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1898 – 1948 M. Doyle Marks & Son, Inc. 309 East Water Street Elmira, New York Told on the Fiftieth Birthday of M. Doyle Marks & Son, Inc., February 3, 1948 Edited by Charles V. Darrin Dedicated to all who Love Music And to the Corporation’s Patrons and Personnel Of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow |
1898 – 1948
"Every great institution is the lengthened shadow of a single man", Ralph Waldo Emerson once said. Likewise, any story of M. Doyle Marks & Son, Inc., must be a projection of the story of Martin Doyle Marks, founder of this distinguished music house and dominant force in its conduct for th half century which this booklet commemorates.
BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD
Martin Doyle Marks began life in a humble cottage on a hardscrabble farm near Altoona, Pennsylvania. His father, Jacob C. Marks, was of Holland Dutch parentage and a shoemaker by trade. His mother, Elnora Rodkey Marks, was of Welch descent and a righteous woman, dedicated to the tasks of caring for her husband, keeping his home, and bearing his children. Doyle was the sixth of fourteen offspring, seven boys and seven girls; and, from an early age, he was obliged to stand on his own two feet and to work for what he got.
When Doyle was two years old, the family moved to Renovo, Pa. There he attended school through the fifth grade; but, when he became thirteen, he dropped his books and took up his first job, that of hammer boy in the shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
A TIN WHISTLE – AND A VISION
On this job, the young Marks caught the first glimpse of what was to become his life’s work and joy, when one of the men in the shops presented his with a tin whistle. After a few experimental toots, Doyle realized that he was making music – and that he was enjoying it more than anything which he ever had done before! Soon, he had "graduated" to a fife, and had banded the other boys in the shops together into a fife and drum corps. Then, with money painfully held out of his meager earnings, he bought a cornet and an instruction book; and, at night, while the other boys were at their games, he set himself to learn musical notation and the technique of his instrument.
Before many months had passed, Doyle not only was playing the cornet proficiently, but also was teaching others to do so – instructing eight pupils at a time, at twenty-five cents each per evening. By the time he was fifteen, he had made enough money to purchase a piano, and was giving lessons in piano and in violin, as well as in wind instruments. Also, from his fellows in the shops, ranging in age from eleven to sixteen, he had organized the Juvenile Silver Cornet Band of Renovo; and, for the next five years, young Marks and his band played a prominent part in the musical life of central Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, in the railroad shops, the youthful musician progressed from the rough hand labor of a hammer boy to the work of timekeeper in the motive poser department. Subsequently, he went into the general office as an accountant, where he learned the procedures and the methods which later stood him in good stead in setting up and managing his own business. However, the rising young railroader was ambitious to test his mettle in some enterprise which would offer greater activity and scope for his talents. So, in 1890, he left the Pennsylvania, went to Montoursville, Pa., and established that community’s first newspaper, the "Echo". One year later, he sold the newspaper to his and the purchaser’s mutual advantage, returned to Renovo, and bought a grocery store.
Mr. Marks operated this store very successfully; but, more and more, he was drawn to music. HE taught constantly and played with the famous Repasz Band of Williamsport, Pa., and the well-known Fisk Military Band of that city. Then, when James L. Fisk, director of the latter organization, took a brief "flier" in the piano business, Mr. Marks tried his hand at selling for him in the Renovo area. Also, idolizing Pat Gilmore, America’s foremost bandleader of the day, Mr. Marks closely followed Gilmore and observed his methods – even going as far as to "steal" Gilmore’s arrangement of the "Anvil Chorus" and to present it with his own band – augmented by six anvils and six cannons!
THE YOUNG SALESMAN
At length, Mr. Marks attracted the attention of D. S. Andrus & Company, the leading music merchants of Williamsport; and in May, 1893, they asked him to join them as salesman. Sensing in this the opportunity for which he had been waiting, Mr. Marks sold the grocery store, again to advantage; went into the Andrus store; and, after a brief period of training, sallied forth to sell pianos on "the road".
