put of refrigera tors, etc., in AUl!;u t, to th e
surpri se of the manufacturers. Total pro·
duction sta rted upward in AUl!;u t, after
a period of decline from th e postwar peak
in Aug. 1948: expe rts are now predicting a
gradual ri se in total ou tput through th e first
half of 1950-" no sudden upturn , no sharp
rise' in production, boom is not returning,
but a fa irly steady ri se." Most enco uraging
trend is th at so me of th e industries whi ch
we re hit first by th e recession, such as New
1ngland tex til e mills, are now gaining in
output. Rece nt reports also show in c reases
in man-hour output. Barron ' Ind ex early in
ep tember was showing a general in crease
in physical \'olume of business. Purchasing
Agents sa id 42 per cent of membe r firms
repo rted production increase in Augu t, 21
per ce nt of firms in creasing employm ent ;
output is rising faster than gains in em-
ployment.
PRICES- Prices tended to hold steady
in August, whil e September started off with
slight gain in some of the price ind ex sys-
tem . Price in creases started in August on
building mate rial s, cop per products, fats,
tex tiles, Jead, etc. Some say th e " pr ice reces-
sion" has run its co urse, while other insist
that th e ge neral price level must go mu ch
lower. At thi ~ writing, general price trends
are upward but only in a slight del!;ree: up-
ward price trends include wholesa le prices,
cost of living, etc. Cost of living index is
only .about 3 per cent below th e postwar
peak.
Operators hm'e been vitally interested in
ge neral price trend s. cost of living, etc.,
sin ce end of th e war, th e general vi e w being
that cost of living and of doing busin ess
must declin e to in crease th e real earnings
of co in machines.
But, at this writing, th e trend is slightly
upward, with such market r eports as th e
following: "Ach-ances in mea ts, grains,
uga r, coca. send price ind ex hi ghe r."
On e reliable report said : " Brisk buying
during September by consum ers and busi-
ness finns will bolster price levels; sluggish
buying may ca use prices to slip faster.".
RETAIL TRADE-S tat e m e nt s hav e
been made earli er which show importance
of store trade during nex t two months in the
general picture. 'Store sal es are reported in
dollar volume, and oue to pr ice declin es
in ce last year. do not show a true picture
of actual busines~ done. Some reg ion al reo
port how ,-ery de finitely th a t physical vol-
ume of p.oods sold is now running above
last yeal". Jul)' dollar volume, of co ur e,
oflicially reported about 7 per ce nt below
th e sa me month last year. Retail price index
in July was reported down 3 per cent from
July 1948: food prices in stores dropped 1
per cent from Jun e to July but have sin ce
shown li ght increases. Stores in Boston ,
New York a nd Chicago were showin g th e
be t trade gains as of Sept. 1. Retailing
Daily reported on early Sept. trade that
stores in most citi es have been fairly well
pleased with sa les since Labor Day.
Offi cial report on popular types of loca-
tions for July trade shows drug stores as
losing in dollar volume from June to July
and also below July 1948 ; in actual busi-
ness volume drug stores also declined. Eat-
ing and drinking places taken tOl!;ether in
July registered a dollar gain over Jun e, but
fell below May this year and also July last
year; in volume of business th ese location s
are also below last year and show a declin-
ing trend thi s year. Filling tations mad e
dollar gain in July but were below July of
last year; volume of business down gained
in July over Jun e but was below July 1948.
SMALL B USI NESS-The general trend
of hea rings and act ions by an inactive Con-
gres thu s far has been adverse to small
busine s firms. Business Week mal(azine may ·
OCTOBER, 7949
I,/IST C/l1,1,
For Free Listings
in th e 1950 SOURCE BOOK OF THE
COIN MACHINE INDUSTRY. II y ou a re
a m anufa ct u rer. jobb er or d istri butor
y ou ma y have yo ur fir m listed w i th out
char g e b y re q ues ting a q u estio nn a ire
at once. Deadline is O ctober 15th.
SOURCE BOOK
1115 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles I S, Calif.
be able to repeat its summary of last year
for 1949 also-that it wa a tough year for
small business.
