Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

Issue: 1948 May

The valuable monthly survey of the
National Assn. of Purchasing Agents for
March was quickly out-dated by more re-
cent developments; this survey will prob-
ably be the fastest and most timely for
watching trends during the crucial months
ahead.
TAXES- The 1948 income tax bill be-
came hi.w and is expected to boost busi-
ness in general. But political leaders have
already warned the nation that tax in-
creases are very probable next year. This
column has warned for many months
that any tax reductions this year are for
political purposes; next year will tell the
tale; a federal sales tax, probably in form
of manufacturer's sales tax, is coming up
in time and likely to pass next year. Th e
general tax revision bill, probably to be
delayed until next year, is getting serious
consideration by Congressional committees,
aided by Treasury experts. Many sound
ideas for tax revision are being consid ered.
Recent developments probably have killed
most hopes for reduction of excise taxes
this year. Just pray that excise taxes will
not be , increased next year.
RETAIL TRADE-General trends in
the retail field for the first quarter were
on the side of decline; Easter trade was
disappointing until shortly before the holi-
day_ More recent reports suggest an up-
ward trend in sales, at least in dollar
volume. There are still many who say
unit sales are not in keeping with dollar
volume. The new income tax law is ex-
pected to spur consumer spending; fear
of coming shortages may be an even
greater spur for many weeks. Retail price
trends are on the upswing again. R etail
leaders are said to expect a slow upward
trend for three months, and then faster
gains in sales for the last half of the
year.
SURVEYS-Opinion surveys by Fortune
and Modern Industry magazines are being
widely quoted; a majority of the Ameri-
can people expect a recession-or did
when the surveys were made; more recent
developments might change the majority
view if the survey were made now.
The Federal Reserve Board survey on
consumer spending was upset right at
the finish by war plan developments; the
agency was trying to measure the effects
of the February price breaks on con-
sumer spepding-and th en something else
happened.
Manufacturing industries are moving
West and South, and to the smaller cities,
a business survey shows. Fortune magazine
surveys also show wealth concentration
moving in that direction , with Houston
probably being the wealth center of the
U. S. More than half the new factories
built since the war have been built in
cities of less than 100,000 population ;
2,038 new factories were built since the
end of the war to last Oct. 31.
TOURIST TRADE-Most reports cur-
rent are largely promotional publicity
for coming summer trade. Travelers com-
ing back from the South often speak of
the new importance of the gas station
as a business cen ter; gas station managers
in the South almost universally complain
of slow business.
WAR PLANS-This new factor, added
to the Business Review column last month,
is considered in the introduction to this
column.
EXPAND with New Machines
LOS ANGELES lee
Bill Happel
MILWAUKEE ...
Carl Happel
"Often a few dollars less-Seldom a penny more"
GUARANTEED RECONDITIONED CONSOLES
NEW KEENEY GOLD NUGGET .. WRITEI NEW BALLY WILD LEMON .... WRITE
NEW BALLY TRIPLE BELLS . , .. . WRITE NEW BALLY DOUBLE UP ...... WRITE
Bally Triple Bells, 5- 10-25 .... . , . . $575.00
Bally Triple Bells, 5-5-25 .. . , , .... 565.00
Mills 1947 Three Bells . ....... . . 395_00
Mills 1941 Three Bells . . . . ,. .. .. 169.50
Keeney 4-Way Super Bells . " , . , 169.50
Keeney Twins, 5-25, F.P., P.O. . .. 99.50
Keeney Single Super, F.P., P.O . . . 59.50
Mills Jumbo, Late F.P., . . . , , . . .. 39.50
KEENEY BONUS, 3-WAY, 5c,
)Oc, 25~, Rebuilt and Relin-
IIhed LIke New . . '. . . . . •
ar GUARANTEED
$69500
Keeney Bonus 2-Way, 5-25 . .. ... , $575.00
Keeney Bonus 2-Way, 5-5 , ... .... 565.00
1947 Galloping Dominoes, P.O . . . 395.00
1947 Bangtails, P.O. , , . , , . . , . , . . 395.00
Bally De Luxe Draw Bells . .. . . . . . 314.50
Bally Draw Bells (R. B.) . ... , , , . . 259.50
Bally Draw Bells (M . B. ) . , ... ... . 239.50
Mills Jumbo, Late F.P., P.O. . . . .. 49.50
Mills Jumbo, Late P.O." . . .. . , . . 39.50
I
KEENEY BONUS I-WAY 5c or
25c, f .P., P .. O., Rebuilt and
Refinlsh . d LIke New . . . . . .
