Presto

April, 1930
PRESTO-TIMES
dealers, as well as contemporary manufacturers, see the propriety of this attitude for the
stimulating- morale it would give trade in general.
Manufacturing of pianos in ample quantities and by big houses must be continued without
impediment to keep up general, interest in the piano, as a piano. The overproduction idea
is a myth in other lines, as Henry Ford has proved time and again by making more autos
than ever and in the face of a seeming saturation point.
There is no timidity manifest by big piano manufacturing concerns at present—no fears
for the future among the great houses.
The great competing houses, such as the Steinway & Sons, Kohler Industries, Grinnell
Bros., Hardman, Peck & Co., Ivers & Pond, the Aeolian Co., and others, will particularly
desire to see the American Piano Co. again hard at it as a contemporary manufacturing con-
cern, for no piano manufacturing company w r ants the impression to get abroad that the piano
is not an essential thing to buy—not the veriest basis of a musical education, not a mark of
culture in the home ; which impression might get into the minds of prospective buyers in the
case of the discontinuance of any prominent piano manufacturing company.
ADVOCATES BURNING
OF JUNK PIANOS
Robert MacDonald, Fort Worth Tuner, Divi-
sion Secretary, Speaks of Uselessness of
Tuning Rubbishy Instruments.
The following letter carries the woes and tells some
of the difficulties encountered by the men engaged in
the tuning profession:
1090 Orange Street.
Fort Worth, Tex..
April 5, 1930.
Presto-Times,
Chicago, 111.
Gentlemen:
• As secretary of the Dallas-Fort Worth Division of
the National Association of Piano Tuners, a complaint
has come to me from several tuners, and 1 have run
into it myself. It seems a few dealers and managers
here in Dallas and other places seem to think piano
tuners are hurting the piano business by taking in
repair jobs and not telling patrons to trade them off
for new ones Let me state here that with all the
Mr. Watkin has dedicated himself to carrying out his talks from wholesale salesmen and dealers I have
campaign promise of an economical and businesslike never heard a word as to where the tuners would
administration of the affairs of the board.
profit by this.
From The Presto, April 19, 1900
"We have sold 2,000 Starr pianos and a great many
We all know the dealer doesn't make much profit
Pederewski, world-renowned pianist, will appear at
a farewell concert at the Auditorium, Chicago, Sat- Webers," said Richard Elbel of Elbel, Bros., South on his pianos. But it looks like they can't stand to
urday matinee, April 28. He has recently visited all Bend, Ind., Friday to a PRESTO representative. "We see any other part of the business make a little profit;
the important cities of the west, and his tour has been are just about to remodel our store, and I was study- especially tuners. I, for one case, back the National
ing on the matter when you came in."
Association of Piano Tuners—never take a piano to
successful.
repair that will not make a fair piano when it is fin-
If
anyone
wants
to
engage
in
playerpiano
manu-
It is The Presto's pleasure to announce special plans
in a town already named to sound about ished. We do not do botch jobs.
of this paper in connection with the Paris Exposition facture
right, he will find that place in a little town on the
Then, too, we have run into several pianos that we
Universelle which must be of interest to manufactur- Lake
Shore Railroad not many miles from New Car- have turned down as not good for repairs and found
ers as well as members of the music trade generally. lisle, Ind.
The name of the place is Pinola.
out to our surprise they had just been bought in the
By arrangement with Le Monde Musical, foremost
J. A. Turner, Jr., Tampa, Fla., is an accomplished last year or so at prices ranging from $95 to $185, and
French musical journal, a supplemental edition of The
are the ones that say we are hurting the
Presto will be printed in Paris every two weeks during violinist. He conducted a musicale at the home of these dealers,
business. Those pianos should have been
the Exposition. The supplemental issue will appear Thomas A. Edison at Fort Myers last Tuesday eve- piano
back on the market.
as part of Le Monde Musical, and will thus receive ning and was assisted by F. O. Gamble, pianist, of burned; never put
Willing to Co-operate
the benefit of the large circulation of that well-estab- Fort Wayne, Ind.
