Automatic Age

Issue: 1939 December

December, 1939
Wisconsin Regulates All
Cigarette Venders
Madison, Wis.— Under regulations
issued November 12th by State
Treasurer John M. Smith, every
owner or operator o f cigarette vend­
ing machine® must register the num­
ber and location o f each machine.
This will help promote a uniform
system o f collecting the tax on to­
bacco products as adopted by the
1938 legislature.
Registration
of
all
cigarette
venders must also include the name
of the owner or operator, as well as
that o f the person owning the
premises where the machine is lo­
cated. If the machines are without
numbers, owners or operators are
required to affix numbers to them.
Operators are required to secure a
$50 wholesale permit, and no firm,
person or corporation engaged in the
retail sales o f tobacco products is
permitted to buy such products ex­
cept from a manufacturer or whole­
saler who has a permit from the
State Treasurer. Manufacturers and
wholesalers located within the state
as well as out-of-state manufacturers
must secure permits to do business.
The permits expire July 1 o f each
year.
Coin-Ball Games Licensed
in Michigan Town
Wayne, Mich.— An ordinance plac­
ing stringent regulations on the op­
eration o f pin-ball games in Wayne
calls fo r the licensing o f each ma­
chine in operation, the establishment
where a machine is located, and the
licensing o f the agent or distributor.
A clause was incorporated in the
ordinance outlawing the operation of
any pay-off machines and declaring
those games legal which are to be
operated only fo r entertainment. No
license will be issued for a machine
which is judged capable o f being con­
verted into a gambling device.
AUTOMATIC AGE
Penalties fo r any violation o f the
provisions of the regulation were set
at $100 fine or 90* days sentence or
both.
The Police Department was
also empowered to seize and destroy
all unlicensed machines or machines
which violate any provision o f the
act.
License fees for legal operation of
the pin-ball games were set at $2
a year for each machine and $2 a
year fo r the establishment where the
machines are operated.
A fee o f
$25 a year was also imposed fo r a
license to act as an agent or distribu­
tor fo r such machines. In addition,
all licensed machines must display
numbered tags.
South Carolina Machine
Tax In Effect
Columbia, S. C.— Dr. Walter G.
Query, chairman o f the state tax
commission announced that machines
on which the state license tax had
not been paid would be confiscated by
the commission’s agents.
A t the recent session o f the general
assembly there was enacted into law
a bill imposing a tax on these ma­
chines. Many operators o f business
places where are placed such ma­
chines have paid the tax, but many
others have not, Dr. Query said. The
tax now due covers the fiscal year
which started July 1 and will end
June 30, 1940.
. The place o f business which has
music-producing or game machines
which have coin slots must pay a
license tax o f $15 a year for each
machine.
For machines "vending
any article to be purchased from ”
© International Arcade Museum
85
(such as cigaret machines) the tax
is $10 a year, but machines (such as
peanut and chewing gum machines)
where less than five cents goes into
the slot are exempted.
Small pool tables also come under
the provisions o f the new act. A pool
or billiard table measuring not more
than 3 1-2 feet wide and 7 feet long,
whether operated by a slot or other­
wise, now carries a tax o f $10 per
table.
Bowling alleys also are affected.
The license tax on them is $5 per
alley.
Amusement Games Ruled
Legal in Houston
Houston, Texas. — The city legal
department has ruled that pinball
games which do not pay off in money,
tokens or free plays are not gambling
devices, and should not be confiscated
or destroyed unless there is p roof
that the machine is used fo r gambling
purposes.
The ruling was made at the request
o f Police Chief L. C. Brown fo r in­
structions to the police force, who
asked whether it was a misdemeanor
or a felony to keep a pinball machine.
City Attorney Sewal Myer in his rul­
ing stated:
“ A person who rents any premises
to another fo r the purpose o f keep­
ing a gambling device also will be
prosecuted on a felony charge. It is
a misdemeanor fo r any person to per­
mit intermittent playing o f a gam ­
bling device on premises which he
owns or controls and is subject to a
fine o f not less than $25 nor more
than $100 fo r breaking this ordinance.
ID E N T IF Y Y O U R S E L F !
When you write to an Advertiser mention A U T O M A T IC
AGE.
It proves you are A N O PERATO R, not a curiosity seeker.
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
86
December, 1939
AUTOMATIC AGE
As a misdemeanor, a case would be
tried in Corporation Court, which
has no authority to order the destruc­
tion o f gambling machines o f any
kind. Such orders are to be issued
only by a justice o f the peace, county
or district judge.”
Taxes Represent Largest
Item in Cigarette Cost
New York, N. Y.— The Twentieth
Century Fund Committee, in its 403-
page book covering distribution costs,
drew up the following interesting
article about cigarettes:
“ Cigarettes are a standardized
product illustrative o f lower distri­
bution costs than many other articles
o f popular consumption.
Tobacco
distribution, like an hourglass, begins
with the raw material, which origin­
ates on a vast number o f small farm s,
passes through the hands o f a much
smaller number o f tobacco middle­
men, and after manufacture by a
very small group o f large-scale pro­
ducers, spreads out again to whole­
salers, to retailers and finally to mil­
lions o f consumers.
