Presto
Issue: 1925 2032 - Page 10
10
July 4, 1925.
PRESTO
PROPAGANDA HELPS
GERMAN PIANO SALES
William Thomson of Glasgow Shows British
Dealers at Convention the Necessity for
Decisive Action.
The McKenna duties on pianos are supposed to
help the British piano manufacturers when they are
on, but the German piano seemingly is benefited in
sales whether the duties are on or off, according to
William Thomson, head of the progressive firm of
William Thomson & Son, Glasgow, who described
the situation in a speech at the recent annual Music
Trade Convention held at Llandudno, Wales. Mr.
Thomson said:
"This is a matter of importance. The McKenna
Duties are just shuffled on or off according to what-
ever party happens to be in power. But there is just
one little point in regard to these duties, and this is
that every time the re-shuffling takes place it acts as
propaganda for German pianos. When the tax was
taken off our papers were flooded with paragraphs
telling the public that beautiful German pianos could
be had for £20. When the tax was put back again,
we were told that people would prefer the better tone
of the German piano even if they were a little dearer.
"I do not believe that the German manufacturers
have anything to do with it. You are fighting the
German Empire. I am against the re-imposition of
the McKenna Duties, as they do not allow the British
manufacturer the chance of fair honest trading.
"During the war Germany made a very much bet-
ter piano than she does today. But Germany uses
a carefully planned propaganda, which is aided by the
solid fact that the dealer nets a bigger profit from the
German than he does from the much better British
piano, which has to depend solely on its merits for
recognition. This is where I think the Federated
Board should come in with a safe, truthful, straight-
forward propaganda for the British piano."
In supporting Mr. Thomson's resolution, M. E.
Ricket of London said: "You have to realize how
The Lyon & Healy
Reproducing Piano
A moderate priced reproducing piano,
beautiful in design and rich in tone.
Write for our new explanatory Chart,
the most complete arm simple treat-
ment of the reproducing action.
Wabash at Jackson - - - Chicago
Builders oi Incomparable
[PIANOS, PLAYER5NREPR0DUC1NG KANOS
THE BALDWIN
CO-OPERATIVE
PLAN
will increase your sales and
solve your financing problems.
Write to the nearest office
for prices.
CINCINNATI
INDIANAPOLIS
LOUISVILLE
INCORPORATED
CHICAGO
DALLAS
ST. LOCIS
DENVEK
NEW YORK SAN FRANCISCO
this German propaganda started. It started very
many years ago from the Court of this country,
where everything had to be German, if it was good.
Everybody had to speak German, otherwise they
were not well received. All that work has to be
undone, and it is part of the Federation's duty to
undo it. The dealer should come behind the Federa-
tion, back them up and tell the truth. But if the
dealer is going to tell his customer that the German
piano is.a better one, for the sake of a little extra
profit, then the Federation can do nothing for you."
• Colonel Tatton said: "I should like to inform Mr.
Thomson that the manufacture of British pianos has
now reached over 90 per cent of the pre-war scale,
whereas the importation of German pianos is now,
without anything to do with the McKenna Duties,
less than 50 per cent of the pre-war scale. There are
two factors which account for this. One is the un-
doubted superiority of the British article, and the
other is the propaganda which the Federation has
done and is doing for the British piano."
QULBRANSEN CO.DECLARES
COMMON STOCK DIVIDEND
WITH THE MEN OF MUSIC
IN DENVER, COLORADO
C. E. Campbell has purchased the controlling in-
terest in the Niagara Falls, N. Y., store of Goold
Bros., Inc., Buffalo, and has changed the name to
the C. E. Campbell Music Co. The new owner has
been manager of the store for many years and is
widely known in that section.
Increase in Current Sales Showing June Best Month
of Year So Far Also Reported.
The Gulbransen Company, Chicago, has declared
a dividend of 2 per cent on outstanding common
stock, payable July 1 to stockholders of record June
29. This action was taken at a meeting of directors
held at the offices of the Company, Monday, June 29.
