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CHICAGO, NOV.-DEC, 1933
MANY HAVE GONE: BUT FEW RETURN
"Arion" is a good name; it is musical and pleasantly
associated with music, but it is net "Herman Arion,"
as a Syracuse, New York, paper prints the name in
an interview with Herman Irion of Steinway & Sons.
In this interview with Mr. Irion the Syracuse "Journal"
tells of the activities now prevailing at the Steinway
factory where a greatly added force of workmen was
put to work some weeks ago in the factory at Stein-
way, Long Island. Mr. Irion says that Steinway &
Sons have on their books at the present time orders
sufficient to keep the entire force steadily at work
on full-time basis up to the beginning of 1934 at least.
As one may give a little time to looking over piano conditions, he will recall the many
failures of the past few years : assignments, attachments, bankruptcies and the other ways
of failure in business. A few years ago the number of failures and discontinuances in the
piano manufacturing industry within a period of, say, five years could be counted on the
fingers of two hands. Today, looking back five years, the number runs scoreward.
Among the outright failures, most of which concerns have paid only small portions of their
indebtedness and many of them nothing at all. are three concerns located at Bellevue, Iowa, known
as The Bellevue Piano Company, the Johnson Piano Company and the Rauworth Grand Piano
Company, all three of which "went by the board" almost completely, very little having been
received by creditors. The H. C. Bay Company. Bluff ton, Indiana, resulted in what it is sup-
posed it would do, a dismal failure. Creditors will have to whistle a long time for any returns.
The Hcnkleman Piano Company, New York: Mr. Henkleman did not resume business and has
been employed by another piano manufacturer in the Bronx district, that city. Doll & Sons
Piano Company. New York, and closely associated with this business, the Premier Grand
Piano Company and the Hallet cv Davis Piano Company, have paid very little to creditors.
One of the Doll brothers took over the Hallet & Davis Company and tried to carry on, which
he has done for a while. The Holland Piano Company, Minneapolis, Minn., liquidated and
"stopped short, never to go again," probably. Kreiter Piano Mfg. Company, Milwaukee, was'
a disappointing mix-up; the Piano Manufacturing Corporation, being the Kreiter name, made
a transfer and left dissatisfied creditors behind; The Miessner Piano Company, Milwaukee,
liquidated, as did also the Pease Piano Company, New York ; Price & Teeple Piano Company,
Chicago; S. W. Miller Piano Company, Sheboygan, Wis., paid in part; The Steger & Sons, Chi-
cago, liquidated; O. \\ . Wuertz, New York, continued to gradually get out of manufacturing;
Chase Brothers. Muskegon, Mich., made compromise settlement and discontinued: Hobart
M. Cable Company. La Porte. Ind., liquidated, as did Florey Bros., exclusive makers of grands
at Washington. X. J.; \Y. P. Haines & Company, New York, made partial payments and later
on took the location in the Winter & Company factory, Mr. T. Linton Floyd-Jones carrying
on the business. The Jesse French & Sons Piano Company. New Castle, Ind., will pay out
very little, probably not over ten per cent. A new corporation has been formed, called Jesse
French Corporation, of which Mr. H. Edgar French is president.
The Bush & Lane Piano Company. Holland, Mich., has, so far, been a very unsatisfactory
wind-up; apparently no payments having been made to creditors. A similar report may be
made on Win. Toiik & Bro., New York, settlement on which has been hanging fire three or
four years. . The failure of the Newman Brothers Piano & Organ Company, Chicago, has
been shrouded in a good deal of mystery. As far as reports come to us, no dividends have
been paid. There was a good deal of property left to be disposed of in the form of bills
receivable, leases, merchandise and the factory buildings on Dix Street, just off Chicago Ave-
nue, so it is strange that either settlements or payments have been so long delayed ; the Biddle
Piano Company, New York, liquidated, paying in part.
Numerous other concerns have "disappeared" as independent going enterprises, most of
them having joined or become integral parts of active, carrying-on businesses of the day.
Among such are Bjur Brothers, Davenport iK: Treacy. McPhail, Behning, Schmidt & Dauber,
Newby cK: Evans, and various others taken over by the Kohler Industries; the Bush & Gerts
Piano Company, taken over by Haddorff Piano Company; Ludwig & Company, taken over by
Ricca ; Cable & Son. Lindeman, A. B. Chase. Emerson, Schubert, taken over by Lester Piano
Company: Schaff Brothers. Julius Bauer & Company, and others taken over by Wurlitzer;
Jewett oi Leominster, Mass., taken over by the Aeolian Company, and numerous others that
have united, consolidated, or been taken over in like manner, but the names here presented
are not nearly all the firms that were active several years ago and now retired. We are giv-
ing only the highlights of the list.
* * * *
At the hearing on adoption of the piano code, held
in Washington, when the various amendments and
changes were offered and as now appearing in a
revised code, Mr. Lucien Wulsin's testimony on piano
production told in a nutshell a vital bit of recent
piano history when he related the falling off of the
piano manufacturing industry in the years 1928 and
1929, which decline he said continued through 1932.
And, then, there are the concerns lingering along in a quiescent way, awaiting develop-
ments. Most of these have placed their affairs in such a situation so as not to be disturbed
by creditors while "watching and waiting" for better times ; for better things to happen. Such
houses are practically //// as to factory activities and newly made products. Their operations
of late years have consisted mainly in unloading goods with which they were burdened when
depression began. Many of these stocks of goods and supplies are now gone and it has been
a godsend to them to get rid of the old stock, particularly players which were on hand in pon-
Much of the piano advertising by large music houses
throughout the country stresses the probability of
increase in prices in the near future. A sample of
one of these announcements is one of Cluett & Sons
appearing in an Albany paper which reads: "Steinway
prices are going up; buy now and save. Increased
labor and material costs are forcing up prices of
pianos. As long as our present stock lasts there will
be no increase on the Steinway, but additional in-
struments ordered will have to be sold at the new
price."
A good deal of the Steinert advertising through
New England of late has borne the caption, "The
Home with Music Is the Happy Home." This is
an old truth finally brought to the front and is a
splendid text for piano and music trade advertising.
Various names and titles used in the general musical
instrument business are odd and peculiar but none
of them more so than a new radio company known
as "Radionics," located at 7152 Exchange avenue,
Chicago.
B-ff
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The Knabe New York store still keeps to the front
and with evident success the reproducing piano in the
form of the Knabe Ampico baby grand, but they
emphasize that the Ampico is not a playerpiano; that
"it repeats dramatically what the masters have
played."
Mr. L. C. Wagner, manager of the retail depart-
ment of the Baldwin Piano Company Chicago branch
house, is optimistic on piano business, remarking that
October was away ahead of September, and Novem-
ber trade promises to exceed that of last month,
October.
A reproduced photograph shown in one of the
daily papers under the heading "Bark No More,"
illustrates a lot of captured revolvers being thrown
overboard on Lake Michigan. Oh dear, if old pianos
could thus be made non est what happy days for
many would be in sight! Many old pianos are not
musical any more. Why not have a dumping?
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