Wurlitzer Waldorf-Astoria Party
Establishes Long Time Record
For Gaiety; Brilliant Attendance
EW YORK CITY.-Bringing to a
clo e a series of sectional gatherings, the
great Wurlitzer organization held what was
doubtless the greatest banquet and party
ever known to the coin machine industry
at the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-
Astoria Hotel, here, December 12.
From thousands of miles, operators, job-
bers and distributors made special trips to
be present at the affair. Invitations were
so highly valued that many present reported
a tremendous demand from friends for en-
trance. The complete Wurlitzer organiza-
tion was there en masse.
Beginning early Sunday afternoon visi-
tors and friends including all the new York
celebrities, as well as operators, jobbers and
disributors from a tremendous area surround-
ing this city, began to gather at the Waldorf-
Astoria to meet with the great delegation
which had arrived from the Rudolph Wur-
litzer Co. home and district offices. Many
hours before the official opening of the
Grand Ballroom there was a great crowd
awaiting in pleasant anticipation the affair
cr the evening. Enjoyment was the key-
D)te of the day. Old friends from mi les
about once again met Homer E. Capehart,
popular and beloved leader of the Wur-
litzer organization, who was present with
his usual congeniality and good humor to
hell) round out the afternoon leading to the
great evening that was to follow.
At 7 o'clock there was already a tre-
mendous jam at the ticket desks in the
lobby. Visitors continued to arrive in
droves, regardless of rain and sleet. The
crowd became so great at one time that it
was necessary to form the ticket holders
into line so that those handling the seating
arrangements could work more efficiently.
At 8 p.m. the lobby of the Grand Ball-
room was packed to capacity, with still
more and more couples arClvlng every
minute.
Dinner dress predominated among the
men, with formal attire noted here and
there. Decollette evening gowns and the
gleaming jewels of the wives and friends
uf the coinmen were well sprinkled through-
out the black of the evening wear.
At 8: 30 the doors leading to the Grand
llallroom were thrown open, allowing the
majority of the crowd to go to their re-
served tables. Harold Kahn and his orches-
tra provided musical entertainment while
the crowd was being seated. Visible at
once was a tremendous six-foot sign of
welcome to Homer Capehart from Modern
Vending Co. Over the great stage there
was another huge six foot sign, with a
complete body-length picture of Capehart,
which said, "Happy Landing to our Lead-
er" and was signed by J. A. Darwin. This
picture was surrounded by Bags.
Huge
banners bearing the Wurlitzer name decor-
ated the balconies.
At exactly 9 o'clock the men who were
to be seated at the long speaker's table en-
tered. They were: Capehart, guest of
honor and vice-president, as well as direc-
tor of sales, of the Rudolph Wurlitzer Co.;
Darwin, special representative of the Wur-
litzer firm, who was also toastmaster of the
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SUPPLEMENT
evening;
at Cohn, president of Modern
Vending Co.; R. C. Rolfing, vice-president
and general manager of the Rudolph Wur-
litzer Co.; Paul S. Bennett, manager of the
Games Division for Wurlitzer; Bill Gersh,
dierctor, sales promotion for Byrde, Rich-
ard and Pound, advertising agency; Wm.
Landsheft, president of Landsheft and War-
man, advertising agency; C. E. Johnson,
Wurlitzer vice-president and plant man-
ager; Robert S. Bleekman, Chicago district
manager for Wurlitzer; Harry F. King,
personal secretary to Capehart; B. L. Ku-
lick, Wurlitzer's New England district
manager; J. A. Macilhenny, assistant to
Capehart; P. R. Bowers, manager of the
lew York Wurlitzer music store; Paul
Fuller, Wurlitzer designer; W. R. Deaton,
Wurlitzer district manager for North and
South Carolina; E. H. Petering, Wurlitzer
sales manager; Wm. P. Bolles, Wurlitzer
credit manager; Ralph J. Reinhart, eastern
advertising manager for the Billboard: Syd-
ney J. Levine, counsellor to Modern Vend-
ing Co.; S. T. Cass, Wurlitzer's New York
state and Western Pennsylvania district
manager; Robert J. orman, Wurlitzer ad-
vertising manager; J. E. Broyles, assistant
to Capehart and Alan A. Seeger, leading
Asbury Park, N. J., operator.
When all these men were seated the band
struck up the "Star pangled Banner" and
the greatest banquet in the history of the
coin machine industry was under way.
With the serving of the demitasse Dar-
win took over the microphone at the speak-
er's table and began to introduce the mem-
bers of this table to those present.