The company reports an increase in current sales,
and that June has proved to be the best month of the
year thus far. There is every prospect of increasing
volume of business during the balance of the year,
particularly in view of the many dealers' helps and
sales plans, some of which are in operation and others
of which will shortly be announced.
CHANGE IN NIAGARA FALLS.
An Employee in the Trade Who Gained Musi-
cal Education from Playerpiano, and
a Folding Violin.
Darrow Music Company announce that a young
man who is now working his way through college,
playing piano with an orchestra, obtained his musi-
cal education exclusively from a Laffargue player-
piano. He has never had a lesson from any teacher.
"To people who think a good playerpiano in the home
will keep a child from learning music, we will be glad
to give the name and address of the young man men-
tioned. We always recommend having a good music
teacher, but any boy or girl can obtain a knowledge
of time and expression and develop a love for an
appreciation of good music with a Laffargue Natural
Expression playerpiano."
George Nicodemus, W. W. Bradford, Bert Wells
and Charles O. Bohon, of the Knight-Campbell Music
Company met the members of the Artist Colony on
their arrival in Denver. There were eighty-seven in
the party, and after seeing Denver the artists pro-
ceeded to Estes Park, where they will attend the five
weeks' session of the Rocky Mountain School of
Expression and Dramatic Art, and the Rocky Moun-
tain School of Musical Art. The visitors are from
Dallas, Texas.
Presto's correspondent just read that some fellow
has invented a violin which may be folded up and
used for a walking stick. Am wondering if it
wouldn't go good when a cake walk is asked?
BRIEF RECORDS OF PIANO
DEALERS ACTIVITIES
Incidents in the Energetic Pursuit of the Prospec-
tive Buyer Told in Short Sentences.
Quarters in the new building at Depot Square, New
Keniston Block, Gardiner, Me., have been obtained by
James A. Morang, music merchant of Randolph, Me.
George C. Wille, president of the George C. Wille
Co., Canton, Ohio, has been elected president of the
Canton Lions Club, in the affairs of which he has
been active for several years.
The Woodford & Bill Piano Co., Menominee,
Mich., is holding a clearance sale in all departments
of its establishment preparatory to retiring from
business after forty years of musical instrument mer-
chandising.
Johnson Bros. Piano Co., Boston, has moved from
343 to 388 Tremont street.
Ben Duvall, of Aledo, a graduate of the Aledo, 111.,
high school and the University of Illinois, goes to
Japan on a three-year contract to take charge of the
piano department of a large music house's branch in
that country, according to the Warsaw, 111., Bulletin.
PROHIBITIVE OCEAN FREIGHTS.
J. W. Alexander, of Bowmanville, Ontario, presi-
dent of the Dominion Organ & Piano Co., also presi-
dent of the Canadian Piano & Organ Manufacturers'
Association, when called as a witness before the
Ocean Rates Committee at Ottawa, Ontario, on May
15, asserted that ocean rates had increased 400 per
cent over 1913 and 700 per cent over 1910. The wit-
ness declared that his company was doing practically
nothing in the United Kingdom export trade now.
"The ocean rate is not only restrictive but practically
prohibitive to our business," he said. Canada and the
United States had practically controlled the export
organ market to the United Kingdom, but "now the
United States seems to be able to get their organs
across at a lower rate than we can."
SPENCER
The Intrinsic Qualities of This
Piano Command Attention
A High Grade Instrument at a
Moderate Price
Class Factory and Equipment
Ample Production and Service
SPENCER PIANO COMPANY, Inc.
FACTORY: Thirty-First St. and First Ave.
OFFICES: 338 Etat 31st Street, New York N. Y.
E. Leins Piano Co.
Makers of Pianos and
Player Pianos That Are
Established L e a d e r s .
Correspondence from Reliable
Dealers Invited
Factory and Offices, 304 W. 42nd S(
NEW YORK
"Built on Family Pride"
Doll & Sons
Represent the Artistic
in Piano and Player Piano
Construction
JACOB DOLL & SONS
STODART
WELLSMORE
Jacob Doll & Sons, Inc.
Southern Boulevard, E. 138rd St.