Henry Detmer, manufacturer of the pianos bearing
Now we are willing to co-operate with them; only
lished publication. The same matter will be duplicated
in the regular issue of The Presto and, in case of spe- his name is celebrating the 25th anniversary of his they have never stated where we come in on losing
the repair job, which was from $50 to $200 or more,
cial business mention, will also be repeated in the business.
The Hartman Furniture Co., Dubuque, Iowa, and also knock us out of the tunings for a year or
Spanish supplement.
Americans especially will be proud of their coun- through Harger & Bliss, is hustling for a contest in more with this patron.
If you wish my view, I think the dealer that takes
try's display at the Paris fair, for the United States which the first prize is a Clarendon piano.
The Knight-Campbell Music Co., Denver, is asking in trade an old piano and does not rebuild it and put it
stands second only to France, herself, in number of
exhibitors, which treble those of any other foreign bids by mail to furnish a Kohler & Campbell piano. on the market—I mean just tune it up a little, only
C. J. Heppe & Son, of Philadelphia and Lancaster, spend a few dollars on it to get by—is hurting the
country. The following is a table of exhibitors, speak-
ing eloquently of American enterprise: France, 30,- are announcing a sale by means of a "Heppe Anni- business more than anybody else, and selling pianos
for nothing down and a dollar or so a week; also
000; United States, 6,564; Belgium, 2,500; Germany, versary Club."
The Sohmer piano used last week at the Park The- allowing free music lessons, floor lamps and the Ike.
2,000; Italy, 2,000; Russia, 1,500; Scandinavia, 1,400;
Austria, 1,000; Great Britain, 600; British Colonies, atre in Hannibal, Mo. was furnished by the Parks To tell the truth, I think they have come to the end
of the rope.
600. America has three times the number of ex- Music Co.
J. H. Williams, piano dealer at Washington, 111., has
hibitors that France had at the World's Columbian
Real Piano Trade Still Here.
Exposition in Chicago. She occupies 329,052 square received another shipment of Hobart M. Cable pianos.
But the real piano business is still here, and a real
The Adam Schaaf pianos are now being handled salesman will get it. However, you have to use sales-
feet with her 47 distinct exhibition spaces, 33 in the
main Exposition grounds and 14 in the Vincennes an- by the Manufacturers Piano Co. in North Vernon, manship and not bunk nowadays to get business in
nex, excluding the ground covered by our eagle sur- Ind. M. M. Donlon is manager.
any line.
The Cable-Nelson Piano Co. was on the winning
mounting the national pavilion on the Quai d'Orsay.
I wonder if the manufacturers and the dealers have
side
in
the
fight
over
saloons
in
Van
Buren
County,
Henry L. Mason, vice-president of the Mason &
ever stopped to think we tuners have well-organized
Hamlin Co., arrived in Chicago last Saturday. He Michigan, in which county the company's factory at divisions in nearly every large city and we are just
leaves tomorrow for Milwaukee, Detroit and New South Haven is located. The county went dry by a the best friends of all the music teachers, artists and
majority of 822 on election day.
York.
music clubs of the cities and are also regarded as the
Joseph T. Leimert's new car was stolen Saturday best of authority on pianos. We are not just work-
William Strich, of Strich & Zeidler, is on the road
for a two weeks' tour through New York state. His but was found near Washington Park, Chicago, sev- men, as most dealers think, but professional men,
trip has been very successful so far. Mr. Strich is eral miles from the point at which it was taken.
the same as our friends, the artists and teachers.
