The standard size for cigarettes was in-
troduced just 80 years ago, in 1865, by
T_ Avramachi. This was basically a Tur-
kish tobacco product. Previously, in 1861,
John Theodovidi, a Greek who had served
in the Russian Army, started the manu-
fac ture of the first cigarettes in England.
He had seen the English soldiers in the
Crimea relish the convenient product and
started with four brands. They were, The
Canon, The Rifle, The Zetland and The
Opera.
"I say," said the would-be customer, "let's
have a pack of cigarettes." "Can't help
you," replied the attendant, "I'm completely
fagged out!"
Cigarette operators have been wondering
where all the tobacco foil is. Here is the
answer: The Allies' trick of dropping
masses of tinfoil strips, to prevent German
radar from picking up the Allied planes,
was a great success, according to the Ger-
mans. The citizens of the Northwest now
have their answer, too, to the reasons for
the hail of foil during President Truman's
recent visit in that part of the country.
Didjano: WAC's are not permitted to
be photographed with a cigarette? Nothing
in the regulations mentions -pipes, so any
day now - - - -
Difficult as it was to get cigarettes dur-
ing the latter part of 1944, Americans
managed to smoke an average of nearly
100 packs each last year. That meant
that more than 258,000,000,000 cigarettes
went up in smoke during the year. Although
civilian cigarette production dropped last
year, consumption was estimated to have
.i ncreased about 5!f2 per cent, according
to the Year Book of the Encyclopedia
Britanica.
A Connecticut law, enacted in 1646, for-
bade persons under 20 years of age from
smoking unless that had a certificate is-
sued by a physician, stating that smoking
would be beneficial to the health of the
would-be smoker.
----Additional'--. - - Vending A Stepping Stone
CANDY VENDING
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
-------Nevvss--- - -
S6
WASHINGTON-In a syndicated article
through the King Feature Syndicate and
published in newspapers from coast-to-
coast, George Dixon on July 11th revealed
what was purported to be a state secret and
asserted that the sugar shortage has been
caused by exceptionally large shipments
to Franco in Spain,
Dixon said that 60,000 tons were practi-
cally forced upon Franco and that ' the
original plan was for Britain to send
60,000 tons to Spain this year, but the
British coaxed our State Department into
having us take over the sugar obligation,
while Britain's stockpile of sugar is al-
most double its ordinary peacetime nor-
mal.
FOR
AUGUST
1945
Spain Gets Sugar
Candymen Buy Plenty Bonds
BALTIMORE, MD.-The Baltimore can-
dy industry went over-the-top in the Sev-
enth War Loan Drive with a final figure
of $1,880,500, it was announced by John
Wintz, general chainnan of the campaign
committee.
Final figure for the Sixth War Loan
Drive amounted to $2,000,000 thus topping
the current drive by a small margin. How-
ever, some additIonal amounts will prob-
ably be reported during the current month.
Committee for the Drive included John
Wintz, I. F. Kartman, J. F. Birkmeyer and
T. Donald Elliott.
The candy industry of this market de-
serves a great deal of credit for the fine
work it has done in the last two war loan
drives.
Can't Fool Pigeon
NEW YORK-A young lady standing in
the middle of the 42nd Street Library
Park, calmly feeding Goelitz candy chicken
corn to dozens of pigeons, was queried as
to why candy was being so wilfully wasted.
"But," said she, '.'I've tried all kinds of
food £!tuffs on these pigeons and candy
chicken corn still remains their favorite."
(No wonder. As scarce as candy is, even
a pigeon knows when he is well off.),
* * '"
Adam owned the first Oak Leaf Cluster.
LOS ANGELES-Into the life of al-
most every successful millionaire the au-
tomatic vending machine has, at some time
or other, attracted attention and contribu-
ted its share to his future state of well
being. It was so in the career of the late
president F. D. Roosevelt and it is so, too,
in the story of Alfred D. McKelvy, million-
aire founder of "Seaforth" toiletries for
~~
.