“ The total expense chargeable to
distribution is relatively low — not
more than 28 per cent o f the retail
price,” it continued. “ Less than four
cents o f the average price o f 14
cents a package is distribution cost
— less than one cent representing the
m anufacturer’s entire selling, adver­
tising and distributing expense. Con­
trary to popular ideas, advertising
costs are responsible fo r only a small
part o f the consumer’s price— amount­
ing to less than h alf a cent a package.
“ Both the retailer’s and jobber’ s
margins are low, and contrary to the
usual relation, almost equal. Each
amounts to about one and a half
cents or roughly to little more than
10 per cent of the selling price. In­
asmuch as general operating expenses
o f tobacco retailers are more than
10 per cent o f sales, their cigarette
profits, if any, must be obtained from
rapid turnover.
“ The largest single item in the
price of a package o f cigarettes is
the Federal excise tax o f six cents,
which is paid by the manufacturer.
About 500 million or nearly a tenth
o f the Federal revenue comes from
tobacco taxes, and cigarettes furnish
the lion’s share.
In addition, 25
States impose taxes on cigarettes and
tobacco yielding slightly more than
$50,000,000.”
Pittsburgh Raises Game
License to $25
Pittsurgh, Pa. — The City Council
authorized a $25 annual license fo r
pinball machines, with Councilman
P. J. M cArdle casting the only dis­
senting vote. He charged there was
“ no inform ation submitted to council
upon which intelligent consideration
could be based fo r fixing the fee
named in the ordinance; that is, a
license fee adequate to pay fo r the
cost o f administering and policing the
ordinance.”
There are approximately 1,200 o f
the machines in the city, the M ayor
said. Therefore, they will bring in
about $30,000 a year.
The M ayor said he will resume his
plea to council to appropriate $25,000
to pay the city’s share o f a county-
wide syphillis campaign.
Youngstown Pinball Tax
Revenue Rises
Youngstown, O., Oct. 19— Virtually
all marble boards and music boxes in
the city are now licensed, city o f­
ficials reported today as revenue
from the recent drive on unlicensed
devices jumped to $1,370 in the past
two weeks.
Police will continue to check fo r
unlicensed boards and music ma­
chines but authorities believe m ost o f
the violations have been eliminated.
During the last week 13 marble
board and music box permits were
granted, the m ayor’s office announced,
boosting the total since the campaign
gegan to 91.
The drive was ordered by Police
Chief Carl L. Olson after it was
found that license revenue was below
that o f last year.
License Fees Boost
N. C. Revenue
Morgantown, N. C.— The State de­
partment o f revenue revealed that
over $800 in license fees fo r coin
machines have been paid into the
treasury from amusement devices
operating in Burke County.
Seattle Derives $60,225
License Revenue
Seattle, Wash. — Official figures
show that this city has realized
$60,225 so fa r from licensed pinball
machines located in various locations.
This is almost fou r times the revenue
derived last year when collections
amounted to $16,531.25.
Vermont Games License
Yields Large Returns
M o n tp e lie r ,
FO/f FASTEP PROF/TsJX
Here’s All You Need:
THIS
HANDSOME
S t a te
CANDIES
Cello Bags— Tabs— Eyelettes— Staples
gam es
w h e n licen ses
w e re first issu ed .
T h e b ig g e s t
p a r t o f th e rev en u e w a s d eriv ed
w h ic h
1,001
m a c h in e
brou gh t
$ 9,460 f r o m
76
in
licen ses,
$ 14 , 737 . 5 0 ;
o p e r a to r s ’ p e r ­
m i t s ; a n d $ 3,840 f r o m
1,357
lo ­
ca tio n lic en ses.
fr o m
th e
lic e n sin g
of
a m u s e m e n t m a ch in e s. O p e r a to r s
in lo ts o f 100.
c in lots o f 50
to 99 . 49 c in lots
o f 25 to 49 . 52 c
in sm aller lots . . .
send 75 c fo r (p r e ­
paid) sam ple.
NUT PACKERS SUPPLY CO., INC.
54 W . IL L IN O IS ST., CHICAGO, ILL.
88 35 th St., B rooklyn , N ew Y ork
© International Arcade Museum
p in b a ll
1 , 1939 ,
T h e r ev en u e receiv ed b y th e
Write for Complete Price List to
Eastern O ffice:
V er­
S ta te is dou b le w h a t officials e x ­
m c k v i w p fa 47
Get Our Low Prices on
licen sed
sin c e Ju n e
p ected
NUTS —
The
to ta l r ev en u e o f $ 28 , 217.50 fr o m
fr o m
Vendors everywhere are reaping profits by adding our line
of nut racks and counter package goods to th e ir business
. . .
at a modest investment.
V t. —
m o n t S t a te ta x r e tu r n s re v e a l a
report
th a t
th e
rev en u e
w ill
rea ch a n e w h ig h a s th ere a re
m any
lo c a tio n s
in
w h ich
m a­
ch in e s h a v e n o t been in sta lle d .
A wise mam. is a thinker. A thmker
speculates about various things. A
speculator is a gambler, and to
gamble is foolish. Ther&fore, it is
folly to be wise.
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