Presto

March 3, 1928
P R E S T 0-T I M E S
dustry and figures such as these might quite
properly be called to the attention of bankers
bv members of the retail trade."
The American Music Trade Weekly
Published Every Saturday at 417 South Dearborn
Street, Chicago, Illinois.
THE SMALL PIANO
The vagaries of piano demand now accord
PRESTO P U B L I S H I N G CO., Publishers.
strong favor for the small instruments in both
F R A N K D. A B B O T T
- - - - - - - - -
Editor
upright and grand styles. And in the advan-
( (C. A. DAN I ELL—1904-1927.) )
J. FERGUS O
O'RYAN
'Y
M
Managing Editor
tages claimed for the small piano the old
Telephones, Local and Long Distance, Harrison 0234.
theories of the relation of size to volume of
Private Phones to all Departments. Cable Address (Com-
mercial Cable Co.'s Code), "PRESTO," Chicago.
tone have been considerably qualified. Many
makers of small pianos claim that the power
Entered as second-class matter Jan. 29, 1896, at the
Post Office, Chicago, 111., under Act of March 3, 1879.
of sound in their pianos is something out of
Subscription, $2 a year; 6 months, $1.25; Foreign, $4.
Payable in advance. No extra charge in United States proportion to their dimensions. Factory ex-
possessions, Cuba and Mexico. Rates for advertising on
perts have g-iven their attention to the small
application.
pianos, and extremely small ones, with the
Items of news and other matter are solicited and if of
result that buyers are presented with little
general interest to the music trade will be paid for at
space rates. Usually piano merchants or salesmen in the
instruments of ample tone volume and fine
smaller cities are the best occasional correspondents, and
their assistance is invited.
musical effects. And so marked is the diver-
Payment is not accepted for matter printed in the edi-
gence
in size and so strange are the modes
torial or news columns of Presto-Times.
Where half-tones are made the actual cost of produc-
of
finishing
them, the small pianos today seem
tion will be charged if of commercial character or other
than strictly news interest.
like
an
entirely
new variety of instrument.
When electrotypes are sent for publication it is re-
quested that their subjects and senders be carefully indi-
It is a fact that the small piano has claimed
cated.
the
attention of a public distracted by novelties
Forms close at noon on Thursday. Late news matter
should be in not later than 11 o'clock on that day. Ad-
in
other
lines. The element of small size has
vertising copy should be in hand before Tuesday, 5 p. m.,
to insure preferred position. Full page display copy
increased
the possibilities of sales by dealers,
should be in hand by Tuesday noon preceding publication
day. Want advertisements for current week, to insure
who
are
enabled
to find a place for it in apart-
classification, should be in by Wednesday noon.
ments which may be inadequate for the use of
Address all communications for the editorial or business
instruments of larger dimensions. It is not
departments to PRESTO PUBLISHING CO., 417 South
D e a r b o r n Street, C h i c a g o , III.
surprising that in the lines of the manufactur-
ers are little pianos whose names suggest their
SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 1928.
small size. The small pianos so perfectly adapt
themselves to the rooms of modern apartment
The last form of Presto-Times goes to press building's, hotels and small bungalows, spe-
at 11 a. m. Thursday. Any news transpiring
after that hour cannot be expected in the cur- cially in the larger cities, that they have given
rent issue. Nothing received at the office that a new impetus to the demand for instruments
is not strictly news of importance can have for the home.
attention after 9 a. m. on Thursday. If they
concern the interests of manufacturers or
PIANO PLAYING CONTESTS
dealers such items will appear the week follow-
Sponsored by the Piano Club of Chicago and
ing. Copy for advertising designed for the
current issue must reach the office not later the Chicago Piano and Organ Association, and
ably aided by the Chicago Herald and Exam-
iner, the Chicago Second Annual Children's
Piano Playing Tournament has got a lively
MONEY FOR MUSIC
start
that assures a climax even more success-
President C. J. Roberts of the National As-
ful
than
that of last year. The inducements to
sociation of Music Merchants calls the atten-
enter
have
an appeal for boys and girls from
tion of the music trade to an interview by
the
elementary
grades to the fourth year in
George Engles, concert manager for Paderew-
high
school
and
the
enrollments at the opening
ski and other prominent artists, which was
are
far
ahead
of
the
number of entrants at the
published recently in the New York World and
start
of
promotional
work
last year. Although
other daily newspapers. Mr. Engles stated
the
publicity
for
the
tournament
is only in its
the heartening fact that twenty million dollars
preliminary
stages,
over
a
thousand
boys and
is spent annually by the American people for
girls
already
have
entered
the
lists.
the highest type of concert and operatic music.
