Short Shots
From the Northwest
Tour Brings Good Will
By REVIEW CORRESPONDENT
SEATTLE.-You'd think Operator AI
Brashen was selling infant supplies instead
of handling coin machines to hear him rave
about his .grandchild, a boy born to his
dau~hter, the present Mrs. Stept, months
ago. Every time the youngster cuts a tooth
or gurgles a ~urgle, every operator, distri -
butor, and jobber in the orthwest gets the
inside facts about the matter from Oper-
ator AI ... And despite all this, he doesn't
like to be called "Grandpa" either . . .
Bill Staed, operator for the Harmony
Amusement Co., is living up to the firm 's
name by keeping harmony with his asso-
ciates . .. Note to Operator Van Booth:
The next time you are out on an extended
celebration, don't neglect to call up the lit-
tle woman and tell her you'll be coming in
with the milk man ... Van forgot all about
the time, the other night, and his wife had
the whole town worried about him . . .
ANACORTES, Wash.-Mickey Hannon,
who is doin~ a nice job operatin~ coin
machines in this town, is a former orth-
west prize fighter . . .
WENATCHEE, Wash. - This thriving
apple center of the State of Washington is
without marble games . .. Can't some en-
terprisin.g operator arrange to cover this
section, just as the other territories in the
State are covered? ...
TACOMA, Wash.-"Fat" Billett, Taco-
ma operator, had a good lau.gh at the ex-
pense of Freddie Steele. World's Middle-
weight Champion, and AI Gustafson, well-
known Seattle distributor, when the three
were at a ni~ht club a short while after
Steele won the middleweight crown . . .
Introducing Gustafson, Billett said: "Meet
Babe Risko, Freddie." . . . Steele had just
smashed out a ten-round win over Risko to
grab the ti tIe . . .
CHEHALIS, Wash.-Bill Smith, Che-
halis operator, besides his coin machine
business, also operates Bill Smith's Coffee
Shop, located in the St. Helens Hotel at
Chehalis . . . Coin machine men travelling
in these parts are invited to drive in and
have a sandwich and cup of coffee ano to
talk over old times with Bill . . .
MANCHESTER, Wash.-Ralph Wilcox-
en, Manchester operator, who is located
across the Sound from Seattle, makes fre-
quent visits to Seattle in his sailboat .
We spotted him tying up at the wharf on
Elliott Avenue the other morning . . .
VANCOUVER, B. C.-A small fortune
awaits the man who can figure out a way
by which Vancouver operators and distri-
butors could receive shipments of marble
games purchased in Seattle for Canadian
use without having to pay 100 per cent in
freight and duty ...
VICTORIA, B. C.-Here's a brain twist-
er for the master minds: H ow did Cunn1ng-
ham Brothers, Victoria, B. c., operators,
receive their shipments of pin ball games
while all ports were tied up in the long-
shoreman's strike? . . .
JUNEAU, Alaska-Operators here and
in Ketchikan are doing a nice coin machine
business despite the fact tbat they must
pay a high yearly license fee on every ma-
chine ...
"Don't you dare kiss me or I'll yell for
my father?"
"Where is he?"
" In Paris.'
2
•
REVIEW
SUPPLEMENT
-Capehart parties in behalf of Wurlitzer organi-
zation resu.lt in comme.ndation from gu.ests.
By E. C. SPENCER
RA~EL
T pal}!n
the start of daily produ.ction which will see In excess of more than 400
new Rock·Ola Rhythm King Phonographs finished, are George Grat (left),
Jack Nelson, Rock-Ola's general sales manager, David C. Rockola, head
of the tirm, and Sam Kresberg, manager of the Capitol Automatic Music Co. of New York City.
