Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

'Pride in Business'
urged at AOLAC meeting.
"Be proud-not ashamed-of the busi-
ness in which you're engaged. The
marble table business will always be a
clean business, so lonq as we make it
so, so long as we're proud of it and are
frank to admit what we 're doing."
This was the keynote used by the
speakers at the Christmas dinner meet-
ing of the Associated Operators of Los
Angeles County, held at the Club 41 on
Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles, Mon-
day evening, December 19, and attend-
ed by more than a hundred operator-
members.
Speaking inspiringly and to the point,
Curley Robinson, Association manager,
cited instances of deceptive practices of
operators and their w ives in such mat-
ters as admitting the nature of the
breadwinner's livelihood, and regaled
members with an anecdote or two about
his own experiences as an operator in
years past.
Robinson has an endless number of
fraternal affiliations, among them a
membership in the Masonic lodqe. One
of the stories he told was of being
"spoken to" by a fellow-member, who
declared, "You're getting up in Mason-
ry. Before long you'll be Master of this
lodge. I don't think it's a smart thing
for you to be connected with a 'racket'
like ma rble games."
Whereupon the present Association
manager outlined in full the scope and
accomplishments of the industry he rep-
resented, pointed out the untold misery
his critic's business caused-the making
of auto loans at terrific rates of usury-
and left the man disconcerted and
apologetic. "I never looked at it that
way before," he declared. "I guess you
have a right to be proud of your busi-
ness."
Herman J. Cohen of Hamilton Mfg. Co.
spoke in the same vein and recalled an
instance wherein he had successfully
used pride in his business as a means
of selling a bill of goods.
"I · was in Minneapolis," he stated,
"when I got a call from my partner,
Graf Wolfe, to go down to Des Moines,
Iowa, to address a meeting of the sales-
men of F. W. r itch Company-the peo-
ple who make hair tonic. I had no idea
what I'd talk about, but I loaded up
with samples and went. When I got
there I was met at the d oor by Gale
Fitch, the son of the president. I intro-
duced myself and was surprised to find
out tha t he had no idea what my busi-
ness was. He said that a friend had
recommended me as a speaker for the
sales meeting.
" 'What am I going to talk about? ' I
inquired.
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" 'Oh, talk about sales,' he answered.
"So I went into the meeting to face a
hundred and fifty or so men. I opened
my samples and spread them out. Hard-
ly before I'd had a chance to say a
word the president, the elder Mr. Fitch,
got up. ·His face was purple. He said,
'Do vou mean to tell me, Mr. Cohen,
that you're going to bring punchboards
in here?' I nodded.
"He looked up at the wall, at three
paintings of venerable gentlemen. He
said, 'Mr. Cohen, do you see those men
on the wall? They founded this com-
pany. The company is a hundred and
twenty years old and we 've been mak-
ing good hair tonic all that time with-
out the aid of punchboards. We're .not
goinq to have those iniquitous things
now.'
"I looked at him and inquired, 'Mr.
Fitch, did you ever hear of the Loose-
Wiles Biscuit Company?' He nodded,
and said, 'A fine firm.' I went on: 'Mr.
Fitch, did you ever hear of the Ameri-
can Tobacco Company, the makers of
Lucky Strike cigarettes?' He nodded
again.
" 'Mr. Fitch,' I said, 'those are just
two examples of firms that have found
it worthwhile and profitable to increase
their annual business over thirty per
cent with the use of punchboards! Now
I'm going to make a SU'"''"'estion. Let
the men here vote on whether or not
they want to use punchboards to in-
crease their sales. If they do, fine. If
thev don't, I'll go on home.'
"The vote was taken, and out of all
those men only four opposed the use of
punchboards. The president's face had
qone a little pale. His son stood up.
'Well, dad,' he declared, 'it looks like
you've lost. There must be something
in it. Let's give him an order.'"
The order was taken, and Cohen re-
calls having cut it down to a more con-
servative s ize. Even so it was big
enough to scare him, and he veered
clear of the Fitch offices the next time
he was in Des Moines, until he'd
checked with his office to find that not
only had the firm used its supplv but
had reordered. It was a case, Cohen
summarized, of being proud of his busi-
ness, lettinq that pride help him make a
sale, and lettinq that sale make other
sales for the firm that bought.
By direct contrast Cohen recalled an-
other punchboard manufacturer whose
plant bore a big sign over the door
which read, "School Supplies," and
every year in order to make the sign a
true one the manufacturer took one or-
der for something to be made for use in
schools.
Other speakers also touched on the
same theme, on the fact that out of 44
incorporated cities in the county (ex-
clusive of the City of Los Anqeles) op-
erators were permitted to place their
equipment in all but a few and those
few barred them as a result of their
own actions, on the playing of games
by minors, and the need for solidarity
in Association membership and effort.
Charles Cradick, executive manaqer
of CAMOA, discussed the Bill of Rights
in relation to the coin machine indus-
try. Lou Meyers spoke on pride and
Dave Gensburg of Genco, Inc., traced
some of the early days of the marble
table business in making his point of a
need for united effort. Sol Gottlieb,
Paul Blackford, editor and publisher of
the REVIEW, and William Nathanson,
just back from the NACOMM Show in
Chicago, were other speakers.
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