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Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

Issue: 1941 January

KANSAS CITY
- -- -- - - C o vered By - - - -- - -
B. K. ANDERSON
82
COIN
M ACHINE
REVIEW
KANSAS CITY, MO. (RC) - This city's
Coin Machine Row has lost one of its old-
est and most important memb ers. But in
doing so it has gain ed one of the outstand-
ing coin machine showrooms and centers
of the entire country.
Actually the story is a testimonial to the
Am erican Way of Life. Five years ago, in
1935, two ambitious young men who had
been operatin g sin ce 1930 decid ed to set up
a partnership operating and distributing
business. They called their new venture
Th e Central Distributing Co.
Previous to th e day they opened the
doors of th eir modest new quarters, another
local distributor ha d been taking their calls
over his phone. He charged them half of
the phone bill for this service. They kn ew
th ey would need a little capital for th eir
new venture, so they managed to scrape up
$1500 each.
Figuring outfitting the quarters and th e
purchase of equipment- and theirs was the
most expensive, because they were almost
exclusively automatic phonograph opera -
tors-the "three grand" didn't go very far.
However, they worked it around and be-
came Wurlitzer Dealers and set themselves
on a very rigid budget. Each week th ey
would buy two new phonographs and pay
for th em C.O.D. Very seldom did they sell
on e of th ese machines, so th at meant th at
they had to go out and put th em on loca-
tion. It was Finley Mason and Tim Crum-
mett's way of making sure their business
would grow.
But the boys kept to their two-a-week
schedule, and, according to Finley Mason,
would probably still be at it had not a far-
sighted representative of the manufacturer
become impressed with their record and
offered to send them a carload of machin es
to be carried on "open account".
When thi s company official said a carload
th e boys thought that he must mean at
least 20 or even 25. They scratched th eir
heads and got down to fi guring how th ey
were going to get th em out. It would take
some do ing. Then began their expand ed
loca tion program and their first actual hard
selling s pree.
They r eally began preparin g the way and
one day the awaited word came from the
local freight office; their carload was in.
When th e fr eight was paid very little money
remain ed in the till, but there was enough
for two packs of as pirin. A carlo ad in
those days was 60 phono gra phs.
Somehow or other th ey got them out.
They had to ; there wasn't room in their
small office for th em. But that was the be-
ginnin g of th e new Central Distributin g Co.
Five tim es in fi ve years they have been
forced to ex pand th eir quarters. They have
in tha t same time seen a $3,000 busin ess
grow to a more than $100,000 enterprise.
And so this is why Kansas City's Coin
Machine Row is about to lose one of its
most illustrious names. Central , due to need
for more s pace and a more advantageous
location, has moved to new headquarters on
Grand Avenue at 23rd St.
They have set up a type of busin ess
which this city has never seen before. For
two weeks P aul Fuller, Wurlitzer Designer,
helped lay out the floor plan, fi gure the
decorations, and color combinations. A
Chicago firm s pecializing in window dis-
plays was contacted and th e new window
background alon e was secured at a cost
of $1,500.
Mason and Crummett snule about th e
cost of this temporary window background
now. In 1935, it would have required half
their ca pital.
Th e quarters they now occupy was for-
merly one of Kansas City's lea ding auto-
mobi le salons. It is large, with immense
pl ate glass windows, and has more outsid e
show space than was ever used by a dis-
tributor in this area. No expense has been
spared to set th e new phonos off to th e
public's gaze against a quality background,
a measure carefully gauged to gain for the
phonographs new prestige through this di s-
trict.
Ins id e th e building is comprised of show-
rooms, conference rooms, parts department,
record· department, and service departm ent.
MAKE YOUR TRIP PAY DIVIDENDS
Visit Monareh's Showrooms
ONE BALL AUTOMATIC PAYOUTS
Gran d N ational ............. $
Grand National comb.
Cas h & T icket...
Grandst and
Fairgro und
Aksarbe n
Mills 1-2·3 .
92, 50
99.50
77,50
25.00
29 .50
39.50
T histl edown . .................... $ 57. 50
H aw thorne ...........
57.50
Gold Medal ......
54.50
Santa Anita ..............
125.00
Keeney Pot Shot .
39.50
59. 50
Stop per Upper
B ally St abl es .
