The Edison phonograph monthly (Mar-Dec 1907)

Edison Phonograph Monthly Vol. V. December, 1907 No. 10 Trade Conditions In a general letter to the trade press, dated November 13, President W. E. Gilmore, of the National Phonograph Co., made the statement printed below, setting forth the immaterial effect that the money stringency has had upon the Edison business. Mr. Gilmore also expressed the opinion that the present money trouble will be short-lived. The letter follows: We have not in the past, nor can I say that we have as yet perceived any perceptible change, so far as our own business is concerned. Our shipments of Phonographs, Records and supplies, therefore, continue in the same relative weekly proportion as they have in the past, and the orders heretofore placed with us have not been decreased to .any material extent by cancellation. Naturally, we have not expected additional orders for Phonographs, in view of the fact that our Jobbers and Dealers have anticipated their requirements some time since, but the new orders that we have been receiving for Phonographs have, if anything, been better than we had anticipated. So far as Records are concerned, the first orders received for the December supplement exceed in volume any month in the history of the business. We accumulated during the past summer a very large stock of machines, to take care of the future requirements, and it is well that we did so, for the reason that the recent financial stringency has compelled us to reduce our working forces somewhat, due entirely to the fact that we were unable to obtain the necessary currency to take care of our pay-rolls, and which stringency, we thoroughly believe, will be of short duration. So far as the future is concerned, we are very optimistic, and statistics indicate that, be the times good or bad, amusement features are about the last thing to be affected. By this I, of course, refer to amusements of all kinds, in which, naturally, the talking machine industry must be considered one of the principal factors, particularly for the reason that the prices bring the apparatus within the reach of everybody. I would here add that our collections as a whole, up to this date, have been in every way satisfactory, and, if it is the case with us, then we must naturally feel that it must likewise be the case with our Dealers and Jobbers generally. In conclusion I can only say, further, that the present financial condition will, in our opinion, be but short-lived, and we look forward to an increasing and profitable business. W. E. Gilmore, President. Had we not been confronted with the possibility of paying our hands by checks it is probable that no change would have been made in our working force. We would doubtless have gone on, firmly believing that a few weeks at the .most would have seen business back to its customary conditions. When it became necessary to call upon several banks and adopt unusual methods to get sufficient currency to meet the pay-roll, a decision was reached to slow up on the production and use up the stock of Phonographs we had accumulated during the summer. During the entire summer we ran our plant to its fullest capacity, instead of cutting down the force as had been done in past years. The present reduction in the working force is, therefore, only equivalent to the summer vacation of past years. As Mr. Gilmore stated, orders and collections are quite satisfactory and very much better than the calamity howlers would think possible. To us it looks as if the timid ones were daily regaining confidence and we believe this feeling is going to rapidly gain ground as the days pass by. Notice About German Records Because of defects we have been compelled to discard moulds for German Records No. 15391, "O, Susanna," by H. Grossman, and No. 1 5 102, "Die Kappelle," by the Meistersanger Quartette, and until we can obtain new moulds from abroad we will be unable to supply these selections to the trade, although we have received numerous orders for them. These orders are being cancelled. Just as soon as we get the new moulds the trade will be notified and new orders can be placed for them. These selections are being retained in the new catalogue, for we hope to be abfe to fill orders for them before the catalogues have been widely circulated. Dealers: Sign new agreement and send it to your Jobber,