The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1906)

The Talking Machine World Vol. 2. No. 11. GOODWIN WAXES REMINISCENT. The Manager of Lyon & Healy's Talking Machine Department Chats of His Early Days in the Business and the Development of the Talking Machine and Concomitant Branches. (Special to The Talking Machine Woi-Id.) World Office. 195 Wabash avenue, Chicago, 111., Nov. 10, 1906. C. E. Goodwin, manager of the talking machine department at Lyon & Healy's, is a very busy man. He seldom has time to do more than fire the trade news of the day at you in crisj), short sentences. Consequently, when I struck him with a few minutes at his disposal and inclined to wax reminiscent, I made the most of my opportunity. "Tne development of the talking machine industry in any large sense has really taken place in the last decade," remarked Mr. Goodwin. "Therefore, when I tell you that I got into the business in 1894, you can see that I can be ranked in the pioneer class so far as the selling end is concerned. "I made my debut as a salesman for the Washington (D. C.) branch of the Columbia Phonograph Co. I still experience a job lot of thrills when I call to mind my first sale. The machine was one of the first Baby Grand graphophones put out ty the Columbia people. It was a comparatively crude affair, with a small clockwork motor. You listened to the cylinder record through hearing tubes, and the price was $100. It didn't run as well as the $7.50 type of to-day. The purchaser. Rev. Alexander Mackay Smith, was not gifted with prophetic powers, however, and he was pleased beyond measure with his acquisition. He no doubt used it to the intense delight of his parishioners. Whether the additional popularity thus won had anything to do with it I cannot say, but the fact remains that the good man to-day occupies the important position of bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal diocese of Pennsylvania. "I continued selling talkers in the Capitol City until 1897, when I went on the road for the Columbia's New York office under the direction of the late Merwin E. Lyle, one of the finest characters the talking machine business has ever known. "My first road experience was really something terrific. Dealers were just beginning to take up the talking machine proposition, and traveling salesmen combined retailing with wholesaling on their journeys. I started in at Lowell and hustled for a week without making a sale of any kind. Late Saturday afternoon, however, I struck a Catholic priest, who showed some slight evidences of interest. I was desperate, and would not let him go. I sold him, but only by sacrificing my commission. "Nowadays, when I feel like going after a new dealer with a sharp stick for cutting prices to make his first sale, I think of my own eagerness and what I did on that gloomy Saturday afternoon. I have since learned that it isn't 'a shame to take the money.' "I am willing to take oath to the effect that more rain fell in the next fifteen days than has ever been known since. When I struck Lawrence I called on Lord & Co. One of the firm actually gave me the laugh when I mentioned my line. 'Couldn't sell a machine a year,' he said. 'We've got one under the counter that's dusty and out of order, and there's a restaurant keeper down the street who has a fine one he would sell you cheap.' Well, Lord & Co. have sold hundreds of machines since then, and I doubt if they are any prouder of the encouragement they gave me that day than I am of having sacrificed my commission to the priest at Lowell. I pegged on for another week without a sale, but in the meantime got a valuable clue from a druggist who had a New York, November 15, 1906. slot machine which was paying him 20 per cent, a month on his investment. Finally a clerk in a music store told me that the engineer of the electric railway power plant wanted to buy a talking machine. With a new light gleaming in my eyes I hurried to a car. At the power house I was met by a grimy individual who told me that Mr. McGinnis had just gone home. I had to walk a mile and climb a hill in the hot sun to find the house. When I got there I was met by a bulldog big enough to make a double Uncle Tom show take to its heels. McGinnis' wife made her appearance just in time to save me from total destruction. She gave me the information that her husband was not at home, and 'wouldn't be after buying any foolishness if he was.' "I simply staggered from that door with my heavy outfit. On my way to the car line I C. E. GOODWIN, OF LYON & HEALT, CHICAGO. Stopped at a drug store and gasped an order for vichy and ammonia. The druggist was eying my machine case and asked me what my line was. In 30 minutes I had taken his order for a $60 slot machine, using for the first time my interest argument, and went back to the hotel a new man. For the next three or four months I averaged a machine a day. Then that fall the dealers began to sit up and take notice, and talkers began to come in extensively as a home proposition." Mr. Goodwin traveled out of New York for a couple of years, and in 1899 came to Chicago to represent the Chicago branch of the Columbia Co., then under the management of George W. Lyle. One day he dropped into Lyon & Healy's to buy a carrying case for his sample horn. He got into conversation with C. N. Post, who was not very strongly disposed toward talking machines. This chat was followed by others, however, and the end of it was that Lyon & Healy established a talking machine department with Mr. Goodwin as manager. The rest of the story is quickly told. It can be summed up in the statement that the business of the department has grown from $700 a month to half a million dollars a year in seven years. The Schmelzer Arms Co., Kansas City, Mo., have sent out some very attractive circulars to the prominent people of that city, calling attention to their new concert rooms. Under the management of A. A. Trestle, this concern has built up a very satisfactory business at 710-720 Main street, with the Edison and Victor lines. They have three beautiful demonstrating rooms. Price Ten Cents "TALKER" INSTEAD OF ORCHESTRA. A Happening in Connecticut Which Demonstrates the. Musical Value of the Talking Machine — How Dealers Can Make Money. An unique method of employing a talking machine in the place of an orchestra, was recently devised by a Connecticut man, which might prove a valuable idea to dealers in pushing the sale of their machines. The gentleman in question had Invited a number of friends for a weekend party, and planned an elaborate dinner. An orchestra was engaged, but at the last minute failed to put in an appearance. One of his guests, who was the owner of a talking machine, suggested that they go to the nearest dealer and purchase one with an ample supply of grand opera records. In less than an hour a machine with a half hundred records was at the house, and placed in the musician's stand. As this had been banked with flowers so that the performers would be out of sight, the talking machine was hidden from view. It was in charge of the dealer, who was to manipulate it during the evening, and when the guests in the drawing room heard the opening strains of Strauss' "Invitation to the Waltz," they thought the orchestra had put in a tardy appearance. When they reached the dining room and learned the truth, they were both surprised and delighted, saying that it was the first time that they had ever listened to such a galaxy of vocal and instrumental stars at a banquet, and pronouncing it far better than an orchestra. The dealer says he is looking for further engagements along the same line, and is going to notify the public that for a reasonable sum he will supply a complete outfit and his services for any occasion, believing it will be the means of making money and many sales. In the case above mentioned the orchestra would have cost considerably more than was paid for the talking machine records. TALKING MACHINES IN CANADA. Discussion as to Which Firm First Handled Talking Machines as a Regular Line. As the result of a recent argument in Canadian trade circles regarding the first concern to handle talking machines in the Dominion, that is, as a regular line, it would seem that the Nordheimer Piano & Music Co. have this distinction. The first order was placed with the National Gram-ophone Co. for a number of Berliner machines, which line is still handled by the Nordheimer house. The first machine, a handpower affair, submitted to the house was rejected, and it was not until the year following that a motor-operated machine was offered and was accepted. At the present time the Nordheimer Piano & Music Co. are regular distributers for the Berliner and Victor lines. OLD PROVERBS RE-SET. A dollar in the till is better than a dollar and a quarter in the hands of an uncertain debtor. Honesty is the best policy, but with a good insurance policy on his store, the talking machine man can sleep sounder nights. The ant may be all right for the sluggard, but the advertising man is better for the talking machine dealer who would succeed. It is a long loan that has no returning. Keep your collections as close as possible. The pitcher that goes often to the well is broken. So is a creditor who trusts too much. A fool and his money are soon parted. This means that you must never let a smart traveling salesman load you with more goods than you want.