WATCH I N G
What
New York
Is Doing
T
HE Sanitary Automatic Candy Corp.,
formerly at 235 West 23rd Street in
taking larger quarters at 136 West 52nd
Street, gives evidence of one of the larllest
expansive movements in its historv. Ac-
cording to its president, Charles L. O'Reilly,
one of the shrewdest automatic candy mer-
chandisers in the country, the Sanitary
Automatic Candv COrD. has jllst bej!"un to
scratch the surface. O'Reiliv declared:
"Automatic and stand merchandising not
onlv offers the consumer fresh material.
but it also presents an opportunity to spread
the gospel of a service that is precise,
health-protectifl'! and satisfactory from the
Drice anple. The future offers an unlim-
ited field to wide-awake and resourceful
merchandisers who will concentrate not
onlv on mere placements, but also on ap-
pearance and general esthetic values."
In addition to O'Reilly, other officers
of the corporation are. vice-president, Ben-
iam;n Sherman; first vice-president. Stevens
Michlick and second vice-president, Morris
Keiserstein.
Leon Taksen of Leon Taksen Co., Inc.,
who boueht out Irving Bromber.g, now on
the Pacific Coast. about four years ago
and has been making steadv progress since
then. has just returned from a buvine tri~
to Washington D . C. Taksen finds bUSI-
ness on the up~rade and has been eSDeciallv
successful in the operation of " Hold 'Em"
and "Happv D ays."
Charlev "Old Cigar" Lichtman of the
New York Distributin ~ Corp. now located
at 3682 Broadway, will be located at the
corner of Broadway and 151st Street after
Tanuary 1. Charlev is serving as an out-
let for Chicago and New York manufac-
turers and recently succeeded in distributing
more than a thousand Bolo machines, which,
it is said, are going like hotcakes, for the
Pacent ovelty Mf~. Co. , Utica, lew York .
Charley's old cigar is almo t a well kno:w n
as Charley, himself, and the. trade has Im-
parted the hope that when LIChtman moves
to his new and larger quarters , the expan-
sive efforts will not cause the old weed to
go by the board.
. _
Harry E. Pincus of the Tobacco ServICe
Co., Inc., Columbia University grad and
proud daddy of two ~hildren, has. be~n one
of the chief factors In the organtzattOn of
the Cigarette Merchandisers' Association,
Inc., which has just opened offices in the
Chanin Building at Lexington Avenue and
42nd Street. For some time Mr. Pincus, in
common with his fellow operators has felt
the need of ridding the trade of some ex-
cessive chiselin~ and cut-throat competi-
tion. The association that has been formed
is the answer.
Questioned as to what progress the or-
ganization has made so far, Pincus replied,
"There has been a lot of progress, and
it is only the start, for we expect to bring
complete order out of chaos in cigarette
machine operation in the verv near future."
Pincus has the distinction of being brother
to Sol Pincus, D eputv Health Commission-
er of New York Citv. He also operates
the Cascades Swimming Pool which is well
known as a summer swimming resort. The
pool adioins his offices.
H. C. Turner of the Turner Automatic
Devices, Inc., located at 205 East 42nd
Street, and known to readers of the COIN
MACHINE REVIEW for his contrihutions to
its pages, has sold out his equipment to
John M. Bennett, real estate ODerator and
well-known business man of New York
City. Bennett, it has been reported. plans
to develop the pocket lighter machines of
the Turner Automatic D evices, Inc. , and
a plant is at present in operation with that
end in view under the direction of Morris
Blascopf, at 466 West 51st.
Herbert H. Frost, engineer, and president
of the Acoustic Coin D evices, Inc., at 12
Fast 41st Street, finds a growing demand
for time-lock devices for export, particularly
to South America, where these machines are
comparatively new. Originally interested in
radio time-locks, Mr. Frost has branched
out in other machines where the time-lock
element is desirable and is, at present, en-
gaged in extending the use of the particular
coin device.
D . M. Firestone, representing Stewart &
McGuire, Jnc. , with a suite in The Empire
State Building, back from a recent suc-
cessful trip to the Midwest, was brimming
over with good news of business done in
the cigarette vending field in that part of
the country. Firestone has been in the
game twenty-one years and reports that he
has seldom seen the vending industry in a
better condition.
