Evening star., 1912-11-17


There was not business enough III
the beginning to call for the formu-
lation of a definite selling pohcy:
All the efforts of the brothers-and
their sister, too-were instinctiveiy
directed towards interesting the
musicians and music teachers ana
bringing possible customers to the
factory to hear the new piano.
The first formal promotion took the
shape of getting the leading Amerl-
can players and singers to use the
Steinway at their concerts lhis
gave the public an opportunity to
Judge as to the tone of the new
instrument.
The departure proved so profitable
a method of advertising the merits
of the piano that the house took
long step further and carried the
idea to it's logical conclusion by
bringing over to America the lead
ing European pianists. Rubinstea
first, and afterwards a long train
of others. Practically every player
of note in those early days crossed
the ocean to play in this country
under Steinway management. LlszI
was almost the sole exception; ne
was at that time too advanced IN
years to care to travel. PadereWski
has been the most notable OF recent
virtuosi to appear under our man
agement and perform on our instru-
ment. We have six instruments on
concert tour with we'll known play
ers at present.
These earlier artists. like the later
ones, visited the principal cities or
the country under Steinway manage
ment and played on the Steinway
piano The Steinway reputation was
greatly enhanced by this promotion.
1t was without doubt the most ef-
fective of all advertising methods we
employed, since it not only made
the piano and its makers widely
known, but assisted in laying the
foundation for a broad national musi-
cal culture.
The education of the public was a
vital necessity to the house in it's
younger days, and it early became
the policy, no less than the desire
of the members of the house, to
patronize and promote all kinds OF
musical enterprise. They were gen.
erOus contributors, for example, to
the Philharmonic and Symphony Or
chestras, to Theodore Thomas or
ganiZation and numerous other So
cieties. They did this both as patrons
and as advertisers: concert pro-
gramme without the advertisement
of Steinway & Sons on the back
page would have been an anomaly.
The most was naturally made Of
the opportunities afforded by our
own programmes, those used in con-
nection with the concert tours, and
to lesser extent through space in
the newspapers.
This introduction Of the piano to
the public through the medium of
the great artists of the day was. as
said the most important element in
our distributing scheme: the patron
age of local musical enterprises
came next.
There were two or three other i'm
portant factors. One of these was
the patronage of royalty. represent
ed in the purchase of instruments
by the reigning houses of Europe
and Asia. This patronage was indis-
pensable to a product of such pre-
tension as the Steinway, and, once
secured was the means of making
many a door, at home and abroad,
swing wide open to US.
The royal appointments meant a
good deal more than prestige SIM
ply. Every palace has room for
many pianos, and when We sold the
first instrument the order was al
most invariably followed by orders
for several more.
The former Sultan of Turkey, Abb
dul Hamid, had eight of our pianos.
Most of them were intended for sue
cessive favorites among his wives.
All of the pianos were beautifully
decorated. EACH succeeding one hand
somer than the last, to please the
latest favorite.
We were almost able to see some
mitigating circumstances in polyg-
amy.
Whenever We receive an order from
one of the mandarin class in China,
it is always for two instruments.
The first order of this kind surprised
us and we made inquiries as to the
reason. We found that 1t is a GUS
tom to buy many things in pairs:
instead of one watch, two watches
and so on. If the Chinese ever take
to our music or afford a market for
other high-priced luXuries made by
us. it would be an interesting point
to keep in mind that they buy two
at time.
We have taken not a little salts
faction in the thought. even consid-
cred that it ought to be a matter Of
national pride, that Europe, which
is well provided with piano manu-
facturers of the front rank, should
have stocked many of its palaces
with instruments of American make,
when american has so long been
the synonym for all that is merely
commercial.
The second notable factor in es-
tabhshing prestige was the opening
of Steinway Hall. back in 1866, and
it's use by practically every concert
player. singer. orator and literary
lion-Dickens, for one-who belonged
in or came to America. 1t was built
by my grandfather. the original
Steinway manufacturer. then a man
Of nearly seventy years. from his
own personal study of acoustics, and
was we'll nigh perfect In that re-
spect. Ii accomplished a great deal
in the way of popularizing the ap-
probation of our instrument not the
less SO because of it's often being
placed gratis at the disposal of local
musicians who might not otherwise
have been able to secure satisfactory
access to the public.
The third important means of i'm
pressing the popular mind with our
name and the merit Of our product
was through the great International
expositions. The medals and awards
which we received at London, Paris,
Philadelphia and many lesser exhi-
bitions have naturally contributed to
the Steinway prestige. After the
Centennial Exposition. however. We
withdrew from competition in these
enterprises.
As the capacity of our factories in
New York city continued to grow.
we extended the range Of our opera
tions. taking on dealers in the lead
ing cities Of this and other countries,
and eventually establishing q Euro
pean factory in Hamburg. Germany.
Many of our dealers have been
with us forty. and four of them
more than fifty, years. They have
been the personal friends of three
and even four generations of our
family. Our relations with them
are those Of mutual respect, affec-
tion and loyalty. II 1 feel free to
mention one indication Of this. the
fact that in one instance at least We
felt it right to pension a super
annuated and unfortunate dealer and
find a suitable place in our organi-
zation for his daughter 1t is because
the act was that of the last admin
istration.
The dealer situation is different
from what ii was half century
ago. In 1880 practically all the deal
ers We're themselves musicians To-