E. 134th St. and Cyprea* Ave.
NEW YORK
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/
July 4, 1925.
PRESTO
PROPAGANDA HELPS
GERMAN PIANO SALES
William Thomson of Glasgow Shows British
Dealers at Convention the Necessity for
Decisive Action.
The McKenna duties on pianos are supposed to
help the British piano manufacturers when they are
on, but the German piano seemingly is benefited in
sales whether the duties are on or off, according to
William Thomson, head of the progressive firm of
William Thomson & Son, Glasgow, who described
the situation in a speech at the recent annual Music
Trade Convention held at Llandudno, Wales. Mr.
Thomson said:
"This is a matter of importance. The McKenna
Duties are just shuffled on or off according to what-
ever party happens to be in power. But there is just
one little point in regard to these duties, and this is
that every time the re-shuffling takes place it acts as
propaganda for German pianos. When the tax was
taken off our papers were flooded with paragraphs
telling the public that beautiful German pianos could
be had for £20. When the tax was put back again,
we were told that people would prefer the better tone
of the German piano even if they were a little dearer.
"I do not believe that the German manufacturers
have anything to do with it. You are fighting the
German Empire. I am against the re-imposition of
the McKenna Duties, as they do not allow the British
manufacturer the chance of fair honest trading.
"During the war Germany made a very much bet-
ter piano than she does today. But Germany uses
a carefully planned propaganda, which is aided by the
solid fact that the dealer nets a bigger profit from the
German than he does from the much better British
piano, which has to depend solely on its merits for
recognition. This is where I think the Federated
Board should come in with a safe, truthful, straight-
forward propaganda for the British piano."
In supporting Mr. Thomson's resolution, M. E.
Ricket of London said: "You have to realize how
The Lyon & Healy
Reproducing Piano
A moderate priced reproducing piano,
beautiful in design and rich in tone.
Write for our new explanatory Chart,
the most complete arm simple treat-
ment of the reproducing action.
Wabash at Jackson - - - Chicago
Builders oi Incomparable
[PIANOS, PLAYER5NREPR0DUC1NG KANOS
THE BALDWIN
CO-OPERATIVE
PLAN
will increase your sales and
solve your financing problems.
Write to the nearest office
for prices.
CINCINNATI
INDIANAPOLIS
LOUISVILLE
INCORPORATED
CHICAGO
DALLAS
ST. LOCIS
DENVEK
NEW YORK SAN FRANCISCO
this German propaganda started. It started very
many years ago from the Court of this country,
where everything had to be German, if it was good.
Everybody had to speak German, otherwise they
were not well received. All that work has to be
undone, and it is part of the Federation's duty to
undo it. The dealer should come behind the Federa-
tion, back them up and tell the truth. But if the
dealer is going to tell his customer that the German
piano is.a better one, for the sake of a little extra
profit, then the Federation can do nothing for you."
• Colonel Tatton said: "I should like to inform Mr.
Thomson that the manufacture of British pianos has
now reached over 90 per cent of the pre-war scale,
whereas the importation of German pianos is now,
without anything to do with the McKenna Duties,
less than 50 per cent of the pre-war scale. There are
two factors which account for this. One is the un-
doubted superiority of the British article, and the
other is the propaganda which the Federation has
done and is doing for the British piano."
QULBRANSEN CO.DECLARES
COMMON STOCK DIVIDEND
WITH THE MEN OF MUSIC
IN DENVER, COLORADO
C. E. Campbell has purchased the controlling in-
terest in the Niagara Falls, N. Y., store of Goold
Bros., Inc., Buffalo, and has changed the name to
the C. E. Campbell Music Co. The new owner has
been manager of the store for many years and is
widely known in that section.
Increase in Current Sales Showing June Best Month
of Year So Far Also Reported.
The Gulbransen Company, Chicago, has declared
a dividend of 2 per cent on outstanding common
stock, payable July 1 to stockholders of record June
29. This action was taken at a meeting of directors
held at the offices of the Company, Monday, June 29.
