Presto
Issue: 1925 2022 - Page 7
April 25, 1925.
PRESTO
LEADERS IN DRIVE
ON "BAIT" METHODS
EEBURG
Strong Committee of Music Industries Cham-
ber of Commerce Appointed to Combat
Advertising Which May Demoral-
ize the Piano Industry.
C. ALFRED WAGNER CHAIRMAN
TYLE"L"
The KEY to
OSITIVE
ROFITS
MANUFACTURED ONLY BY
J. P. Seeburg
Piano Co.
'''Leaders in the
Automatic Field"
1510 Dayton St.
Chicago
Address Department "E"
Prominent Members of Powerful Houses Appear as
Champions of the Better Class of Publicity,
and to Kill Tricks in Trade.
The appointment of a special committee to guide
the drive against "bait" piano advertising, undertaken
by the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce, is
another step taken in the movement to combat retail
piano selling methods practiced by a few dealers
which are regarded as demoralizing to the entire
industry.
President R. W. Lawrence, of the Chamber, has
named a committee which is regarded as thoroughly
representative of important manufacturing and retail
interests whose influence can scarcely be disregarded
in bringing about a correction of the conditions in
question. The special committee includes:
C. Alfred Wagner, American Piano Co., chairman;
Herbert W. Simpson, Kohler Industries; A. G. Gul-
bransen, Gulbransen Co ; W. H. Alfring, Aeolian Co.;
Henry Dreher, Dreher Piano Co.; W. E. Guylee, The
Cable Co.; Henry E. Weisert, Bissell-Weisert Co.
To Protect Good Will.
The importance of the subject in the minds of these
trade leaders is indicated by the readiness with which
they accepted their appointments and the expressions
of condemnation by them and others. The "bait"
practices were roundly condemned by many piano
manufacturers in submitting their votes on the reso-
lution recommended for passage by the National
Piano Manufacturers' Association, at the January
meeting of the Board of Directors of the Chamber.
"I am rather heavily loaded up with association
matters for this year," said Henry E. Weisert, of Chi-
cago, who is also vice-president of the National Asso-
ciation of Music Merchants, "and have felt I should
not take on any more, but this is a matter of such
importance that I feel I ought to lend my efforts to it
and you may, therefore, count upon me to serve upon
this committee."
In Full Sympathy.
For the Aeolian Co., W. H. Alfring, vice-president
and general manager, said:
"Our company is in full sympathy with organized
movements designed to protect values and preserve
good will in the piano industry, and so is interested in
plans designed to accomplish these ends. Pianos are
major purchases, requiring to be surrounded with
dignity and with respect for the established prices."
"Surely the object is worthy and the need impera-
tive," says W. E. Guylee, of The Cable Co., Chicago.
"I accept the asignment and will do what I can in
conjunction with the committee."
New York Sees Progress.
"We note with a great deal of pleasure the gradual
combination of the better element in the piano indus-
try to combat the evils of the trade," wrote L.
Schoenewald, New York manager of the Story &
Clark Piano Co., in pledging an additional contribu-
tion, to the Better Business Bureau of New York
City. "Last fall we subscribed to the Better Busi-
ness Bureau, and it is without hesitancy that we are
glad to state that we will further support this with an
additional donation at this time of $250 and feel that
if this good work is kept up we shall be glad to sub-
scribe from time to time to the Bureau.
"Any other co-operation that this company or the
writer personally can render we will be glad to do so,
and we want you to know that we are at your service
or the service of the Bureau in this matter."
The Chairman's Views.
This response was made to the appeal of C. Alfred
Wagner, chairman of the national committee, for the
New York trade to set an example for the rest of the
country in the drive against "bait" methods.
The early contributors to the Better Business Bu-
reau of New York City, when the effort was first
being made to establish the merchandise section which
has now been put into operation, are greatly encour-
aged by the impetus given to the movement through
the $1,000 contribution of the American Piano Co. on
behalf of its big retail interests in the metropolis.
