MOTOR BANDSTANDS.
Page 19
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A Possible—and Certainly Original—Development of the Motor Agent's Business is Put Forward in This Aiticle.
By "Vim."
IF I am not very careful, I shall be called a crank one of these days ; and my reputation, such as it is, will be doue for. And all because the humchum has no appeal for me, so that notions, which to many people would seem absurd, are always sure of courteous • consideration from the "why not?" point of view, as soon as they occur to me. Actually, some of the most (seemingly) outrageOus ideas that I have ever had ultimately turned out to be absolutely sound when given a business application ; and this must be my excuse for presenting to my motor agent readers the suggestion which follows. One thing only troubles me, and that is whether the Editor will regard this article as quite suitable for The Commercial Motor., or whether he will not think it more fitted for the pages of the Cornet Blowers' Gazette (if there is such a journal); for it has to do with music.
• However, I am "chancing my arm," because I honestly believe that there is in the idea a way for somebody to make money, and, simultaneously, to do a double kindness ; and because it seems to me that, of all people, the motor agent who finds ordinary business a trifle dull just now is the individual most likely to be interested in the scheme, And this, exactly, is what that scheme is :—
The Musical Material of the Scheme.
Lately, the streets of London and some other populous centres have been 'enlivened morning, noon, and night by strains of music provided by bands composed of ex-Service men, and undoubtedly some of these bands are very fine—far better, indeed, than many that amuse more or less critical audiences at goodclass seaside resorts. Report says that the members of these bands pick up from ka to £7 a week each,
• but competition is growing keener, and at the same time the novelty is wearing off. Soon, they will be hard put to it to earn anything at all, for London and such places are centres of commerce, and although music has charms, it accords but ill with office routine. Thus the probability is that the poor fellows who form these soldier hands, and who are at least doing something . better than drawing doles, will in due course disappear from the streets • and when that happens, it Is not easy to say what' they will do for a living, since music-making in the ordinary way is not well-paid work nor is there a great demand in the big cities for those who make it, because already too many are to be found there.
Yet, if there is a superfluity of music in hecities to-day, it is also a fact that. there is too little of it within the reach of the public in the suburbs and surrounding villages. Take London alone,, and strike a circle with a radius of 30 miles around it. Within that circle will be found not tens, but hundreds of districts which, while preserving many of their rural characteristics, are now almost densely populated, although one may not be able to see the houses for trees. Few of them possess even a, cinema 'of. a kind that appeals to any but farm labourers and butcher-boys ; in fine, they have no amusements of any sort whatsoever. Now, to these places town folk have been steadily migrating ever since the motor vehicle made mankind Independent of road distance, railways, and such:like tentacles which hitherto had compelled the brain worker to reside close by his grindstone. First, there went the elderly people, who
wished to settle down for good ; and after them are now coming the younger generation, who want room to breathe.
These new back-to-the-landers have their gardens and their golf ; and most of them have their cars. For their amusements they take their occasional theatre evenings in town—not forgetting the dispiriting journey home again late at night. But very often the lack of some ready-to-hand entertainment palls somewhat badly on them, particularly on their wives and older children, who have not the daily change of business life to take them out of their home surroundings for a while.
All this, I am regretfully aware, is a tedious introduction to my suggestion; but it was too necessary to be skipped, and in any case we have now eome to the horses, or, to be strictly correct, to the motor bandstands.
Where to Place the Material.
It has occurred to me that if some of our motor agents cared to pro-vide-the facilities for transpoeting the best of those ex-Serviee men's bands from the streets of the cities, where their product (music) is not wanted, to the rural districts where the sound of well-played tram instrument& would be almost a godsend., profit might be made out of it. A lorry chaasis fitted with a special body tastefully designed to represent a bandstand ; uniforms for the bandsmen ; a little organizing work ; and it would be remarkable to me if the outfit did not earn more than its keep right from the first. Three shows oban hour or an hour-and-a-haIrs duration in three different but adjacent districts on each evening of the week, supplemented by afternoon performances in still other places, would be an easy matter to arrange. The fame of each band would spread asait went, and the thing would advertise itself into success. I speak as one who has had experience of just such a rurality as I have described, and who,knows similar townships well. A good hand on the common on one or two regular afternoons and evenings in the week would draw the sixpences of the residents like magic. Apart from public entertainnients, the motor band and its bandstand would be sure of fairly frequent engagements for village fetes, flower shows, and jamborees, which remain a feature of village life to-day, and which, incidentally,, hear out-that the absence of entertainment is keenly felt, for surelysnothing can he more deadly dull than any of thesefunctions. There would be ,garden parties,too, to--give -the -band en _ gagements ; nor need the winter be an-absolutely "off" time, for hails areloabe' hired in even out-of• the way localities.
It may be asked why I think :that moth's gents might well interest themselves in this schenie. The answer is, for three reasons. A '1a,ige:nuniber of motor traders fought in the war, and must have synapathy for their brothers who arein misfortune( and • who are hardly'likely to have either the money or the initiative to start an enterprise of this kind on their own aetennt. The second reason is, that the anost; • diffiCult part of the venture to any hut a mototstrader would be the running of the vehicle which constituted the bandstand. The third reason, and perhaps,.the soundest, is that if no agent Who would care to become an impresario is discoverable, that is not to prevent any agent from putting the idea before people who have the time, money, and will to assist ex-soldiers, or from giving advice as to the make of chassis to buy and how to build the body, for it.