The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1915)

26 THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD. CONVENTION OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TALKING MACHINE JOBBERS— (Continued from page 25). was appointed to confer with committees from other associations in the music trades regarding the plan put forth by Paul B. Klugh, of Chicago, for a Music Trade Chamber of Commerce, taking in all branches. It was realized that many of the jobbers had come to San Francisco with the expectation of taking in the exposition and other Pacific Coast features as well as to attend the convention, and in order to permit the conventionists to enjoy the sights of the World's Fair City to the utmost it was decided to continue the session without leaving the hall, in order to complete the work before night. A buffet luncheon was accordingly served in the hall, and the meeting continued until nearly 4 p. m. before the final adjournment. On account of several meetings held en route, the jobbers were enabled to get through with a mass of matter that would have consumed a great deal of time if left to the regular session. The Ladies Entertained. During the business session the ladies, of whom there were quite a number on the trip, amused themselves with a tour of exploration and adventure among the San Francisco department stores, returning about dinner time laden with much booty. In fact, some of the jobbers were heard to remark that it was lucky they had their return tickets. After dinner the party started for the exposition, watching the beauties of the night illumination of the grounds and gardens, and taking in the various amusement concessions in the Zone until a late hour in the evening. Annual Banquet of the Jobbers' Association Held at St. Francis Hotel on Friday Evening a Most Successful Affair — Mayor Rolph, of San Francisco and President Johnson of Victor Co., Among Honored Guests — L. F. Geissler and Philip T. Clay Also Make Excellent Addresses. (Special to The Talking Machine World.) San Francisco, Cal., July 24. — The annual banquet, held in the Italian Room of the St. Francis Hotel on Friday evening, was pronounced without qualification the most successful ever held by the association. The setting could hardly have been excelled in any part . of the country. The Italian Room, with its paneled walls and beautifully carved ceiling, was the subject of much comment, and the tables were pleasingly decorated, while an elaborate menu, containing several typically Californian dishes, was prepared and served in the style for which this hostelry has become famous all over the country. Entertainment Distinctly Novel. The entertainment, the idea of which is attributed to Andrew G. McCarthy, L. S. Sherman and Philip T. Clay, of Sherman, Clay & Co., was strikingly novel, and was hugely enjoyed by visitors from near-by as well as Eastern points. A strongly Oriental note was introduced by the Chinese flower girls, who came in as the guests were seated and distributed carnation boutonnieres and rose corsage bouquets among the diners. This motif was carried still further with the entrance, after the keen edge of the appetite had been dulled, of the New Cathay Boys' Band, a complete brass band of California-born Chinese boys, led in by Andy McCarthy. These boys were a great surprise to all. They gave a very creditable performance, removing from the minds of the guests any remnant of the old superstition that the Oriental mind cannot grasp Occidental music. Marching in file about the room, the band was finally followed by a goodly number of the diners, walking in lock-step to popular tunes. Another part of the musical program which was greatly enjoyed by all was the Hawaiian Quintette, singing native songs to the accompaniment of ukuleles and Island guitars, all tending to keep in the minds of the visitors the fact that they were on the shore of the Pacific, where the East and the West meet. The choruses of the Hawaiian singers were frequently joined by the angel choir of about two dozen talking machine men, under the competent leadership of Burton J. Pierce, who had apparently rehearsed carefully for the occasion. This choir enlivened intervals between other parts of the entertainment by songs from the convention "Hymn Book," with numerous amusing personal hits on prominent members of the association. Eldridge R. Johnson an Honored Guest. The most notable feature of the evening was the presence of President Eldridge R. Johnson, of the Victor Talking Machine Co., who for the first time graced an annual banquet of the Jobbers' Association, and who, though his name was not on the program, delivered what was without doubt the most serious and interesting talk of the occasion. James F. Bowers, as toastmaster, charmed the audience with his witty and well-chosen remarks. Always the admirable toastmaster, he added to his laurels on this occasion. After paying a heartfelt tribute to Andrew G. McCarthy and Sherman, Clay & Co., for the entertainment, he introduced Mayor James Rolph, Jr., of San Francisco. The Mayor, after complimenting the public spirit of Philip T. Clay and Andrew McCarthy, who have long been his personal friends, gave the guests a hearty welcome, closing with a strong boost for the great exposition city — San Francisco. Ladies and Gentlemen — A friend of mine who is an automobile dealer made a very pointed remark to me once about speechmaking. He said, "The shorter the spoke the less the tire," and I heartily agree with him. I find myself in a rather difficult position in that I have been asked to speak as president of the National Association of Piano Merchants, and the subject given me is "What the Talking Machine Means to the Piano Man." It is hard for me, therefore, to speak only as a piano man, because if I am not the most enthusiastic Victor man, I am at least one of the most enthusiastic Victor men in the trade. I remember one time when a certain piano dealer in San Franscisco thought that he was doing good advertising by cartooning his competitors sliding down a toboggan slide. At the foot of the slide was a large pond marked "Ruin," and there was a branch on a tree at the edge of the pond marked "Talking Machine." The piano merchant was reaching out for that branch and saying, "If I don't catch that I am gone." There was more truth in that cartoon than perhaps the artist realized, and I have often thought that that might apply to any exclusive piano dealer in the United States, or, in fact, in the world. The man who attempts to go into the piano business without a large capital is, to say the least, burdening himself with a hard and unpleasant way of making a living. I have heard many piano men starting in business say that if they had sufficient capital to last them three years their income will be greater than their outgo and that they will have turned the tide and found themselves on easy street. I have never seen this theory work out, but I have seen firm after firm who were making money on paper find themselves in a position where they were forced to liquidate in order to get sufficient income to live decently. Hotel St. Francis, Convention Headquarters. Mr. Bowers, then called on Philip T. Clay, president of the National Association of Piano Merchants, who spoke as follows : I do not know better how to express just what I mean than to give an illustration. Some years ago a piano merchant came to me with a proposition that we buy out his business. I told him that I thought it would be a pretty big proposition; that Philip T. C!ay. he had been in business quite a while and the good will of his business ought to be worth a great deal. He stated that he was willing to sell out and charge nothing for the good will, and that if he did not sell out he would have to liquidate. I asked him if he was not making money, and he said yes, he was making big money, but it was all on paper. He stated that he had formerly been a banker and had loaned money on piano paper, and whereas as a banker he was lending the money at from 5V£ to G per cent, he found that the piano man was getting at the rate of 8 per cent., not only on his original investments, but also upon his profit. He was a successful banker and he knew that he was a good business man. He therefore sold his interest in the bank and invested about $100,000 in the piano business. He had been in the business about eight years, and he told me that he was worth at that time approximately $350,000. He had a wife and three chi'dren to support, two boys going to college, and stated that he had never been able to draw out of the business more than $250 per month ; that it was insufficient for him to live on and support his family in the way he should, and he thought that a man who was worth $350,000 certainly was entitled to more income than that. He therefore was going to get out of the piano business and put his money Philip T. Clay Gives Views of Piano Men.