Born on a horsehair sofa in Atchison,
Kansas, in 1901, McKelvy got to the
top the hard way. One sales job after
another tossed him for a loop and in the
fall of 1932 he left a position with the
Midland Flour Co., Kansas City, and in-
vented a vending machine to sell cigarettes
at one cent each.
. He still holds permit No. 1 to sell
smokes at that price. The venture, called
the International Vending Machine Co.,
was going fine, with 300 of the machines
in o.peration when the 1933 bank holiday
arrived.
All of McKelvy's money was ' in the
Fidelity Bank & Trust Co., which never
re-opened its doors. He borrowed on his
insurance, paid off his debts, and headed
for Colorado to pan gold.
Later in the bas~ment of his home, he
brought about the famed line of "Seaforth"
toiletries and sold the line in 1941 to
Vick Chemical Co., for an undisclosed, but
pleasant to contemplate. amount.
And, added to the list of greats, is an-
other name that found in vending ma-
chines, a stepping stone to success.
Three Texas sailors tossed 30 packs of
cigarettes out of theIr St. Louis hotel
window to civilians below, and told police
they had just wanted to "give 'em a thrill
and watch 'em stumble." They did!
It happened in Topeka, Kansas. She
strolled into a place of business glanced
with habitual hopelessness at a cigarette
vending machine, and promptly raced for-
ward, with coins . clinking in an impatient
hand. The machine was filled to capacity
with smokes of half a dozen standard
brands! Bonanza!!' Her dime was half
way in the slot when she saw the sign:
"Out of Order." "Rationing," she told a
tittering audience, "was bad enough-but
making us drool is just too, too much!"
The crowd was thick at the soft drink
stand on Broadway across from City Hall,
New York. A messenger boy managed to
edge through to the cigarette machine. He
dropped ,his two coins in the machine.
The crowd laughed because anyone could
plainly see the big sign: "Sorry, No
Cigarettes." He pulled the lever and,
just as in the good old days, out came
a pack of cigarettes. Then came a wild
rush for the machine. But, alas! The mes-
senger had cleaned it out with his one-
pack jackpot.
Tax Mail Order Fags
.
MADISON, Wis. - The Assembly con-
curred in a senate bill here on June 28th
to tax mail order cigarettes, now sold
tax free in the State. The bill would im-
pose a "use tax" on tobacco so purchased.
It was revealed that more and more
smokers escape the State tax by pur-
chases through the mail. One Chicago
house ships 40,000 cigarettes into the
State each month and the expanding busi-
ness would eventually result in revenue
losses exceeding $35,000 which is pur-
ported to be the current /igur~.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Mail order cig-
arettes are costing the State of Ohio
thousands of dollars in taxes and efforts
of the tax department to collect the money
it has coming to it are being intensified.
So far this year, the State has collected
$3,489,332 from cigarette stamps, com-
pared to $4,364,905 in the first five months
of 1944. A considerable portion of this
drop is attributed to mail order fags
and not to cigarette shortage.
Maser Repair Service
SAN FRANCISCO-One of the finest re-
pair services iri the Bay Area is that main-
tained by the H. R. Maser Music Co.
"Hank" has been in the business a long
time and he knows the importance of a
well-staffed repair department and in the
local branch he has provided 'some of the
best mechanics in the Industry to work on
the machines of Maser customers.
'" '" '"
They call her Fanny because she is al-
ways at the bottom of things.
Plant Decentralization
CHICAGO - Decentralization of candy
plant operations seems to be an important
plan on the schedule of many a candy
manufacturer after the war. Walter H .
Johnson Candy Co., has- purchased_a Pacific
Coast plant; Peter Paul, Inc., aiready has
plants in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Cali-
Iornia, and is considering the establish-
ment of a factory in Florida; al,1d three of
Chicago's largest operators are eyeing
plants in California and the East, while
several ,of the larger candy firms of the
Coast and the South are planning an en-
trance into the mIdwestern and eastern
markets.
ELECTRIC SOLDERING IRON .
Underwriters Lab. Appraved.
Extra fine for operators .
Guaranteed
100 or 150 Watt .... __ • __ . __ .. $7.95
Write for price. on other sl"".
--SEE-
PAUL A. LAYMON
DISTRIBUTOR