The Edison phonograph monthly (Jan-Dec 1913)

EDISON PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY FOR MARCH, 1913 11 WINDOW SUGGESTIONS FOR EASTER IN nearly every city there's a florist who keeps his stock at his green-house far from the center of the city. Look up one in your town and suggest to him that you will gladly share your show window with him for a display of potted hyacinths, lilies, palms and ferns. Nothing proves more attractive at this season than nature's own and with a little care in arrangement you can surround an Edison machine with these plants and produce a dignified, pleasing display at practically no cost. By making an arrangement to sell the plants on commission you can probably make this effort worth real cash in addition to the advertising obtained. Place a neat show card in the center reading: "Natural flowers are seasonable. The natural tones of Edison reproduction are yours at a price that's reasonable." PUSH THE HOME RECORDING OUTFIT HERE is an exclusively Edison feature — a strong talking point in effecting a sale of an Edison over talking machines. Start talking upon this Edison Home Recording outfit and your competitor has nothing to say. Moreover, it is a popular feature when once its merits and advantages are clearly demonstrated. I^ow that it is made so easy with the four-minute recorder and home shaving machine, it is bound to become a necessary adjunct to every enthusiastic Phonograph owner's equipment. Consider what it means to the average family. In a large majority of cases there is always some member of a music-loving family who can sing or play or recite. What fun it is to make one's own Records. Suppose you have a goodly number of jovial friends happen in of an evening. An Edison Recorder will capture many delightful pieces that may be played at any time. The field of enjoyment is practically unlimited. Then there is the more serious side, where one wishes an aid to self improvement. What better monitor than the Phonograph? To be able to sing or play or recite into the Phonograph and then listen to your own performance is a most excellent method to arrive at greater ease and skill in any line of individual effort. Home recording can be made a big feature of this development. It permits the singer to abandon himself to actual performance and then criticise himself by a reproduction of what he has done. There is no musical aspirant that cannot derive great benefit from this comparative method of study. The Four-minute Recorder is valuable to the Dealer because it gives him an entirely new line to talk about whenever a customer drops into his store. Every Edison owner is, by the very fact that he owns a Phonograph, a prospective purchaser of the new Recorder. It will arouse new interest in his machine. The complete hand shaving machine enables each owner of a new Recorder to shave the blanks at home, at his own convenience and as often as he wishes. With a very small supply of blanks he can do an almost unlimited amount of recording. One good way to push the Home Recording Outfit is to demonstrate it while entertaining a prospective customer for the Blue Amberol Records. Make a Record, then play it, and let it be your salesman, telling of what it will do in the home, how easy to make, etc. M. L. Abbey, Edison Dealer of Hudson, Mich., is convinced that his customers, if they understand the value of home record making will find great pleasure in it, and has obtained good results from the form letter which we print: Dear Sir: — "Why not increase the value of your Phonograph tenfold by purchasing a Recorder and being able to make your own Records. "Anyone can make them; it doesn't require any knowledge of music. Your friends all have some little stunt they do extra well. That one who tells a funny story, plays the mouth-organ, sings comic songs, or a dozen other things that would make a find Record. "You have photographs of their faces, why not have one of their voices. What would you not give to be able to hear the voice of your friend whenever you choose? "The Edison Recorder is a wonderful device. It adjusts itself automatically to every sound, and embodies all the important features of the recorders used at the Edison Laboratory in making the masters for which the Blue Amberol Records are made. Half the fun of owning a Phonograph is making one's own Records. "When your friends gather in for a social evening, then is the time you will appreciate its real worth, as the bright sayings and witticisms of everyone present can be made permanent and a reminder in after years of happy times now past. "We are enclosing a booklet on "Making Records at Home," and trust it will prove of interest to you. We are preparing a prize contest for the best home-made Records, and would like to have you enter with the rest. "We shall be happy to demonstrate the Edison Home Recording Outfit at your home at any time. Yours very truly." But the best of all methods is to go to a home with the outfit and let the members of the family make a few Records under your supervision. If you can ascertain when such a family expects to have a jovial time with outsiders who can sing, etc., then is your best opportunity.