Samuel Strahl, probably one of the best-
informed vending machine merchandisers in
the country and well known to the vend -
ing trade as a contributor of ideas in mer-
chandising, represents Northwestern Sales
Company in the heart of New York's the-
atrical district. He reports an unusual de-
mand for one- and five-cent machines.
DECEMBER.
1936
in a Presidential political cam-
would seem like child's play to
Homer E. Capehart, generalissimo of the
Wurlitzer- implex sales organization, who
ha just completed his Good-Will Caravan
schedule. By plane, train and automobile
Capehart has made a whirlwind tour of
the country during November and Decem-
ber to an extent that outshines the travel-
in~ of Messrs. Roosevelt and Landon in
the late fight between the Elephant and the
D onkey. Everyone who knows Capehart
realizes that he has plenty of steam but
he never used it so effectivelv and spec-
tacu larly as during the last few weeks.
Those associated with him were run ragged
tryin~ to keep up with him. He has cov-
ered several times more air milea,l!e than
Col. Lindbereh covered on his famous
good-will flight to Pari~ and he probablY
contacted as many people. directly or in-
directly, as does the averal(e Presidential
candidate in the same number of stops.
"The purpose of these Wurlitzer par-
ties. which we hope to make an annual
event," Capehart says in connection with
his good-will caravan. "is to cement great-
er fell owship among the coin-machine men.
to raise the sta nd ards of the industrv and
to improve the conditions in the field . 1
know of no better wav to do this than bv
,getting together and breaking bread with
friends and competitors."
In all of his addresses before coin-ma-
chine operators in the various cities on his
schedu le, CaDehart urees them to "eet sold
on their business and become proud of it.
If vou don't," he warns, "vou are going
to be outlawed. It is a most profitahle
business, but it must be put on a higher
plane. which it rightly deserves. The chief
troub le is that too many of you don't have
the Droper viewpoint. That angle must
be eliminated. You must organize, clean
up and dress up your business and make
up your mind that you're in a legitimate
enterprise that compares with any other
high-class industry in the world today."
Reports from Mr. Capehart prove con-
clusively that the coin-machine business is
booming everywhere. Ni.ght and day, by
plane, train and automobile, he has been
the host at banquets to coin-operators in
most of the large cities of the country dur-
ing the last few weeks. Perhaps no man
is better able to judge conditions than he.
The Capehart Good-Will Caravan sche-
dule has included the following cities and
dates: Boston, November ~; Chicago, No-
vember 8; Greensboro, N. c., ovember
11; Atlanta, November 13; New Orleans,
November 14; Nashville,
ovember 16 ;
Cincinnati,
ovember 18 ; Cleveland , ()-
vember 20; Buffalo, ovember 21; Dallas,
ovember 22; Little Rock, November 24;
0-
Louisville,
ovember 25; St. Louis,
vember 28; Kansas City,
ovember 30;
Omaha, D ecember 1; Minneapolis, Decem-
ber 4; and ew York City, December 6.
J. A. Darwin , the Wurlitzer-Simplex rep-
resentative, planned the
ew York Ci tv
Meeting with the co-operation of the Mod-
ern Vending Company.
The Wurlitzer-Simplex parties put on by
Capehart have, without exception, been
DECEMBER,
1936
huge successes. From 250 to 500 people
have attended each one. The finest food
and entertainment have been provided and
in each city some lucky person or persons
have drawn as prize a Wurlitzer piano, a
Wurlitzer-Simplex machine, or a Skee-Ball.
