The talking machine world (July-Dec 1920)

July 15, 1920 THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD 191 TRADE ACTIVE IN PORTLAND DESPITE SHRINE FESTIVAL Dealers Well Satisfied With Situation— Edison Transcontinental Tour— Watts With Western Jobbing & Trading Co.— Many Dealers in City During Shrine Week— New Lines for Wax Co. Portland, Ore., July 6. — While the talking machhie business was not very active during the Slirine convention in Portland, dealers are well satisfied with the situation, as immediately after the convention and Rose Festival, which followed it during the latter part of the week, business became very brisk. Music was the outstanding feature pf the convention, seventy-six bands, about 3,000 musicians, being here with the Shriners. While there was plenty of band music in Portland week before last, the Reed-French Co. instituted a little concert of their own at Twelfth and Washington streets. An elevated platform in front of their store was appropriately decorated and a talking machine placed on it, which played all day long. A transcontinental lecture tour extending from coast to coast, including Canada, has been arranged for the Summer by the Edison Co., to present the recording features of the New Edison. Phonograph dealers from the entire country will be invited to attend these lectures. Miss Helen Davis, a young mezzo soprano and pupil of F. X. Arens, the voice specialist of New York, will illustrate the lectures. A. A. Campbell, of the Seattle branch of the Bush & Lane Piano Co., after a visit to his son, H T. Campbell, manager of the Portland branch of the Bush & Lane Co., has returned to Seattle. H. T. Campbell became a full-fledged Shriner just before the convention and is a member of Al Kader Temple. Bush & Lane's window was one of the finest in Portland during the convention. A desert scene was shown and the Arab sitting in front of his tent, contemplating a passing caravan of camels and drivers, was very realistic. The Sphinx, the Pyramids, the oasis with its palms, surrounding the spring of water, formed an artistic as well as an appropriate window picture. D. T. Watts, formerly of J;he Perry Music Co., lias just returned from Los Angeles, where he has accepted the position of district manager of the Western Jobbing & Trading Co. This company is the distributor of the New Emerson phonographs and records and intends to erect immediately a $1,000,000 factory in Los Angeles and will employ between 600 and 800 girls. It will be in full operation by November 1 and will give Western dealers the advantage of quick service, as goods can be delivered from three to four weeks earlier than they can be delivered by Eastern factories. Mr. Watts will have the territory covering Washington, Oregon and Alaska. He has just opened an office in Seattle and in sixty or ninety days will open an office in Portland. O. C. Schindler, in charge of the wholesale department of the Perry Music Co., has just returned from a successful business trip down the Willamette Valley, which he found in even more than its usual prosperous condition. He opened new agencies at Harrisburg, Forest Grove, Newberg, Albany and Oregon City. A Cremona talking machine was sold by the company to Pacific College at Forest Grove. Mr. Schindler says they are selling a great many Emerson records. The Excel, the Modernola and the Portola are now carried by the M. J. Wax Co., which is getting ready to incorporate. Grey Gull records are also being carried by this company. During the Shrine convention week A. R. Cyrus, of Astoria, Ore., and F. A. Rankin, of Eugene, Ore., called at the Wax offices and ordered a supply of goods. E. B. Hunt, manager of the wholesale Victor department of Sherman, Clay & Co., has returned from a visit among the dealers in Eastern Oregon and Idaho. He found the dealers very anxious to get Victor stock and all are expecting a prosperous Fall trade. A great many Victor dealers visited Portland during Shrine week. Among them were C. B. Sampson, of Boise, Idaho; W. W. More and George Will, of Salem, Ore.; L. L. Thomas, of Marshfield; Stanton Rowell, of Grants Pass; W. L. Hembree, of McMinnville; F, G. Mitchell, of Hilsboro; Mr. Cohoun, of Boston, Mass., and John Gercovich of San Francisco. "The Stradivarians," a club composed of the officers and employes of the Pacific Phonograph Co., were hosts at a picnic at Crystal Lake Park on Saturday for all employes of the concern. W. H. Dirrett, of Albany, Ore., has put in an order for a complete line of machines carried by the M. J. Wax Co. Mr. Dirrett has a store in Albany, Ore., and another in Corvallis, Ore. W. B. Maxwell reports a good month in the talking machine department of the Powers Furniture Co. A complete list of Brunswick records is now on hand for the first time since they were put on the market. During the Shrine convention there were many Shriners who visited the department and bought records, and a big I'st of names has been added to their regular mailing list. Mrs. Olga Binder, who was in the talking machine department and afterwards cashier of the Wiley B. Allen Co., is now with Lipman, Wolfe & Co. in their talking machine department. Mrs. Stonebrink, who resigned her position in the record department of Lipman, Wolfe & Co., is now with the Bush & Lane Piano Co., in the talking machine department. V. G. Lunt is a strong advocate of the Pacific point, a record needle of which he is the inventor. He is having good success in selling it. PARK SLOPE TALKING MACHINE SHOP Among the most recent entries into the talking machine field in Brooklyn, N. Y., is the Park Slope Talking Machine Shop, which has a capital of $40,000. Incorporators are M. and A. and B. Goldblatt. Sedgwick & Casey have attractive "talker" quarters in Hartford, Conn. Latest Hits in Records! Ask for our latest bulletin showing complete list of all releases up to date. The Lyric has made constant progress in technical improvement arid can be favorably compared today in quality only with the old standard makes of records. Sample orders will lead to immediate re-orders. We have made extensive enlargements of our accessories department and our jobbing facilities are situated to furnish immediate delivery and complete service. Special Offer! To every rated merchant we will ship an assortment of three dozen (36) Lyric Records of the popular hit class. Lyric Records retail at 85 cents. Big-profit discounts. OPEROLLO PHONOGRAPH CO. 54 W. Lafayette Blvd. Detroit, Mich.