Triumphs & Trials of an Organ Builder
Building a Viable Company (continued)
As far as finding new customers, I knew even in
1946 that we would have to look beyond the local area.
At that time, the standard method of selling musical
instruments was through dealers. Therefore, ads were
placed in the appropriate trade magazines, and we
started to build a dealer network which began with
three or four dealers. During this time period another
important event occurred in the life of the Company.
Sometime in 1946, we sold an Allen organ to an
organist by the name of Robert Pearce. He was working
as a free lance entertainer at the time but had a
broad interest in the organ field. At some point during
one of his visits to the factory, the idea of his
joining the Company arose. In 1947, Robert Pearce
became an employee, serving as a combination
salesman/demonstrator/fixer. Since then, he has put in
many years with the Company making sales, teaching,
working with customers, and establishing an outstanding
sales and dealer organization. As the Company grew,
he became Vice President of Sales, a position which he
still holds today.
In those days our competition-besides pipe
organs-was, of course, the popular Hammond as well
as some newcomers into the "non-pipe" field. Conn,
Baldwin, and Wurlitzer all began producing competing
instruments. I quickly learned that I could not rest on
my laurels given the "all is fair" mentality of the business
world. I realized that I had better hang on to the
innovative spirit which got the whole thing going in
the first place. If I didn't, I knew the competitors would
have no qualms about invading our turf.
Fortunately, I was not only able just to hang on to
my innovative spirit, I became rather adept at it. I don't
mean to imply that this was only a one man show, but I
did continue to make direct, innovative contributions
to the art of electronic organ building. However,
perhaps more importantly, I developed an ability to
sense and to promote innovation in others within the
Company. I always kept an open mind to new ideas-
even some radical ideas from outside the Company. I
didn't know it at that time, but I was destined to play a
key role in the birth and growth of one of the most
significant innovations in the history of organ
building-the Digital Computer Organ. If I had not
been able to maintain my innovative spirit through the
years, I probably would have "missed the boat" in
foreseeing the impact of that momentous development
and would have unwisely rejected it. I will expand on
that story later. At any rate, Allen held its own over
the years against stiff competition-on the strength of
its innovation as well as its reputation for
uncompromising sound quality, superior construction,
and permanence of service.
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