Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

In
Philadelphia
with
HARRY BORTNICK
Business in th e coin machine and phono-
graph operating profession has been quite
good during the summer months. Not only
in the Philadelphia sector but also among
the summer resort cities there has been a
good turnover of pennies and nickels.
Local operators who own arcades report
that business was greatly ahead of last
year. Sam Lerner, Al Rodstein, Frank
Engel, Marty Mitnick and Cy Glickman
are the men who have profited most from
an improved arcade business.
Matrimony among the coin machine oper-
ators seems to have become quite a vogue
for two operators and a prominent distrib-
utor will takes the vows that make two as
one in less than a month. Sam Stern will
be married to Eleanor Frankel on October
22. As a sort of early celebration Sam
opened new and large quarters for his
operations at 13th and Spring Garden
Streets. Eddie Balin will say "I do" at the
Hotel Adelphia on October 22 when he
makes Dorothy Dion his bride. And dis-
tributor William Gross will end his bach-
elorhood on October 15 when he marries at
the Hotel Adelphia.
Just to make it complete Syd Silverman,
!J.nfroducing
the New
SPECIAL
pretty bookkeeper for K. C. Vending will
shortly be married, while Dorothy Kaplan,
gorgeous office manager for Larry Yanks,
is now sporting a wedding band and is
being addressed as Mrs. Allan Bell.
After accumulating a sizeable fund
from their friendly games to gether the
group of regular card players consisting of
distributors Joe Ash and Al Widrow and
operators Sam Moss and Phil Frank are
finally going to the World's Fair in New
York with the "kitty" fund which is the
profits from their games over a long period.
Sam Lerner has paid off all the notes on
his music machines, he says, and is now
complete owner of all the machines which
he operates. His witty wife, Dorothy, is
undoubtedly one of the most popular women
among the operators.
Kulla and Scherdorf, partners, have re-
cently increased their holdings until they
are among the largest operators in this area.
Handsome Al Rodstein opened a business
office at 561 No. 5th Street. His opera-
tions have become so large that he has
found it necessary to have a full-time secre-
tary and headquarters from which to run
his affairs. Al is now handling cigarette
machines in addition to his other operations.
A phonograph which has really started a
great deal of discussion among operators is
the Penny Phono, ingenious phonograph
product of the Cinematone Corporation of
California. The presence in this area of
Kenneth McIntosh, who is the Pennsyl-
vania distributor for Penny Phono, aroused
greater interest in the machines. The an-
nouncement that Fields and Murphy have
been appointed distributors in their county
brought many queries regarding other ter-
ritories for which the franchise on Penny
Phono could be secured. McIntosh will
find a great demand for machines in Phila-
delphia once he places the machines on
sale to local operators.
Local operators are preparing to make
the second installment payment on the
mercantile taxes due upon their machines.
The arrangements are being handled by
counsel Harry Wexelblatt, who is collecting
the payments and turning them over to the
local authorities, who in turn act as col-
lecting agents for the State Revenue
Department.
New members of the local Coin Machine
Operators' Association are: Norman Bell,
Al Cohen, Harry Lewis and Morris Much-
nik. These men are new operators and have
cooperated with the trade by affiliating with
the business organization and adhering to
the intelligent business idea that tHey
should solicit new locations, rather than use
unethical business methods. Congratula-
tions to them on joining the Association.
Lillian Cutler, efficient office manager of
the Philadelphia Coin Machine Association
business office, returned this month from a
pleasant and well earned vacation which
she spent camping in New York State.
Activity in the Pennsylvania State Oper-
ators' Association is scheduled to begin next
month with a strong legislative committee
slated to start the work of contacting local
organizations so that a strong and united
front may be presented for the next meet-
ing of the Legislature. It is hoped that
plans will have been completed by the time
the legislators come together to secure the
passage of laws more beneficial to the in-
dustry than those now governing operators.
The Cigarette Vendors' Association of
Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey held
their first regular meeting in three months
when the members gathered in the offices of
attorney and secretary Norman Fuhrman
on Tuesday, September 19. This meeting
was highlighted by much discussion regard-
ing the effects of the recently adopted by-
laws which now regulate the affairs of
the Association, and about which this
column of THE REVIEW has carried much
information.
Opinion of the membership was that the
by-laws have greatly improved conditions
among operators and have eliminated many
difficulties which had annoyed the men.
Cooperation among the membership has
been of a particularly high order during the
summer with no controversy going before
th e grievance committee. A membership
drive will be started during the next month,
with the intention of enlisting the few re-
maining independent operators.
The South Jersey Amusement Association
will shortly hold a meeting in the Plaza
Hotel, Camden, N. J., at which time the re-
sults of the membership drive will be re-
vealed. Many operators have already joined
this revived organization.
The first banquet of the Automatic Music
Association of New Jersey, headed by busi-
ness manager James Hammond, will be
held at the Essex House in Newark, N. J.,
on October 22nd.
The first record of theft of a phono-
graph machine in Philadelphia was revealed
during the past week when a music machine
of operator Albert Cook was stolen from
location by a negro who brazenly walked
in and identified himself as being employed
by Cook. He removed the machine to a
truck, then disappeared. The case was
cleared up, however, when he was cap-
tured in Atlantic City after attempting to
sell the phonograph to an operator there,
and he was promptly turned over to the
police.
Ben Sterling, Wurlitzer distributor in the
Wilkes-Barre section and secretary-treasurer
of the Wilkes-Barre chapter of the Phono-
graph Operators Association, entertained
operators at his annual banquet on October
1st. The affair was held in his large amuse-
ment park and everyone had an entertain-
ing and enjoyable time.
William Scott, operator, has purchased
the entire route of independen t operator
Dave Lankua thus again making this section
almost a hundred percent Association town.
The Phono-Mike, nickel.drawing phono•
graph microphone of Economy Production
Company, is certainly helping operators in-
crease their collections from locations. ♦
35
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
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