Then began what Mr. Marks later called "the happiest days I ever put in". With a Pease or a Sohmer piano loaded on a Democrat wagon behind a sturdy team of horses, he traveled the highways and the byways of northern Pennsylvania, taking music into homes, and even communities, where there never had been music before and leaving behind him a trail of progress, culture, and inspiration in a then almost-backwoods region.
"THE HAPPIEST DAYS"
Mr. Marks would drive along, "spot" a likely-looking house, stop, and unload his piano. Quickly, the neighbors would gather; and, in almost not time, a sale would have been made, and often two or three! At other times, he would set up the piano in a hall and would play for dancing half the night – again to excellent business! Often, the young salesman remained away from the Andrus store for three months at a time, simply picking up pianos which the company shipped to him at various railroad stations and forwarding the sales receipts by mail. "I always represented a piano right, and told the truth", Mr. Marks once said, "and, in virgin territory, with practically no competition, selling was the easiest thing in the world". The pianos sold from three hundred and seventy-five dollars for an upright to three thousand dollars for a grand. The team averaged eight miles an hour; and there always was an inn where the young salesman could "put up" for the night, without placing himself under any obligation to a potential customer. In 1897, Mr. Marks sold two hundred pianos in eleven months.
NECESSITY AND INVENTION
After going with the Andrus company, Mr. Marks assumed the support of his parents and established a home for them in Alba, Pa. With increased obligations, he felt that he must look for something even more remunerative than selling pianos on the road. So, one fine day, off he went, across the Pennsylvania border, to Elmira, New York!
In less than two weeks – still in the employ of the Andrus company, but against their advise – Mr. Marks had rented a small office and a show room on the fourth floor of the Realty Building on Market Street; and, on February 3, 1898, he opened his doors for business. Out of his first month’s salary, the young merchant bought fifty-five dollars worth of sheet music; and, from then on, he purchased everything which was sold in the store out of his own pocket, reimbursing himself from the Andrus company’s profits.
ELMIRA – 1898
When Mr. Marks arrived in Elmira, the city was anything but prepossessing.
Water Street was paved, but muddy in most seasons, and the other streets
were even worse. The area bounded by the Chemung River, Main Street, Market
Street, and Lake Street was the only important business section; and the
Rathbun Hotel, at Water and Baldwin Streets, was the center of commerce
and society. There was two other music stores, J. Greener, on Church Street,
and the Longstreet Music House, at 114 Baldwin Street.
WORK, ROMANCE, AND A "BREAK"
After three months on the fourth floor of the Realty Building, Mr. Marks descended to rooms on the first floor; and, a year later, he removed to larger quarters at 326 East Water Street. Also, he became acquainted with Miss Mary Elizabeth Weale, a native of Caton, N.Y., then of Owego, N.Y., and set out to persuade her to become his wife. In September, 1899, while traveling by train to Elmira from Owego, Mr. Marks read of the death of W. H. Longstreet, proprietor of the Baldwin Street music store. On reaching his office, he found awaiting him a son-in-law of the deceased, who straightway asked, "Do you want to buy the Longstreet business"? "Sure"! Mr. Marks answered, "How soon can you take inventory"? |
THE YOUNG BUSINESSMAN – AND A "PARTNER"
In less than a week, the deal was consummated – again, against the Andrus company’s "better judgment" - and Mr. Marks was operating the former Longstreet establishment as well as the East Water Street store. The Williamsport concern was aghast at his aggressiveness, pessimistic about his plan to stage a sale of surplus Longstreet merchandise. However, when officials of the firm arrived in Elmira an hour before the beginning of the sale, they found a queue of customers extending for more than a block; and, when they returned to Williamsport, they took with them more money than, Mr. Marks had paid for the store!
For a time, Mr. Marks ran the two stores independently. Then, he merged the businesses and confined activities to Baldwin Street.
On September 11, 1900, Miss Weale became Mrs. Marks. At once, the vivacious, fun-loving, but purposeful young wife entered into every phase of her husband’s life, acting not merely as companion, homemaker, and mother, but moreover as counsel and helpmate in every business, civic, and social enterprise. Their son Kenneth Weale Marks, was born on March 8, 1902.
