John F. Renner on Music

From 1890 until his retirement in 1929, John F. Renner was connected with the music business in Sandusky, Ohio. Above is an image of his store in the Odd Fellows Temple when he was in business with George Doerzbach in the early 1900s. Mr. Renner gave his customers brochures which extolled the virtues of music. The cover of one of these publications suggested that you could “get into the picture” by playing a musical instrument.

The focus of this brochure was unearthing hidden talent in children by teaching them to play a musical instrument. The cover title implies that music could promote harmony in the family home.

Bella Webb’s article on page 9 was entitled Music Instead of Pills. She wrote that improvements in both physical and mental health could be achieved by listening to music. 

 According to the American Music Therapy Association, music therapy is a health profession “in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive and social needs of individuals.” It seems that Mr. Renner promoted these concepts to Sandusky area residents long before music therapy became a college major.