The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1913)

THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD. 51 THE EDISON LINE WITH HARDMAN, PECK & CO. Will Handle Edison Disc Phonographs and Records in Their Artistic Warerooms, Hardman House, 433 Fifth Avenue, New York, and Also in Their Brooklyn Warerooms on Fulton Street Receive Splendid Representation In This Prominent HighGrade Mouse. Arrangements have been consummated by Thomas A. Edison, Inc., Orange, \. J., with Haul man, Peck Ov Co., whereby this prominent piano house handle the complete Edison disc line of machines and records, both in the Hardman House, Fifth Avenue, New York, and in it-. Brooklyn store, 524 Fulton street. This important deal has been pending for some time, and its consummation is gratifying to both parties concerned. The first shipment of Edison disc machines and records arrived last Wednesday at 433 Fifth avenue, New York, and pending the completion of extensive plans, the machines are being displayed in prominent sections of the artistic Hardman, Peck warerooms. When all arrangements are completed, the official home of the Edison disc products will be on the fifth floor of the Hardman House. A number of soundproof demonstration booths are now being constructed, and when these are finished the Edison disc products will be perfectly presented in artistic surroundings. In addition to occupying the entire fifth floor of the Hardman House, the Edison disc products will be displayed in the show window anil on the various floors of the building. It is hardly necessary to state that there is every indication of the Edison line scoring a marked success with Hardman, Peck & Co., as this company not only caters to a highgrade ami wealthy clentiele who appreciate the best in music, hut the Hardman I lunsi is located in the very besl high-class shopping districl of New York, and one that is growing better each year, while the Brooklyn store is located on I he most prominent thoroughfare in that borough. From a publicity standpoint, the Edison disc products will be well taken care of in their new connections, for in addition to the thousands of people who pass along Piano Row daily, both Thomas A. Edison, Inc., and Hardman, Peck & Co. will conduct an energetic campaign on behalf of the Edison disc machines and records, and a complete line of records will be carried in stock at all times. The Edison department will be handled by the store's retail sales staff. you will find I hat same school showing a high percentage of efficiency in other sludies. I have never known il to fail. There is thai about the close study of music thai requires a kind and depth ol thought which is equally efficacious in the mastery of all other studies." Il is difficult to estimate how much I he I he aters of New York spend for music, bul dining recent years, many of the (healers have cut OUl the orchestra entirely and some of them depend upon instruments supplying the music aul omal i< ally. Still, notwithstanding the big reduction, made over former years, it is estimated that the theaters spend as high as $150,000 a year for music. Then, there is the Metropolitan Opera House which draws upon the Gotham purse to the extent of $150,000, and after that, there are expenditures for music at various features of entertainment which it is difficult to estimate. The aggregate salary of the private music teachers would reach large figures. Il is estimated by some that the annual amount of money which New York pays for music is about $5,000,000. However, some conservative estimates run as low as 3 53,000,000, but it is certain that. New York's annual music bill is pretty large. MANY MILLIONS FOR MUSIC. The Annual Expenditures for Music in New York City Are Estimated Variously from $3,000,000 to §5,000,000— Impossible to Get at the Real Cost with Anything Approaching Accuracy, but the Annual Expenditures for Music In Various Forms are Very Large. The question is frequently asked, How much does New York pay annually for music? It is a difficult question to answer, because there is so much music bought and paid for every day and every night that is furnished for instruction, as well as for amusement, that the nearest one can do is to approximate the outlay. Out of the public purse, New York spends about $200,000. This is divided as follows: The Department of Parks spends about $40,000; the Department of Docks, for music on the recreation piers, about the same amount, and the schools about $120,000. Some people think that the grand concerts on the piers and in the parks are superficial, but Chas. A. Manley, the superintendent of all matters, relating to the recreation piers, says the following: "I have made a careful study of the psychology of the recreation pier. I was of the opinion when the first recreation pier was established that the fact that it was a pier and that the water was adjacent was the source of whatever pleasure the people might derive from it. I felt positive that when tired or perspiring men, women and children had the pier for a gathering spot the problem of helping sweltering humanity during the summer months had been solved in so far as it was possible for people to enjoy it. That was some years ago. I have been, in charge ever since and am still studying the conditions. Now, take this as a positive opinion. "The number of people who would visit the piers if there were no music provided would be next to nothing. It is the music that brings them, it is the music that holds them. Stop the music and they start away. They even wander off between numbers. There is not the least doubt in my mind that while the recreation pier has an inviting title and seemingly should be a complete blessing, that of itself it is far from accomplishing the result that was first supposed would come as a matter of course. . "The band concerts in the various parks of the city during the pleasanter months of the year attract millions of people and the benefit derived is reported to be incalculable. A gathering on the Mall in Central Park on Saturday afternoons and evenings during the summer has to be seen to comprehend the appreciation of many thousands. There are men and women who attend regularly and who have been coming for many years. For nearly half a century these Saturday concerts have been given. Grandfathers and grandmothers who attended as boys and girls find very little changedIt is one of the few spots left unmolested in the big city. "Between fifty and seventy city bands have the work of providing music in public places distributed among them." The concerts arranged for in the various parks throughout the city last year numbered 300. It is proposed this year that the talking machine shall be introduced in a larger way, as an entertainer in the public parks and recreation piers of New York. In many other cities the talking machine, as an entertainer figures largely at outdoor gatherings. Dr. F. R. Rix, who has charge of music in the elementary schools, is enthusiastic as to the character influence of musical instruction. He remarked in a recent interview: "There is no reason at all why the hundreds of thousands of pupils in New York's public schools should not be able to read music fluently when their public school days are finished. We are now teaching so that this is plainly within the accomplishment of all. I. have found this out — and you may emphasize is at strongly as you wish and it will not be too strong: — Wherever you find a public school showing a high percentage in music TAYLOR PURCHASES STOCK Of the E. E. Forbes Piano Co., Which He Will Conduct Under His Own Name. (Special to The Talking Machine World.) Jackson, Miss., December 2. — M. E. Taylor, who has many friends in this city, has purchased the talking machine department of the E. E. Forbes Piano Co., of which he has been manager for the past five years. Mr. Taylor will continue to conduct the business in the same place as heretofore, occupying the space with the Forbes Co. He has many friends in this vicinity, and there is no question but that he will make a decided success of the business for himself. AN AGQRESSIVT^VICTOR DEALER. From . Langdon, N. D., comes the gratifying report of how the A. O. Wold Co., an aggressive Victor dealer in this country city, devised an excellent system for getting after trade. The company used two automobiles in working out its system, and this season a canvass was made of an entire county in the State of North Dakota which is forty-eight miles long anil thirty-two miles wide. In this energetic canvass no family was overlooked, and the sales and live-wire prospects secured on this trip more than accounted for the time, labor and expense utilized. The name describes the needle and the needle fulfills its tone— The PURITONE Needle. BURNISHED in Puritone or your own envelopes packed in different sizes. Quality guaranteed. Price popular. Dealers can secure a sample package free. Send jobber's name with letter. Remember, a quality needle will help you; it means a profit and a following. THE following is a new selling idea for needles, packed exclusively by us : Instead of selling 100 or 200 needles at once, sell a thousand. We pack 1,000 assorted needles in a box, each box containing 200 of Extra Loud, Loud Opera, Medium and Soft. This is the "Special" Dean Packing. You can sell 1,000 instead of 100 and thus get 10 times the business. Want the Puritone Needle samples ? JOHN M. DEAN PUTNAM, CONN.