Winners whose names have been report-
ed to date include: Atlanta, Mrs. Ruth
Flvnt; ew Orleans, Miss Josephine D alio,
whose brother is an operator; Little Rock,
Mrs. M. 1. Armstrong, whose husband is
an operator at Brinkley, Ark.; Chicago, Lee
Helwig, an operator, and Mrs. H. F. Cart-
wright, wife of the partner of the firm of
Martens and Cartwright, operators; Bos-
ton, Mrs. William R. Hill , wife of the
Brunswick Record Corp.'s representative,
and Charles R. Mills, Calais, Me.; Greens-
boro, N. c., Mrs. Joseph E. Allen, wife of
a Greensboro operator; Dallas, Me. W. C.
Peaigh, Ft. Worth, Tex.; Cleveland, Miss
Virginia Sakes, Warren, 0 .; Buffalo, S. A.
Butlak, 880 Fillmore Ave.; Cincinnati, Mrs.
C. H. D awson, whose husband is an oper-
ator; Nashville, Mrs. H . N. Jones , whose
husband is an operator, and Winton Brown,
McMinnville, Tenn.
1 n all of his addresses Capehart stresses
the fact that there will be no obso lescence
in Wurlitzer-Simplex models. There will
be improvements and refinements but no
r~dical changes in the coming models.
In
other words, no operator's investment will
be endangered by bringing out models ut-
terly different from the present ones.
These Wurlitzer banquets are devoted
chiefly to having a good time. The ban-
quets are always served in spacious and
beautiful dining rooms in a first-class hotel
or club. The food is always top-notch and
satisfyin,e;. After a brief address by Cape-
hart, which has more to do with the indus-
try in general than it does with Wurlitzer
products, there is always a floor show with
dancing by the guests afterwards.
A typical Wurlitzer floor show invari-
ably consists of the finest talent obtainable
-twelve or fifteen acts of it. It includes
ensembles of beautiful dancing girls in exo-
tic costumes. There are always clever danc-
ing teams and singing acts, as well as
jugglers, acrobatics and specialty numbers;
all doing their stuff to the music of a top-
flight orchestra. The musical entertain-
ment is invariably well known to stage or
radio. In short, no expense is spared to
give the Wurlitzer guests such a fine time
that they will remember it for the rest of
their lives, or at least until Capehart acts
as host for another Wurlitzer show in 1937.
Those assisting Capehart in staging the
banquets and shows in the various cities on
his schedule include: Harry F. King and
J. A. McIlherny, of the North Tonawan-
da organizations, in co-operation with the
Wurlitzer factory representatives in the co-
operative areas covered.
CENTER SMASH
o Western Equipment produces
football thriller in payout.
CHICAGO.- Proposing to capitalize on
the "nation-wide reaction toward anything
resembling football," Western Equipment
and Supply Co. have produced a new I-ball
automatic payout table known as Center
Smash which is said to incorporate prac-
tically all the thrills and atmosphere of
the attraction which "draws crowds of
80,000 or more into a packed stadium at
3.30 a seat."
From one to seven college pennants light
up on the backboard with the insertion of
a coin in the mystery coin chute, and these
pennants coincide with the seven field P.'oals
and seven touchdown holes on the field.
To gain a payout the ball must enter a
pocket bearing the college name of a pen-
nant that is illuminated. When the ball
enters the field it passes through a series
'of channels which offer payouts ranging
from 10 cents to 1 for a field goal and
20 cents to 2 for a touchdown. If the
ball goes through a special 2 channel the
player is automatically paid off, whether the
ball makes a field goal or touchdown or
not.
Cabinet of the game is constructed of
beautifully finished wood, it is said, and
the action illustrations on the field add to
its playing appeal.
Center Smash is
equipped with Western's double-action mo-
tor driven automatic payout unit, visible
escalator coin chute, front swing payout
door and an adjustable anti-tilt device.
who recently established a new office in Denver,
Colo., at 1415 South Broadway, is shown here
on a recent visit to Chicago. He reports that
the sales outlook for Colorado during 1937 is extremely promising.
GIBSON BRADSHAW
,
RE VIEW
SUPPLEMENT
•
3