No piano trade organization or individual
The nine and a half millions spent to hear
piano man doubts the efficacy of the piano
the thirteen major symphony orchestras and
playing contest in the scheme of piano sales
the Metropolitan Opera Company and the Chi-
promotion. For every boy and girl the contest
cago Civic Opera Company together with the
is the exhibition of results in piano lessons so
sum of ten and a half millions paid individual
that the school piano classes and group piano
artists, summer orchestras and minor opera
classes in dealers' stores are phases in the joint
companies, indirectly help the music merchants
piano promotion scheme. National, state and
in proportion to the extent of the interest in
local piano trade associations and the Music
music the attractions create. There is no doubt
Supervisors' National Conference have put the
that first rank box office attractions like
seal of approval on the classes and in many
Paderewski, Rachmaninoff and Hofmann, play-
other places as well as Chicago the organized
ing the Steinway, not only demonstrate the
piano classes will have a spirited climax in a
artistic character of that instrument but en-
piano playing tournament.
courage practical interest in piano music as
well.
More than ever before, the National Music
In commenting upon this statement, Presi-
dent Roberts said: "Music merchants should
remember, however, that while this figure of
twenty millions of dollars is large, it repre-
sents really only a very small part of the
amount of money which is spent for music
taken as a whole and for the purchase of
musical instruments of all kinds. This figure,
however, should give an indication of the sta-
bility not only of music but of the music in-
\\ eek of May 6-12 is expected to be observed
in the home and community life of the rural
districts. This is partly due to the practical
suggestions furnished to farm folk by the Na-
tional Music Week Committee in its new
pamphlet, "Home Night in National Music
Week." More than 400.000 farm families will
receive the Music Week message through an
article published by the American Farm Bu-
reau Federation in its official organ, The Bu-
real Farmer. The United States Department
of Agriculture has also taken a practical step
toward acquainting rural workers with the
Music Week through an article entitled,
"Music Week Material Available," which oc-
cupied a prominent position in the February
22 issue of its Official Record, which is pub-
lished as a means of communication with
workers and co-operators of the Department.
* * *
The Packard Piano House, Fort Wayne,
Ind., has developed a forceful agency in piano
promotion in its system of group piano classes
in the schools. The system assures piano sales
in the opinion of Mr. C. R. Moores, of the sales
department of the Packard Piano Company,
who says it is the best merchandising policy
ever presented to the piano dealers operating
in a large or small way. But the very success
of the plan creates problems—getting group
piano class teachers and piano salesmen oper-
ating with the scheme. The piano salesman
who has practiced the old method of appealing
to prospects must wrench himself loose from
them and make himself adaptable to the ex-
igencies of a new day.
The crooked puzzle schemes of the piano
trade advertisers can be broken up—if the
other piano merchants want it, so President
Roberts of the National Association of Music
Merchants says in an article in another part of
Presto-Times this week.
But he differ-
entiates between the crooked puzzle and the
innocent one. There are such things, he says,
but they usually are ineffective because they
don't offer something for nothing in a plaus-
ible way. A dealer may consider his puzzle
allurement quite honest while the special sale
is on but convincing the department of justice
that it is so, is often difficult.
>£
•
H 5
Presto-Times takes great pleasure in com-
plimenting the London Music Trade Review
on its Golden Jubilee Number and in congratu-
lation for its honored position in the field of
music trade journalism. The London Music
Trade Review counts fifty years of sustained
efforts in the music field in which it has been
unswerving in the cause of industrial and
commercial righteousness. The title page of
the first number is reproduced in the jubilee
number and "A Backward Look" reviews the
changes in conditions since 1877.
=£
*
+
The salesman with the suggestive sense, for
instance, will not use the word "cheap" in re-
lation to his own goods. Not even when allud-
ing to a used piano. Even though the term
applies to price it has a bad mental effect and
connection of the word with the quality of the
good unconsciously made. "Used" instead of
"second-hand" and "moderate price" instead of
"cheap" are the preferably suggestive words.
There are dealers and salesmen who eschew
the word "contract" and use "agreement" in-
stead. To the customer unversed in the tech-
nicalities of business contract has a terrifying
legal sound.
* * *
A lot is said about the salesman's person-
ality. Indeed so much has been said about it
that the novice endeavors to develop his per-
sonality as he would his voice or his muscle.
In a piano deal his personality expands until
it obscures everything, whereas it should be
made to take modest proportions. Instead of
suggesting in an incisive way his wonderful
ego, he does a distracting fox trot about the
wareroom floor.
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