The company reports an increase in current sales,
and that June has proved to be the best month of the
year thus far. There is every prospect of increasing
volume of business during the balance of the year,
particularly in view of the many dealers' helps and
sales plans, some of which are in operation and others
of which will shortly be announced.
CHANGE IN NIAGARA FALLS.
An Employee in the Trade Who Gained Musi-
cal Education from Playerpiano, and
a Folding Violin.
Darrow Music Company announce that a young
man who is now working his way through college,
playing piano with an orchestra, obtained his musi-
cal education exclusively from a Laffargue player-
piano. He has never had a lesson from any teacher.
"To people who think a good playerpiano in the home
will keep a child from learning music, we will be glad
to give the name and address of the young man men-
tioned. We always recommend having a good music
teacher, but any boy or girl can obtain a knowledge
of time and expression and develop a love for an
appreciation of good music with a Laffargue Natural
Expression playerpiano."
George Nicodemus, W. W. Bradford, Bert Wells
and Charles O. Bohon, of the Knight-Campbell Music
Company met the members of the Artist Colony on
their arrival in Denver. There were eighty-seven in
the party, and after seeing Denver the artists pro-
ceeded to Estes Park, where they will attend the five
weeks' session of the Rocky Mountain School of
Expression and Dramatic Art, and the Rocky Moun-
tain School of Musical Art. The visitors are from
Dallas, Texas.
Presto's correspondent just read that some fellow
has invented a violin which may be folded up and
used for a walking stick. Am wondering if it
wouldn't go good when a cake walk is asked?
BRIEF RECORDS OF PIANO
DEALERS ACTIVITIES
Incidents in the Energetic Pursuit of the Prospec-
tive Buyer Told in Short Sentences.
Quarters in the new building at Depot Square, New
Keniston Block, Gardiner, Me., have been obtained by
James A. Morang, music merchant of Randolph, Me.
George C. Wille, president of the George C. Wille
Co., Canton, Ohio, has been elected president of the
Canton Lions Club, in the affairs of which he has
been active for several years.
The Woodford & Bill Piano Co., Menominee,
Mich., is holding a clearance sale in all departments
of its establishment preparatory to retiring from
business after forty years of musical instrument mer-
chandising.
Johnson Bros. Piano Co., Boston, has moved from
343 to 388 Tremont street.
Ben Duvall, of Aledo, a graduate of the Aledo, 111.,
high school and the University of Illinois, goes to
Japan on a three-year contract to take charge of the
piano department of a large music house's branch in
that country, according to the Warsaw, 111., Bulletin.
PROHIBITIVE OCEAN FREIGHTS.
J. W. Alexander, of Bowmanville, Ontario, presi-
dent of the Dominion Organ & Piano Co., also presi-
dent of the Canadian Piano & Organ Manufacturers'
Association, when called as a witness before the
Ocean Rates Committee at Ottawa, Ontario, on May
15, asserted that ocean rates had increased 400 per
cent over 1913 and 700 per cent over 1910. The wit-
ness declared that his company was doing practically
nothing in the United Kingdom export trade now.
"The ocean rate is not only restrictive but practically
prohibitive to our business," he said. Canada and the
United States had practically controlled the export
organ market to the United Kingdom, but "now the
United States seems to be able to get their organs
across at a lower rate than we can."
SPENCER
The Intrinsic Qualities of This
Piano Command Attention
A High Grade Instrument at a
Moderate Price
Class Factory and Equipment
Ample Production and Service
SPENCER PIANO COMPANY, Inc.
FACTORY: Thirty-First St. and First Ave.
OFFICES: 338 Etat 31st Street, New York N. Y.
E. Leins Piano Co.
Makers of Pianos and
Player Pianos That Are
Established L e a d e r s .
Correspondence from Reliable
Dealers Invited
Factory and Offices, 304 W. 42nd S(
NEW YORK
"Built on Family Pride"
Doll & Sons
Represent the Artistic
in Piano and Player Piano
Construction
JACOB DOLL & SONS
STODART
WELLSMORE
Jacob Doll & Sons, Inc.
Southern Boulevard, E. 138rd St.
E. 134th St. and Cyprea* Ave.
NEW YORK
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).