In 1903, Mr. Marks got another "break". 309 East Water Street, a site which he long had coveted, became available; and he was able to move the business from Baldwin Street back to the "main stem". At last, here were a location, a building, and facilities appropriate for the program of music-merchandising which Mr. Marks had in mind – and which he now threw into high gear.
The location was ideal for the times. The building, though erected in the early seventies, had a frontage of nineteen feet and four inches, a depth of one hundred and twenty feet, and four stories. The store arrangement and the equipment were very nearly perfect.
In the new store, Mr. Marks made available "Everything in Music" for the residents of southern New York and northern Pennsylvania. Included were the foremost pianos of the day – Steinway, Sohmer, Pease, Cable, Conover, Ivers & Pond, and Kingsbury; Aeolian reproducing pianos; Estey organs; all kinds of band and orchestra instruments; sheet music; player piano rolls; and a full line of accessories and supplies. Then, with the advent of the "talking machine", Gramaphone, Victor, and Edison instruments and records were offered.
Today, M. Doyle Marks & Son, Inc., continue to stock all of the aforementioned items which remain in demand. In addition, the firm is exclusive agent for Cable-Nelson, Chickering, Everett, Poole, Story & Clark, Weaver, and Wurlitzer pianos; Hammond and Minshall-Estey electric organs; the Hammond Solovox; King, Martin, Olds, Penzel-Mueller, and York band and orchestra instruments; Soprani accordions; Ludwig drums; and Scott and General-Electric Musaphonic radio-phonographs.
A FIRM FOUNDATION
From the beginning, Mr. Marks adhered to a policy of top-grade nerchandise, honest representation, and clean-cut sales methods. "I do not believe that people can be fooled", he said at one time. "I have proved to my satisfaction that they recognize a ‘square deal’, and remember it when they have occasion to do business again. Accordingly, I always have believed in the one-price system, taking the position that I have no right to charge you a higher price than I would charge your neighbor. One price to all, and that price the lowest, has been held to rigidly, and rightly, since this business was started".
Also from the outset, Mr. Marks believed in advertising, in every form; and his program of promotion made an initial impact, generated constantly-increasing good will and demand, and produced a volume of business which the more conservative merchandisers of the area never had dreamed possible.
Besides advertising in all the newspapers of the region, and many inter-state and national publications, Mr. Marks erected a thousand billboards, in a fifty-mile circle; placed showcards in all local and vicinity trolley cars; and utilized space provided by theater curtains, programs, and tickets, school and society yearbooks, and every other possible advertising medium. Direct mail; public relations men, on the job wherever friends were to be made and people were to be influenced; exhibits at county fairs; Marks wagons and motor trucks, carrying Marks goods, on every road; a Marks ruler on the desk of every child in every school – all carried the name of the firm into every home in the territory and made it remembered when any musical purchase was contemplated.
Today, the best of these devices still are used; and, in addition, there are radio broadcasts and all other up-to-date methods of keeping the firm’s name before the public and making its facilities and its services available to an ever-larger clientele.
THE DOYLEMARX PIANOS
In 1904, Mr. Marks introduced a line of pianos built to his own specifications and designed to meet the need for a quality instrument at a low cost. Wit it came the trade name "Doylemarx".
The pianos, both uprights and grands, were manufactured in New York City, under the supervision of Julius Winter, and were distributed from Elmira throughout the country. From then until 1930m when Mr. Winter died and production was discontinued, thousands of Doylemarx pianos were sold, in forty-four states; and, even today, ninety per cent of these still are in daily use and in high favor.
BRANCH STORES
Also in 1904, Mr. Marks began to extend his field of operations by setting
up branch stores. In rapid succession, establishments were opened in Galeton,
Pa., Tory, Pa., Sayre, Pa., Ithaca, N.Y., Painted Post, N.Y., and Addison,
N.Y.; and, subsequently, locations were made in Towanda, Pa., and Corning,
N.Y., and on Langdon Plaza, Elmira. After 1925, because of changed business
conditions, Mr. Marks found it advantageous to discontinue these stores
and to employ field representatives in their place. On September 9, 1945,
the Langdon Plaza store, last of the branch stores, was closed, and the
entire business was concentrated at 309 East Water Street once more.
