The Edison phonograph monthly (Jan-Dec 1911)

10 Edison Phonograph Monthly, Oct., 1911 The Other 13,000 Edison Day in Versailles, Mo. A Dealer in a Railroad Station C. D. Hunter, proprietor of the Globe Drug Store at Versailles, Mo., has done a lot of good advertising for the Edison line since becoming a Dealer some years ago, but each new idea he evolves seems better than the last. His latest effort is in the form of a nicely printed circular letter which he distributed among present and prospective owners of Edison Phonographs. It has to do principally with the establishment of an Edison Day each month when new Records will be played at his store, and reads in part as follows: At considerable expense and labor, we have constructed, in the rear of our store, a cosy little room, which we will call the Edison Booth. In it are six comfortable chairs which will seat, as a rule, an entire family. The construction of the room and the arrangement of the machine in it, are such as enables the hearer to receive every tone of the Record in all its sweetness and fullness as much as in the home. Here in this booth, well heated in winter, lighted and ventilated, with intruders shut out, you may buy Records in as much seclusion as in your own home. You are invited in at any and all times to hear such Records as you think you might wish to purchase. It will be an ironclad rule that all Records taken out shall be considered sold with no privilege of return unless, perchance, a defect in manufacture is overlooked at the time. The twenty-eighth of each month shall be designated by us as Edison Day. On this day, between the hours of two and four-thirty in the afternoon, we will play the twenty-five new Amberol and the five new Standard Records issued for the following month, and which will have just been received from the factory. Every Edison Owner is a member of our Edison Family. We want the whole family together on that day, every month in the year. The New Phonogram, which we are mailing every owner once a month, and which contains a detailed description of every 'new Record, besides a lot of other information, will have reached you the day before. When you have just digested the description of a Record, will it not be a pleasure to hear it? Will it not be worth your while to make this day the chief one of the month for coming to town, do your shopping and be entertained free for two and a half hours, hearing every new Record on the list? It is our hope that you can come always on that day, mix and mingle with other Phonograph owners and take home with you such of the new Records as you like, remembering that the booth is at your service at all times. In a day or two you will receive the September Phonogram and Sepember supplement. Eook them over carefully, come to town next Monday (28th) and make the first Edison Day with us a rousing one. If your machine is not working perfectly, let us know about it. Bring it along if the trouble is serious. We have made a study of the mechanical part and will be glad to set your machine right, free of charge, if no new parts are required. Edison machines are good, and when they get out of order, nine times out of ten, i\ is only dust or gum in the way. Only a few weeks ago we cleaned up a Standard that had been run for seven years. We would be willing to take oath that it is 95 per cent, as good as new. When an Edison is out of order it is usually only temporary, and is due to the owner's carelessness and neglect more than to a fault of the machine. Remember at all times we are at your service and want to see you next Monday sure. G. M. Lambert, of Luana, Iowa, is the sort of Dealer who is a credit to any line. In August he took a three weeks' vacation "thanks to the phonograph biz," as he puts it, going as far as Portland and Tacoma. A few facts about his success may be interesting to "the other 13,000." Lanana is a town of 200 in Clayton Co., Iowa. Mr. Lambert's purchases for the year 1910 from one Edison Jobber alone amounted to $1,800 net, which means that his gross sales were something over $3,000. At the present rate, his purchases for 1911 will probably reach $2,400, net! Mr. Lambert's "established place of business" is the local railroad station. He has placed wire racks on the walls and carries the complete Edison catalogue in them! Enthusiastic? Well, rather. He has been selling Edison Phonographs and Records to farmers in his locality for four or five years, and is to-day more optimistic and enthusiastic than ever. The large new building being erected by W. C. Chew, Edison Dealer at Memphis, Mo., is nearing completion, and will be ready for occupancy in a few weeks. It will be the largest building in Memphis — three stories high, with stone front and spacious plate-glass windows. Mr. Chew, like many other Edison Dealers, began his business career with little more than the proverbial shoe-string, and has advanced rapidly, until he is to-day rated one of the most successful and responsible merchants in northeast Missouri. His Edison Department will be considerably enlarged in his new quarters. Miss Maquita Dwight, who is with one of the Wagenhals & Kemper "Seven Days" productions this season, became familiar with her part through studying Phonograph Records made for her by one who played the same part last year. "Pa, why did Nero fiddle while Rome was burning?" "Because the Phonograph had not yet been invented."