TAXES -Congress seems definitely to
have postponed all tax legislation over to
next year-and now governm ent spendin g
is building up to dim Ih e pro peet of lower
taxes next year. State of retail trade might
co mpel repeal of wartim e exc ises next year,
-
however.
WAGES - A number of developm ents
were taking place ea rly in Sept., but full
reports were not available for thi s review.
A new set of official regulations was finally
issued after a long wait, Co ngress passed a
new law, and th e issue of steel wages was
also settl ed. Th e steel wage settlement ap-
parently would hamper union demands for
wages increases further under present co n-
dition s, and would stre s pen ion a nd secu-
ri ty plans instead.
Coin Meter Selling Gains
NEW YORK-Retailing Daily reports in
almo t every iss ue th at th e coin meter plan
of selling re frigerators, and even TV se ts,
is making spectacular success with some
stores in sca ttered cities over th e nation.
It also r epo rts that so me leade rs in th e
reta il field do not lik e th e idea, say it is
not a success.
The coin mac hin e trade recog nizes th at
such use of a co in device popularizes coin
mechanisms, trains people in th e ha bit of
depositing co ins in such devices. Th e new
trend also is boosting busine s for th e firm s
that make meters. Robco Corp. is one of
the firm s h ere that is ready to make what
its oflicials say is a very simpl e co in meter
for the use of reta il ers. Re ports say that
firms in Detroit and Chicago are also
building up in creasin g sales of th e meters.
Monthly Score on Tax
Revenues Paid to U. S.
WASHI GTO - With the July report
available, th e federal government has col-
lected th e followin g monthly totals in exc i e
taxes on co in ma chin es during the current
year, a nd al 0 co mpared with last year:
I n 19 49
Ja nu8I·y __ _ . __ $315,588
February ____ 270,731
March ______ __ 229,893
April ____ ______ 2 77,284
May____________ 254,045
J une ____ __ ._._2,257,862
J ul y ________ __ __ 6,972,100
I n 19 4·8
$30 4,903
2 74,461
206,676
2 58 ,442
220,808
1~9 1 0 ,8 61
7,929,548
Will Close 51 Military Posts
WASHINGTON-The economy move
of Congre will close a t least 51 military
posts over th e co untry, post which have
been co nsidered especially valuable lo-
ca t ions for certain types of coin machines.
Th e closin g of these posts will go ahead
gradu ally over th e year ah ea d. Of the 51
posts to be closed, 13 are Army, 18 are
Air Force a nd 20 are Navy posts. Other
post will also be reduced. Th e final
res ult will take one person in six of the
total civilia n force employed by th e armed
forces, also reduction in pe r onnel of the
reserve force w.ill res ul t. Th e presen t
program may set precedent for bigger re-
ductions in arm ed forces and posts yet to
co me- unl ess war agitation should again
be revived in Europe.
SLOT MACHINES
"They all get out of whack
with usage."
YOURS MAY NEED A NEW PART
OR JUST A SINGLE ADJUSTME NT
Stop That Loss-Make Money!
Let GRAHAM do th e job!
H. R. GRAHAM
203 East Los Fe li z Blvd .
Citrus 1. 1093
Gle ndale 5 , Calif.
Keep calm
and collecting!
• With Ch icago ACE loc ks loo king o ut f or your interests,
you ca n stop worryi ng a ~ ou t "lig ht- Fingered lou ies."
That's because ACE l ocks provid e the fine st 7 pin-tumbl er
security, over 80,000 key cha ng es, reg istered chang es fo r yo ur
ex clusive use, and th e ACE round key tha t defies unauthorized
dupl ica ti on .
So fo r rea l peace of min d , a sk you r jobber for ACE locks
or write De pt. MR for f ull infor ma tio n. Sizes to fit all types of
e quipm e nt.
BETTER BUILT
INSIDE AND OUT
[hirag~
lark [D.
2024 NORTH RACINE AVENUE
CHICAGO 14 , ILLINOIS
13