[LB038145], Letter from Alfred Ord Tate to Edison Phonograph Toy Manufacturing Co, Daniel Weld, March 4th, 1890
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Title
[LB038145], Letter from Alfred Ord Tate to Edison Phonograph Toy Manufacturing Co, Daniel Weld, March 4th, 1890
Author
Date
1890-03-04
Type
Folder/Volume ID
LB038-F
Microfilm ID
140:679
Document ID
LB038145
Publisher
Thomas A. Edison Papers, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University
Has Version
Item sets
Transcription
March 4, 1890
Daniel Weld, Esq., Sec'y
Edison Phonograph Toy M'Ff'g. Co.,
95 Milk St., Boston, Mass
Dear Sir:-
I beg to acknowledge, with thanks, receipt of your letter of 3rd instant, enclosing copy of a communication addressed to yourself by Mr. D.M. Yeomans, and informing me as to the section taken by the Directors present at the meeting on Monday last.
I am glad that they decided not to deal in State rights.
In regard to informing purchasers of dolls that the territory in which they can be resold is restricted by certain contracts, How would it do to have a notice to this effect printed and attached to the box which contains the doll? It could be pasted on the factory and might save considerable inconvenience. You might ask Mr. Brown if such a notice as this would be adequate.
In regard to Mr. Yeoman's letter, it has all along been very clear to me that his anxiety has not been caused by anything real, but that he has been frightened by the old ghosts that have been trotted out for his benefit. It is unfortunate that he had not a more thorough understanding of our foreign business before he went across. He left in such a hurry that we found it almost impossible to equip him properly for the special work which he was undertaking, apart from giving him any general information, might have told Mr. Yeomans, with reference to the London Stereoscopic Company, that that concern did claim the phonograph, but that we proved conclusively to them that their claim was invalid, and that they have recognized the invalidity of it by suppressing advertisements which they inserted in the papers throughout England they were threatened with legal proceedings. Mr. Yeomans says that "should one whisper of such threatened law-suits get abroad your cake would be dough." The Stereoscopic people's connection with the phonograph has not been whispered abroad--it has been shouted, and I don't think that there is a financial man in London of any importance who has taken time to look into the phonograph busines, as many of them have, who is not fully aware of the status of the Stereoscopic Company with relation to the phonograph. Col. Gouraud has done business for the last two years without any interference whatever from them; but someone has evidently found that Mr. Yeomans is unfamiliar with the subject, and believing that he has something to sell in connection with the phonograph, they desire to "bear" the price.
I am very anxious to attend any meeting of the Directors of the Toy Company at which this question of foreign business shall be discussed. I do not think that any of them are impressed favorably with the offer from Germany, nor am I. This means that we shall have to contemplate an alternative, and it is on the subject of an alternative that I wish to express my views.
Let me say before closing that I think Mr. Yeomans an excellent man, and fully believe that if he had been familiar with the phonograph business, or had someone with him having a thorough knowledge of the subject, he could have obtained an offer that we would have been able to accept.
Yours very truly,
A.O.Tate
Private Secretary
Daniel Weld, Esq., Sec'y
Edison Phonograph Toy M'Ff'g. Co.,
95 Milk St., Boston, Mass
Dear Sir:-
I beg to acknowledge, with thanks, receipt of your letter of 3rd instant, enclosing copy of a communication addressed to yourself by Mr. D.M. Yeomans, and informing me as to the section taken by the Directors present at the meeting on Monday last.
I am glad that they decided not to deal in State rights.
In regard to informing purchasers of dolls that the territory in which they can be resold is restricted by certain contracts, How would it do to have a notice to this effect printed and attached to the box which contains the doll? It could be pasted on the factory and might save considerable inconvenience. You might ask Mr. Brown if such a notice as this would be adequate.
In regard to Mr. Yeoman's letter, it has all along been very clear to me that his anxiety has not been caused by anything real, but that he has been frightened by the old ghosts that have been trotted out for his benefit. It is unfortunate that he had not a more thorough understanding of our foreign business before he went across. He left in such a hurry that we found it almost impossible to equip him properly for the special work which he was undertaking, apart from giving him any general information, might have told Mr. Yeomans, with reference to the London Stereoscopic Company, that that concern did claim the phonograph, but that we proved conclusively to them that their claim was invalid, and that they have recognized the invalidity of it by suppressing advertisements which they inserted in the papers throughout England they were threatened with legal proceedings. Mr. Yeomans says that "should one whisper of such threatened law-suits get abroad your cake would be dough." The Stereoscopic people's connection with the phonograph has not been whispered abroad--it has been shouted, and I don't think that there is a financial man in London of any importance who has taken time to look into the phonograph busines, as many of them have, who is not fully aware of the status of the Stereoscopic Company with relation to the phonograph. Col. Gouraud has done business for the last two years without any interference whatever from them; but someone has evidently found that Mr. Yeomans is unfamiliar with the subject, and believing that he has something to sell in connection with the phonograph, they desire to "bear" the price.
I am very anxious to attend any meeting of the Directors of the Toy Company at which this question of foreign business shall be discussed. I do not think that any of them are impressed favorably with the offer from Germany, nor am I. This means that we shall have to contemplate an alternative, and it is on the subject of an alternative that I wish to express my views.
Let me say before closing that I think Mr. Yeomans an excellent man, and fully believe that if he had been familiar with the phonograph business, or had someone with him having a thorough knowledge of the subject, he could have obtained an offer that we would have been able to accept.
Yours very truly,
A.O.Tate
Private Secretary