Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

Issue: 1939 August

J1t
t,e
PtLci(ic
'llc1-t,weJ t
with
LOUIS
KARNOFSKY
Boating, fishing, swimming and a half doz.
en other outdoor pastimes were crammed
in to one fun.filled afternoon at Pipe Lake
on July 30 at Evergreen Novelty's gala pic-
nic and good time party. Operators and
their families from all sections of the
Northwest turned out in large numbers,
and their unanimous decision, consolidated
into one expressive word, was "terrific!"
Al Gustafson left no stone unturned in his
preparations for making the outing a suc·
cess, even going so far as to reserve ten
cabins in the event that Jupe Pluvius
should drop in unexpectedly.
When a full.fledged aviatrix who eats,
sleeps and rides in airplanes, suddenly
loses all interest in the winged birds and
becomes boat conscious, a Sherlock Holmes
isn't necessary to discover that something
is radically wrong. That's exactly what
happened to Helen Casady, office manager
of Northwest Sales, some time ago. She
met a tall, handsome executive in the office
of the Puget Sound Navigation Company,
and from then on the blue waters held a
kind of magic sway over her. After a hasty
exchange of arrows from Dan Cupid's bow,
the badly speared couple wound up at the
altar on July 29. Coin Row extends hearty
congratulations to the newlyweds.
While "Porky" Jacobs is the Northwest's
official Comedy King, a newcomer has risen
from the operating ranks to challenge J a-
cobs' supremacy. He is Phil Shelly, for a
number of years a Tacoma luminary, whose
type of fast cracking humor follows much
on the same line as Bob Hope. When
Shelly opens up and starts firing, the wise-
cracks explode with machine-gun precision
and it takes an agile mind to keep up with
him. An old knee ailment cropped up last
month and kept Phil on the shelf for six
weeks. But nothing could keep his gags
on the shelf for long. Like Old Man River,
they just kept rolling along.
It cost Bert Farmer $185 to be a hero on
July 26. Bert was lolling in his speedboat
on Lake Stevens, taking refuge from the
most searing heat wave to hit this section
in years. Some distance away, a young
lady was water skiing behind a motor boat.
She lost her balance and was plunged into
the lake which was about 90 feet deep. The
weight of the rope she was hanging on to
and the speed of the boa t combined to ·
drag her down. Several times she came to
the surface, gagged over a mouthful of
water, and shrieked to the driver to stop.
But the driver thought this was all part of
the act and zoomed merrily along. To the
rescue came Bert Farmer in his craft.
When he dived for the girl, the driver of
the other motorboat realized the serious-
ness of the situation and slowed aown.
Bert grasped the girl below the surface.
Panic•stricken, she grabbed hold of him
and applied a scissors lock. For a moment
it looked like Davey Jones would have a
couple of permanent customers. However,
Bert broke her hold and hauled her to
safety. When our hero flashed his person•
ality smile for newspaper photographers,
he discovered a very odd thing. A bridge
plate of teeth, which cost $185, was miss-
ing, having been knocked from his mouth
during the rescue. When they start pin-
ning medals on Bert, he hopes they will
also pin a new bridge set back in his
mouth.
The Row's best mechanical team in
seven years-Ducky McFarland and Jerry
Steffan-was broken up some time ago
when Steffan joined Western Distributors.
A couple of months ago Decca put Les
Tobey to work in their shipping depart•
ment. Now another "Gold Dust" team
steps forth. When Tobey and Bill Honey•
well merge their efforts, the discs fly
around wi th the velocity of a juggler and
the filled orders reel off the counter at a
dizzy pace.
While Coin Row's astute members were
having fun and frolic on July 4, Ron Pep-
ple arose early in the morning and made
tracks for Northwest Sales. He spent the
day building the Luxury Lightup Lounge,
show•room de luxe. Not only is the room
brilliantly lighted and cosily furnished, but
perfect ventilation is provided by a Monk's
cloth draping over the ceiling.
