The Edison phonograph monthly (Jan-Dec 1912)

Edison Phonograph Monthly, Feb., 1912 The Smile "To hold the mirror up to nature" is the avowed intent of the drama. But few of us realize that nature — human nature at least — is itself a mirror, for the character of our associates is reflected in our own dispositions. The man with a smile immediately finds friends wherever he may be, but the sour-visaged individual with the speak-to-me-and-get-bitten expression is at liberty to crawl off in a corner and die, any time he feels so inclined. He is taken at his own valuation and nobody tries to make friends with him. "To him that hath" — or to him that pretendeth he hath — is given much more than to him that foldeth the hands and saith "Verily business is rotten." Nobody does business with a man for charity's sake. Between a hustler and a "grouch" there is no choosing. You have noticed that the largest concern in any particular field never loses sight of that fact in its advertising. Why? Because human nature tends to follow the band. Just so in your business — if you smile the smile of good-fellowship and prosperity, customers will be yours, but if you face the public with a forbidding gloominess, the hinges on your door will show a tendency to rust. You, as a Phonograph Dealer, are in the music business. And music is the expression of joy and mirth, or of beautiful thought. Therefore, it behooves you to suit your manner to the character of your trade and not to convey the impression that you are an undertaker. If you believe that the personality of its proprietor has nothing to do with the prosperity of a store, go into some strange concern and see how you feel when you come out. If you are attended by a pleasant clerk, you will unconsciously register a vow to buy from that place again. If you are treated like a typhoid germ by some Great Stone Face, there will be a heavy dark line across that store's address in your calling list. So make your personality help you to sell your goods and you will soon find that cheerfulness and prosperity go hand in hand. Big Demand for "Gypsy Love" Score Walter Eastman, manager of Chapell & Co., Ltd., states that the demand for the music of the latest Lehar success, "Gypsy Love," is developing remarkable proportions, not only in Chicago, where the operetta is proving the hit of the season, but in practically every section of the country. — Music Trade Review. Phonograph Settled It "No use bothering to write letters over this deal," said Mr. Sharp to Mr. Law. "Call me up some day and we'll fix the whole thing over the telephone." Mr. Law said that, was all right and went into executive session with himself. He knew that Mr. Sharp's mental and moral qualities were inadequately hinted at by his name. He was equally well satisfied that if he didn't get Mr. Sharp down in black and white that knife-edged gentleman would repudiate any understanding they might reach, if the bargain proved a disastrous one to him later on. Nevertheless, a few days later Mr. Law called Mr. Sharp to the 'phone. "What's your best figure?" asked Mr. Law, pressing a button by the side of the telephone receiver. "Thirty-two dollars a ton," Mr. Sharp said. "I do not recognize the voice," Mr. Law said. "To whom am I speaking?" Mr. Sharp told him, giving full initials. Mr. Law asked if this was the Mr. Sharp of the Mont Pelee Turnip Company, and Mr. Sharp said it was. So the bargain was reached. A little later on Mr. Sharp found that he would lose money by it, whereupon he blandly refused to carry it out. He said that he had never made such an agreement. Mr. Law talked to him briskly over the telephone. Mr. Sharp was suave but determined. He had never entered into such a foolish bargain. Had Mr. Law any letters to prove his statements? "Something better," said Mr. Law. Listen. Whereupon he turned the horn of the phonograph toward the telephone and Mr. Sharp heard over the wire his own voice giving his own name and office address, and then making a trade agreement with Mr. Law. It would have convinced any jury. "Enough," said Mr. Sharp. "You win. I'll settle." Law had simply spliced the receiver of his telephone extension to a recording phonograph. Total cost, nothing. Total gain, enough to keep Mr. Law busy at a profitable job for the next year. — York, Pa., Daily. Mr. Dealer, you can do lots with those Elk Records if you hustle. Take them up to the local lodge rooms just as soon as you can get them. Or get a list of the Elks in your town and arrange a Special Elks' Concert at your store. And while they are feeling enthusiastic over the Elk Records, play a few others.