OTHER BUSINESS SERVICES
In 1900, Mr. Marks launched a music magazine, "The Keynote". In a short time, this monthly publication was in such demand, from coast to coast, and its editorial, mechanical, and circulation requirements had so outgrown the store, that Mr. Marks was obliged either to move the publication into a separate building or to dispose of it. He decided to let it go, and sold it immediately to a publishing house in the West, at a handsome profit.
Also, from 1910 to 1913, Mr. Marks published and promoted the compositions of various southern New York and northern Pennsylvania musicians. Most prolific of these was Charles X. O’Brien of Elmira, with the intermezzo-two step "Egypta", the waltz "Floating, or In a Canoe", the march "The Growler", and the ballad "If you Were A Big Red Rose", which sold over two hundred thousand copies. Others who gained recognition and profit with Mr. Marks’ help were Ernest E. Landon of Canton, with the "X-Ray" waltzes; Frank A. Remick of Elmira, with the march "St. Omer’s Commandery"; and H. C. Sherman of Troy, with the "Glenora" waltzes.
In 1912, Mr. Marks opened a recital hall, seating three hundred and fifty persons, in the store. There, he conducted regular programs of reproducing piano and Victrola music and arranged special appearances of local and visiting artists. The Thursday Morning Musicales held its meetings in the hall for several seasons.
In addition, Mr. Marks brought to Elmira many of the foremost artists of the day, utilizing the Colonial Theater, the Lyceum Theater, the Park Church, and the State Armory for this purpose, Paderewski, Rachmaninoff, Kreisler, Schumann-Heink, Homer, Sousa’s Band, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra – these were but a few of the "greats’ who appeared under Mr. Marks’ management.
COMMUNITY INTERESTS AND SERVICES
From the day when he arrived in Elmira, Mr. Marks backed all, and spearheaded most, worthwhile civic, educational, religious, fraternal, and social enterprises of the community; and his record of vision, leadership, and accomplishment in the city at large would be difficult, if not impossible, to match.
In 1916, Mr. Marks assisted in forming the Elmira Rotary Club and, during the year 1918, served as president. Also, he was president of the Elmira Business Men’s Association and Secretary of the Elmira Humane society. Then, beginning in 1919, Mr. Marks was a member of the Elmira Water Board and, from August, 1939. served as president. Also, he organized the first local troop of Boy Scouts; and he headed the campaign to raise four hundred thousand dollars for the Central Y. M. C. A. building and, afterward, was president of the board of directors.
From 1923 to 1940, Mr. Marks was a trustee of Elmira College and was responsible for raising three hundred thousand dollars for new buildings. Also, from June 5, 1923, to May 13, 1947, he was a trustee of Cook Academy, Montour Falls, N. Y., and was instrumental in raising sufficient funds to build a gymnasium. In addition, he helped raise nine hundred and one thousand dollars for the Arnot-Ogden Hospital.
In 1914, Mr. Marks joined the Park Church and, from 1939, served as chairman of music committee of the Congregational assembly.
In addition, Mr. Marks was a member of all bodies of the Masons, excepting the Thirty-third Degree, and was the organizer and, for ten years, the director of the Cashmere Grotto Band. Also, in 1926, he formed the M. Doyle Marks Concert Band – designed to teach young people to play, as well as to give them opportunities to do so – and headed the group for approximately three years. Then, with the development of bands in the public schools, a private band no longer was needed. In addition, Mr. Marks served as president of the Elmira Symphony Orchestra, president of the Southern Tier Baseball Club, president of the Elmira Automobile Club, and an enthusiastic member of the Elks and the City, Country, Century, and Cold Brook clubs.
