Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

Issue: 1949 July

'011 IDY! OLD NICK is 6 WONDERFlll C61111y 161!"
One of the few Nationally Advertised Condy
Bars. You can offer and sell it to retail-
e rs everywhere in the U. S. A.
•• • Unique flAVOR •• • ma r velous NAME • • •
finest QUALlTY •. • NATIONAL Advertising . .. make
BIT-O- HONEY America' s fastest-growing Bar.
SCHUTTER CANDY DIVISION, St. Louis
meeting of bottlers that the average per-
son seems to be able to bold only so mucb
liquids, so if he takes milk, coffee, juices,
etc_, he will consume less soft drinks.
Report on use of ingredients by the
soft drink trade in recent weeks have not
shed any real light on whether output is
being increased. The bottling trade esti-
mates that per capita sales of soft drinks
in 1948 amounted to 166 bottles per per-
son, a real gain over the Der capita mark
of 155 bottles in 1947. If the rate of gain
is still bolding this year, sales of soft
drinks in bottles should be doing right well.
Official tabulation on 1947 shows that
soft drinks made a bigger per capita gain
in sales than ice cream, candy, coffee or
beer. In that year ice cream ranked second
in per capita gains, beer third , ca ndy
fourth and coffee fifth .
Local Drink Leads Coke
In Milwaukee Survey
MILWAUKEE - There are cities in
which a local soft drink ranks in consumer
preference above the national hest sellers,
and that is true in this city. A newspaper
survey here gives first place to Graf's, with
a score of 36.2 per cent of consumers put-
ting it first.
Coca-Cola scored first in choice with 14.4
per cent and Pepsi-Cola was listed first by
3.9 per cent. Coca-Cola had dropped from
a score of 16.8 per cent last year.
Among the surveys, a New York maga-
zine firm recently announced its survey on
brand preferences for soft drinks; also
showing that 92 per cent of the families in
the U. S. buy soft drinks.
Coca-Cola, of course, led with 52.5 per
cent of the families listing the brand as
first choice; 16 per cent voted for Pepsi-
Cola; 7.6 per cent for 7-Up; 2.9 per cent
for Royal Crown; 2.6 per cent for Hire's
Root Beer; 2 per cent for Dr. Pepper; and
17 per cent voting for a multitude of mis-
cellaneous brands. Eight per cent were not
brand conscious at all.
Sell-Service Making Gains
ST. LOUIS-A convention of wholesale
grocer here emphasized self-service as the
biggest thing in reducing cost in grocery
stores. Althoul!;h vending machines were
not in the discus ions, the general stress of
self-service was an indirect boost for ven-
dors.
The vending trade in recent years has
seen vending machines make big headway
in grocery stores, and the convention pro-
duced some data on how important such
locations may he.
Retail I!;rocery store trade has climbed
from 10 billion dollars annually in 1939 to
32 billion dollars now_ One speaker said
86 cents of every dollar that goes for gro-
ceries is spent in a self-service store.
JULY, 1949
Sale of "Standard"
Almonds Booming
OAKLAND-Standard Specialty Co. i.
rapidly attaining the reputation as the
country's No. I supplier of vending al-
monds.
"Tbe word is getting around about the
superior quality and low price of the
Standard brand," says Bert Fraga, head of
the company, "and as a result, we are en-
joying the greatest almond business in the
history of this company."
The Standard almond is processed ac-
cording to strictest vending machine speci-
fications. It is French-fried in pure cocoa-
nut oil, and because it is vend-size, it will
not clog mechanisms and break the nuts.
The first shipment of Victor's new Top-
per has been sold out and Fraga has been
awaiting additional machines to meet de-
mands in his area.
Death Takes Edwards,
Leader In Vending
KA SAS CITY-The wholesale tobacco
trade recen tly 10 t by death one of its most
progressive members. J. Renz Edwards of
the F. S. Edwards Tobacco Co., and who
had nlso built up an extensive cigarette
vending mach ine business in the area.
Edwards was especially active in the Na-
tional Assn. of Tobacco Distributors, was
nrAsident of the grouD for many years, and
helped found it in 1933. He was also a
director of the National Automatic Mer-
chandising Assn.
Cattle Freeze, But "Ideal"
Weathers AlI Weather
LOS ANGELES-When the weather is
so frigid that cattle freeze in the fields,
that's big news for the general public.
When a scale operate f1awle sly durin!!;
many months of sub-zero temperature, that's
big news for the vending trade.
