April, IQ33
THE COI N M A C H I N E J O U R N A L
66
• International News Section •
ROYALTY Visits Qom->
dMachine Exhibits
• Prince George has evidently ac
quired a definite interest in coin-op
erated machines, says the British Au
tomatic World. His initiation into the
working of the “Nervograph” at the
Automatic Section of the British In
dustries Fair last month, has been fol
lowed by a visit to the Palace Pier,
Brighton, where he tested his skill
and disposed of three dozen pennies
among the skill games, the Crystal
Gazer, and Mother Shipton, for up
wards of half an hour, and from which
he appeared to extract no end of fun.
Visits Ahrens Factory
That he was intrigued by the in
genuity of the machines as well as the
fun they produced, was evidenced two
days later, when accompanied by three
friends, he made his appearance at
the Ahrens Factory, Torrens Street
Islington, in the same unceremonious
manner as he “tripped” on to the
Palace Pier on the Sunday afternoon.
That the Prince had a definite object
in view, is apparent from the fact that
Torrens Street is perhaps one of the
least known streets in Islington, a cul
de sac of large factories at the back of
Angel Tube Station.
.
A sharp rat-a-tat on the massive
doors of the factory resulted in the
Royal party obtaining admission
through a small doorway, and a mes
sage being despatched to the effect
that Prince George wished to inter
view the proprietor.
It so happened that the Ahrens fac
tory was busy on the manufacture of
pin-table games, and in the assembly
shop were laid out some 250 table
frames and mechanical parts, going
through the process of completion.
This was the Prince’s initiation into
the methods of something approach
ing mass production of the new game,
and he expressed great satisfaction
when informed that British manufac
turers were successfully competing
with foreign rivals in their production.
Lined up against the wall of this de
partment were a number of talking
weighers, some of which were being
specially equipped for use in Spain
and other parts of the Continent.
Prince George enquired if many for
eign machines were imported, to which
Mr. Ahrens replied that very many
thousands of pounds worth came to
this country every year, especially
from America, which, if made in Great
Britain, would provide work for large
numbers of our mechanics and other
workmen.
When leaving, the Prince passed
similar machines to those which had
produced much amusement on the
Palace Pier, and which doubtless were
the cause of his sudden visit to Is
lington.
reported to have sold more than 800,
000 volumes of his detective stories
through coin machines up to July,
1932. Since these books were not sold
through machines in Germany, it is
supposed that they were sold in Great
Britain and the United States. Eng
land probably has the largest number
of book vendors of any country, 84,
500 being the speculative estimate of
the machines in use.
A run of 100,000 copies of John
Galsworthy is now being prepared for
sale through vending machines in the
United States, according to this writer.
•
“Edition Tauchnitz,” publishers of
best English literature in Germany,
are said to be considering installation
of machines to vend popular titles.
Illustrated books seem to be espe-
dally popular. The Pennsylvania
!
Press Association, for instance, sold
|
864 copies of “Soul of America” with-
■
!
out illustrations, from January to
i
July, 1932, but the second illustrated
j
edition sold 2100 copies from Febru-
j
ary to August, 1932. Arthur Hobson,
'
the author of this book, is very much ‘ I
in favor of selling good books to the
j
public through vending machines.
:
W a n ts U . S . C ig a re tte
V e n d e rs
B oole S ale s T h r o u g h
V e n d e rs G r o w
The publisher Reclam started in
Germany about 1900 to vend books
through vending machines. Careful in
his selection of titles, mostly travel
and lecture subjects, he had sold 6,
400,000 copies during the last 30
years, says Dr. H. Schmidt, in a re
cent article on the subject in Der
Automat, independent coin machine
publication in Germany.
It is said that this machine was one
of a type which originated in Brus
sels, Belgium, in 1894, and has since
been used in Europe and America.
The publisher of Edgar Wallace is
“Douglas C. Howells of 14 Kildare
Gardens, Bay water, London, W. 2,
was in to see us yesterday to advise
that his newly established concern
was interested in two matters with
reference to automatic machines,” the
director of the Department of Com
merce in London writes T he C oin
M achine J ournal . “The first one
is a small automatic cigarette vending
machine which can be placed on a
counter. At present there are a great
many of these machines standing on
the streets in front of the various
shops, and in the halls of hotels, res
taurants, etc., but his firm appears to
be of the opinion that a small one will
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