Presto
Issue: 1935 2275 - Page 7
March-April, 1935
PRESTO-TIMES
PRESTOTIME
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADES JOURNAL
ISSUED THE
FIFTEENTH OF
PUBLICATION MONTH
CRANK D. ABBOTT
Editor
Telephones, Local and Long Distance, Harrison 0234.
Private Phones to all Departments. Cable Address (Com-
mercial Cable Co.'s Code), "PRESTO," Chicago.
Entered as second-class matter April 9, 1932, at the
Tost Office at Chicago, 111., under act of March 3, 1879.
Subscription, $1.00 a year; 6 months, 60 cents; foreign,
$2.00. Payable in advance. No extra charge in United
States possessions, Cuba and Mexico. Rates for adver-
tising on application.
PRESTO PUBLISHING CO.
Publishers
417 So. Dearborn St.
Chicago, I1L
The song, "Smiles," goes on and on; even
Amos and Andy, in one of their broadcasting
reminiscences, advised everybody to sing
"Smiles," the song of "always better days,"
and emphasized their advice by singing the
first eight measures of Lee Robert's dear, good
song of hope and joy.
The music trade proper that is to say the
music industries have been quite free from
any suggestion of misleading advertising, mis-
branding, misrepresentation and the like, but
some of the allied industries like radio have
been brought up for government inspection
from time to time. One of the latest of these
infractions was the Metro Manufacturing
Company of Brooklyn, manufacturers and
assemblers of radio sets, which was directed
to discontinue the use of the words "Edison"
or "Bronswick."
Notwithstanding a daily newspaper says that
Miss Iona Fiddle of St. Paul, Minn., does NOT
own a fiddle, a later report states that the
young lady HAS bought one, thus helping to
verify the technical accuracy of her name.
An instance of sponsoring by the govern-
ment of free adult education classes in music
comes from Shawnee, Oklahoma, where, as
Federal Emergency Relief work a music school
has been in progress for the past year or two
and continues with remarkable success. The
classes are free to all applicants who desire to
study music in all its branches and instruction
of practically all musical instruments of today.
In a review of industries of various towns
in the Rock River district from Beloit, Wis-
consin, or to Dixon, Illinois, various cities are
named giving percentages of employment,
number of factories and their relations to the
welfare of the communities. As for Oregon,
Illinois, the Schiller Piano Factory is the main
industry in that vicinity and one of the noted
instrument manufacturing enterprises of Rock
River valley.
A furniture trade paper representative in
helping to convince a furniture manufacturer
that the furniture business in general is im-
proving, advanced the argument that "there is
an increase of more than thirty per cent in
marriages this year over the same period a
year ago, which means," said the representa-
tive, "that the furniture business must in-
crease in proportion." This argument may be
Of approximately forty-five independent making piano factories in the United
States probably half a dozen of them supply pianos in various quantities to con-
cerns which formerly manufactured their product in their own factories and which
continue to carry on business supplied from factories where they obtain advan-
tag'eous contact, particularly as to close reproduction of their original product in
construction and tonal qualities. Most of the other factories of these forty-five or
so manufacture exclusively or practically so only their own instruments under
their own name and names owned and controlled by them but various ones of these
are willing to place a supplied name on the fallboard of their product for a favorite
customer under certain conditions and restrictions. However, this manner of piano
naming and fallboard nomenclature is not what some years ago was known as
stencilling, for often so-called "rank stencilling" implied the misrepresentation that
the instrument was made or assembled by the ones whose name appeared on the
fallboard.
Repetition of a statement recently made by an eminent Chicago manufacturer
is enlightening on this angle of naming pianos for favorite customers, who said:
"As we view this problem of piano production, it seems to us that the one-name
proposition is best and sufficient for us. We do make a few pianos on which the
names of certain of our dealers appear but whether this procedure is of any advan-
tage to them or to us is a question. We do realize that if we desire to receive a
larger business volume quickly it could be done by making pianos that we could
sell to any merchant anywhere by using whatever name would fit in with the accom-
plishment of their purpose."
Records available at this time indicate that about twenty-five per cent of the
pianos made in 1934 consisted of instruments marketed by other concerns and
bearing other names than the source of output. There are probably fifteen ex-
piano manufacturers now employing this manner of continuing business and a
hundred dealers through the country carry pianos bearing their own names or
names controlled by them, very few of these, however, operating along the line of
so-called "stencilling." This category of "made-for" pianos embraces probably
20% to 25% of all the pianos these days.
It was on account of this changed condition in the activities of piano factories
that on a considerable number of them reports could not be made giving number of
employes and wages, etc., for notwithstanding the product of many of these fac-
tories bearing the manufacturers' name and other names known to them were still
being supplied in the trade no factory workmen or employes could be reported as
to number employed and wages paid. This caused the Census Report sent out in
1934 to show less than forty piano factories operating in the United States in
1933 and employing* less than 3,000 wage earners, while in 1931 there were over
fifty factories and more than 5,000 wage earners and in 1929 eighty-one factories
and 10,000 wage earner employes.