That's wbat happened in the Mountain
Sta tes last winter. While livestock froze.
the Ideal penny weighing machine proved
its great all-weather ability by remaining
on out ide locations and doing a top job
without need of servicing.
Returning from a three-week tri n to this
area. Robert Stark, head of Ideal Weil!;hinl!;
Machine Co., made some interesting dis-
closures.
"Many outside-location scales were placed
in the back room last winter and lost four
or five months' play because they just
couldn't operate efficiently in tho.e sub-
zero area ," he said.
"In scales using an oil pot for the shock
absorbers, so as to keep the mechanism
from breaking, the cold weather hardened
the oil-made it just like molasses. Of
course the scales wou ldn't work. By the
same token, the hot weather thins the oil
too much; the mechanism works too freely,
and adjustments are needed."
Stark added that Ideal is so constructed
that it doesn' t need an oil pot and has
been so scientifically designed and engi-
neered tha t it has proved the most trouble-
free scale for both ou tside and inside loca-
tions on a year-round basis.
Tasdelight and Kunkel
Set Impressive Record
WASHINGTON, D. C.-One of the out-
standing popcorn operations in the coun-
try is that of Tasdelight Products, who
have operated hundreds of Kunkel's famous
Model K in the nation's capital, Maryland
and Virginia for more than ten years.
Because Kunkel Metal Products Co.
built a high quality vendor and continually
added new improvements to the machine
to maintain its leadership, Tasdelight were
able to rack up a phenQmenal record dur-
ing the war and continue that record dur-
ing the post-war era.
During the hectic early '40's, with Wash-
ington departments overflowing with per-
sonnel , the Model K performed brilliantly
24 hours per day under the most trying
condi tions.
The record 5et by Tasdelight has been
duplicated by Kunkel operators all over the
country and it has won Kunkel the reputa-
tion of being the most dependable popcorn
vendor ever built.
Philip Morris Annual Report
NEW YORK-The fiscal sales year for
Philip Morris cigarettes ends March 31, and
the annual report of the firm recently be-
came available. Full confirmatiQn of ad-
vancing sales of this brand was made, when
it was reported that sales increased by ap-
proximately 33 per cent for the past year.
This gave stockh olders the highest net
earnings in the lOI-year history of the firm.
The annual report commented on toba cco
supply, saying it has the largest inventory
of aging stocks in its history. The company
opened three new warehQuses last year to
meet distribution requirements, making a
total of 31 warehouses now owned by the
firm .
American Tob. Advertises
NEW YORK - Operators of cigarette
vendors have perhaps noticed that adver-
tising of Pall Mall cigarettes is back in
newspapers after an absence of eight years.
It is a part of the big campaign of Ameri-
can Tobacco Co., which will use all avail-
able daily newspapers to plug Lucky
Strikes also in a campaign totaling $3,500,-
000.
While varying the theme, Pall Mall ads
suggest guarding against "throat scratch,
enjoy smooth smoking," etc.
35
Planned Merchandising Is
Answer to Today's Solt Market
NEW YORK-"Today, the problems fac-
ing the vending machine industry are those
facing every consumer industry in a soft-
ening market," said J ohn S_ Mill, vice-
presiden t and sales manager of the Rowe
Manufacturing Co., in an in terview at the
Rowe New York office. "In all cases, the
only answer can be more concentrated
merchandising than ever before. Our in-
dustry must clean house-and plan its
selli ng stra tegy as carefully as other giant
industries, where merchandising is accepted
as an important part of any selling pro-
gram. It is our job, as manufacturers to
lead the way- and our company, for one,
is pioneering in ways to help operators
maintain volume and profits.
"For example, the figures show that there
are just as many cigarettes being smoked
today as ever before-in fact, considerably
more. Yet many operators report diminish-
ing cigarette sales. Why? In surveyin~
those markets, we have discovered thal
the greatest drop occurs when there is a
price differential between vendor sa les and
store sales. People are co untin~ th eir pen-
nies today, and every penny co unts. Again,
there have been serious d rop-offs in traffi c
in many vendor locations. P eople ca nnot
afford to go out as often. Th e result, less
spending in taverns, restaurants and other
cigarette machine locations. Vending ma-
chine sales, of co urse, follow this downward
trend.
"Here is a situation that must be fa ced
sq uarely. What do we have to offset it-
and how can we best go about doing it?
