THE AUTOMATIC AGE
Vol. 5
C H ICAG O , A P R IL , 1929
No. 9
Noted Organization Expert Sees Millions in
Future of Automatic Merchandising
Speaker at Detroit Convention Shows That Great Development is Inevitable
(The follow ing is a speech deliv
ered by Mr. H. W. Alexander on the
opening day o f the great Operators’
Convention and Manufacturers’ E x
position held at the Statler Hotel,
Detroit, February 25-28. Mr. A lex
ander is president o f the H. W.
Alexander Company o f New York, an
executive o f the Consolidated Auto
matic
Merchandising
Corporation,
and is prominent in financial circles
in the East. His prophecies in con
nection with the future o f automatic
merchandising are to be taken most
seriously, fo r his success in numer
ous ventures shows that he possesses
great familiarity with modern busi
ness methods and a keen insight into
possibilities o f development o f the
industries with which he has had
contact,)
We have been called together here,
and I might say, gentlemen, that this
is the first meeting o f this associa
tion that I have ever attended. It is
very representative, t o o ; it is far bet
ter than I expected; in fact, I under
stand it is the largest meeting that
you have ever held.
W e have been called together here
primarily to discuss and to consider
the question o f the advancement o f
automatic merchandising. The man
ufacturer’s representative who was
here just a few minutes ago recalled
to my mind something that was told
me recently by the president o f a
very large company, and it is so akin
to our own development and to our
© International Arcade Museum
own business that I think that
might mention it here.
I
He was president o f the Carriage
Manufacturers’ Association, and in
1912 they held the largest meeting o f
Harry W . Alexander
the carriage manufacturers in their
history. Think o f it— only a few
years ago, carriage and sleigh manu
facturers, right here in Detroit, in
the center o f the automobile indus
try. This was a story o f Messrs. Du
rant, Buick. Ford and others who at
that time were in the carriage busi
ness. My friend was recalling that
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