HOME LIFE IN TOWN AND COUNTRY
When Mr. Marks married, he rented a house at 310 Pennsylvania Avenue, and he and Mrs. Marks resided there for about a year. Then, they moved to another rented house at 356 Maple Avenue, where Kenneth Marks was born. Finally, in 1908, Mr. Marks purchased a fine house at 318 West Clinton Street, and this became the permanent family home. There, the decorations and the furnishings were a reflection of good taste and gracious, though simple, living.
Also in 1908, Mr. Marks accepted rather reluctantly, as part payment for a Steinway piano, a small cottage at Glenora, N.Y., on Seneca Lake. Immediately, he fell in love with Glenora, soon remodeled the cottage, and subsequently bought, improved, and sold ten other Glenora properties, ultimately retaining for his own a two-story house, accessible and comfortable all the year, and five hundred and fifty feet of lake shore.
"I never could have stood up under the pressure of business, or have maintained my health, ambition, and enthusiasm, without the relaxation of Glenora", Mr. Marks once said. "Mrs. Marks always has loved it, too; and Ken, his wife, and their three children feel the same way".
Blessed with a robust constitution, Mr. Marks always enjoyed good health
and played as hard as he worked. As a boy, he preferred baseball; later,
he turned to golf; but, eventually, fishing and boating at Glenora became
his greatest delights.
PERSONAL MUSICAL LIFE
Throughout his life, Mr. Marks retained his early love of music per se. Naturally, as other activities demanded more and more of his time, his playing ability suffered. Nevertheless, he always demonstrated a piano for a customer, if asked – chords and modulations to bring out the sonority of the bass, an arpeggio to show off the brilliance of the treble, and a snatch from an old-fashioned waltz, just for fun! – and his understanding and appraisal of music always were considerably above the average. Once, the writer, playing the piano in Mr. Marks’ home, completed some composition in the key of G and, without changing key, slipped into the strains of Mrs. Marks’ favorite melody, Brahms’ Waltz in A Flat! Immediately, Mr. Marks looked up, frowned slightly, and asked, "Isn’t there something wrong with that"? There certainly was – and the writer enjoyed playing for him, and selling for him, and more thereafter,. M. DOYLE MARKS & COMPANY In 1905, Mr. Marks bought one quarter interest in the business, and, in 1913, he was able to purchase the building. The following year, he gave the Andrus company the choice of selling to him the remaining three quarter interests or of buying his one quarter interest – leaving him free to open a music store of his own next door! Again, Mr. Marks got a "break": the Williamsport company decided to withdraw; and "M. Doyle Marks & Company" became the official name of the firm. |
M. DOYLE MARKS & SON, INC.
From 1914 for more than a decade, the volume of business fluctuated from a low of two hundred thousand dollars a year to a high of nearly one half million. Even while the United States was embroiled in World War I, plenty of merchandise was available, and operations were affected very little. In 1925, Kenneth Marks joined his father in the business; and, subsequently, the firm became "M. Doyle Marks & Son, Inc.".
THE PENDULUM SWINGS
In 1929, the depression struck, and the music-merchandising business throughout the country declined eighty-seven per cent. However, the Marks company kept going, without losing one day of business, and emerged at the end of the period with its head more than a little "bloody", but, in the tradition, "unbowed".
By 1941, the music-merchandising business was coming back in a rush, and the company was on the road to increased profits, when the nation was plunged into World War II. Fortunately, the firm had enough musical goods on hand, and was able to obtain sufficient non-musical goods, to maintain an operating volume; personnel was reduced, and all expenditures were cut to the bone; and business went forward on an uninterrupted, though curtailed basis for the "duration".
On the cessation of hostilities, the company was all ready to resume,
and to redouble, its pre-war efforts. During the three years since – despite
the flood of 1946, which poured six inches of water and silt into the first
floor and shortened an electric circuit to shoot flames skyward through
four floors – the firm has adjusted to, and has fulfilled, smoothly and
well, the obligations and the challenges of the post–war world.
FEBRUARY 3, 1948
On this fiftieth birthday, M. Doyle Marks & Son, Inc., greet their patrons in southern New York’s and northern Pennsylvania’s only musical department store, where "Everything in Music", sales and service, is offered.
