The talking machine world (Oct-Dec 1921)

110 THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD December 15, 1921 t Point ©f View iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiilllllillllllllil^^ iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiii Western Division of The World, Chicago, III., Dec. 10, 1921. Well, it has come at last ! Jules Verne thought up something like it many years ago, but nobody believed it ever could be done. Yet it has been done. We have had the music and the J^^^ voices of the opera conveyed across the streets of a Verne ... Outdone! ^'^^^ without wires, and immediately recorded upon the wax discs of a phonographic recording apparatus, to be reproduced for the benefit of the hearers in the recordingroom five minutes afterward. It was a great achievement, not because it brought forward any principle not in some way applied already, but because it showed in practical form for the first time what had hitherto been only a dream. It was a great Brunswick achievement, on which congratulations are in order. This company is doing great work. But it must not stop merely at taking off, from the stage of the opera, from the atmosphere and inspiration of the very operatic performance itself, the voice of a Claire Dux or of a Tino Pattiera. It must, and it will, go even further. Will not the day come when the inaugural speech of a President shall be caught up through the ether as it issues from his lips on the terrace before the Capitol, and recorded in permanent form a thousand miles away, to be distributed forthwith in a million American homes ? It will come. It shall come. What the Brunswick people showed us recently was but the foretaste of much greater things to come, of conquests over space and time, of magical seizing and fixing of the impalpabilities of speech and music without the interposition of wires or recording horns, without the deadening effect of separation from the atmosphere and environment of the concert hall or of the opera house, of the Senate, or of the public meeting. All these things are before us. "No Tickee, Then No Washee" From all we can learn, the retail trade around these parts had a very good month during October and during the first half of November. During the latter half of November, on the other hand, we learn, things were not the same— not quite. Now we find that during the month of October and the first half of November the dealers around here worked hard, and did a lot of local advertising. But during the latter half of November they seem to have laid down somewhat on their work and also on their advertising. What is the answer? It appears to be, in the language of the Celestial Empire, "no tickee, no washee." Or, in other words, no work, no business. It is hard, of course, to get out of the ways to which one has become accustomed, but the dealers who, after starting things up nicely, thought that they would be able to .slack down on their energy and efforts, without suffering any damage, now find that they were wrong. In other words, the order-taking .days have gone and the sooner we all recognize the fact the better it .will be for all of us. Competition is, of course, keener than it ever was before. Which simply means that there must be a good deal more work going into every sale that is made. No work, no business. The Eight Victor Artists, Frank Croxton. Billy Murray, John Meyers, Henry Burr, Monroe Silver, Frank Banta, Albert Campbell and Fred \'an Eps, have been in our midst, as it were. They came to our fair city as guests of the \'ictor dealers, and on November 28 and 29 they were at Orchestra Hall, before a verv large and verv Eight Famous Singers happy family of Victor dealers, their friends and their families. These eight singers are remarkable persons. Who has not heard of Henry Burr? Who has not in his little library of records his high tenor tones, and the comic tenor tones of the only Billy Murray? Of course, we all know them both — in recorded form — but to see them in propria persona (or should we not rather say in propriis personis) was quite another thing. It was a dawg of another color, Mawruss. It was an astonishing program of fun, melody and harmony. To extend oneself would be easy. Not to write a page about these delectable entertainers is the more difficult. Now we shall go back to our record of Cohen at the Telephone and realize as never before how the unfortunate Cohen, who could not get anyone to understand that he wanted a "carpender" to mend the shutter, and not either a tremendous shutter or two men to mend it, was a very nice fellow after all. Dear, dear, but we should hke a Victor record of Monroe Silver in a reading from Potash and Perlmutter. The incident of the "varking delegate who came by the window and made with his hands motions" would be just about in B'rer Silver's happiest vain. Then again, we have heard wonderful \'ictor records of banjo playing, with the name \^an Eps on them, but we had to hear the veritable Fred himself before we could quite understand how wonderful those records really are. Whether as quartet, or in trio, or as soloists, these Eight Famous Ones are certainly all that one can ask for: and then some. And at the end let us slip in just one word for that dear Frank Banta, of the eloquent coat-tails. He is SOME accompanist, believe me. We emitted an observation some time ago to the effect that there is every evidence concerning an impending shortage of goods this year. Our prediction was based on actual observation ; but it was generally ignored, as not infrequently happens with predictions, good and bad alike. It is not in any desire to be captious that we say it, but It Is Old Stuff, but: — solely because we love our industry and desire it no more harm than the little girl wished to little pussy whose coat was so warm — solely for this admirable reason we say that the average American business man frequently makes us weary. He waits till it begins to rain before he thinks about an umbrella. Wherefore many of them get soaked, and soaked good and plenty, to use language of the utmost eloquence. Which is only another way of saying that a good many dealers in the mid-West are due to get soaked good and plenty (to be elegant again) though not with a shower of goods. The shower will be of letters from manufacturers regretting their inability to fill orders. But why should any such condition be impending? The explanation is quite simple. For several months of this year the factories were running on part time and were short both as to material and personnel. They were building only about as fast as orders came in and consequently they have no surplus stocks to speak of. \^^herefore the last-minute-boys are not likely to stand much chance when they begin sending in their telegrams and letters asking for immedia':e delivery. W'hich again is another way of saying that the time to put in orders is right now, this minute. That is to say, late though it be on this date, it is still worth our while to tell the dilatory dealers to hurry up and see that those orders for delivery Christmas week are wired in NOW. Pretty Maid Marian Secretary ]\IcKenna, of the Piano Club of Chicago, who is also Manager McKenna, of the Chicago Columbia organization, gave a pleasant surprise to the Columbia dealers of his district on November 28 when he took them over to the Majestic Theatre in a body and had them listen to the very charming singing of Marian Harris — ■ pretty little Marian. Singer Marian knocked 'em cold, as they say on the kerosene circuit. She is not only a great artist on the "blues" work, but she is charmingly simple and sweet in her personality. W^hen a great armful of roses was handed in to her over the stage Miss Marian was almost overcome. For which reason the assembled Columbians, quite naturally, roared their applause louder than ever. Marian Harris is a great little artist, and the Columbia dealers realize now, more clearly than ever, what a big weapon for Columbia battles her records are to them. Tex days from the date of publication, ladies, gents, friends and all others, if others there be, the merry Christmas time is upon us. Knowing that you all till then will be too busy to think of us, we ask you to forget this paragraph till the morning of the 25th. Then please dig it up and read once more these words, sincerely uttered, for you :