The further effort of Mr. Wagner, as national chair-
man, to obtain backing for the effort in New York,
has resulted in increasing the Story & Clark con-
tribution to $350, and a subscription of $300 from the
Rudolph Wurlitzer Co., which are in addition to the
previous contributions of $200 by Landay Bros, and
others by Hardman, Peck & Co., Krakauer Bros.,
Winterroth & Co., Jerome W. Ackerly, Wm. Knabe
& Co., James & Holmstrom Piano Co., Mathushek &
Son Piano Co., and Pease-Behning Co., Inc.
Calvin Purdy Speaks.
"It is indeed gratifying to see the volume of inter-
est that is growing in our work to stamp out the evils
of the piano trade," said Calvin T. Purdy, president
of the New York Piano Merchants' Association and
a member of the Better Business Advisory Commit-
tee which approved the "bait" advertising report of
the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Purdy acted as chairman of the local commit-
tee to raise funds for the Better Business Bureau of
New York City when that work was started more
than a year ago. "It is pleasing to our members in
the New York Piano Merchants' Association to see
the national campaign against 'bait' methods getting
under way, and also to feel that our co-operation in
New York with the Better Business movement is
likely to have a national effect for the general good
of the trade."
RUDOLPH C. BECKER
HEAD OF BECKER BROS.
Son of the Founder of the Reliable Old New
York Piano Manufacturing Company
Elected to Presidency by Directors.
At a recent meeting of the directors of Becker
Bros., New York, Rudolph C. Becker was elected
president to succeed Jacob H. Becker, his father, the
founder of the company, who died recently.
The new president of Becker Bros, is a young man
in his early thirties, but he has had ten years of varied
experiences in the sales and manufacturing divisions
of the business. Under his father's tutelage he has
become familiar with every phase of piano building
and inspired with the same desire for accuracy and
ta?t-j in construction that distinguished his predecessor
as head of the company., The well-equipped factory
at 52nd street and 10th avenue is an example of order-
liness in every department and a fine tribute to a
family of practical piano makers.
Becker Bros.' dealers feel assured that the fine
tonal qualities and superior mechanical features of
the Becker Bros.- Pianos and playerpianos will be
continued under the supervision of the new president.
Mr. Becker's ambition is to continue the instruments
as representatives of the better class of American
pianos and players, continually meriting the confi-
dence of the dealers and the public.
MARION, IND., MUSIC FIRM
HOLDS SUCCESSFUL SALE
Strong Advertising by Butler Music Company Results
in Numerous and Prompt Sales.
The Butler Music company, Marion, Ind., has just
put the entire stock of the Lafayette Music company
recently purchased, on sale at their local store, an-
nounces that so far a record business has been done.
The new record for business set by the Butler house
indicates that Marion is in a prosperous condition.
In the advertising by the progressive Marion house
the fact that this is the logical time to purchase a
piano, due to the spring house cleaning, is pointed
out and also the school will soon be out and the
children can take up music. It is evident by the
remarkable business done by the Butler Music com-
pany in the early days of their big sale that the sug-
gestions in the newspapers have had the desired effect.
INVENTS NEW PLAYER ACTION.
Charles A. Wheatley, Jeffersonville, Ind., has been
granted patent No. 1,533,052 for an action for player-
pianos. Mr. Wheatley's invention relates to improve-
ments in the construction of pneumatic actions for
playerpianos, and has for its object the provision of
an action so constructed that all the individual valve
members are separately detachably mounted beneath
and associated with the tube rail. An important ob-
ject is the provision of an action of this character in
which all the valve members are duplicates of a cer-
tain unit so that all the valve members will be inter-
changeable.
KANSAS CITY MAN ABROAD.
F. B. Jenkins, of the J. W. Jenkins' Sons Music
Co., Kansas City, Mo., recently sailed on the "Levi-
athan" from New York to tour Europe for several
months. Mr. Jenkins, who buys for several depart-
ments in the big Kansas City store, will visit the
musical instruments manufacturing centers in order
to formulate a general survey of industrial conditions
and the markets there.