From all quarters of the country and in a very important way from the Fur-
niture Mart in Chicago comes word that the furniture business has been increas-
ing at a rapid rate the past two years. A composite of percentages made by both
dealers and manufacturers indicates 33 1/3% more business in 1935 over the same
period in 1934. Hardly ever is a new outfit of household furniture placed that does
not include a piano in the set-up.
an amusing bit of oratory but it is correct as
to statistics and all records show.
MORAL—What applies to furniture also
applies to pianos, and in a greater or lesser
degree to all musical instruments.
One of Chicago's most accomplished church
organists in lending aid at a modest chapel
service found for the occasion a small cabinet
reed organ ; what make? One of old-time glory
and renown, a Crown, by George P. Bent,
Chicago, 1890.
tecting wing of radio and musical merchandise
support and with no less individual guiding its
destinies than Glad Henderson. No reference to
any of the messieurs Bill, heirs and assigns of the
late Edward Lyman Bill, pcrc, was made in the
rather incomplete reference on this that flitted
into a Presto-Times studio.
The Aeolian-American Corporation's adver-
tising of the j . and C. Fischer piano under the
caption, "My G r a n d m o t h e r Loved Her
Fischer," is quite correct, being that the J. &
C. Fischer firm succeeded in 1840 the R. & W.
Nunns' piano making business which was
started in 1820.
Manufacturers, and supply men in particular, and
the music trade generally are speculating these days
on what will be the size of the 19.35 crop.
In the piano industry there is considerable variance
in estimates on the size of factory output ranging
from 65.CHX) to 75.000 for a moderate, conservative
number and 85.000 to 100.000 for a super-conservative
estimate.
Perhaps an average of these two propositions or
about 70,000 would be a safe wager, but there is yet
a sub-conservative figuring of approximately 50.000
as well as an ultra-conservative belief that more than
100.000 pianos will be manufactured by the last day
of 1935.
It has been "whispered," but not very loudly
that that good old Music Trade Review may be
revamped and set going again, but under the pro-
WHEN PATRONIZING OUR ADVER-
T I S E R S , KINDLY MENTION THE
PRESTO-TIMES.
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-TIMES
PRESTOTIME
THE AMERICAN MUSIC TRADES JOURNAL
ISSUED THE
FIFTEENTH OF
PUBLICATION MONTH
CRANK D. ABBOTT
Editor
Telephones, Local and Long Distance, Harrison 0234.
Private Phones to all Departments. Cable Address (Com-
mercial Cable Co.'s Code), "PRESTO," Chicago.
Entered as second-class matter April 9, 1932, at the
Tost Office at Chicago, 111., under act of March 3, 1879.
Subscription, $1.00 a year; 6 months, 60 cents; foreign,
$2.00. Payable in advance. No extra charge in United
States possessions, Cuba and Mexico. Rates for adver-
tising on application.
PRESTO PUBLISHING CO.
Publishers
417 So. Dearborn St.
Chicago, I1L
The song, "Smiles," goes on and on; even
Amos and Andy, in one of their broadcasting
reminiscences, advised everybody to sing
"Smiles," the song of "always better days,"
and emphasized their advice by singing the
first eight measures of Lee Robert's dear, good
song of hope and joy.
The music trade proper that is to say the
music industries have been quite free from
any suggestion of misleading advertising, mis-
branding, misrepresentation and the like, but
some of the allied industries like radio have
been brought up for government inspection
from time to time. One of the latest of these
infractions was the Metro Manufacturing
Company of Brooklyn, manufacturers and
assemblers of radio sets, which was directed
to discontinue the use of the words "Edison"
or "Bronswick."
Notwithstanding a daily newspaper says that
Miss Iona Fiddle of St. Paul, Minn., does NOT
own a fiddle, a later report states that the
young lady HAS bought one, thus helping to
verify the technical accuracy of her name.
An instance of sponsoring by the govern-
ment of free adult education classes in music
comes from Shawnee, Oklahoma, where, as
Federal Emergency Relief work a music school
has been in progress for the past year or two
and continues with remarkable success. The
classes are free to all applicants who desire to
study music in all its branches and instruction
of practically all musical instruments of today.
In a review of industries of various towns
in the Rock River district from Beloit, Wis-
consin, or to Dixon, Illinois, various cities are
named giving percentages of employment,
number of factories and their relations to the
welfare of the communities. As for Oregon,
Illinois, the Schiller Piano Factory is the main
industry in that vicinity and one of the noted
instrument manufacturing enterprises of Rock
River valley.
