Ore., left the store, went to the
Multnomah Hotel several blocks away, sold a Bush
& Lane grand to the hotel and was back at his desk
in eight minutes with a check in his pocket for the
instrument. Mr. Gallagher said he did not have to
speak of the merits of the Bush & Lane, as the hotel
already had a grand Bush & Lane. He only had to
convince them that they needed the second instru-
ment, and the sale was made.
The Blue Moon Serenaders is the name of a new
orchestra recently organized of eight pieces tha*
have ordered a complete set of burnished gold in-
struments from the musical merchandise department
of the Bush & Lane Piano Co., of Portland, Ore.
COMPETITIVE AWARDS
FOR MUSIC STUDENTS
Cleveland Musical Association Stimulating Advanced
Performers Prepares Model Program.
J. P. SEEBURG PIANO CO
candidate. Liszt—Love's Dreams; Etude D Mat;
Rhapsodie No. 2 or equivalent.
Class B: Bach—Prelude from W. T. Clavier; Bee-
thoven—1st Movement from op. 2; or ditto op. 13;
ditto op. 10 No. 1; Chopin—Waltz op. 64 No. 1; Im-
promptu op. 29; or Nocturne (selected); Mazurka op.
33-4; Schumann—Wanim, Grillcn, or Romance in F
Sharp.
The committee on the violin, comprising Sol Mar-
cosson, Johann H. Beck and Chas. V. Rychlik, have
selected the following compositions:
Class A: 1st Movement of Mendelssohn or Bruch
concerto; Wieniawski—D minor concerto, or equiva-
lent.
Class B: Concerto by Viotti, Rhode or Kreutzer;
Handel—Sonata or equivalent.
The committee on the organ, composed of Albert
Riemenschneider, Jas. H. Rogers and Edwin Arthur
Kraft, have decided as follows:
Each contestant must be prepared to play one of
the modern numbers and one of the Bach numbers
selected from the list of the class in which he decides
to compete. When a Prelude and Fugue, or Toccata
and Fugue are grouped they are considered as a
single number. The address of the Cleveland Asso-.
ciation is 2063 E. Fourth street.
The Cleveland Musical Association, numbering
some 400 members, will award, on June 29, through
competitive examination, the Wilson G. Smith Gold
Medals to talented Cleveland music students. Two
medals each, an A and B for piano, violin, voice, and
organ, are offered.
The winners will have an opportunity of appearing
in a concert to be given by the Association at Ma-
sonic Hall, Sept. 28, 1923.
The committee on voice, composed of Edwin H.
Douglass, Francis J. Sadlier, William Saal, and John
O. Samuels, have chosen the following arias and
songs for the competition:
Class A: One operatic aria or one oratorio aria;
"Nymphs and Fauns," Bemberg; "Villanelle Dell'
Aqua"; song by Schubert, Schumann, Franz or Grieg.
Class B: Flower Song from Faust, or Gavotte from
Mignon. Songs by Tosti, Grief, Franz or some other
modern composer, to be selected by candidate.
The committee on piano, composed of Wilson G.
Smith, Wm. A. Becker, J. R. Hall and Carl Riemen-
schneider, have chosen the following compositions:
Class A: Bach—Prelude and Fugue from Well
Tempered Clavier.
Beethoven—Movement from
Sonata op. 31-3; op. 26; op. 27 or op. 53; Chopin—
Ballade in A flat or G minor. Etude to be selected by
One of Week's Bright Spots, at Which Los Angeles
Bid for Next Convention.
The Tuesday dinner was a delightfully crowded
affair. There were as many present as at the big
luncheon of Monday, the number being estimated at
about 725. It was held in the Drake main dining
room and was one of the week's events.
Tuesday was known as Rocky Mountain and Pa-
cific Coast States Day; Wednesday was Southern
Day, and Thursday Eastern Day. Jas. T. Bristol pre-
sided at all these luncheons, hut on Tuesday the
president of the Chicago Piano Club introduced E.
Palmer Tucker, manager of the Los Angeles branch
house of Wiley B. Allen Co., who spoke for the Pa-
cific Coast states. Other western men at the speakers'
table were Frank Anrys, general manager of Wiley
B. Allen Co., San Francisco; Geo. P. Bent, now of
Los Angeles; B. Platt, also of Los Angeles; P. T.
Clay, of Sherman, Clay Co., San Francisco, and S. S.
Hockett, of the Hockett-Cowan Co., Fresno.
The California delegation, through their spokesman,
Mr. Tucker, put in a bid for the next convention to
go to Los Angeles. A letter was read from the Los
Angeles Chamber of Commerce, asking that the 1924
meeting be held there.
Prof. Sandelman, leader of the Marine Band, was
introduced by Mr. Bristol. A long stride of enter-
tainments brought the Tuesday noon-day dinner to a
close, after which the gathering was asked to get to-
gether in a group for a photograph.
PIANO TUNER KILLED BY FALL.
Frank Toner, 67 years old, 7340 Emerald avenue,
Chicago, a piano tuner, employed by Story & Clark
Piano Company, 315 South Wahash avenue, was in-
stantly killed when he either jumped or fell from a
fifth floor window in the rear of the building. Mr.
Toner was known to hundreds of piano men and the
Story & Clark Piano Co. considered him a valuable
member of its Chicago staff.
NEW SOUTHAMPTON BRANCH.
S. T. Meskell will open up a new department in
Northampton, Mass., this week for Forbes & Wal-
lace, Springfield, Mass. Mr. Meskell has been man-
ager for McCallum & Co. in Northampton, during
the last six months and has made numerous friends
there. He is succeeded by E. J. Berube, who has
been in the employ of the J. L. Meisse Music Com-
pany for the past six months.
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).