In approximately two more weeks, the
Rudy Petersons will be blessed with an heir
or heiress. The past month has been mighty
tough on Rudy, the Northwest's strong
man. Worry and anticipation has caused
him to lose weight to such a degree that
he is down to a mere 240.pound shadow.
The sunny clime of California claimed a
number of vacationing coinmen last month.
Operator Cy Morgan was gone for two
weeks. Helen Casady took an "advance
solo" honeymoon, traveling to the south for
a fortnight and then returning home and
getting married. The Heberling Brothers,
George and Chet, took their first vacation
in 25 years. Chet's family led off, and
upon their return brother George and wife
departed.
COININGS ON THE CUFF-
Flash ! It has j ust been discovered that
Rosser S, the horse Al Brashem purchased
and en tered in a recent Longacre race, is a
fugi tive from a local glue factory. All bet-
tors better beware of this animal . .. How-
ard Russell, for the past year an operator
for Superior Distributors, put on the cigar
passing act on July 22. It was a 7-pound
boy.
The distinction of being the first girl to
manage a jobbing house in· the Northwest
HECKS
le
Sc
I0c
5000 ................ $4.50 M
1000 ................ 4.75
500 .................. 3.00
25c
$5.00 M
$4.50 M
$6.00 M
5.50
4.75
7.00
3.50
3.00
4.50
Nickle plated checks add $1 .00 per M to above prices.
Terms-One-third Cash-Balance C.O.0.
SUPREME PRODUCTS CO., 333
goes to Thelma Oliver, major domo at J ack
Moore's . . . Friends of Operator Bill
Smith, of Chehalis, will be happy to hear
of his recovery to health after being oper-
ated upon for rupture on July 17th. He is
now at home resting. New mechanic at
Western Distributors is Howard Serven,
transferred from the Portland office.
This fast streamlined age is getting no
jumps on Fred Miller. Five or six months
ago he sold his operating route and em-
barked to Australia. He returned last
month, organized a phonograph route in
double.quick time, and a week later sold
out to Ken Shyvers.
Coin Row extends the Order of Royal
Welcome to L. C. Gilman, Pacific Coast
Manager of Decca; Lou Wolcher, of West·
ern Distributors, and Operator 0. A. Brow-
er from Aberdeen, who graced the North-
west with their presence last month . . .
Two wrinkled fenders and a dented rear
serve as reminders to Operator Billy Lynn
that his Chevrolet coupe acted as shock
absorber for another car on Western Ave-
nue recently.
Anacortes' ace operator, Mickey Hannon,
is back home after a trip to Alaska . ..
Joan Schroeder, a stately blonde who hails
from Minneapolis, succeeded Adam May•
ers as Superior Distributor's office manager
last month.

• •
"Your sister has eloped with that man
she's been taking vocal lessons from."
"Heavens! What will the neighbors say?"
"They'll say, 'Thank God!' "
• •
Judge: "Have you ever appeared as a
witness before?"
Witness: "Yes, your honor."
Judge: "In what suit?"
Witness: "My blue serge, sir."
37
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
N,t 11/e11t,e1-
Specials
BARGAIN
5 Rock-Olas
Very clean-12 records
No. I 's-$25.00
No. 2's-$27.50
NEARLY NEW
6 Kunkel Popcorn Machines
Fine shape-ready to go
Only-$25.00
8 MILLS
V-12 C igarette Vendors
$35.00 each
I 00 Used Marble Games
from $3.00 up.
We sell all free-play games
C. E. WASHBURN
1511 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles
Wurlitzer Distributor
https://elibrary.arcade-museum.com
'llcl't,el'h C11lif tl'ni11
By Dorothy Petsch
38
COIN
MACH INE
REVIEW
Prosperity, reveals the San Francisco
Chamber of Commerce, came around that
corner and into full view this month. The
best business since before the big toboggan
slide of 1929 was noted by the Chamber's
research department after plotting curves
and tabulating long lists of figures.