"In the first place, vending machines
have one overwhelming advantage over
any other form of retail selling-conveni-
ence. It is up to us to make the most of
it by seeing that machines are kept clean,
appealing and attractive. They should de-
( See PLANNED, Page 38)
Officilll Beport Pllts Finger
011 High Cigllrette Bevenlles
WASHINGTON-One of the most wide-
ly quoted reports on cigarettes and other
tobacco products issued in recent years
was the May 1949 bulletin on the tobacco
situation, i sued by the Bureau of Agri-
cultural Economics. The recent report em-
phasizes how much greater is the total
tax revenue on tobacco products than is
the total paid to growers for the raw to-
bacco.
Th e recent report rivals in interest a
bulletin issued by the BAE in 1945 which
contained a breakdown on who gets what,
and how much , of the cigarette dollar.
The 1945 report emphasized the growing
tax load a nd also revealed that tobacco
growers get the smallest part of the dollar
paid for cigarettes.
Th e BAE report appeared about the tim e
an official revenue report for April had ap-
peared to show that sale of federal tax
stamps for cigarette had taken a drop of
about 14 per cent below the mark of April
a year ago. The federal revenue report is
usually followed as a guide to the trend
in cigarette sales, and such a decided drop
in April puzzled lea ders in the cigarette
industry-as one tobacco trade paper put it.
Reports during the months that have
passed since January had not indicated
that a real drop in cigarette consumption
might be starting, although there had been
some speculation as to how soon the grow-
ing unemployment and smaller payrolls
might begin to show in cigarette sales. But,
actually, month to month reports had
shown a steady rise in cigarette consump-
tion for the year, equal to last year's steady
REBUILT CICARETTE MACHINES
SOME HAVE NEW PAINT JOBS
All machines have been t horoughly overhauled by tra ined Rowe ser vicemen,
are in top mechanical condition and excellent appearance.
Set for 20c Operation
8
8
10
10
Col.
Col.
Col.
Col.
Rowe
Rowe
Rowe
Rowe
Imperials
Royals
Royals
Pres idents with Crusader-type operating bar
$50.00
70.00
70.00
95.00
F.O.B. Shipping Point
ROWE SERVICE CO.
LOS ANGELES OFFICE : 2620 So. Hill St., Phone PRospect 3228
SAN DIEGO OFFICE: 727 Third Ave., Phone FRanklin 4246
36
gains, and then the April report appeared
to cause the industry to stop and think.
Many have raised the question as to
when high taxes on cigarettes might hegin
to discourage a growing use of the product.
Cigarette sales in the states that have also
passed high taxes on smokes have been
watched to see if such a trend might show
up. Louisiana, with its state fee of eight
cents per pack in addition to the federal
tax of seven cents, might be regarded as
a real testing ground. The evidence thus
far , however, has not heen conclusive when
all the states that have high taxes are
taken into consideration.
Some leaders in the cigarette trade are
active in working to arouse the public to
fight for a reduction in taxes on the item,
but the cigar industry has been much more
aggressive in fighting for tax reductions
than leaders in the cigarette field.
The agricultural report, due to being so
widely quoted, may actually start a real
figh t on cigarette taxes. Petitions have
heen made to Congress to lower tobacco
taxes to the prewar level but this plea has
been regarded as lost this year because of
the inaction on excise taxes in general.
T h e cigar e tte ve nd i n g t rad e ha s
never b een regarded as cOlIUllitte d to
a policy of fighting taxes on cigar e ttes.
T h e official view, as exp ressed for a
number o f year s by t h e National Auto-
m atic Mer chandisin g Assn., is that
cigarette o per ato rs are not strong
e nough in their own organized capac-
i ty to for m a real opposition to tax p r o -
posals in states and cities, n o m a tter
how m u ch o p erators may be in sym -
p athy with the cigarette industry it-
self in fighting taxes.
The trend in recent legislation, however,
has been to include cigarette vending ma-
chines in bills that propose a state tax on
the product, and hence operators are com-
pelled in such states to take vital interest
in the proposed law.
Total tobacco taxes collected by Uncle
Sam, and taxing states and cities, is ex-
pected to hit the $1,720,000,000 mark for
the fiscal year ending June 30. This is a
new record over the previous high of the
last fiscal year of $1,600,000,000. Cigarettes
are estimated to pay about 80 per cent of
the total load on tobacco products.
Some states have derived so much rev-
enue from a cigarette tax that the totals
have become a big item in financing gov-
ernmental activities. Some of the states
showing especially high yields in 1948 are
the following:
New York ________ 3 c ___ ___ S50,900,OOO
COIN MACHINE REVIEW

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