Automatic Age

Issue: 1925 September

THE AUTOMATIC AGE
V ol. 1
C H IC A G O , S E P T M B E R , 1925
N o. 2
E. H . F U N K E A D V IS E S O P E R A T O R S T O
KEEP SC A LE S IN G O O D R EPAIR IF
T H E Y AR E TO M ARE M O N E Y
’ W a y back in 1900 w hen the
bu tch er shop w as considered the
proper w eigh in g place in tow n , a
you n g lad began to v ig orou sly p er­
suade the storekeepers near
busy
spots in M ilw aukee, W is., that p e o ­
ple should pay a penny to get
w eighed and that he w ould arrange
to place a coin operated scale in fron t
o f th eir particular store and give the
storekeeper a percen tage on all r e ­
turns, and that he w ould
fu rth er
make the collection s him self, keep
the scale in repair and i f necessary
drum up business fo r it. W h eth er the
success o f this effort w as due to his
dynam ic personality or the m erit o f
his arg-ument, w e d on ’t stop to com ­
m ent on bu t w e do kn ow that this was
h ow E. H. Funke becam e a scale
operator.
A t th at time he w as em ployed b y
the A u tom atic V en din g C om pany o f
N ew Y ork . R em aining w ith the N ew
Y o rk firm f o r several years, Funke
began to g et a hankering to see the
coun try, so in 1907 he packed his
bags and becam e general agen t fo r
the N ational N ov elty Com pany, o f
M inneapolis, taking care o f several
states. A fe w years later he again
becam e identified w ith the A u tom atic
V en din g Com pany, this time as W e s t­
ern M anager.
“ A b ou t this tim e” said Mr. Funke,
“ I th ou gh t I w ould g o into business
fo r m yself. I began w ith one scale
w hich I located at A shland and Chi­
ca g o avenues righ t here in Chicago.
Th is scale I operated fo r tw o or three
w eeks and then bou g h t fo u r m ore.
It w as hard to eke out a livin g on
h a lf a dozen scales, even in the early
© International Arcade Museum
days, but I hung on and added a
scale or tw o each w eek. A ft e r a time
— which seem s lo n g n ow that I look
E. H. F U N K E
back— I was operating a sufficient
num ber o f scales to make a living and
I then looked forw a rd to the day
when I could build m y ow n scales.”
This latter plan o f Mr. F u nke’s was
accom plished with a bang when in
1923 he erected a plant containing
5,000 square fe e t and began to build
his ow n scales, under the style o f
Public Scale Com pany. A t the pres­
ent time, Mr. Funke operates over
500 scales. M oreover, the scales he
has out on location s are kept in tip­
top shape and to this Mr. Funke, w ho
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6
T he A
u t o m a t ic
is President o f th e N ation al A ssocia ­
tion o f V en d in g M achine O perators,
la rg ely attributes his success.
“ M any operators,” he stated, “ n ot
on ly o f scales, bu t o f all types o f
v ending m achines have the n otion
th at m on ey can be m ade in this field
i f th ey g et the breaks o f luck on
location s, etc. This assum ption is
m isleading fo r m on ey can’t be made
in this field o r in any oth er I k n ow o f
unless ev ery hour o f the day is filled
in w ith hard w ork.
T ake fo r in ­
stance the m atter o f painting scales.
Som e operators seem to feel that
a fte r a location is secured, n oth ing
should be done but co lle ct the m oney,
doin g on ly as little repair w ork as is
absolutely necessary and these fe l­
low s n ever give the m atter o f paint­
in g a thought.
N o w I have fou n d
that it pays b ig dividends to paint our
scales at least tw o tim es a year and
som etim es fou r. A rusty, ill-kem pt
appearing scale literally yells “ I am
n ot reliable” and on ly a near-sighted
person w ould in vest a pen ny f o r a
w eigh on such a scale. O perators
should keep their scales clean and test
them a fter each collection fo r a c ­
cu racy.”
In closin g the interview , the w riter
asked M r. Funke, w h a t in his opinion
is the best loca tion fo r a scale. H e
replied b y sa yin g: “ W e have placed
scales in every conceivable spot but
th e best location b y fa r w as one w e
had som e tim e ago righ t near a cem e­
tery entrance. F rom the proceeds o f
this particular scale w e ju dged that
the .m ajority o f persons returning
fro m funerals m ust have w eighed
them selves.”
Th e General Steam N avigation
C om pany claim s to b e the oldest sea­
g o in g steam ship com pa n y in exist­
ence, having started in 1824 w ith tw o
steam packets, establishing a service
on the Tham es betw een L on don ,
M argate, and Ransgate.
T h ere is n o pa rt o f the w orld in
w hich it does n ot som e tim e rain.
© International Arcade Museum
A ge
An Interesting Visitor
THE
A U T O M A T IC
A G E w as
visited last m onth b y Mr. O. L. M iles,
in ven tor o f the fam ou s M iles A u to ­
stack m achine, said to be the hand­
som est m achine on the market.
M r. M iles w as fo rm e rly an en gi­
neer w ith one o f the big steel com ­
panies and this experience has proven
o f value to him in the vending m a­
chine field.
Som e time ago Mr. M iles conceived
the idea that a m achine w hich w ould
vend standard gum and save the cost
o f stackin g it in the m achines w ould
be a great seller.
H e, th erefore,
w orked ou t the autostack vender.
Mr. M iles states th a t he has over­
com e all the difficulties in p erfectin g
a m achine o f this ty p e and that it
w ill give p e rfe ct service to consum er
as w ell as operator.
G O O D W O R K IN M IL W A U K E E
F rom Mr. R. C. W o o c k , o f the N a­
tional N ov elty C om pany, President o f
the M ilw aukee loca l operators asso­
ciation, w e receive the fo llo w in g w el­
com e letter:
“ E n closed please find check fo r
$1.50 fo r the A U T O M A T I C A G E
and T H E P E A N U T P R O M O T E R .
W e believe the A U T O M A T IC A G E
w ill fill a lon g fe lt w ant with all the
vending
machine
operators.
T he
w riter w ill be pleased to a ct as your
loca l representative here fo r the p ro­
m otion o f the vending m achine busi­
ness.”
Y ou rs truly
N ational N ov elty Co.
R. C. W oock .
“ W e w ant to com plim ent you on
y ou r very attractive publication .”
T H E A D -L E E CO.,
C hicago, 111.
Cracks, a lon g w h ich 2 0 -fo o t dis­
placem ents occu rred at the tim e o f
the San F ran cisco earthquake, could
be traced fo r 190 miles.
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