Without question, the high-light of the
convention was during the dinner held at
the Palmer House on Friday, December 5.
Although suffering from a severe attack
of the grippe, Mr. Nathaniel Leverone, the
President of Automatic Canteen Company
acted as toastmaster. Those who had been
privileged to be present at other gatherings
presided over by Mr. Leverone, were well
aware of the treat in store for them, and
it was no small tribute to his ability in this
capacity that the effulgence of his dulcet
euphonisms was not dismissed in the slight
est by his illness. About two hundred guests
were present at this dinner, including offic
ers, directors, operators, employees and
friends. The guest of honor was Mrs. Ora
Snyder, who gave a very interesting talk
on the subject of candy. Mrs. Snyder
started some years ago with a cup o f sugar,
and today has what is considered as the
most attractive locations for the sale of fine
candies in Chicago and nearby cities.
Other speakers of the evening were Mr.
Louis L. Leverone, Vice-President and Gen
eral Manager of Stein-Hall Manufacturing
Company, who is Chairman of the Board of
Automatic Canteen Company; Mr. J. B.
Tanner, who is distributor for the Canteen
in the State of Michigan, and who is one
of the founders o f the International A c
countants Society and a Director of the
Alexander Hamilton Institute, gave a very
interesting resume of the operation in Mich
igan. As Mr. Tanner’s previous experience
equipped him to approach the problem from
a scientific angle, and as he had employed
some revolutionary methods in establishing
the Michigan territory, his remarks were
found of unusual interest by all of the oper
ators and distributors present.
Mr. Walter E. Swanson, Vice-President
of Automatic Canteen Company, gave some
very interesting plans for the future o f the
Canteen. He laid particular stress upon
the new models on display and the new
products which will soon be available. In
calling attention to the fact that the new
models were all designed around the ori
ginal Canteen mechanism, mention was
made o f the thorough tests by actual use
to which this mechanism has been subjected.
With installations from coast to coast and
from Canada to the Gulf, these mechanisms
have ben required to operate under every
conceivable climatic condition.
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Mr. Frank H. Anderson, Director of Dis
tribution for the Company, made some very
startling revelations as to the growth of
the Company up to the present time. Most
of those present had only a general idea of
the company’s progress until Mr. Ander
son’s talk gave them specific facts and fig
ures, and afterwards no one could help but
feel that such a growth, in the face of the
existing business depression, represented an
almost fool-proof business.
In the speech given by Mr. Fred Mills,
President of Mills Novelty Company, he
stressed the general skepticism his Com
pany had felt regarding Automatic mer
chandising machines prior to the entry of
Automatic Canteen Company into this field.
He stated that he considered this the only
group he had ever seen whom he felt could
do the job right; that the merchandising
of staple products through automatic ma
chines had always been a dream of his, but
until Automatic Canteen Company had laid
before him their plans for developing this
line of endeavor o f a national scale, his
Company had consistently refused to be
come associated with any such project.
Mr. Otto Schnering, President o f the
Curtiss Candy Company, reminded those
present of a prediction he had made at the
time the Automatic Canteen Company be
gan business. This prediction was an es
timate on the part of Mr. Shnering as to
the number o f Canteens which would be in
actual operation five years from the date
o f the placement of the first Canteen. Those
then associated with the beginning of the
Canteen had considered Mr. Schnering’s es
timate unduly optimistic, so that it was
with some degree of pride that he was able
to call attention to the fact that Mr. An
derson’s figures as to the progress of the
Company to date, indicated to almost a cer
tainty a generous excess over and above
Mr. Schnering’s original estimate.
Mr. Guy Guernsey, a member o f the City
Council and who is also Secretary of Auto
matic Canteen Company, very appropriately
introduced Mrs. Ora Snyder, the guest of
honor o f the evening. Mr. Guernsey was
one of the very few people who originally
had confidence in Mrs. Snyde’r ability to
carry out her plan for the manufacture of
high grade candies, and through his close
observation o f her company’s growth dur
ing the years, was in position to ive an un
usually interesting resume o f her problems
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