The talking machine world (Jan-Dec 1917)

The Talking Machine World Vol. 13. No. 9 SCHMELZER ARMSCO.'S NEW SERVICE Specially Trained Young Woman Engaged to Demonstrate Educational Records for Benefit of Company's Dealers and Salesmen Kansas City, Mo., September 4. — A. A. Trostler, manager of the talking machine department of the Schmelzer Arms Co., is planning a service to dealers which will meet a present demand, and also stimulate greatly the business in educational records of the Victor company. He will have at the Kansas City headquarters a young woman available for demonstrating the educational records and assisting dealers and salesmen in the exploitation of these important items. There is an almost continual demand at the Schmelzer headquarters for' help in regard to the educational records. Dealers see the possibilities of sales, the public seems interested, but the business is usually difficult to handle. It is a specialty. To meet this situation, Mr. Trostler has sent to the factory, for special instruction, a young woman who has taken a keen interest in the department. This is Miss Leah Ullom, who has been with the talking machine department of the company for two years. Upon her return she will be available at Kansas City for dealers or salesmen of dealers who may want special suggestions on handling educational records. She will also probably spend much time in personal work for the dealers, giving demonstrations before teachers' institutes and similar gatherings, and on special sales work in their establishments. Not what we think or say, but what we do, will have its effect upon the world. Let, therefore, the thinker do and the doer think. New York, September 15, 1917 DELPHEON OFFICES IN CHICAGO Delpheon Co., of Bay City, Mich., Opens Offices and Display Rooms in Western Metropolis as Convenience for Western Dealers Bay City, Mich., September 6. — The Delpheon Co., of this city, manufacturer of the Delpheon phonograph, which has achieved unusual success the past year with the dealers throughout the country, has opened display rooms in Chicago on the sixth floor of the Republic Building. This building is one of the best-known commercial edifices in the country, and the Delpheon Co. decided to open Chicago display rooms in order to accommodate the many Western dealers who visit that city at frequent intervals, and who have expressed keen interest in the Delpheon. R. W. Gresser, sales manager of the Delpheon Co., is making plans to render maximum service to the company's dealers, and every effort is being made to catch up with all outstanding orders. From present indications the coming fall will be a record-breaking season for this progressive company. CRAFTS=STARR PHONO. CO. FORMED The Crafts-Starr Phonograph Co., Inc., has been formed in Richmond, Va., with headquarters at 220 N. Second street, for the purpose of jobbing Starr phonographs and records. The company has been incorporated with a capital stock of $15,000. President, A. J. Crafts; vicepresident, A. E. Crafts; secretary, W, H. Smith. The building which the company occupies adjoins that of the A. J. Craft Piano Co., and is located within a very short distance of Broad street, the main business thoroughfare in Richmond. Price Twenty Cents APPOINT NEW SONORA DISTRIBUTORS Sonora Phonograph Corp. Makes Arrangements With a Number of Prominent Houses to Handle Their Product Under Jobbing Franchises — Company's New Policy Explained The Sonora Phonograph Corp. has recently closed arrangements with a number of prominent houses to handle the Sonora products as distributors, and in connection with this important move, Joseph Wolff, secretary of the company, said, in a chat with The World: "Up to a few months it was the policy of the Sonora Co. to sell mainly through the dealers, and owing to the fact that it was practically impossible for us to take care of the demand, the numerous applications which we received for jobbing franchises were never considered. "Recently, however, we have been able to increase our output materially, and we concluded arrangements whereby we could establish jobbing franchises where we are not already represented. When we advised some of the houses who had requested these franchises that we could consider their applications at the present time, we were greatly pleased to receive immediate responses, asking for the territories which they could best handle. The popularity of the Sonora product is evidently well established in all sections of the country, for during the past few weeks we have closed important deals with a dozen well-known houses to act as distributors for the Sonora line, and additional arrangements are now being made which will be announced later. "There are still a few States in the South, Southwest and Middle West that are open, and judging from the success of our present representatives, this open territory affords an unusual opportunity for responsible houses with adequate financial strength. As a matter of fact, we have every reason to believe that this open territory will be closed very quickly, for the So nora products are gaining in popularity in this section