Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

CHICAGO SCENE
(Continued from Page 12)
COIN
MACHIHE
REVIEW
16
fOR
DECEMIEI!.
doubts in anybody's mind that this is the
coi n capital of the world, just ask David-
so n, who flew via clipper from Sidney in
42 hours to Chicago_ In a few years the
marvel of having men from the other side
of the world come to Chicago on a buying
trip and getting here in less time than it
takes the Santa Fe Chief to make the run
f rom Los Angeles, will be reduced to the
commonplace. It will be nothing for us to
hop a plane for Johannesburg, South Africa
to buy a few trinkets in the diamond line
for our Christmas Gifts. And while I'm on
thi s subject let me mention that Chicago
is inaugurating, this week, the first of a
series of regularly scheduled flights from
here to London direct. So folks, if you are
going to London, drop in here_ It is the
shol"test route.
Atlas Novelty Co.'s Maurice Ginsberg en-
tertained a large group of friends for din-
ner and the theatre recently. Among the
guests were Meyer Gensburg of the famous
Genco Novelty Co. and the Jack Kelners.
The show was Anna Lucasta, the sellout
hit that has the entire town talking. Seats
have been sold out for ten weeks in ad-
I'an ce. It just happened that that particular
night the entire house was sold to a charity
for which Mrs. Rose Ginsburg (Morry's
wife) is an ardent and generous worker
. . . so Morry's expenditures were for a
mi{l;hty good cause. The dinner was superb
at an exclusive private club, and an un-
usually swell time was had by all.
Making the rounds of the manufacturing
plants. this past month, I find that all of
them have the same type of headaches. If
it isn' t bronze, it's lumber, and if it isn' t
lumber, it's some other piece of material
that is holding up production. That is, pro-
viding there is no help situation. While
the help problem is easing up considerably
with the return of many servicemen to
their old jobs, the strikes in many related
plants directly affect the production of
cQin machine equipment.
Carl McKelvy, vice president of See-
burg Mfg. Co., informs me that they con-
template invitillg all distributors to attend
a meeting the middle of December. At this
{l;athering will be outlined the plans for
the future. Seeburg, along with all the
others, have been hampered by lumber
shortages, and no statements of deliveries
will be made until production is well under
way. The factory has been making between
500 and 600 automatic record chan{l;ers a
day, but the cabinets are holding up the
finished products. Unlike their competitors,
they don't intend to make any prolJ.1ises
whatsoever, but they want to assure each
and every loyal Seeburg operator that they
are bending every effort to get new boxes
to him, and they feel that they can do
this as fast as anybody else.
Genco is working hard on its new Total
Roll, a five ball legitimate 4 model console
that is a marvelous new game. It has been
received sensationally by those who have
been privileged to view it, but production
and deliveries are still a matter of conjec-
ture. Again it's the cabinets that are hold-
in{l; up deliveries.
"The House That Jack Keeney Built" is
going ahead fun tilt with some brand new
items they never attempted hefore and
which will be hot reading when they are an-
nou nced ... but their troubles are no dif-
ferent or less than anybody else's, and they
can't make any definite statements at this
time about delivery dates. Bill Ryan is as
busy as the proverbial one armed paper
hange r, and it's awfully hard to get Jack
Keeney to sit still for a minute.
Out at the Bally Plant, I had a talk with
Herb Jones, the vice-prez now, and Herb
is the same ole guy even thou{l;h he is a
vice-prez. They are going ahead with the
new Gabel-United phono, and a new type
of drink machine, as well as all the multi-
ple tables. But, they emphatically won't
and can't make statements as to delivery
dates, and Herb is pleading with all their
operator and distributor friends to stay
away from Chicago so that they can con-
centrate on getting this stuff out. "Let us
assure you," he says, "that we are doing
everything in our power to get these things
out to you."
Captain of Marines Harold Clemens of
Joliet, III., walked into my office last week
to say Hello. Harold is that dandy opera-
tor of a lot of cig machines in ' northern
Illinois, and since his induction into the
service five years ago, has left the manage-
ment in the capable hands of his sister.
Harold enlisted before the first draft as a
buck private in the Marines, and came up
the hard way. He has seen a lot of serv-
ice in the Pacific, and is now on his way
to Quantico, Va. When I sold him his first
cigvendor, Harold couldn't sign the condi-
tional sales contract because he was a
minor. A likely lad, he made good and be·
came one of the most successful operators
in the state. Later he was elected to the
vice presidency of the Operators Associa-
tion. This is the type of operator who is a
credit to the industry. Good, clean, honest
service.
'ic
*
*
"Do you have any luck betting ?"
"Naw-always lose. But it keeps me
from catching a cold."
"How in thunder does it do that?"
"Like this. When I feel myself {l;ettin{!:
the shivers I just make a bet that I'll ca tch
a bad cold-and I never get it."
1945
Oh/~ THE
REVIEW
Carries a Department devoted to
PANORAMoR
SOLOVUE
CANDY VENDING in the monthly
Coin Machine field. With the grad-
ual return of supplies for the Candy
Vendor, you may expect an ampli-
fication of coverage, important an-
nouncements of new products,
trade forecasts and developments,
$ 36 PER WHEEL
Of SIX 2 MIN un SUBJECTS
NOTCHED AND UAOY
and feature articles of benefit in
obtaining the maximum return out ·
of your candy operations. Keep
your eye on this Department, for
THE REVIEW WILL
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