S A. I N T L O U I S
- - - - - -- Covered By - - -- - - -
ROBERT LATIMER
CO/H
MACH/HE
REVIEW
52
FOR
MARCH
1941
ST. LOUIS (RC) - February was the
gayest month in the history of the coin
machine industry in St. Louis, with parties
galore in honor of anniversaries of coin
machine distributors, the opening of the
largest building devoted primarily to di s-
tributing in th e middle west, and associa-
tion banquets by the dozen. As one opera-
tor, Mike ~uz,~ich of M. L. Sales Company,
expressed 1t We had too much fun thi s
month to do any business !"
In the music field, an agreeable note was
found in the fact tha t collections are on
the rise, and are already far above the
simflar mQP th of 1940. Credit is du e to th e
heavy snows which have been a feature in
St. Louis fo P'several weeks, giving a fresh
incent,ve to tavern life, and doubling th e
" take" of a good many machines on loca-
tion. A noticeable thinnin g out of loca tion s
was also in favor of collections as the
Associated Phono gra ph Own er's ' Associa-
tion of St. Louis issued a stri ct edi ct re-
garding too much crowding of machin es
!n the same block. From thi s po int on, it
1s hoped, phonograph loca tions will be suf-
ficiently well spaced th at each will get
the play it deserves, whether a 1941
model or not.
Th e association met F ebruary 19 for one
of the shortest meets on record, according
to Ed Fisher, executive manager of th e
group. The meeting was held at Hotel
Melbourne, and the piece de resistance
was a proposal for altering of standa rd
ra tes on commissions to location owners.
This revision problem has been up for a
decision several tim es, and in each instance
has been tabled by a fifty-fifty vo te. It
was retired again during February aft er
a dead lock in votes. The 1941 model~ were
added to th e presen t rate schedule "as is"
which means that they will pay th e cus-
tomary loca tion rate for new models with•
out a rgum ent for so me months to come.
After the meeting, which closed at ten-
thirty, and so early th at operator's wives
accustomed to coming after their husbands
in th e wee small hours were two hours
late, th e group enjoyed drinks and sand·
wiches.
Fred Pollnow, largest phono operator in
Missouri , has enlarged his Cen tral Dis-
tributin g Company to almost the same
size-enterin g th e pinball field only re-
cently, he has now built up a huge stock
of equipment, and is operatin g in that field
almost as heavily as in the music end.
Brother Caesar Pollnow is half of the
managerial team which now controls both
the Automatic Phonograph Company and
Central Distributing Company, both lo-
C/lted on Cherokee Avenue in South St.
Louis. The Pollnow brothers, both prema-
~urely white-haired, are outstanding figures
rn almost every angle of th e busin ess in
Missouri.
Elmer Schewe, first operator in St.
Louis to dispose of his used records to
the public via a music store, has found
this activity sufficiently profitable that he
bought a new De Soto in January. Friends
are kiddin g him still about his showing up
for th e F ebruary meeting just as it ended.
Biggest news for early March is th e
annual showin g of Seeburg phonographs at
th e Hotel Melbourne Colonial room, s pon•
sored by W. B. Novelty Company local
'
distributors.
Barn ey Freri cks of Arrow Novelty Com•
pany, Packard-Plamor distributor since late
1940, is enthusiastically booming the wall
box through St. Louis, pointing out three
loca tions which tripl ed th eir incomes after
installin g this equipment. Barney was
pleasantly surprised on hi s birthday in
Jan uary, when he came to th e office in th e
mornin g to find it jammed with birthday
ca kes, l!;ifts, music, and dressed-up em-
ployes. Barney, who had forgotten the date
himself, was presented with a musical cake
playing " Happy Birthday to You," a record
en titled "Our Boss" recorded by the service
men an d seve ral useful ga dgets from
his boys. Busin ess was forgotten for the
day and the entire Arrow Novelty staff of
twelve spent th e evenin g at a champagne
supper in th e Rose Bowl, huge bar and res-
taurant near th e Arrow location.
Earl Bowman, business manager IBEW,
YOUR BEST BETS TRIS MONTH
Evans' Ten Strikes .................. $30.00
Gottlieb Skee Ball-ette .......... 30.00
Keeney Anti-Aircraft Gun .... 60.00
Chicken Sams .......................... 65.00
Gottlieb 3-Way Gripper ........ 11.00
Advance Shocker .................... $11 .20
A. B. T. Challenger,
Late Model .......................... 12.50
A. B. T. Red, White and Blue 12.75
Advance Vistascope .............. 29.50
NEW GAMES AT S94.50
ALL TYPES OF USED GAMES AT THE
LOWEST POSSIBLE PRICES!
BUY 'EM BY THE CASE-
Daval CUB .................... ea. $13.95
Daval ACE .................... ea. 14.95
Daval "21" .................. ea. 19.75
WHAT
HAVE
Case of 6 .................... $75.00
Case of 6 .................... 80.00
Case of 4.................... 72.50
YOU
TO
TRADE?
Will Pay Cash for American Eagles
Wire!
Phone!
Write!
SOUTHWESTERN VENDING
MACHINE COMPANY
2833 W. Pico Blvd.
RO. 1421
Los Angeles, Calif.
IT~ "21" FOR '41-
*'
REEl 21
itttlNPIN&
TIJNIJ'IE"
*
Th e greatest, most
t hrilling , moat
beauti f ul co unter
ga me in a ll hi••
tory! RU SH
YOUR ORDER
T O US TODAY !
I /3 Deposit,
Bala.nee C.0.D.
SAMPLE
$19.75
CASE OF 4
$72,50
MILLS SALES CO., Ltd.
1640 18th St. , Oakland
1491 W. Washington , Los Angeles
1325 S. W . Washington, Portland
is recoverin g from a dangerous streiiic,cocci
infec tion in his throa t, which threatened
him with hospitalization for awhile. Most
of th e operators of the city seem to have
in so me way escaped the influenza epi-
demic botherin g the rest of the city.
Lou Hormonn, out of the busin ess for a
long period, is back to operating a strin g
of new machin es himself. Once operator of
th e famous Big Apple Tavern in South
St. Louis, Lou now has another tavern,
runs a strin g of pin tables, and a string of
phonographs, all of which keep him at
least moderately busy.
Harry Siegel, an operator never known
to wear a hat, is introducing himself to
friends of many year's standing, sin ce a
recent cold moved him to don hea dgear
regularly around his circuit! "Nobody
knows me with a hat on," Harry complains
lugubriously!
Al Miller, co unter game "king" of St.
Louis, has been released from the hospital,
following an attack of flu which put him
out of circulation for nearly three weeks.
A point in favor of the co in machine
industry which was widely publicized dur•
in g January was the fact that Katharin e
He pburn, movi e actress and sta ge star,
was noti ced playing a Bally " School Days"
on loca tion in her hotel for more than an
hour while making an appearance in St.
Louis. This news item was in several city
newspa pers, and has been cited by the
Misso uri Amusement Machin e Association
as evid ence that everybody in each walk
of life enjoys playing pinball machines.
Lee Turner, operator, is back from F lor-
ida, sportin g a coat of tan which is the
envy of every young blood in the business.
"That F lorida sunshine is hotter than St.
Louis in summer," Lee reports. He is
leaving shortly for another vacation at Hot
Springs, Arkansas, accompanied by Harry
Davies.
On the verge of leavin g for one year of
military trainin g are Hilbert Maderson and
( See ST. LOUIS, Page ?? )
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