$29500
RECONDI'TIONED PHONOGRAPHS ....
Wurlitzer Model 1015 .. . , . . . .. . $495.00
Wurlitzer Model 1080 . .. . .... , ' 550.00
A_M.1. 1946 Model M ... . , , .... 675.00
Packard 1946 Model 7 . .. ... , .. 395.00
Seeburg
Seeburg
Rock-Ola
Rock-Ola
Model
Model
Model
Model
1-47 . ...... . .. . $575.00
1-46 , . ...... ... 495.00
1426 {1947} .. .. 450.00
1422 (1946) .. '. 375.00
RECONDITIONED SLOTS AND STANDS
Mills
Mills
Mills
Mills
New
Black Cherry, Orig., 5c .. .. $149.50
Black Cherry, Orig ., 10c ... 159.50
Black Cherry, Orig., 25c . .. 169.50
Black Cherry, Orig ., 50c . .. 295.00
Mills Vest Pocket Bells . . , . . . 59.50
Badger Sales Co., Inc.
2251 WEST PlCO BLVD.
LOS ANGELES 6. CALIF.
ALL PHONE DR. 4326
14
New Mills Jewel Bell ..... . . " . .. Write
New Mills Black Cherry .. . . • ... .. Write
New Mills Golden Falls .. . -. . , . . .. W rite
Single Weighted Stand ..... .... 19.50
149.50
Double Revolv-a-Round Safe. .
Badger Novelty Co .. ··
2546 NORTH 30TH STREET.
MILWAUKEE 10. WIS.
ALL PHONE KIL 3030
Gilmore Out As
Secretary-Manager
eM.
CHICAGO-Official announcement was
recently made that James A. Gilmore had
resigned as secretary-manager and director
of Coin Machine Industries, Inc_ His resig-
nation was presented at a meeting of the
board of directors of CMI on April 6 and
was accepted at that time.
The board voted Gilmore a substantial
pension in recognition of his long and
able services in behalf of the Industry,
and for the association.
Gilmore had been secretary of the manu-
facturers' organization since its organiza-
tion in 1939, and had made thousands of
acquaintances and friends among trade
members in all parts of the country.
During the war, while members of the
organization converted to war production,
Gilmore was given a leave of absence
and during that time was associated with
the National Hardwood Lumber Assn., di-
.r ecting a big membership campaign for
that group. Before his joining CMI, Gil-
more had spent many years in organization
work in the oil industry.
"We regret Jim's decision to leave us
I\nd wish him every success in the future.
He has been a loyal associate," Dave
Gottlieb, CMI president said.
Gilmore said he had no immediate plans
for the future, beyond his desire to take
a much needed rest. After that, he in-
dicated he would either enter business
for himself or possibly take another posi-
tion in the trade association field.
GIlmore will be remembered long by
the Industry for his work in conducting the
annual trade ' conventions, where he was
a very familiar figure each year. When
CMI resumed its activities at the end of
the war, Gilmore returned to take up
his work "as secretary-manager and not
many months later the organization hon-
ored him by electing him as a member of
the board of directors.
"Bat·A·Score" Batting High
Average at M. A Pollard Co.
SAN FRANCISCO-"It's the most life-
like baseball game ever introduced to the
trade," is the explanation M. A. Pollard
gives when questioned about the popularity
of H. C. Evans' new animated high score
game he is now delivering.
"Bat-A-Score's life-like player-controlled
action has increased profits in every loca-
tion," he said. "The animated manikin
pitcher actually picks up and pitches the
ball through the air. The batter swings,
and th e catcher actually catches the ball
on strikes, balls, and fouls."
M. A. Pollard Co., whose slogan is "The
House of Buys," carries a full line of new
as well as used equipment of all types.
