Chicago Novelly Company's "Talk of Ihe Counlry"
The most thorough and complete "CHICKEN SAM" Change-over to
.. JAP" Ray Guns-in the U. S. A.
"SBOOT THE .lAP"
RAY-O-UTE GUNS
$179.50
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
8
1
"3
Deposit, Balance C. O. D. $179.50
The most tho,rough and complete "CHICKEN SAM" Change-Over to "JAP" Ray-
Guns in the U. S. A. "SHOOT THE JAP" Ray -O-Lite Guns. A MONEY- MAKER
right from the start. Appearance and performance equal to a brand new ma-
chine. Factory-trained mechanics-expert cabinet-makers see to it that every
reconditioned Seeburg "CHICKEN SAM" Ray-Gun leaves our shop in perfect
condition. Amplifiers-Tubes-Cables-every part is thoroughly checked and
tested and cabinets finished in solid Blue lacquer with Black trim. Our IIJapll
Ray-Guns make friends with every operator because they look and perform like
new and make money right from the start. Send us your Certified Check for
$175.00 to save C.O.D. charges. or $60.00 with your order-balance of $119.50
C.O.D.
CHICAGO_ NOVELTY COMPANY, IDC.
1348 Newport Avenue
Chicago. Illinois
FOR
SEPTEMBER
'943
Th is business makes you superstitious:
Once you're out of town the machines
start to relax, too. Trouble seems to come
in cycles. And just as swiftly as they come,
th ey disappear.
Th e attitude of competitors and locations
was no small concern to me. I did not want
concessions made because I was a woman.
My experience has been that gentlemen are
gentlemen no matter what their occupation,
and there's no use tryin g to buck it. Even
when you attempt to be on an equal foot-
ing, th ey treat you like a woman. I have yet
to meet a coin machine operator who is not
courteous and cooperative. They have gone
out of their way to be nice to me. I almost
cried when I heard the head of the Cali-
fornia Music Operators Association, George
Mill er, announce a t a meetin g that location s
of men in the service whose , wives were
pinch-hittin g for them were "hands-off." I'm
glad this hasn' t always been carried out. I
still do not want . concessions. made, and
IDfalm~
1-.
yet, bless them, th ese coin machin e operat-
ors will make them.
Locations of ours for the most part have
been unaware of any change in leadership.
I had previously taken charge of r ecord
buying and the fillin g of requests from th e
locations; I have continued that. Confiden-
tially, what I have not mastered is the tech-
nique of nonchalantly walking into a bar
unese orted to see how the phonograph is
working and to listen to the tales of wo e
from the bartenders. This is an important
part of a coin machine business-the per-
sonal contact between location owner and
coin machine owner- my husband tells me,
but I can' t do it. Here I go feminine, or
Victorian. I visiL the restaurants, talk with
the bartenders over 'the phone, and hope
for the best.
My first service call brought a glow of
satisfaction I have rarely known. True, I
only had to switch a mplifiers and tone-
arms, but I made some other simple adjust-
ments that the men had been slipping up
PBBI!
Write MILLS NOVELTY COMPANY 41.00 Fullerton A--;enue
Chicago, Il#nois, for latest' Coin Machine Information
on, and the owner of the location was
mighty impressed-so was I- when the mu-
sic poured out better than before the pho-
nograph had broken down. I wish I had
time to work on a phonograph assembly
line so that I could suggest remedies when
the men get stuck, as my husbaftd is able
to do. That is still indexed for the future.
Labor troubles? Who has a business in
a defense area who doesn' t encounter them
at some time.
My husband has always solved them
through a frank discussion of the em-
ployees' demands, and so have I, althou gh
I find it more difficult to get them to voice
these demands. We have not lost one man
to a defense job nor to a competitor, glow-
ing as the offers have been. Draft boards
are changing that. Even as I write this on e
man has been given five days to get into a
defense job. Planning for a post-war busi-
ness gives employees confidence in their
jobs. Once when our head operator re-
ceived notice fo r his physical examination
by his draft board I rode the phonogra ph
route. I cl imbed ladders, side-stepped cock-
roaches and rats to get to hidden installa-
tion s. Th e man was classified 4F, and we
celebra ted.
Gas rationin g hit me about the sam e tim e
as my housekee per dec ided to retire. Those
were black days and no Pollyanna blood
fiowed . through my veins. I designed a
mezzanine to hold th e vendin g machin es,
for I dec id ed to abandon that part of the
busin ess since it covered the most terri'tory.
I had no id ea wh at it would be like to have
four or fi ve hundred machines in assorted
sizes and shapes dumped into the sto re over
a period of two weeks. Th ey had to be
( See NAVY W IFE, Page 10)
Mention of THE COIN MACHINE REVIEW is y our b est introduction to our advertise rs