In his turn at Cohn, president of Mod-
ern Vending Co. took over the microphone
tu introduce Capehart, saying ... " I am
going to introduce the man who 'dedicated
his life to the operators of America'-a
man whom we all greatly respect, admire
and love, a man whose accomplishments
are legion in the industry, a man who, with
tile cooperation of the other executives of
the Rudolph Wurlitzer Co., made this ban-
quet possible--Homer E. Capehart."
Capehart, explaining that much of the
credit for the arrangement of the entire
.Jfair was due Irving Sommer, general man-
a~er of Modern Vending Co., made an es-
pecial point of the fact that Sommer was
in Florida convalescing from an illness, and
expressed his best wishes. Then, turning
til the audience, he announced that he had
.t twenty minute speech that was "straight
from the shoulder." Tracing the growth of
the business and outlining the future, he
asked for a greater strengthening of morale
b) the operators, jobbers, distributors and
manufacturers in the industry. He pointed
to the fact that the members of the indus-
try itself were the ones most ashamed of
their professions.
He clearly explained
the difference between the various factors
entering into the operation of certain
equipment, and said that the reason that
certain equipment was not readily accepted
\\ as strictly due to the operators them·
selves.
He Propheiied that the industry was
bound to go ahead. That the day would
come when complete stores of automatic
equipment would be the rule. He felt that
leading manufacturers of food products and
of other nationally advertised merchandise
not now gaining the complete cooperation
of the merchants would erect vending
equipment to help them more efficiently
sell their merchandise.
He warned that the chiselers in the in-
dustry could not hold back the growth of
the business due to the fact that it was
based on a solid foundation.
He finished his speech with a ringing
piea for greater cooperation from the ew
York men to whom the entire industry
looked forward for the progressive actions
which they usually followed, and stated
that as far as the coin machine business
was concerned, "As New York goes-so
goes the coin machine world."
With the sustained applause finally dying
down, a prominent local operator asked
for the microphone, saying that he felt that
the operators as a whole should be heard
from in answer to the great speech made by
Capehart. He praised the Wurlitzer organ-
ization for bringing to the operators the
great products which had made possible
sllch outstanding prosperity. "And," he
said, " because of this fact, and because we
feel that we have present tonight one of
the greatest men the coin machine industry
has ever known, we, the operators of the
city of New York, take great pleasure in
presenting to Mr. Homer E. Capehart this
gold wrist watch as a token of our esteem
and affection."
In a few moments the show was on as
Milton Berle, famed on stage, screen and
radio, burlesqued a strip tease an dthen, act-
ing as master of ceremonies introduced the
following acts:
Seidler's Society Steppers, a chorus of
eight beautiful well trained dancers; Ke-
10ah, sepia contortionist dancer of the Cot-
ton Club; Stan Kavanaugh, nationally
hmed comedy juggler, featured in the cur-
rent Ziegfeld Follies; Gypsy Rose Lee,
former strip tease queen and Follies star;
Kavanaugh Sisters, tap dancers; Benny
Goodman, "King of Swing" music; Teddy
Wilson and Billy Holiday, sepia song stars;
Dolly Dawn, singing star of George Hall's
Orchestra; Pat Nann, who also acted as
(See WURLITZER, Page 15)
DECEMBER.
1936
Reilly Flies East
YOUTH SUCCESSFUL
• Amaco coast manager to N. Y.
G Frederick Zemke termed "one of
America's youngest successful ciq.
areUe operators."
A
ARBOR, Mich.-Even before grad-
uating from the local high school here,
Frederick "Fritz" Zemke, was a successful
Cigarette machine operator, according to re-
cent investigation into the matter of
" youthful operators." Despite his serious
interest in study, his major courses did not
retard his progress and his enthusiasm .
Despite the depression his business pros-
pered.
Termed a "go-getter," young Zemke is
said to be always on his toes with facts
about the business. He knows all about his
machines, and he knows a Jot about the
machines of other operators. He knows the
percentages of profit in the business of cig-
arette merchandising, and he knows his
costs for each department. He keeps his
stock turning, and always at a minimum.
It is said that Zemke will go out of his
way to find out who is putting up a new
store, what kind of business will occupy it,
and he will be first on the job if it turns
out to be a " location." He knows that in
his business an operator must be both mer-
chant and salesman, and he has schooled
himself accordingly.
Every make of machine and every type
of operator is represented in his territory,
from "cut-throat-price" artists to "selling-
location" fellows, to "sympathy" operators.
Yet he has beaten them all. Locations stick
to him through thick and thin, though others
offer double commissions and promises of
special services.
