The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1915)

THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD. Famous record albums THE ONLY CONVENIENT AND SAFE WAY TO PROTECT DISC RECORDS (Special to The Talking Machine World.) Kansas City, Mo., July 10. — The talking machine business appears to be still outtalking all other lines of business in Kansas City. It is not only taking them out of the business, but its sales appear to he greatly over and above all competitive lines. The dealers claim that there has been no let-up in the business in the last month and instead of remaining at about the same level it has continued its sky-climbing tour, and the music houses are all kicking because the factories are not supplying them with the machines as fast as they would like to have them do. In the piano buiness this can be said only of the talking machine departments, for no other branch of the business can compare with it in Kansas City, and, according to the dealers, it is in a class by itself. The department stores have been hauling the machines in and out of the salesrooms like so much clockwork. As soon as a carload arrives they are hauled into the stores and sent out in the companies' wagons to fill the orders for the machines. Men at the heads of these departments say that the only reason for bringing them into the stores any more is to unpack them and see that they are not damaged by shipment. A great many of the machines and records are being sold in the territory, and the crops are given the credit for these sales. The record departments are reported to be in no better condition than the machines, in as We Make Albums FOR DISC RECORDS We make them better than any one else does. These Albums will pay for themselves in a short time by preserving Records. When full the Albums are flat and even like books. They will fit in a library cabinet or book case, or they will lie flat on one another. We manufacture disc Record Albums containing 12 pockets to fit the new Victrola cabinets Nos. X and XI. We also make Albums containing 17 pockets. With the indexes they are a complete system for filing all disc Records. For durability, artistic design and finish, our Albums have no equal. They are made in the most substantial manner by skilled workmen. We sell our superb Albums at big discounts to meet competition. Shall we quote prices ? THESE ALBUMS ARE THE BEST FOR VICTOR, EDISON, COLUMBIA AND ALL OTHER DISC RECORDS NATIONAL PUBLISHING CO., 235 S. American St., Philadelphia, Pa. The business for the month has been very satisfactory, according to Mr. Hall, of the Hall Music Co., which handles the Victor line of talking machines. Arthur Trostler, manager of the talking machine department at the Schmelzer Arms Co., which handles the Victor machines, says that the business for the month has been excellent, although he claims that he is still running short of machines and that each month he lacks enough from the factory to fill the orders fhat he has booked. The records have been selling almost as fast as the machines in comparison to the number of records that they receive and the number of machines that they receive. E. A. McMurtry, manager of the Columbia Co, reports an excellent business at his store. M. M. Blackman, manager of the Edison Shop, says that the business for the month has increased nicely and that there seems to be no let-up in the amount of business that the company has been transacting. The display of the Diamond Point in the window where the passer-by could see it brought a great number of inquiries that have led to good sales. Harry Wunderlich put forth a new one on "creed" recently in his newspaper advertising. It is : "Giving all we can for what we get, instead of getting all we can for what we give." IT IS OUTTALKING ALL OTHER LINES OF BUSINESS. Kansas City Dealers State That There Has Been No Let Up in Business for the Past Month, in Fact It Has Shown a Steady Increase — No Other Business Can Compare with the Talking Machine in Activity — Schmelzer Arms Co. Doing a Fine Business. We use better materials, employ better workmen, give you better service and charge less. That's why our business is increasing so rapidly. Send us your next order, you won't be sorry. New York Album & Card Co. 25 Lispenard Street, NEW YORK much as the dealers claim that the factories are not sending them the records any faster than they are the machines. The dealers report that their orders have even at times been booked as far as three months ahead of the deliveries on both the machines and records. George Nowlin, of the Nowlin Music Co., whose salesman recently originated the best piece of advertising that the trade has had in Kansas City for some time, almost had his little trick nipped in the bud, which would have cost him a great deal in -the way of lost sales. Allen Child, formerly with the company, was experimenting one afternoon when Mr. Nowlin was absent from the store. He played one of the Columbia Grafonolas out of the window of the store, which is on the second floor of an office building. The music attracted a great deal of attention and brought a great deal more business to the store. Lately, however, the chief of police of Kansas City was the recipient of a letter from a real estate dealer occupying the third floor of the office building on the corner diagonal to the Nowlin Music Co. The man had taken exception to the advertising tactics of the Nowlin Music Co. and declared that the sound of the music was a nuisance and intolerable and wanted it stopped. An officer visited Mr. Nowlin and instructed him to play it if he wanted to do so, and Mr. Nowlin has chosen to play — and create new interest. The Means & Pearson Music Co. reports that its business has increased nicely in the three lines of machines it handles — the Edison, Columbia and Victor. The company reports that the sales at its store at Hutchinson, Kan., have been tremendous during the past month, which speaks well for the amount of business it can expect for the following months. The farmers, seeing that the crops will be bumper ones this season, have been buying a great many talking machines. Miss Frances Mooney, of the Mooney Music Co., has been selling a great many of the Ragtime 'Rastus dancing dolls with her Columbia line of talking machines. Harry Wunderlich has gone to the fore in the trade here in the way of putting forth attractive display windows. One of his recent masterpieces with Victor machines was a summer camp, a most complete and homelike affair. Another window featured the talking machine as the best source of entertainment for the sane Fourth of July. The window represented a miniature porch or piazza draped and decorated for the occasion and set off with the talking machine and records. The window of the Edison Shop was one of the best decorated windows of the month, in which the Diamond Point reproducer was featured. The diamond could easily be seen with the naked eye by means of a. magnifying glass placed near the display, EXPORT RECORDS VIA PARCEL POST. Opportunities for Doing Business in Interior of Honduras Set Forth by U. S. Consul. In the mining camps and on the plantations of Honduras there are many talking machines, which are recognized as a standard form of amusement in those remote places, writes Consul Boyle, at Ceiba, Honduras. And as most of these out-of-the-way places are completely out of touch with shipping facilities on the coast, but are in reasonably close touch with the parcel post mails, it follows that the exporter of phonograph records who will make a study of the proper packing of the discs for this long-distance shipment by parcel post — and duly advertise that he makes a specialty of such shipment — has a good, undeveloped field awaiting him. Shipments by parcel post avoid the payments fo custom house brokerage, stamped paper, consular invoice, etc., and also open up to the individual purchaser a selection of records which he would not have to choose from in the few city stores where they are carried. Some recent experimental shipments from the United States to the Ceiba consulate have demonstrated that records, ten in a package, surrounded with two inches of excelsior and each record separated by corrugated paper board, will arrive intact, although shipments without the paper board separation between the records arrived cracked. Advertisements should have a double attraction — they should attract the eye first, and dollars next, says Fame. If they can't do both they might as well not be written,