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
LEADERS IN DRIVE
ON "BAIT" METHODS
EEBURG
Strong Committee of Music Industries Cham-
ber of Commerce Appointed to Combat
Advertising Which May Demoral-
ize the Piano Industry.
C. ALFRED WAGNER CHAIRMAN
TYLE"L"
The KEY to
OSITIVE
ROFITS
MANUFACTURED ONLY BY
J. P. Seeburg
Piano Co.
'''Leaders in the
Automatic Field"
1510 Dayton St.
Chicago
Address Department "E"
Prominent Members of Powerful Houses Appear as
Champions of the Better Class of Publicity,
and to Kill Tricks in Trade.
The appointment of a special committee to guide
the drive against "bait" piano advertising, undertaken
by the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce, is
another step taken in the movement to combat retail
piano selling methods practiced by a few dealers
which are regarded as demoralizing to the entire
industry.
President R. W. Lawrence, of the Chamber, has
named a committee which is regarded as thoroughly
representative of important manufacturing and retail
interests whose influence can scarcely be disregarded
in bringing about a correction of the conditions in
question. The special committee includes:
C. Alfred Wagner, American Piano Co., chairman;
Herbert W. Simpson, Kohler Industries; A. G. Gul-
bransen, Gulbransen Co ; W. H. Alfring, Aeolian Co.;
Henry Dreher, Dreher Piano Co.; W. E. Guylee, The
Cable Co.; Henry E. Weisert, Bissell-Weisert Co.
To Protect Good Will.
The importance of the subject in the minds of these
trade leaders is indicated by the readiness with which
they accepted their appointments and the expressions
of condemnation by them and others. The "bait"
practices were roundly condemned by many piano
manufacturers in submitting their votes on the reso-
lution recommended for passage by the National
Piano Manufacturers' Association, at the January
meeting of the Board of Directors of the Chamber.
"I am rather heavily loaded up with association
matters for this year," said Henry E. Weisert, of Chi-
cago, who is also vice-president of the National Asso-
ciation of Music Merchants, "and have felt I should
not take on any more, but this is a matter of such
importance that I feel I ought to lend my efforts to it
and you may, therefore, count upon me to serve upon
this committee."
In Full Sympathy.
For the Aeolian Co., W. H. Alfring, vice-president
and general manager, said:
"Our company is in full sympathy with organized
movements designed to protect values and preserve
good will in the piano industry, and so is interested in
plans designed to accomplish these ends. Pianos are
major purchases, requiring to be surrounded with
dignity and with respect for the established prices."
"Surely the object is worthy and the need impera-
tive," says W. E. Guylee, of The Cable Co., Chicago.
"I accept the asignment and will do what I can in
conjunction with the committee."
New York Sees Progress.
"We note with a great deal of pleasure the gradual
combination of the better element in the piano indus-
try to combat the evils of the trade," wrote L.
Schoenewald, New York manager of the Story &
Clark Piano Co., in pledging an additional contribu-
tion, to the Better Business Bureau of New York
City. "Last fall we subscribed to the Better Busi-
ness Bureau, and it is without hesitancy that we are
glad to state that we will further support this with an
additional donation at this time of $250 and feel that
if this good work is kept up we shall be glad to sub-
scribe from time to time to the Bureau.
"Any other co-operation that this company or the
writer personally can render we will be glad to do so,
and we want you to know that we are at your service
or the service of the Bureau in this matter."
The Chairman's Views.
This response was made to the appeal of C. Alfred
Wagner, chairman of the national committee, for the
New York trade to set an example for the rest of the
country in the drive against "bait" methods.
The early contributors to the Better Business Bu-
reau of New York City, when the effort was first
being made to establish the merchandise section which
has now been put into operation, are greatly encour-
aged by the impetus given to the movement through
the $1,000 contribution of the American Piano Co. on
behalf of its big retail interests in the metropolis.