A furniture trade paper representative in
helping to convince a furniture manufacturer
that the furniture business in general is im-
proving, advanced the argument that "there is
an increase of more than thirty per cent in
marriages this year over the same period a
year ago, which means," said the representa-
tive, "that the furniture business must in-
crease in proportion." This argument may be
Of approximately forty-five independent making piano factories in the United
States probably half a dozen of them supply pianos in various quantities to con-
cerns which formerly manufactured their product in their own factories and which
continue to carry on business supplied from factories where they obtain advan-
tag'eous contact, particularly as to close reproduction of their original product in
construction and tonal qualities. Most of the other factories of these forty-five or
so manufacture exclusively or practically so only their own instruments under
their own name and names owned and controlled by them but various ones of these
are willing to place a supplied name on the fallboard of their product for a favorite
customer under certain conditions and restrictions. However, this manner of piano
naming and fallboard nomenclature is not what some years ago was known as
stencilling, for often so-called "rank stencilling" implied the misrepresentation that
the instrument was made or assembled by the ones whose name appeared on the
fallboard.
Repetition of a statement recently made by an eminent Chicago manufacturer
is enlightening on this angle of naming pianos for favorite customers, who said:
"As we view this problem of piano production, it seems to us that the one-name
proposition is best and sufficient for us. We do make a few pianos on which the
names of certain of our dealers appear but whether this procedure is of any advan-
tage to them or to us is a question. We do realize that if we desire to receive a
larger business volume quickly it could be done by making pianos that we could
sell to any merchant anywhere by using whatever name would fit in with the accom-
plishment of their purpose."
Records available at this time indicate that about twenty-five per cent of the
pianos made in 1934 consisted of instruments marketed by other concerns and
bearing other names than the source of output. There are probably fifteen ex-
piano manufacturers now employing this manner of continuing business and a
hundred dealers through the country carry pianos bearing their own names or
names controlled by them, very few of these, however, operating along the line of
so-called "stencilling." This category of "made-for" pianos embraces probably
20% to 25% of all the pianos these days.
It was on account of this changed condition in the activities of piano factories
that on a considerable number of them reports could not be made giving number of
employes and wages, etc., for notwithstanding the product of many of these fac-
tories bearing the manufacturers' name and other names known to them were still
being supplied in the trade no factory workmen or employes could be reported as
to number employed and wages paid. This caused the Census Report sent out in
1934 to show less than forty piano factories operating in the United States in
1933 and employing* less than 3,000 wage earners, while in 1931 there were over
fifty factories and more than 5,000 wage earners and in 1929 eighty-one factories
and 10,000 wage earner employes.
From all quarters of the country and in a very important way from the Fur-
niture Mart in Chicago comes word that the furniture business has been increas-
ing at a rapid rate the past two years. A composite of percentages made by both
dealers and manufacturers indicates 33 1/3% more business in 1935 over the same
period in 1934. Hardly ever is a new outfit of household furniture placed that does
not include a piano in the set-up.
an amusing bit of oratory but it is correct as
to statistics and all records show.
MORAL—What applies to furniture also
applies to pianos, and in a greater or lesser
degree to all musical instruments.
One of Chicago's most accomplished church
organists in lending aid at a modest chapel
service found for the occasion a small cabinet
reed organ ; what make? One of old-time glory
and renown, a Crown, by George P. Bent,
Chicago, 1890.
tecting wing of radio and musical merchandise
support and with no less individual guiding its
destinies than Glad Henderson. No reference to
any of the messieurs Bill, heirs and assigns of the
late Edward Lyman Bill, pcrc, was made in the
rather incomplete reference on this that flitted
into a Presto-Times studio.
The Aeolian-American Corporation's adver-
tising of the j . and C. Fischer piano under the
caption, "My G r a n d m o t h e r Loved Her
Fischer," is quite correct, being that the J. &
C. Fischer firm succeeded in 1840 the R. & W.
Nunns' piano making business which was
started in 1820.
Manufacturers, and supply men in particular, and
the music trade generally are speculating these days
on what will be the size of the 19.35 crop.
In the piano industry there is considerable variance
in estimates on the size of factory output ranging
from 65.CHX) to 75.000 for a moderate, conservative
number and 85.000 to 100.000 for a super-conservative
estimate.
Perhaps an average of these two propositions or
about 70,000 would be a safe wager, but there is yet
a sub-conservative figuring of approximately 50.000
as well as an ultra-conservative belief that more than
100.000 pianos will be manufactured by the last day
of 1935.
It has been "whispered," but not very loudly
that that good old Music Trade Review may be
revamped and set going again, but under the pro-
WHEN PATRONIZING OUR ADVER-
T I S E R S , KINDLY MENTION THE
PRESTO-TIMES.
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).