On the first floor are token displays of pianos, band and orchestra instruments, radios, and other merchandise to be found in greater quantities on the upper floors; the record department, with the most nearly-complete collection of records in the area; and the sheet music department, with the most extensive library of sheet music in the territory and the modern Wheeldex system for locating a given number with maximum speed and accuracy. At the rear are an elevator and stairs giving access to the upper floors.
On the second floor west are the large radio, phonograph, and combination sales room and the executive office; and on the second floor east are the band and orchestra instruments sales room, the business office, and the promotion department.
On the third floor west are three piano and organ sales rooms, while on the third floor east are the radio-phonograph repair department and the main stock room.
On the top floor west are the lately-completed sound-recording studio, large enough to accommodate the average orchestra and equipped with radio station-type recording equipment; the piano reconditioning and repair department; and several stock rooms.
With these facilities, the largest, most-varied, and highest-quality stock in its history, and an able and alert administrative and sales force – backed by a half century of know-how, experience, and reliability – M. Doyle Marks and Son, Inc., observes its Golden Anniversary – proud of its record during the past fifty years, and confident of continued growth and success for many, many years to come.
THE SON OF THE CORPORATION
Kenneth Weale Marks entered the business with a well-rounded education gained at Elmira Free Academy, the Andover preparatory school, Cornell University, and the Babson commercial-technical school. He also brought with him a practical knowledge of music, the result of playing banjo and mandolin, first at Cornell and later with a professional dance orchestra.
At first, "Ken" worked in the phonograph, record, and sheet music departments, becoming familiar with their operation and methods of selling. Soon, however, radios came on the market, and he was intrusted with organizing a radio department. On the strength of his success in this venture and, later, in setting up a household appliance department, he was made sales manager. In 1945, he was elevated to vice p0resident and treasurer.
On May 3, 1928, Kenneth Marks married Miss Mary Miller Tripp of Elmira. They have three children; Nancy Fairbanks, born July 30, 1929; Mary Elizabeth ("Polly"), born July 11, 1931; and Edward Tripp ("Teddy"), born August 12, 1941. The family makes its town home at 957 West Water Street, its summer residence at Glenora.
Like his father, "Ken" has devoted much time and energy to the community.
In 1944 and 1945, he served as president of the retail division of the
Association of Commerce, and, during the war years, he helped to arrange
and acted as master of ceremonies for a series of all-city bond rallies.
He was the organizer and the first president of the Elmira Radio Dealers’
Association, and he was secretary-treasurer of the New York State Division
of The National Association of Music Merchants for several years. At present,
he is chairman of the music committee of the Elmira Rotary Club and is
active in the local chapter of SPEBQSA, national barber shop quartet-singing
society, the Elks, the Eagles, the Cold Brook Club, and the Country Club.
OTHER BUSINESS PERSONNEL
For the first two years after he arrived in Elmira, M. Doyle Marks depended on rather casual and indifferent employees to perform the few tasks which he was too busy to execute himself. Then, with the business established and growing, he began to look around for the nucleus of a well-qualified and responsible staff.
IN 1900, Harry Davis, a native of Blossburg, Pa., joining Mr. Marks as general assistant and remaining with him for fifteen years, became the "nest egg" of the brood. Mr. Davis was a capable musician and a dependable and loyal worker who rendered invaluable service during the business’ formative years.
Then, in 1904, came the man destined to play the most important role in the business next to Mr. Marks – Benjamin L. Rendell, a native of Devizes, England, who also reached Elmira by way of Blossburg. During his lifetime of service, Mr. Rendell outstripped all corners in the race for sales, especially sales of pianos, organs, and band and orchestra instruments, and displayed a faithfulness, a devotion, and a tirelessness far in excess of duty. Probably more persons know the "house" through Mr. Rendell than do so in any other way, and he often is referred to unwittingly and flatteringly as "Mr. Doylemarx"! Of him, Mr. Marks once said, "No words could express what ‘Ben’ has meant to the business and to me".