27. 50
Seabiscuit .......................... $
Home Stretch .
Hey Day ..
Feed Bag
Prea kness
Fl as her ......
Foto Finish
57,50
69.50
39.50
39.50
17 .50
34 .50
14.50
AUTOMATIC PAYOUT CONSOLES
Mills Jumbo Parade ..... $
Mills Souare Bell ............
Bally Roya l Flush ..........
Pace Saratoga '40 Sc pl .
P ace Saratoga I 0c pl.....
African Gol f 7 coin head
94.50
69.5n
89.50
89.50
79.50
89. 50
Keeney Pastime ................ $139.50
"
Super T rack T ime 139.50
1938
"
"
82.50
Kent ucky Clu b .
49.50
Mills Ri o
17.50
39.50
Exhibit L ong Ch am p....
Baker Pacer Jackpot. ...... $175.00
Jenn in gs Mu lt Racer...
49.50
49.50
Jenn i ngs Cubes ..........
Bally Saddle Clu b...
34 .50
Bally T easer ..................
17.50
Jenn . Fl as hing Th ru ...
39.50
Wire, Phone or Ca/I for List of New Games at Closeout Prices
Terms : 1/ 3 Deposit-Balance Sight Draft or C.O.D .
MONARCH COIN MACHINE CO.
1545 North Fairfield Ave.
Phone Armitage 1434
Chicago, Illinois
It was plann ed not only to have eye a ppeal,
but to afford quick, well-rounded, eco-
nomical service.
Five hundred invitations to Central's
Grand Opening Open House were extend ed
to local operators and fri ends. Newspapers
gave th e event good notices, and between
600 and 700 guests attended January 5th
and 6th. Th ere were favors for the ladi es,
food, and r efreshments fo r everyone.
Th e new building gives Central fiv e
tim es as much space as their old location
affo rded. And according to F inley Mason,
" That's what we think the coin machine
business in this area is going to be like
in 1941 !"
* * *
CHRISTMAS NOTES: Central Distribut-
ing Co. employees celebrate another big
Christmas bonus. Carl Hoelzel and Earl
Witschn er made a flyin g pre-show trip to
Chicago. Hobbies, Inc. celebrated the holi-
days with a now 100% of Kansas City pin
ball table operator memb ership.
Earl Witschn er, Executive Secretary of
the Association, who gave up a profitable
route of 50 marbl e tables to devote his full
ti me to the des tinies of Hobbies, Inc., and
did so at th e request of the other operator
members, says, " 1941 will be twice as good
as eith er '38 or '39. This past year we all
had to learn to cooperate instea d of com-
pete. In the very beginnin g it was very
difficult. Now it is much easier.
" Every operator of R e-Play tabl es in
Kansas City now belongs to our associatfon.
Every one of the machines is now marked
with th e metal di sc which is our insignia.
It means that there can be no pushin g of
lo cations, no fluctuation of the commission,
and no operation that is not approved by
the association."
Local operators of phonogra phs also were
not slow to notice th e help an association
can be to operators. There is now talk of
forming a separate association for phono-
graph operators. They point out that the
fact that Hobbies, Inc., was abl e to obtain
a lowering of the city individual phono-
graph license fee, and this is reason enough
in itself. Wh ere formerly this fee graded
up according to Sc, 10c, and 25c coin
chutes, it has now been reduced to a uni-
form $5 per year for all machines. This
aid alone cuts th e phono ops' annual license
'
cost in half.
But what these operators want most, at
present, is th e re-establishment in all loca-
tions of the minimum $3.50 front money.
It is believed that this factor alone could
practically take all the gamble out of their
business. Although there is a lot of talk
along this line, nothing definite has been
done as yet. It is expected that shortly fol-
lowin g the Show in Chicago, some positive
a ction may develop.
•
Which brings up th e largest topic of con-
versation in thi s section right now. Almost
without exception local operators and dis-
tributors swear that this tim e wh en they
go to th e Coin Machine Show in Chi cago
they are going to attend strictly to busi-
ness. None of this foolin g around and
spending most of the time in a closed room
somewh ere in conference. Th ey' re going to
get around and see th e machines and find
out what's what.
Yeah! That's wha t th ey said last year,
~-
.
·•
.
