The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1911)

THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD. 13 And any dealer who can see through a ladder can guess whether we intend to keep those three "Regents" in the foreground through 1912. Columbia Phonograph Co., Genl., Tribune Building, New York BUSINESS GOODJN QUAKER CITY. November Proves Very Satisfactory Month from Point of Sales — Bright Outlootc for the Holidays — Shortage of Stock the Chief Complaint— Gimbel Bros. Enlarge Department — What the Various Jobbers and Dealers Are Doing — Strong Demand for Columbia Products— General News of the Month. (Special to The Talking Machine World.) Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 5, 1911. The Philadelphia talking machine men are entering upon the last lap of the holiday trade in the most happy mood. All of them affirm that the month of November has been the best they have ever had, and they expect that December will wind up the year in a blaze of glory. It will be the biggest year the trade every has had, and they feel that they are to be congratulated, especially in view of the fact that so many other lines of business have had to suffer and that the complaints of business generally prevail so extensively. Just what November business would have been had the dealers been able to get the goods can only be conjectured, but they have undoubtedly lost considerable money through the inability of the factories to give them the proper supply. But they feel that this business has not been entirely lost, for they are still hoping that in the end they w'ill be able to get the goods, and at any rate feel that this big enthusiasm for machines portends well for the future. As to next year several of the big dealers are looking with no little anxiety. The changed conditions, they believe, are going to upset business for a time, but they believe they will eventually adjust themselves to the satisfaction of all concerned. There is going to be a great deal of keen competition, and they don't know but that this will help the jobbers and retailers through the old adage that "competition is the life of trade." Gimbel Bros, report that they more than doubled last November's business — almost tripled it. "The most difficulty we find," says Manager Stewart, "is to get enough of the popular selling records and the most popular machines to supply the demand. ' Although Gimbel Bros, recently enlarged their department considerably, they contemplate very shortly to add three more soundproof rooms to the department. The rooms they have at present do not nearly meet the demand and frequently they are compelled to leave customers go away on account of having no opportunity to demonstrate the instruments. Their biggest trade has been on the No. 16 machines of the Victor Co., and the reason they assign for this is their extensive advertising that they will send this No. 16 for a thirty days' trial. The No. 9 is the most popular among their medium-priced sellers, but they have been having much trouble to keep a stock of this number of machine on hand. The interest in the Pooley cabinet, made in this city and handled by Gimbels, they say is still maintained. It is winning high praise. Louis Buehn & Bro. report that their business, both here and in Pittsburgh, has been most satisfactory. It was very much better than last year in November, but they are still very much hampered by not being able to get sufficient goods, and the first week of December finds them with little prospect of relief in this respect. They have been having a big sale of the Pooley cabinets, and all of last week were demonstrating these cabinets in their window. November has been the best month the Buehn firm have had in Pittsburgh, and as Mr. Buehn says : "Our branch store there now looks a success." The Wanamaker talking machine department, managed by W. C. Holzbaur, has been enjoying an exceptional November business. Last week they put the finishing touches on their hearing parlors by laying handsome ecru carpets in all of the rooms, with electric lights with ecru shades to match. Everything about the department is now finished and Mr. Holzbaur is not anticipating any further changes whatever. One of their visitors the past week was Jack Fisher, of Miller & Co., of PittsInirgh, who is at the head of the talking machine department of the firm in that city. Mr. Holzbaur says it looks as if the holiday business of the firm was going to be very large. The firm have been making quite a hit on the Pooley cabinets. The new talking machine firm of Conner & O'Neill, on Thirteenth street near Walnut, have been doing a very good business in the few months since they opened. Their store is one of the most attractive of the small stores in this city. Manager Elwell, of the Heppe talking machine department, reports that their November business turned out all right, but that they could have done very mucii more business had the)' been aole to get the goods. J. Harry Holt, a dealer of Mt. Holly, N. J., was one of the Heppe visitors last week. They have just about closed with several very important connections in nearby cities, and they expect through them to very materially increase their output. Hagar Bros., in Lancaster, the big department store there, who are supplied from the Heppe house, have been doing a very excellent business. Manager T. K. Henderson, of the Columbia Phonograph Co., reports that the Columbia business in November was away beyond their expectation. It was very much better than last year, and a very much better month than October, both in sales and collections. Among their visitors were Marion Dorian, auditor, and T. Allan Laurie, assistant auditor .of the Columbia Co. The latter was here for a few days in pursuit of his duties. Manager Henderson was up the State for a few days last week in the vicinity of Wilkesbarre, where he says the talking machine business is better than it has been for years. They have succeeded in securing several new agents in that section. The firm received this week the first shipment of the $200 De Luxe Grafonola and they are very much pleased with it and believe it is going to seil here very well with the exclusive trade. They have had a very big sale on the "Favorite'.' $50 machine and on the Nonpareil $150 machine. The new Olitzka records and the Blue Label series have been going very well. Manager Henderson has planned a very attractive Christmas window which will be put in place this week. J. T. Packer, who is in charge of the grand opera box office in the Columbia store, has just announced his engagement. He has only been in Philadelphia a few months and there is a pretty bit of romance connected with the meeting and courtship of his fiancee. Miss Ella Strawbridge by name. On Friday night last he gave a party in honor of the announced engagement to most of the employes about the Columbia store. THE PHONOGRAPH_AS AN ACTOR. Wherein the Invention of Thos. A. Edison Figures as a Histrionic Accessory. Zealous producers of theatrical plays in the past have been at a greater expense to produce the cries of rebellious citizens behind the scenes, the sounds of conflict, the howling of wolves in the desert, the distant strains of song— in short, all the supernumerary noises that heighten the dramatic illusion — than they are put to in this era of applied science. It is an open secret now that the phonograph plays its humble but useful part in the theater. The street cries are not produced, as they were, by the prompter or one of his assistants, but by the carefully prepared talking machine in the wings. When we have the battle of Agincourt again, or the funeral of Julius Caesar, the shouts and howls of the sturdy yeoman of Henry V., or the inflamed citizens of Rome, will be supplemented by the cries of many more, reproduced mechanically. Perhaps, with this improvement, the visible mob can be induced to exercise its multitudinous voice a little less strenuously. Hitherto the citizens and soldiers have often overdone the noise. The illusion of wit ' nessing an ancient Roman riot from a twentieth century orchestra chair has been destroyed. The clamor of the mob should be acting quite as much as the passion of the patriot. A phonograph, remotely placed, will act its part better than a company of supernumeraries devoid of the sense of proportion. Davy Crockett's wolves, if they are ever revivified on the stage, will express their fury and their hunger to the audiences by means of the perfected phonograph. There are few sounds this machine cannot record and reproduce fairly well, and for theatrical purposes the distant tramp of soldiers, the whistling of the wind, can be produced by this simple means, though the thunder may be somewhat beyond the phonograph's capacity. We have more than a suspicion that many of the happiest illusions in current plays are thus produced, and we are confident that the phonograph has gone on the theatrical stage to stay. Of course, everybody knows how it has been used to enhance the effect of some of the moving picture shows, but, as the New York Times says, its substitution for "extra people," old-fashioned wind machines and other devices in the regular theatres deserves a note of comment. System removes from the brain superfluous detail and leaves it free to plan and create.