The Edison phonograph monthly (Dec 1914-Dec 1915)

EDISON PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY, MAY, 1915 BUSINESS HONESTY AND PRICECUTTING THERE was a time when the simplest and most rudimentary code of ethics was enough for honesty in business. Under that code it was a simple matter of bargain and sale when a man contracted with a child to work for long hours and little wages, and a perfectly honest thing for the employer to do. Under a slightly older system any man was free to sell himself as a slave, and it was a perfectly honest thing for a man to buy and hold a slave. About fifty years ago even negro slavery ceased to be good form in business, and at present there are a lot of laws regulating the hours a child is permitted to work which show a higher sense of right and wrong and a higher sense of responsibility. There was a time also when a retail dealer could make what profit he could on an article he bought from a wholesaler, and charge as little or as much for it as he wanted, but it seems that that time must be passing also. Advertising plays so great a part in the manufacturers' campaign to-day that it seems as if he had some moral right to say what the retailer should charge for an article. He tries to fix a price for his article, and one retailer may spoil the business of a hundred others by cutting the price of that one article below any margin of profit with the idea of getting customers into his store and inducing them to purchase at high prices other things on which no price has been put at the factory. Naturally this hurts the retailers who try to sell at the fixed price, and also the manufacturer who fixes a price. The very fact that he makes such a price shows that he is honestly convinced that it is worth that, and that he intends to maintain that price with all. We all know well enough that the best, most honest retailers run one-price stores, and that no amount of haggling will induce them to lower the price for the benefit of an individual. It is this broad, general one-price system affording a square deal to every one which has raised all sorts of retail business to a higher standard of ethics, dignity, and profit. — The Popular Monthly. EDISON CIRCASSIAN MODEL WINS IN the phonograph parlors of the Denver Dry Goods Co., the classiest machine on exhibition — the one that attracts most attention — is a beautiful model of Circassian Walnut. It has won the admiration of music lovers as well as prospective buyers. Find music for the ear and a fine cabinet for the eye, make a combination hard to resist. And incidentally business is good with the Denver Dry Goods Co., for they are disposing of many Edison Diamond Disc machines and have steadily increased demand for Edison Diamond Disc records. AN EDISON DISC USED AT AN ORGAN RECITAL POWELL WEAVER, organist of the Grand Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, Kansas City, used an Edison Disc Phonograph at an organ recital recently, playing an accompaniment on the pipe organ. Mr. Weaver successfully rendered the selections in keeping with the interpretation given them by the Edison soloists. The Edison Diamond Disc Phonograph used was furnished by the Phonograph Co., of Kansas City. He assisted Mr. WTeaver with the phonograph. The demonstration was the first of the kind ever given in Kansas City. ELIZABETH SPENCER DEMONSTRATES AGAIN HER EDISON DISC RECORDS IN Wilkes-Barre, Pa., last month, Miss Elizabeth Spencer again appeared in a private recital to demonstrate the fidelity of the Edison tone as evidenced in her Diamond Disc records. The concert was given under the auspices of C. F. Murray-Smith Company, of that city, and was largely attended — so much so that even standing room was at a premium. Miss Spencer, as usual, pleased her audiences greatly, and her accompaniment of the Diamond Disc records elicited great applause. C. F. Murray-Smith Company write: "The Edison Diamond Disc recital, with Miss Elizabeth Spencer as soloist, and singing in unison with the instrument, demonstrated the district superior qualities of the transmitting features of the Edison phonograph. "Miss Spencer alternated in phrases with the instrument, and when the phonograph supplanted the singer, not a suspicion was aroused of the break from the real voice. This test was satisfying to those of musical understanding, and indicative of the marvelous progress Mr. Edison has produced in rendering true tones, colorings, accent and expression, in all that makes musical artistry. The concert was enjoyed by a throng of people interested in musical development and pleasure. "There are now many evidences of good healthy business coming to us as a result of this our first effort. "We anticipate, not only for the public, but for our families and selves, repeating these musicals. The Edison Phonograph is in a class distinctly by itself. We dealers must educate the public in a refined way, to quality of sound. The police stationed at our three front doors turned away hundreds that could not get in. When asked if there was any disturbance, they said, 'there never is with the class of people that come.' Besides giving to the public this free musical, which was well advertised in the papers, our Mr. O'Neil has at all times, been ready to accommodate the churches, schools, lodges and charity calls. This we have done to our mutual benefit.