The talking machine world (July-Dec 1926)

26 THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD November 15 1926 Christmas Displays That Sell Merchandise The Talking Machine Dealer Can Get His Share of the Holiday Gift Money by Arranging Eye-Arresting and Seasonal Display By W. Bliss Stoddard There is nothing like a cheerful window, with the Christmas atmosphere, to stimulate the sale of gift merchandise. Both phonographs and radio sets sell more quickly when the display suggests the pleasure given by these dispellers of loneliness. The Grand Leader, St. Louis, Mo., showed a section of drawing room, upon the wall of which was a huge white wreath, with red berries and red ribbons. In the foreground was a radio set with an easy chair drawn up beside it, and a reading lamp, with red silk shade close at hand. A neat card, adorned with a spray of holly, f^ockford Hardware The newest and best for your every requirement is included in the Rockford Line of Hardware. A complete line — more than 300 items for pianos, phonographs and radio cabinets. For bettering cabinet work and cutting cost use Rockford Hard ware. Write today for samples of items you use, and catalog. Rational Jsqck Co., Ilockford,Jlt. U. S.A. Cable Address — Natlock 'Branch Sales Offices : Chicago, III. Indianapolis, Ind. Cincinnati, Ohio Jamestown, N.Y. Detroit, Mich. Los Angeles, Calif. Evansville, Ind, Milwaukee, Wis. GrandRapids,Mich. Seattle, Wash. High Point, N. C. Sheboygan, Wis. St. Louis, Mo. suggested "Give a Radio Set for Christmas." Scruggs-Vandervoort-Barney, St. Louis, also had a study scene — with Oriental rug, tapestry chair, table and reading lamp,with an inlaid Radiola cabinet prominently displayed and the card of gray, with holly border, tetered in black "From the Music Centre of St. Louis — A Radio for Christmas." W. C. Munn Co., Houston, Tex., had on the cream-tinted walls a long red silk curtain upon which hung a large bas-relief head of Santa Claus, surrounded by garlands of tinsel. At one side was a cabinet radio set, with loud speaker. Opposite it was an easy chair, with smoker's set drawn up to it, while down front was a basket filled with poinsettias. A card'suggested "Will There Be a Radio in Your Home This Christmas?" The Goodall Piano Co., Houston, Tex., had the floor covered with artificial snow, with small evergreens set upright in it. Down front was a cardboard house with lights inside. In the rear was a cabinet talking machine. A ribbon ran from the house to the instrument and card suggested "Have This Machine in Your Home Christmas Morning." Scattered over the snow were a number of records to each of which was attached a spray of mistletoe or holly, or a big red poinsettia. A card suggested "Don't Forget to Lay in a Supply of New Records for the Christmas Day Entertainment." The Houston Light & Power Co., Houston, Tex., had seven windows all similarly decorated. They were of the backless variety, permitting a view of the large and cheerful salesroom. The floor of each was covered with artificial snow, in the center of which was planted a small Christmas tree, laden down with tinsel and ornaments. The windows were framed in southern smilax studded with poinsettias. The balcony The popularity of the Atwater Kent radio receiver is an accepted fact, not in any one seclion, but throughout the entire country and, foi that matter, throughout the world. Interesting stories attesting this popularity are received regularly by the Atwater Kent Mfg. Co., from dealers, as are stories telling of the methods employed by Atwater Kent dealers in placing the receivers in the homes of the public. Examples of dealer's experiences recently cited in the Atwater Kent house organ are here reproduced In Sebastopol, Cal, which is a very small town, W. S. Borba, local Atwater Kent representative, has to go out of town to thoroughly exercise his salesmanship. Along the four-mile highway running out of the town Mr. Borba has sold at last account forty Atwater Kent sets and, has not yet finished the job. This m'akes ten Atwater Kent sets to every mile. In Antelope, Cal., a thriving town with a population of eighty-nine people or just eighteen families, Lauppe & Strader, who operate the general merchandise emporium, sold sixty-two Atwater Kent sets during the current season. The eighteen families are 100 per cent Atwater Kent equipped and a set is playing continuously in the Post Office. A dealer without a store is a rarity, but that is the status of George Alley, of Fulton, Ky., who sold more than $3,000 worth of Atwater Kent sets in the past five months. Mr. Alley at one end of the salesroom had the railing removed and upon the balcony was staged a domestic scene that called instant attention to radio. It was the living-room on Christmas morning. There was a big Christmas tree, hung with tinsel and ornaments and illuminated with many colored lights. Set on a table beneath the tree was a radio and grouped about it in listening attitude were ' lifesize cut-outs of father, mother, son and daughter. The radio was in actual operation and could be heard by patrons all over the main floor salesroom. No one denies the fascination of radio. One of the best proofs of this is the fact that most of the reputable music houses are now handling it in conjunction with their other lines, but the dealer should not fail to remind his patrons that it should complement and not supplant the phonograph. There is a wide variety of music always "on the air," but on the other hand no one can be sure of hearing their favorite songs or instrumental pieces, rendered by their favorite artists, just when they want them. But the possession of records of these selections gives them the voice or the music whenever they wish. This was the thought of the Wiley B. Allen Co., when they arranged a series of little stages in their window, with small cut-out figures. On one was shown a scene from grand opera "Carmen," on another that from a comic opera "Pinafore," on a third a violinist giving a recital, and on a fourth a singer of vaudeville or concert songs. Scattered about each stage were records of grand and comic opera, ballads, violin, piano and orchestral selections. The big window was framed in holly and a number of the records were shown in holly wrapper folders, a card in frosted letters suggesting: "Get a Good Selection of Old and New Favorites for the Christmas Holidays." teaches in the local high school each day and devotes his evenings and Saturdays to selling radio. He has no store; only a show window rented from a furniture dealer. All of the demonstrations are given in the prospects' homes in the evening. From 50 to 75 per cent increase over last year is the report received by the Atwater Kent Mfg. Co. from Elliot Wade Patrick, of Brookfield, Mo. This dealer is working under a handicap, as he is paralyzed from the hips down as a result of an injury suffered in the World War. His mother and a girl bookkeeper help him to the store and he employs two outside men to follow up prospects. Utah Radio Products Go. Introduces New Gone Speaker The Utah Radio Products Co., Chicago, loud speaker manufacturer, recently introduced a new cone speaker said to possess the same clear tonal features that have been symbolic of the entire Utah line of voice-reproducing units. The new Utah cone speaker is a free edge type, UVi inches high, weighing 3J4 pounds, beautifully designed in a golden brown shade. The new product, which retails for $16, is said to have won immediate favor wherever it has been shown. How Live Dealers Are Building Volume Radio Business by Going After Sales Atwater Kent Radio Dealers in Many Parts of the Country Are Succeeding by Aggressive Merchandising— Dealers Who Are Overcoming Unusual Handicaps in Selling Receiving Sets