APRIL. 1949
OFFICE OF PUBLICATION: 1115 Venice Blvd. , Los Angeles 15, Calif. Paul W. Blackford, Editor aad
P.bllsher; Walter W . Hurd, Executive Editor; Louis Karnofsky, Adve~tisl ng Manager. Fitzroy B26 • •
CHICAGO OFFICE (1 I: C. J. Anderson, 35 East Wacker Drive , CENtral 1-11 12; NEW YORK OFFICE
(171 : Ralph P. Mulligan , 441 Le"ingtoa Avenue, Murray Hill 2-55B9. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $5 .00
for 2 year s-minimum t e rm accepted ; 50c per copy.
How Big Is The Manufacturing Industry?
BUSINESS REVIEW .. , Census Bureau Reports 1947 Output;
Omits Some Important Mach. Groups
During April th ere will be a lot of check-
ing up on th e fi rst quarter of 1949 to see
exactly wh at is happening to busin ess. Of-
ficial reports of cor porations, govern ment
agencies and various fin ancial bureaus will
be studied with greater co ncern than usual.
Th e consumin g ma sses have already reached
the conclusion th at a recession is under way,
wh atever th e figures may how.
Views among th e experts differ chiefl y in
speculatin g on how serious th e recess ion
may become. All agree th e postwar boom
was at its peak last year and that some de-
flation is now takin g pl ace; all agree that
any leveling off will be marked by reports
of spotty conditi ons, a nd a lot of people
and businesses makin g less money. But
there will also be norm al gains in many
fields, some of it territorial.
Many of the ex perts think tbat normal
seasonal influences have beg un to show up
in bu in ess once more, a nd thi s is regarded
as a sure sign of gettin g back to norm al.
Abnormal weather has been a bi g factor
during the first quarter of 1949 and has
shown th at weathe r may change much of
th e business pi cture durin g the year, in its
early influence on the prices of foods. The
recession actu ally began a year ago in th e
break in far m prices, but this trend ca n be
reversed this year by the wea th er.
Majority opinion in bi g industrie ex-
pects 1949 to be a goo d yea r but off from
the peak of last year ; small busin ess will
be harder pressed th a n last yea r.
Everybody agrees there is a lot of bad
psychology in th e whole situation. Busin ess
men are too much afraid of recession and
th e feelin g is contagious. Th e mass of con-
( See B USINESS R EVI EW, Page 12 )
Call
PR. 7351
For Coin-operated Equipment,
Parts and Supplies
Poul A. Loymon, Inc.
CHICAGO- The bigness of the coin machine manufacturing industry
is no w a matter of reco rd, with the official data re leased by the Bureau of
the Census in its 1947 Census of Manufactures. Recent reports are subject
to final amendment when comp lete tabul a tions are made, but not much change
is expected in present fi gures.
The 1947 census i the first offi cial check by the federal government since
the census of manufacturing in 1939, hence manufacturing in 1947 is being
compared with that of 1939 . When the government census re port was issued
on 1939 output, it stated that th e indu stry production value had dropped
that year more than $3,000,000 from th e output in 1937. In those days a
federal census of manufacturing was made every other year, and 1937 was
call ed officially a peak year in coin machin e produ ction. How many recall
th at good year ?
The Review Calendar ...
Important Dates
A p ril I -April Foo ls' Day.
A pril I- B-Natio nal La ugh W eek.
A pril I- B-N a t ion a l Leave Us A lone W eek.
Ap ri l 1-30-Ca ncer Con t rol Mont h.
Ap ril 2- 9-N atio na l Ba se ba ll W eek.
Ap ri l 3- 9-N a t iona l Pean ut W eek .
Apri l 6 - Army Da y.
Ap ril 10 - Pal m Sund ay.
A pri l 11-1 7-Pa n A merican W e e k.
Ap ril 14 - Pa n A me rican Day.
Ap ril 15 -Go od Frid ay.
Ap ri l 17 -Ea ste r Su nd a y.
A pril 22-2B-Na t ional Coin W eek.
Ap ril 24-30-United States-C anada G oodwill Week.
A p ril 25-30-National Do nut W eek.
Conventions
Ap r. 25-26-Five-State Pho no g raph Operators Con-
ve nti o n, Hote l Ra d isso n, Minnea pol is,
Mi nn.
Apr. 24-2B-Nati on al Assn . of Toba cco Distri b utors .
an nual con ve nt io n an d exhibit, H otel
Statler, Ne w Yor k, N. Y.
May 8-12- Super Ma rket Institute , 12th a nnual
conve ntio n, Steve ns Hotel, C hica go .
J un e S-I O-N ati on a l C onfeclio ners Assn. , 66th an -
nual co nve nt ion a nd 23rd expo sit ion ,
Stevens Hotel, C hica go.
June 26-29- Nati o nal C a ndy W ho lesa le rs Ass n .• 4th
an nual con ve nti on a nd all -confe ctionery
exposition , Steve ns Hotel, Chica go .
O ct. 24-29-l nte rn ati o na l Assn . of Ice C re am
Ma nufacture r s,
45th
a nnua l
con ve n-
tion, Los Angeles.
APRIL, 1949
w. Pico
,$
••••
• • • • • • • • • • • •
REPAIRS and PARTS
Buy and Sell Slots
•
Nov . 27-30-Na t ion al
A uto matic
Merc ha nd ising
Assn ., an nu al con ve nti o n and exhi bit,
At la ntic City, N. J .
OVER 20 YEARS IN
SERVICING SLOTS
EXPAND
With New Machines
541 E. 32nd Street, Lo. An.,.' .. 11 , Col.
ADams 76B8
DISTR IBUTOR
1429-31
Th e trade will readily agree that 1947
was th e best production year sin ce the end
of th e war, so th at the offi cial figures now
established will not be a handi ca p to th e
Indu try beca use of bein g based on a poor
yea r.
T he da ta was gath ered in a census tha t
almost failed to be a national census. Wh en
th e Bureau was making its plans, Congress
at fi rst decl ined to a ppropriate the money
for a co mplete coverage. Th e n busin ess
orga niza tions of all Kinds set up a howl
that all business needed a new and official
census to sup ply live data on postwar con-
ditions. So Congress finally voted th e fund s.
Th e ce nsus was taken of manufacturin g
industries, while a census th at will cover
reta il and service tra des, includin g loca-
tion s of va ri ous kinds has bee n made since
th e manufa cturing data was taken. Th e
manufa cturin g data on 1947 was /1:ath ere d
in 1948 and th e first release on coin ma-
G. B. SAM
7