Firm is exclusive Northern California dis-
tributor for H. C. Evans & Co.
"We offer operators the best buys in
San Francisco," Pollard stated, "and that's
the reason an increasing number of op-
erators are contacting us for their equip-
ment needs."
Cranes Ruled Skill
In St. Paul Decision
ST. PAUL-Following a ruling by State
Attorney General J. A. A. Burnquist, per-
mits to operate 10 Hollycrane coin-op-
erated diggers were granted by the city
council to Fritz Eichinger, St. Paul op-
erator.
The state attorney general in an opinion
handed down in February ruled that th e
devises were not in violation to state's
anti-gambling laws, pointing out that the
diggers were . a game of skill.
COIN MACHINE REVIEW
New Locations · For
Amusement Machines
by A·RTHURE. YOHALEM
Marketing methods in the amusement ma-
chine field have tended to follow fixed pat-
terns. Back in the 1890's, when penny-in-
the-slot devices were beginning to capture
the fancy and coins of the American pub-
lic, the machines gravitated towards an
arcade group-type of location. Here a
number of penny games could be centrally
serviced and supervised by an attendant,
who also made change. Under this set-up,
coin games were owned by the location,
and few machines were spotted "solo" on
a commission basis at other sites. The
penny arcade, which reached its peak
around 1905, was eclipsed by the rise of
the moving picture but continued to serve
as the major sales ou tlet for game makers.
In the early 1930's, when pin ball ar-
rived from out of nowhere to take the coun-
try by storm, this location-owning pat-
tern was reversed. Operating on nickel
play, individual machines were able to
gross enough to stand alone in such loca-
tions as cigar stores, candy stores, taverns,
etc. But as the novelty of a particular
model soon faded, it was neces,sllry to
regularly substitute new versions of the
machin es which could stimulate renewed
patronage. Location owners were unwill-
ing to purchase games which might lose
their pulling-power before their cost could
be amortized, and this si tuation led to the
rise of modern operators who serviced a
string of sites.
The operator, who owned a number of
games, could shift machines from one spot
to another, rotating his attractions be-
fore their drawing abilities had disappeared.
Because the first pin balls were relatively
cheap affairs, and because the machines
were big money-makers in these early days,
operators often paid locations 50 per cent
of a machine's gross earnings as a com-
mission. But as the games were made
more and more intricate to keep pace with
the public demand for "something new" ,
and as their costs rose with their increased
complexity, the operator found his net in-
come declining. Today, rising costs of
operation and licensing regulations have
limited the number of public locations
where coin games can operate profitably.
With both the operator and the manufac-
turer seeking new outlets for the auto-
matic game, coinmen have been eyeing a
new marketing trend which has bee:l tak-
ing shape in the East. This centerS around
the plan of renting machines to sites which
would not ordinarily utilize the games as
an operator location. This development
has been an offshoot of the music machine
business, which found itself unable to util-
ize outmoded phonographs in commercial
locations. Many an operator has built up
a lucrative trade in renting these machines,
(in which the coin control has been re-
placed by push-button operation) to pri-
vate homes as an entertainment device for
a party.
A fair-sized trade has also been con-
ducted in selling obsolete coin phonos,
(stripped of their coin mechanisms) which
would ordinarily be marketed in export
channels, to home owners. Recently the
Rudolph Wurlitzer Co. ran an ad in th e
New Yorker magazine offering used pho-
nographs for sale, through its distributors,
for "rumpus room" use. Aimed at this new
outlet, the advertising copy read: "Pep
up your parties. Brighten up your recre-
ation room. Step up your fun. Surprise
your friends by having a famous Wurlitzer
Juke Box in your Rumpus Room" .
This promotion in behalf of phonographs
has produced requests for additional me-
chanical amusement equipment, and a lim-
ited trade is currently in progress in the
East in the rental of automatic games,
with and without coin chutes, to home lo-
cations. In most instances, the games are
supplied for an evenin g's use as a party
entertainment feature, and, in other cases,
operators have experim ented with a fi xed
monthly fee plan, whereby games are rent-
ed for rumpus room utilization and replaced
periodically with new versions, so that the
home owner and his guests will not grow
tired of a particular model.