The Hollenberg Music Co. of Little Rock, Ark.,
expected back home by the first part of next week. It
Almost anybody with a little money can put in a
is a pleasure to know that trade is generally good says, "the first Kimball piano was sold in 1883 by stock of musical goods and sell them. But not so with
the late Albert G. Cone to E. F. Greenwood of Battle tuning and rebuilding. This is an art, and it takes
with the Strich & Zeidler piano.
The Bush & Gerts Co. received last week a very Creek, Mich., and is still in existence. Today there an artist to do it right for an artist or teacher.
flattering letter from Emporia, Kan., in regard to the are more than 200,000 Kimballs in use.
If we should throw our jobs to the dealer without
The reliable Packard has been a piano of known any profit to ourselves, should not the dealers burn up
piano shipped to William Allen White, the newspaper
man and author, who is known all over the country. value for years and years, says the Flint Music those pianos and not put them back on the market
A special Colonial grand was made for him and he Co., Flint, Mich.
again for a profit to them? We are willing to co-
"You can't afford to pay less for a piano than we operate, but don't smile in our faces and stab us in
says, "the piano is simply perfection," and promises to
send the makers a photograph showing the piano sell them for."—The Southern California Music Co., the back. We are just as human as you are and not
amidst its very appropriate surroundings in his new Riverside, Calif.
mere workmen, but professional men—artists in our
"A Kimball piano will be a true friend to you and line. Yours for better music,
home in Emporia.
The Knight-Campbell Music Co., the pioneer mu- grace your home."—Kroh Music Co., Muskogee, Okla.
ROBERT MacDONALD.
Jesse French Piano Co., Chattanooga, Tenn.—
sic house of Denver, Colo., is preparing to branch out
"Without
a
piano
a
home
is
merely
a
tent
for
the
to greater things and with that end in view has pur-
AMERICAN BUYS HIGH-PRICED "STRAD."
chased the stock of the Western Music Co., and by night."
Sherman, Clay & Co., Tacoma, Wash.—"The Ever-
A Stradivarius violin valued at $100,000 was sold to
combining the business of the two firms, will take its
ett piano is a beautiful thought manifest."
an unnamed American on March 25 at Belgrade, Jugo-
place among the great music houses of the west.
Work is progressing nicely on the new Stone Mu- slavia, through an American agent at Novisad. The
sic Co.'s building at Fargo, N. Dak., as well as the violin, property of a merchant named Schubian, was
new Hancock Bros.' building on First Avenue, North. signed by Stradivarius and dated 1735.
The Stone building will be a three-story structure with
(From The Presto, April 14, 1910.)
a finished basement.
Good trade papers do not write "puffs" about un-
A. M. Sweetland, general Eastern traveler for the Mich., to Kohler & Campbell Piano Co., New York.
worthy goods; but even if they did so, the puff could Starr Piano Co., Richmond, Ind., was at South Bend, Her letter says, "a few years ago we bought one of
little harm, for it is impossible to confer permanent Ind., last Friday.
your pianos. Since then my daughter has married and
reputation on inferior goods.
The Harmony Co., 1744 N. Lawndale avenue, Chi- gone to northern Idaho to live, and is desirous of buy-
The ideal piano may still be a long way off. Mathe- cago, has added to its manufactures a line of patented ing a piano. She writes me, 'how I long for a Kohler
matically a perfect piano may not be possible, yet drums, and also a full line of mandolin, guitar, and & Campbell piano, but they do not seem to have any
agent here.' I want to know what is the very lowest
ideals do exist, and if they be not approximated to at violin cases.
all, the tin-panny pianos must be multiplied.
A letter that is a most commedatory tribute to the you will furnish a piano for. It must be excellent in
Robert N. Watkin, Dallas, piano dealer, has just quality of the Kohler & Campbell instruments was re- tone, as she has a most perfect ear, almost painfully
been elected a member of the Dallas school board. cently sent by Mrs. J. G. Alexander of Grand Rapids, so, and is a teacher of music."
YEARS AGO IN THE PRESTO
Thirty Years Ago
Twenty Years Ago
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