Also in 1904, Frank X. Fischer, a native of Switzerland, arrived on the scene, to serve as piano-finisher until shortly before his death on December 14, 1939. In the same year, William Wolcott Weale, father of Mrs. M. Doyle Marks, joined the force as manager of branch stores, in which capacity he served until his death in 1920. One year later, Frank Jones Weale, son of William Weale and brother of Mrs. Marks, joined as sales manager. During his thirty-four years with the firm, Frank Weale averaged sixty-five thousand dollars’ worth of business per year outside the store.
Then, from Ithaca, came Clyde Nivison, with a playing and a repairing knowledge of all musical instruments and considerable aptitude for and skill in other mechanical processes. Mr. Nivison stayed for twenty-two years and proved to be, as Mr. Marks once appraised him "one of the most useful met the firm ever had". At approximately the same time, Beaver Harper of Renovo, son of Mr. Marks’ sister, whom Mr. Marks had sent to New York City for training in the large piano factories, joined the force and served as piano-repairman and tuner until his death on May 18, 1925.
Nearly thirty-five years of service are to the credit of George Alvin Steck, present office manager, a native of Lycoming County, Pa., who has been with the firm "on and off" since 1914 and who seems not to age, but to become more youthful and enthusiastic with every passing day. Also, nearly twenty years have been chalked up by Carlton J. Eddy, manager of the radio-photograph department.
Of course, there have been many talented and efficient women employees also. However, none is remembered more livingly than Julia Mast, who hailed from Oregon Hill, Pa., and who served as office manager – and made everyone step! – from 1917 until her untimely death in 1940. Yes, there was only one "Julie" . . .
So – from the turn of the century, up through the years of mingled woe and jubilation, to this significant date – there has marched a procession of men and women whose ability and accomplishments are a credit to M. Doyle Marks & Son, Inc., and to the music-merchandising business at large. Thanks, folks – so much!
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Radio-phonograph Repairs & Service 1847 |
Instrument Repairs & Refinishing 1937-1938, 1942 |
Radio-phonograph Repairs & Service 1945 |
Piano Technician 1937, 1943 |
Promotion Manager 1945 |
Manager, Record Department 1946 |
Manager, Radio-phonograph Dept. 1946 |
Radio-phonograph Repairs & Service 1946 |
Manager, Sheet Music Dept. 1946 |
Delivering, 1937 |
Assistant, Red\cord Department 1946 |
Assistant, Record Department 1944 |
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Earle R. Martin
Manager, Appliance Department 1939 |
Piano Technician 1947 |
Secretary, Promotions Department 1946 |
General Manager 1904 |
Auditor 1946 |
Assistant, Sheet Music & Promotion Dept. 1947 |
Assistant, Record Department 1947 |
Office Manager 1914-1929, 1940-1942, 1946 |
Cashier, 1947 |
Maintenance, 1947 |
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Dear Joyce, How I enjoyed the Doylemarx Story ! Thank you so much. Doyle Marks was a household word when I was growing up. My folks bought their piano from his company about 1910 (Hobart M. Cable Cabinet Grand), and about 1930 I entered a contest that Doyle Marks sponsored and won a new piano ( I think we had to pay fifty dollars to get it delivered) that we gave to my cousin Vernice McNaughton (she's still living at age 90) for a wedding present. It was nice to see pictures of Charles Darrin and Cora Pierce, who were both on the staff at Mansfield when I was there in the 30's. Charles played popular music on the organ in Straughn Hall and I adored him and his playing. So, as you can see, this brought back such pleasant old memories. Melva C.
I just found the Doylemarx information you put on the web, there is a photo of my grandfather within it, James A. Conboy. Thanks for sharing this.
Jim Conboy
Cheboygan, Mi
My sister Polly just sent to me the Doylemarx Story, that for some reason
I had never seen.
Just a note of thanks and it brought back many memories of my youth,
being so much younger than Polly I was just a kid for most of my Doylemarx
days. I haven’t yet read every word, but always curious why he used
the “x” in the “marks” spelling.
Anyway, Merry Christmas, you have brought Joy to us.
Ted Marks