Capehart's Mother Hen
Plans Defense Eggs
You'll look a long way for a more attractive spot than Segal's Tavern, 8276 South Chicago
Avenue , Chicago, Big, bright and cheery, it now boasts a complete Wurlitzer installation with
salutory effect on patronage and profits. A Wurlitzer Model 850 Phonograph has recently been
augmented by a battery of the popular Model 125 Wurlitzer Wall Boxes with single 5, 10, 25c
coin entry. Both C. H. Hoffman, Wurlitzer Music Merchant, who made the installation, and
Segal's Tavern owners are delighted with the results which they say stepped up phonograph
play and profits to an amazing degree.
Operator Mystified At
Double Snitch
~ Permo
CHICAGO-In a letter to E. C. " Gene"
Steffen, Vice President of Permo Prod·
ucts Corporation, L. O. Evans, of Cleve·
land, tells one of the month's most inter·
esting operators' stories:
"It was a hot autumn afternoon and I
had been assigned to the task of deter·
mining where a certain party in another
city obtained a machine of the type that
had not been sold.
CHICAGO-Boys who were bookkeepers,
motion picture stars, prizefighters and base·
ball heroes are becoming army rookies ...
girls who used to know which way to make
typewriter keys go, now guide knitting
needles and First Aid bandages . . . and
Permo Points, that give that clear tone to
music machine records are now also ex·
pected to work at the end of airplane in-
struments!
E. C. "Gene" Steffens, vice· president of
Permo, says, "Steel pivots in aircraft in·
struments were worn out in accelerated
tests in 25 hours. The osmium alloy pivots
showed no signs of wear in 125 hours!"
According to Steffens, the Permo alloy
phots feature non·corrosion, non·abrasion
and have a low rate of wear without lubri·
cation, eliminating the general increase in
friction common to steel pivots. Osmium
alloy, the precious metal used in Permo
needles, belonging to the platinum family,
was first used to give fountain pens long
life. Twelve years ago, Permo made hi s·
tory using it to give lasting life to phono·
graph needles.
Officials state that the use of Permo
points in th e aircraft industry will in no
way interfere with their ervice in the coin
machine field as phono graph needles.
•
"After driving over a hundred miles, I
found a typical small town bar·room at the
address in question. Upon questioning the
bartender· proprietor, he showed reluctance
to let me examine his machine, in spite of
my promises of having only his interest in
mind.
"It appeared that it was going to be
necessary for me to barge my way tbrough
his bar· room to the back door in order to
examine the equipment in question. How·
ever, upon further conversation, I learned
that my host was, and had been for anum·
ber of years, a professional wrestler, so I
just con tinued to talk instead.
"He, however, broke down in due time
and permitted me i'n, and to my surprise,
I found an old Model 'Z.' His actions indio
cated also, that this machine was never
sold or purchased, so I decided to bring
it back with me just on general principles,
even though it was an old obsolete model.
"It was loaded in the trunk of my car
very securely with just a small portion
overhanging, and we rolled merrily away.
About halfway back it was necessary to
stop for gas and that was the first time
I had thought of my cargo. You can imago
ine my surprise to find the lid of my trunk
down securely in place, with the phono·
graph missing.
Points
Skyward
*
*
*
.
Men usually exercise for their health,
but with women it's just a matter of
~~.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Hatching out
plans is nothing new for Homer Capehart,
a nd his newest incubator baby is the
"mother hen" plan, devised to garner in
some of the defense industry's business
eggs. Capehart heads a group of 10 small
manufacturers formed on the same princi·
pIes of a dozen or so other manufacturing
pools in the country.
Capehart declares, "I believe that the
heat is on at present in Washington to
spread defense work among the small fel·
lows and now is the time to strike while
the iron is hot. And believe me, we're
going to go after it .. . It will mean plenty
of hard work but, if it means staying up all
night to get a defense contract out of
somebody in Washington or Detroit, I'll
do it. And if it means the men associated
with me have to stay up all night figuring
out bids for me to have the next morning,
I know they'll do it. We're going to work
fast."
In the "mother hen" plan is Capehart's
Packard Manufacturing Corp., which will
serve as prime contractor, dividing work
among these concerns as sub·contractors,
the plan's associates: Steel Stamping Co. ;
Williamson Polishing & Plating Co. ; Ewing
Foundry; Indianapolis Metal Spinning Co.;
Lahmann Pattern Works; V. E. Sprouse
Co. of Columbus; O. K. Machine Co., Ft.
Wayne; Kiser Plating Co., Muncie; and
Federal Die Casting, Chicago.
There are no financial connections among
the compani es. There aren't even any writ·
ten formal contracts. The manufacturers
have simply bound themselves morally to
work together to keep in business. Cape·
hart's organization, known as Packard
Manufacturing Corp. and Associates, con·
sists mostly of manufacturers who have
done work for him in his business of mak·
ing automatic music boxes and who, while
still in business, expect to have their regu·
lar business cut drastically because of de·
fense priorities and because they are too
small to do hig defense jobs. Their idea
is to stay in business, doing defense work,
and be ready to return to civilian produc·
tion when the war is over.
The pool plan was first tri ed out in York,
Pa., and has since spread to Canton, 0.;
Kansas City, Moo, and to Texas.
•
*
*
*
"You say this hair restorer is very good,
do you?"
"Yes, sir. I know a man who took the
cork out of a bottle of it with his teeth and
had a mustache next morning."
•
"I immediately recalled every twist and
turn in the road and I also distinctly reo
membered a brushing sound, one that led
me to believe that I had run over a twig
or perhaps a branch of a tree in the road.
Not remembering having seen any such
obstacles, I concluded that it was a t this
point that the phonograph slipped out.
"I immediately raced back and retraced
the en tire distance, only to find th e mao
chine had again apparently been stolen,
almost from under me you might say. The
machine has never been recovered or heard
of since."
•
Complete from a Wurlitzer Victory Model 850 Automatic Phonograph, Wall Speaker
to a battery of Wur/itzer's popular 5-10-25c Wall Boxes, Denver's Famous Cafe now offers
its customers the most modern music service available. The customers, it is reported, have
responded by increased patronage of the location's refreshment facilities as well as prac-
tically continuous use of the phonograph.
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
51
FOR
OCTOBER
1941