Automatic Age

T
he
A
u t o m a t ic
Oklahoma’s New Tax
on Vending Machines
E veryon e in the trade should by
this tim e know that effective Ju ly 1st,
1925, vending m achines o f ev ery type
operated within the boundaries o f the
State o f O klahom a carry a tax o f
$7.50 a year regardless o f the type o f
m erchandise vended.
Even match
v endors com e under this ta xin g law
a ccord in g to an opinion handed dow n
by the A tto rn e y General.
T his law rivals the Tennessee A n ti­
E volu tion law fo r its freakishness.
The busy druggist preparing prescrip­
tions must drop his w ork, run to the
fr o n t o f his store and sell a penny
b ox o f m atches, a tw o cent stam p or
a stick o f gum. The h e fty legisla­
tors v otin g fo r this bill w ill n ow find
it necessary to do w hat their fo r e ­
fathers did when they wanted to get
w eighed w hich means they will have
to pester the butcher to determ ine
w hether or n ot they have taken on
any w eight.
T he sum o f $7.50 is as much as
m any m achines net during a year and
there is a dou bt if m ore than 10 per
cent o f the m achines in the state can
be profitably operated a fte r this tax
is paid.
In oth er w ords, the law is confis­
ca tory and in effect is w hat is known
as “ class” legislation, and a test case
should be prom ptly made attackin g
the constitutionality o f the O klahom a
act.
A n an alogou s case was recen tly
decided by the U nited States Suprem e
C ourt when it fou nd that the m unici­
pality o f Portland, O regon, was not
w ithin its righ ts when, through legis­
lation, the city attem pted to place
house to house canvassers under $500
bond. The Suprem e Court decided
© International Arcade Museum
A ge
13
that this la w w as in restraint o f
trade and to our n otion there can be
no question but that the Oklahoma
law is also in restraint o f trade.
A test case o f this law should be
made f o r the ultim ate g ood o f the
entire industry.
New Five and Ten
Cent Vender
A n attractive appearing fou r com ­
partm ent vender o f nuts and raisins
has recen tly been put on the market.
T w o colum ns are fo r five cent play
and tw o fo r ten cent operation. A l­
m onds, pecans, ju m bo peanuts or rais­
ins put up in cylindrically form ed
cartons having glassine openings are
dispensed. The mechanism o f the
new m achine is sim ilar to that used
in vending
five cent
packages o f
mints, the package distributed, how ­
ever, being much larger. The manu­
factu rers claim they are gettin g very
g ood returns from this unique vender
w hich is adaptable to all inside loca ­
tions.
Perfume Vender
A n interesting and novel m achine
is a perfum e vender that is installed
in m en’s and w om en ’s dressing room s.
It is a 10c con trol and squirts the
perfum e from a small nozzle.
The
machine should do well in sections in­
habited by colored people, and some
classes o f foreign ers w ho use m ore
perfum e
than the average run ot'
Am ericans. It is also p r o o f against
bu rglary because there is little incen­
tive to steal such tell-tale property.
It would seem, how ever, that a nickel
play w ould net m ore than a dime on
this machine.
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