Equipped entirely with Rowe machines,
Zemke is successful in every sense of the
\\ord.
LOS ANGELES.-Hopping a transconti-
nental plane the day after Christmas, Pa-
cific Coast Manager Fred Reilly of Amaco,
Inc., planned to confer in ew York with
Eric Wedemeyer and other officials of the
firm on increased shipments of Mutscope
Cranes to the western territory.
Queried concerning the possibility of a
new model Mutoscope for 1937, Reilly de-
clared that this machine is not built on the
basis of yearly models. "The Mutoscope,"
he emphasized, "is a year in and year out
proposition and continual improvements
are made from time to time. But the Muto-
scope is standard equipment and the oper-
ator's investment is not jeopardized by the
threat of becoming obsolete as in the case
of drastic changes in design every year."
Reilly, who during the past year has ac-
quired the title of "professor" as a result
of a series of public addresses, announced
that he would devote a portion of his time
in New York to selection of additional
stocks of premium merchandise.
He denied, however, that he would ac-
cept further speaking engagements in the
cause against iniquitous beverages.
• SurveX reveals 62.' per cent of
populatic.:.t an untouched ciqarette
market.
W A HI GTO ,D. C.-As a result of
a recent survey it was revealed that 62.7
per cent of the total population of the
United States are not yet CJgarette consum-
ers. One-third of all young men and three-
quarters of the young women under forty-
years-of-age, do not smoke cigarettes, the
report disclosed. Less than 10 per cent of
the women over forty are present con-
sumers.
Discounting those who have "moral
scruples" and those who for reasons of
health do not smoke, the field is still tre-
mendous in the number of new customers
yet to be exploited.
To keep old smokers and ·to -gain new,
the " big four " tobacco companies spend
between 40,000,000 and 50,000,000 an-
r.ually in magazine and newspaper space,
radio time and billboards. Cigarette buyers,
fickle in their tastes, switch brands fre-
quently, and the leading firms continually
jockey for first place in sales.
In the year 1912 about 13 billion cigar-
ettes were consumed. In 1935 the consump-
tion reached the staggering total of 135
billion cigarettes. This year's figures, of
course are not yet available, but the as-
toundt'ng progress of the cigare~te business
insures a bright future for the CJgarette ma-
chine operator.
A federal tax of six cents is app lied to
each package of twenty cigarettes, and f~om
this source the national government rea lizes
close to a half-billion dollars annually.
FALKENBERG BACK
• Ray·O-Lite distrib returns from
Chicago, announces new sales plan.
SHOW QUARTERS
CLEVELA D. - Arrangements for his
company's quarters at the Hotel herman
have recently been completed by Meyer
Marcus, head of the Markepp Co., accord-
ing to report, and an invitation is extended
all Ohio operators to drop in and make
themselves at home.
VAST MARKET
to map Mutoscope deliveries.
"II'S so nice of you to come hI to look
at my busts I"
LOS ANGELES.-W. P. Falkenberg,
manager of the Ray-O-Lite Distributing Co.,
returned early in December from a fast
trip to Chicago, where he visited the factory
of the ]. P. Seeburg Corp. and completed
arrangements for extending their activities
in Southern California on Ray-O-Lite riBe
machines.
Falkenberg announced that an interesting
sales plan has been worked out that will
appeal to operators. It is the firm's plan to
carry Ray-O-Lite warehouse stock in Los
Angeles to facilitate deliveries. He further
said: " Our position to supply parts and
service is an important factor in our suc-
cessful venture with gun machines and will
serve as a protection to all operators inter-
ested in Ray-O-Lites."
ROWE MEN PROMOTED
• Faithful service results in biqqer
jobs for vendinq machine firm.
to all operators on the West Coast
•
SOL GOTTLIEB COMPANY
SPECIALISTS I N SERVICE
COIN OPERATED MACHINES
1347 W, Washington Blvd.
LOS ANGELES, CAL.
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DECEMBER.
1936
NEW YORK.-Displaying a "brand of
meritorious service with such consistency
that it could not escape our attention,"
Carlo Schembari, erstwhile mechanic, has
been promoted to serviceman, according to
a rtcent announcement from the Rowe Cig-
arette Service Co.
Salvatore Sparacino was recently elevated
from shop foreman of the service branch
to the repair department of Rowe Mfg. Co.
Replacing Sparacino in the other post is
Edward Jones.
Bill Burke was moved up from "guardian
cf the money room" to serviceman, and Ben
Schwartz has been asigned to special duty,
an important assignment.
Miss Dorothy Busch is a new addition
to the Service Co.'s office staff.
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