With th e growing popularity of oil burn-
ers and the consequent disappearance of
the cellar coal pile, many a homeowner has
been reconditioning his basemen t. Known
as rumpus rooms, recreation rooms, or just
plain "converted cellars", the prosaic base-
ment has become a playroom, fe aturing
ping-pong, backgammon, and card tables,
and th e automatic amusement machine has
heen added to introdu ce just the right
note of modern novelty. FreqUl!ntly utilized
for informal entertaining, th e rumpus roolD1
locations are being reached by games op-
erators through such mediums as advertis-
ing in neighborhood and suburban news-
papers, and by direct mail solicitations to'
homes in upper-income brackets. Opera.-
tors . experimenting with this type of ren· ·
tal business have been securing substantiaTI
deposits on their equipment, but report.
that the wear-and-tear on the machines'
has been considerably less than the "beat-
ing" given games on public locations.
One firm currently interested in tappin g
new location markets for a coin-actuated:
game is the Telecoin Corp., New ork, dis-·
tributors of Red Ball, a miniature billiard--
type skill device. Played on a table 34 in •.
high, 70 in. long, and 27 in. wide, the'
game is equipped with two cues and seven.
balls. As in pool, the object of the game
is to hit one ball with another, and then '
into a pocket. The corner and side pockets.
are represented by a series of arches, just
large enough to admit the ball into a::
scoring zone, and when the ball is "sunk'"
in an appropriate hole, a score is tallied
electrically in series of 25, 50, and lOOt
points.
Telecoin became interested in the "plus"
or non-standard type of game location for
coin-operated machines when it recently
sold 250 of th e Red Ball machines to th e
Veterans Administration, for use in vets"
hospitals throughout the country. Produc-
ing the game with and without a coin·
chute, this concern has been testing the-
machine in various tryout locations which
included home si tes, fraternal lodges,
union halls, church fairs, garden fetes, and'
events staged to raise funds for pet charity-
projects.
Just how far this rental phase f:Jr the-
amusement machine will extend rcmains to
be seen, but operators would do well to look..
into its possibilitielr in their areas. As one
coinman summed it up: "It's a great mar--
ket for used and rebuilt equipm ent. You
don't need a 'New Look' on games spotted
in these new locations." Many an oper-
ator, bemoaning the lack of locations, may '
yet find a financial bonanza hiding in,
somebody's cellar site.
Vendalls Shipped
to Saudi Arabia
CHICAGO-The Yendall Co. has com-
pleted the shipping of a number of eight
column Vendalls, bases and auxiliary equip-
ment, to Saudi Arabia. Machines were
equipped with National coin selectors for
the 1/2 Rujal which is about the size of
our quarter.
Yendall anticipates additional orders
from Arabia where apparently automatic'
vending is finding a ready acceptance.
DEIIDI.INE EXTENDED 1o .111' IS
FOR THE
1948·49 SOURCE BOOK OF THE COIN MACHINE INDUSTRY
DIRECT,ORY ADVERTISING WORKS FOR YOU THE WHOLE YEAR THROUGHII In the SOURCE
BOOI[ you not only get blanlcet coverage of the entire Coin Machine Induatry but hundreda
of brand new prospects as the result of our national advertising in leading pul>lic:ations. Men
and women W1th money to buy and establish biq routes 01 equipment. 20.000 c:opies will be
printed and circulated during the life 01 this edinon. Advertising rate. are low ,gnd ada may
be spotted adjacent to your. Iree listing for maximum effectiveness. Time is running short ior
the positive deadline is May 15th.
CONTACT NEAREST OmCE TODAYl
DISPLAY RATES
Page (S .. xS .. ) .......... $300.00
112 Page (Zlf2"xS"
or 4 .. xS .. L ...... , .... 160.00
1/4 Page (2 I f2"x4") SS.OO
1/8 Page (2 I f2"x2") 50.00
, COIN MACHINE RE'lIEW
35 East Wacker Drive
illS Venice Boulevard
441 Lexington AveRue
NEW YORK CITY
MAY, 1948
LOS ANGELES
CHICAGO
15

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