♦
Junior Partner, to pretty stenographer :
"Are you doing anything on Sunday eve-
nin g, Miss Eggert ?"
Stenogra pher, hopefully: " No, not a
thing."
"Th en try to be at the office earlier on
Monday mornin g, will you ?"
•
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PHILADELPHIA
- - - - - - Covered By - - - - - - -
HARRY BORTNICK
Holiday income on coin operated equip-
ment increased tremendously during Dec-
ember. Perhaps because the public was
in a more gay, entertainment-minded mood
than usual they played game machines more
heavily than ordinarily and amusement
operators benefitted accordingly. All types
of merchandising machines recorded a
steady turn-over, with beverage vendors
doing especially well. Music machines held
their own but did little more, probably be-
cause shoppers were busy.
Further legal support in removing much
of the old-time odium which made amuse-
ment games conceivably gambling devices
was given early in December when Pen-
nsylvania's Superior Court Judge Chester
R. Rhodes reversed a Northampton County
Quarter Sessions Court conviction of An-
drew A. Mihalow, Bethlehem restaurant
owner on a charge of maintaining a gambl-
ing device. The charge had claimed Miha-
low had set up a game at which money
might be exchanged, and permitted open
gambling in his establishment.
The original "guilty" verdict had been
given in April, appealed, and heard by the
Superior Court in October. Judge Rhodes'
verdict stated that the amusement machine
"is lacking in the essential elements neces-
sary to make it a gambling device or a
gambling machine," adding that "many
things made for proper and legitimate pur-
poses may be used for gambling, but what
may be used as a subject of a bet is
not ipso facto illegal or a gambling device."
The Commonwealth's case was based on
the fact that two police officers entered
Mihalow's restaurant and agreed to bet
money upon the score which they could
secure from the amusement machine on the
premises. No charge was made that the
proprietor was present at the time the
wager was made. The State, however, de-
clared that the machine was used for illegal
purposes and that the owner was responsi-
ble for the use to which it was put, there-
fore making him responsible for main-
taining a gambling device.
Judge Rhodes' decision freeing Mihalow
of the charge opposed the Commonwealth's
view that the proprietor was charged with
the duty of maintaining constant vigilance
over a device which was placed in his
location for amusement, and which was so
proclaimed by a proper sign clearly visible
to the players and the public.
The Chicago Show will draw a number
of local operators, among whom will be
the officers of all three local business as-
sociations. Arrangements for local delega-
tions, which will pack two full trains, are
being handled by Business Manager Frank
Hammond of the Phonograph Operators'
Association. Expectation is that about 80
persons will fill the special cars assigned
the Chicago Coin-goers, considerably more
than traveled Windy Cityward in previous
years.
The Phonograph Operators' Association
of Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey is
still maintaining active contact with all
other established music machine organiza-
tions, according to Frank Hammond. These
groups have been requested to have their
president and secretary, or two other of-
ficers, meet with the executives of similar
local groups during the Show, when the
operator representatives will confer with
executives of music and equipment manu-
facturers, following the CMI dinner for
association officials on January 15. Problem
of proper machine replacement will key-
note the discussion, and due examination
will be given the possibility of forming a
national music operators' association.
First real move to distribute the much-
publicized coin operated movie machines
came in December with granting of a state
charter for wholesaling of the devices by a
new corporation, Harrisburg Soundies, Inc.,
formed by Lois F. Swain, Sara Ann Fry
and Maurice Yoffee. The groups will lease
as well as sell the equipment.
Keystone Vending Co. marks another new
move with start of operation of wired
music, following city council approval for
use of underground lines of the telephone
companies with the single limitation re-
straining the firm from conveying gambl-
ing information and from placing the de-
vices in dance halls, theatres and at private
functions in hotels.
Vital statistics: Nathan Rake, executive
of the Rake Coin Machine Exchange has
becorne the pappy of a boy who was prompt-
ly named Richard J. Two other youthful
members of the local industry scheduled
for early parenthood are Ben Seltzer and
Herman Hoffrichter. . . . Popular Lynn
Brown was married at the Adelphia Hotel
on the same day in which Sam Lerner's
son, Martin, celebrated his bar-mitzvah
there. Jack Malit, accountant for the Phila-
delphia Coin Machine Association has taken
the matrimonial step, and Eddie Richter's
daughter soon will . . . . Condolences are
extended to Willfam Helriegel, Jr., execu-
tive of Keystone Novelty & Mfg. Co., whose
wife, Dorothy, passed away early in Decem-
ber . . . . Quick vacations before Chicago
Show-time lured Irv Newman, Jack Cross
and Al and Mrs. Rodstein to Florida, and
corpulent Frank Engel to the Bahamas.