The past two weeks have picked up no-
ticeably in coin machine .circles, according
to jobbers. Advance Automatic names
Genco's Bangs, Stoner's Snooks, and Ex-
hibit's Avalon as the best sellers this
month. Wolf Sales and the Jack R. Moore
offices both name Baily's Pick 'Em, while
Golden Gate Novelty nominates Genco's
Bangs. Wolf Sales has been receiving ship-
ments of Pick 'Em every other day and
are still twenty-five machines behind in
paid up orders. Exporting has slowed up
slightly. Viking still finds Central America
anxious for nut machines, with the South
Seas and Australia the best markets for
games from Advance Automatic and Wolf
Sales.
Most heartening news of the month is
the settling of the labor front in the phono-
graph trade. With 12,000 phonographs
signed on the dotted line, Joseph Baker,
president of the Automatic Music Merchan-
dising Association, Inc., believes this to be
the only time in the history of the business
when operators presented a united front.
Oakland, Fresno, Stockton, Sacramento and
San Francisco are all under ten year con-
tracts with the Association. George Miller
has been named as Baker's assistant.
Successfully pigeon-holed is the bill in
the state legislature to tax phonographs $25
per year no matter what the age, condition,
or location of the machine. Baker points
out that 60% of the boxes now in use are
old merchandise with an earning power in
most cases of from $1.50 to $2 per spot. To
assess each of these $25 would wipe off the
map most of the operators of these ma-
chines. The bill was backed by local au-
thorities anxious to fill the city coffers.
Business isn't so bad when the boys go
out and buy new cars. Archie Gammelle is
sporting a new Cadillac and Stanley Harris
a shiny DeSoto.
F. S. Grant has entered the operating
business in Watsonville. His trip to San
Francisco this month netted him over a
dozen new machines and he's going strong.
Grant is also a prominent fight promoter
along the Coast, specializing in the feath-
erweight class.
John Gilder, local operator, has hied
himself off for the Middle West. He in-
tends to visit friends and relatives for over
a month and hopes to pick up a few new
operating tricks along the way.
Wolf Reiwitz, owner of Wolf Sales, en-
tered the operating field this month with
the purchase of Jimmy Dahle's route of
machines. It is Wolf's plan to limit the
route to one hundred boxes.
Candy lentils, boston beans, roasted al-
monds, and the new teeny beans are top
requests this month at Viking, according
to Les Baker. He adds that the candy
business in July almost doubled that of
June.
Lou Wolcher is spending several weeks
in the Pacific Northwest, dividing his time
between his Portland and Seattle offices.
He will return to Advance Automatic the
middle of August. His San Jose Speedway
is still running strong. The roadster races
staged there August 6 drew a crowd of four
thousand.
Wolf Sales are still making good with
their phonograph cabinets in the East.
Florida seems to be the heaviest buyer this
month. Twenty-five cabinets were also
.shipped during the last week to Los An-
geles.
P. & M. Sales report a booming business
since the opening of the new branch of their
business devoted to jobbing used cigarette
machines. According to Richard Parina,
owner, requests for machines are coming in
from all parts of the country, and letters
are piling up daily from satisfied opera-
tors. Each machine that is sold is first
thoroughly cleaned and renovated so that
it is in first-class working order when it
reaches the customer. The company is also
enjoying a neat business with locks, a
MIDSUMMER CLEARANCE!