of the country far beyond our expectations." WORKING THE RURAL FIELD Talking Machine Dealers in Kansas and Missouri Get Out After Farmers' Money — Use Automobiles With Considerable Success Kansas City, Mo., September 4. — An indication that the rural districts, even those closely adjacent to the cities, are even better fields for sales of phonographs than the towns is seen in the increased number of dealers who are sending out salesmen in motor cars. During the past few weeks, several Edison dealers have added this feature. H. W. Lee, of Enid, Okla., has had remarkable success with this plan in his territory recently. C. W. Cosgrove, of the Inness Dry Goods Co., Wichita, Kan., has salesmen covering a district of twenty to thirty miles from the city, with Ford cars. The Kelly Vawter Jewelry Co., Marshall, Mo., has supplied A. B. May, a special Edison salesman, with a car. in which he is developing the surrounding field. Hoefer & Mernershagen recently sent C. S. Feith, special Edison salesman, to the Kansas City office for sales training, and he will go out in a car. Many Edison dealers have been following this practice with large success this summer. For some it was a development of their previous efforts to reach farm trade. W. L. Echelman, of St. Joseph, Mo., had for instance been covering the outside territory with a seven-passenger Mitchell, carrying phonographs in the back seat; he is now adopting the smaller cars which, like those of other dealers, have a place for the talking machine on the back, and are much more economical of operation. UTILIZING THE NEWSPAPER AS A PROMOTER OE BUSINESS Why Talking Machine Dealers Should Be Close Readers of the Daily Papers — Can Get Pointers on Developments Which Are Bound to Inure to Business Expansion The talking machine dealer who reads the current magazines with any regularity has no doubt observed an advertisement in connection with a set of books known as the "Harvard Classics," and wherein appears an illustration of one man spending his time reading the current news in the evening paper, while his companion is deeply absorbed in one of the classics with a view to bettering his mental condition. The inference, of course, is that the man who simply reads the daily paper is dissipating time that might be put to better use, from an educational viewpoint. In some lines of business the lesson of the advertisement might prove apropos, but the talking machine dealer who reads the classics to the exclusion of the daily paper may be improving his mind, but he certainly is not working in the right direction to improve his prospect list. As a matter of fact, there is no method that offers such satisfactory returns in prospects as a careful and intelligent reading of the local news in the daily paper, especially in the small town where personal items receive considerable attention. It is to be assumed that every live dealer watches the papers for announcements of engagements and weddings, for the newly married couple offers an exceptional prospect for the sale of a talking machine, either direct, or as a present from friends. The dealer who is well acquainted with the people of his town knows about who the friends are who would be most likely to be interested in giving the happy couple a talking machine and some records. Then there are the published lists of wills filed for probate, often with the list of beneficiaries, anyone of whom may be willing to spend a part of the legacy for a talking machine. There are also the notices of lodge meetings, and every annual meeting of a lodge or fraternal society generally means that a presiding officer will retire and a new member take his place. In many fraternal orders, and particularly in Masonic lodges, it is the practice to present the presiding officer, upon his retirement, with a more or less valuable token of appreciation, and the fund for that purpose is frequently large enough to pay for a fine talking machine and. a goodly supply of records. The dealer who suggests the suitability of such a gift is the one most likely to get the order. The opening of a new school, a new church, a new club, or any similar institution, offers an opportunity for a talking machine sale, that is too obvious to require any special emphasis, and just now the organization of new military units, whether for service abroad or for Home Guard purposes, is almost a daily occurrence, and a military company without some sort of talking machine is indeed bereft. In short, every piece of local news in the paper should be regarded by the live dealer as representing the possibility of digging up a new prospect, and the time spent in going over the daily or weekly paper carefully is time that is well invested. All the names in the daily papers are those of people who are likely to buy talking machines from somebody unless it so happens that their names appear in the obituary column. On the other hand the people mentioned in the classics, such as Caesar, Hannibal, Homer, Plato, Epictetus, Diogenes, Nero and Cleopatra, while creators of history in their day, are not going to buy talking machines in the Twentieth Century.