The further effort of Mr. Wagner, as national chair-
man, to obtain backing for the effort in New York,
has resulted in increasing the Story & Clark con-
tribution to $350, and a subscription of $300 from the
Rudolph Wurlitzer Co., which are in addition to the
previous contributions of $200 by Landay Bros, and
others by Hardman, Peck & Co., Krakauer Bros.,
Winterroth & Co., Jerome W. Ackerly, Wm. Knabe
& Co., James & Holmstrom Piano Co., Mathushek &
Son Piano Co., and Pease-Behning Co., Inc.
Calvin Purdy Speaks.
"It is indeed gratifying to see the volume of inter-
est that is growing in our work to stamp out the evils
of the piano trade," said Calvin T. Purdy, president
of the New York Piano Merchants' Association and
a member of the Better Business Advisory Commit-
tee which approved the "bait" advertising report of
the Music Industries Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Purdy acted as chairman of the local commit-
tee to raise funds for the Better Business Bureau of
New York City when that work was started more
than a year ago. "It is pleasing to our members in
the New York Piano Merchants' Association to see
the national campaign against 'bait' methods getting
under way, and also to feel that our co-operation in
New York with the Better Business movement is
likely to have a national effect for the general good
of the trade."
RUDOLPH C. BECKER
HEAD OF BECKER BROS.
Son of the Founder of the Reliable Old New
York Piano Manufacturing Company
Elected to Presidency by Directors.
At a recent meeting of the directors of Becker
Bros., New York, Rudolph C. Becker was elected
president to succeed Jacob H. Becker, his father, the
founder of the company, who died recently.
The new president of Becker Bros, is a young man
in his early thirties, but he has had ten years of varied
experiences in the sales and manufacturing divisions
of the business. Under his father's tutelage he has
become familiar with every phase of piano building
and inspired with the same desire for accuracy and
ta?t-j in construction that distinguished his predecessor
as head of the company., The well-equipped factory
at 52nd street and 10th avenue is an example of order-
liness in every department and a fine tribute to a
family of practical piano makers.
Becker Bros.' dealers feel assured that the fine
tonal qualities and superior mechanical features of
the Becker Bros.- Pianos and playerpianos will be
continued under the supervision of the new president.
Mr. Becker's ambition is to continue the instruments
as representatives of the better class of American
pianos and players, continually meriting the confi-
dence of the dealers and the public.
MARION, IND., MUSIC FIRM
HOLDS SUCCESSFUL SALE
Strong Advertising by Butler Music Company Results
in Numerous and Prompt Sales.
The Butler Music company, Marion, Ind., has just
put the entire stock of the Lafayette Music company
recently purchased, on sale at their local store, an-
nounces that so far a record business has been done.
The new record for business set by the Butler house
indicates that Marion is in a prosperous condition.
In the advertising by the progressive Marion house
the fact that this is the logical time to purchase a
piano, due to the spring house cleaning, is pointed
out and also the school will soon be out and the
children can take up music. It is evident by the
remarkable business done by the Butler Music com-
pany in the early days of their big sale that the sug-
gestions in the newspapers have had the desired effect.
INVENTS NEW PLAYER ACTION.
Charles A. Wheatley, Jeffersonville, Ind., has been
granted patent No. 1,533,052 for an action for player-
pianos. Mr. Wheatley's invention relates to improve-
ments in the construction of pneumatic actions for
playerpianos, and has for its object the provision of
an action so constructed that all the individual valve
members are separately detachably mounted beneath
and associated with the tube rail. An important ob-
ject is the provision of an action of this character in
which all the valve members are duplicates of a cer-
tain unit so that all the valve members will be inter-
changeable.
KANSAS CITY MAN ABROAD.
F. B. Jenkins, of the J. W. Jenkins' Sons Music
Co., Kansas City, Mo., recently sailed on the "Levi-
athan" from New York to tour Europe for several
months. Mr. Jenkins, who buys for several depart-
ments in the big Kansas City store, will visit the
musical instruments manufacturing centers in order
to formulate a general survey of industrial conditions
and the markets there.
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).