Only such an occasion can explain the following
CUT PRICES
5
4
6
10
5
20
15
15
9
Hawthornes .............................. $ 89 .50
Thistledowns ............................ 79 .50
Grandstand s ............................ 72 .50
Sport Pages .............................. 64. 50
One-Two-Threes , late models
with rever sed reels .................. 55 .00
Fairgrounds .............................. 39 . 50
Foto Finish ................................ 17.50
Golden Wh eels ........................ 12.50
Ray s Tracks, late serial num•
bers ............................................ 49 . 50
COUNTER GAMES
Tallys .............................................. $ 9.50
Sparks .............................................. 12.50
Kounter Kings ................................ 7 .SO
Bally Babys............ .......................... 8 .50
SLOTS
Sc Blue Fronts ................................ $49.50
1 De Blue Fronts .................. .............. 54 .50
25c Blue Fronts ................................ 59 .SO
Vest Pockets ............................ 32. 50
Mills Cigarette Machines , lat,
serial numbers ....................... ..... $44.50
7-column Gorettas .......................... 29 .50
4-column Gorettas .......................... 19. 50
W e also carr y a fu ll line of new and used Novelty Games.
Drop us a line and be assured of results
WOLi' SALES CO., Inc.
1120 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco , Calif.
complete line for all types of vending ma-
chines having been installed by the com-
pany at the time it opened its doors for the
cigarette jobbing trade.
Seeburgs are still selling furiously at the
E. T. Mape Company this month. New
shipments are being received in San Fran-
cisco as fast as the Eastern plant can send
them out, but it's not fast enough to suit
the operators; there's still a long list of
"must" names that are clamoring to get
their machines.
It's vacation time at the Seeburg head-
quarters, too. Vance Mape and his wife
returned this month from an extensive trip
through Alaska where they not only bagged
a lot of fun but some excellent pictures to
prove it. Mrs. Felice Church, recently
placed in charge of operators at the E. T.
Mape Company, is now taking a week off
to rest up for the hard winter to come. She
plans to concentrate on seeing what Treas-
ure Island has to offer. On her return Carl
Anderson will take a combined vacation and
honeymoon. He isn't revealing his destina-
tion, but he's going to forget the account-
ing business for a while.
Jerry Berman is passing around cigars
this month. He's the proud father of a
baby girl, Susan, born the middle of July.
The Wm. Corcoran Company has taken
over the agency for Rock-Ola in San Fran-
cisco. This is not entirely a new step, for
Bill has carried these machines along with
his Wurlitzers for several months. How-
ever, since the transferring of the West
Coast office from San Francisco to Los An-
geles the Corcoran company has been
named headquarters for the northern Cali-
fornia area.
Newest machine in San Francisco to
cause a big stir this month is the Auto
Golf, Inc., machine which is being shown to
amazing crowds in the Lou Wolcher offices.
It's a five-ball game played with an ordi-
nary golf putter on a low green-carpeted
board about four by six feet. The upper
end of the board is slightly elevated, there-
by increasing the difficulty of sinking the
putt. A foot-operated pedal brings the ball
onto the green for the play. The play
board its elf is encased in glass and if
you're a dead-eye shot the ball rolls onto
the board for an eagle, a birdie, or an ace.
Par is 20 for the game. The trim, the coin
counter, and the light over the cup are all
made of spun steel. Mildred Alexander
and Estelle Cyr, the brunette and blonde
secretaries at Advance Automatic, are daily
demonstrating how easy it is to roll up a
score if you just have that certain touch.
Al Berman has moved his offices from
Golden Gate Avenue to 1254 La Playa.
Leon Sarkasian, old-time operator in the
Bay area, has opened a new Sportland at
the Golden Gate International Exposition
on Treasure Island. His establishment is
well-located for trade on the Gayway and
reports are that play has been excellent.
He is operating Wurlitzer bowling alleys
and Ray-o-lite gun machines.
The Jack R. Moore plant is operating on
a new summertime schedule to enable its
employees to get the most out of a day.
The portals open now at eight o'clock and
close at five-thirty. One Saturday a month
is given to the employees according to a
staggered schedule.
Offices of the San Francisco company
have had their faces lifted this month.
The conference room has been stipled in
cream-colored plaster, new indirect light-
ing fixtures installed, the floor covered with
a deep wine carpet, and attractive drapes
hung over the windows. The stairs leading
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