Active Artie Pockrass of Universal
Amusement Co., local distributor for the
Buckley Music System, has announced ap-
pointment of two important sub-distributors
for the upstate area: the Paula Vending Co.
of Allentown, and the Tri-State Music Co.,
Harrisburg.
Newest amusement operator is Harry
Elkins, head of the Royal Musi..: Co., who
joined the Coin Machine Operators' As-
sociation. Another new entrant in this
field is Sam Shur. Invading the music
field are Eastman Music Co., formed by
Harold E. Irwin and Stephen W. Toth, who
have opened offices in the heart of th<1
jewelry district, and Downtown Record
Shop, in the central-city sector, operated by
George Levin.
Local musicmen have been benefittin~
from local theatrical appearances of lead-
ing recording bands, tieing-in the aggrega-
tions' h.i t tunes. Larry Clinton opened at
the Earle late in December, followed hy
Ozzie Nelson and Phil Spitalny. Ted Weems
heads the bill there starting January 17,
followed by Erskine Hawkins, January 24.
Following week is given over to produc-
tion of " Streets of Paris," then Sammy
Kaye comes in on February 7.
Change in Pasadena Novelty Co., one-
time four-partner organization, leaves Al
Roth and Harry Mendelsohn as sole owners,
while Nat Choderker and Max Brown are
operating solo.
Snubby Sloan has opened sumptuous
quarters in the classy section of town where
he calls his operations the Snubby Eastern
Amusement. And Martin Mitnick is now
operating his route from new offices ad-
jacent those of several distributors so that
he can be "first to get all the new stuff."
The friendly cooperation of all operators
in helping this reporter in placing the new
king-sized Cinclair cigarette on the market
is sincerely appreciated. Many locations,
as a result, have featured it prominently
♦
in counter displays.
Vetterick to Groetchen
In Executive Post
CHICAGO-Carroll Vetterick, formerly
with "Automatic Age" of Chicago in an
editorial capacity and, more recently, on
the staff of "Ops", has joined Groetchen
Tool Co. Until the existing office setup is
reorganized, Vetterick is acting as assistant
sales and advertising manager, according
to announcement of Richard Groetchen,
head of the firm, and Karl Klein, general
manager .
.Y etterick has been associated with the
coin machine industry in one capacity or
another for nearly a score of years. In
1928 he was Detroit manager for the Auto-
matic Sales Corp. of New York City, and
in addition to his editorial connections with
the business he has had considerable field
experience as an operator.
A number of new products of this organ-
ization will be displayed at the Chicago
Show, and of them Vetterick was most
enthusiastic, declaring at the same time
that he believed the Groetchen firm offered
him exceptional opportunities and that
their Jines were among the finest in this
particular branch of the industry.
♦
83
C OIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
Baker Releases
Big Time Novelty
CHICAGO-Brand new features, incor-
porated for the first time in a five-ball
novelty table, are said to mark Big Time,
newest equipment from Baker Novelty Co.,
Inc. Said also to be "easy to understand,
fun to play, and commanding instantaneous
appeal," the new ll;ame has eight ways of
scoring, three big special sequence awards,
and five other unique combinations.
Baker officials report that their re-play
games are enjoying favor for their money-
earning power and for their originality,
mechanical perfection and workmanship,
and that distributors and jobbers who have
received initial shipments have proved a
demand with substantial repeat orders.
Full line of Baker novelty tables, Baker's
Pacers, counter games and a new anti-
aircraft gun will be on display at the
♦
Chicago Show.
BECBT'S WINNER! !
See our Patented Ball Gum Vendor at Booth No. 236.
No Winners necessary (Prize Balls). A small Witness
Window below the Globe shows the Winner.
The fastest and biggest profit maker in Ball Gum Vendors y et.
BECHT NIEi.SEN
1322 W. Congress St.
C H I CA GO, I LL .
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