WASHINGTON
D.
c.
Economic Outlook .
After severaJ months of declines, various
econom ic indicators had taken an enco urag-
ing upward move by early September. One
good sign was in employmen t figures for
August_ Non-farm employmen t climbed
1,368,000---0verbalancing th e customary late
sum mer drop in agriculture jobs_ Total
number in th e working force in Augu st
was 59.947,000, an increase of a couple
hundred th ousand over July_ The number of
jobless dropped from 4,095,000 in July to
3,689,000 in August. Prospects of strikes
in a number of major industries by late fall
led Government economists to predict that
unemployment figures will be rising again
by that tim e. However, it is not expected
that jobless fi~ures will reach the 5,000,000
mark which is considered th e danger point.
Dr. Edwin Nourse, chairman of the Presi-
dent's Economic Advisors, recently stated
that th e general business psychology is
"enco uraging" and th at the coun try got
by "the unfortunate prospects of last sp rin g
without letti ng the situation get out of
hand_" Commerce Secretary Charles Saw-
yer, after a swing around the industri al
section of th e country, said th at despite
lum ps in many areas, "I found only opti-
mism among business leaders_"
Final stati sti cs from th e Bureau of In-
ternal Revenue showed th at receipts from
the coin machine tax for th e 1949 fiscal
year topped 1948 by nearly two million
dollars. Total take was $21,087,534 as com-
pared with $19,270,941 for th e year ending
June 30, 1948. The co in excise wa one of
th e few in th e excise ca tegory to show a
year to year increase, with over-all excise
collection s showing a decline of more than
a billion dollars from the 1948 fiscal year_
State Breakdown
Along with final dollar totals, th e Bureau
rece ntly issued its break-down of coi n
machine tax stamp sales. Because of th e
mechanic of collectin g data from vari ous
field offices, figures given by th e Bureau
apply only to th e number of premises in a
given state contai nin g coi n machines and
not to the total number of machine. In
other words, locations are given, but not
the number of devices in a loca tion.
a-
tionaIly, the Bureau reported that th ere
were 403,804 locations havin g one or more
amusemen t devices subject to th e 10 bite,
while 69,786 loca tions had one or more
machines subject to th e $100 gaming ma-
ch in e levy.
Leading sta tes with amu sement machine
locations were Pennsylvania, 30,780; New
York, 29,187; California, 28,890; Illinois,
26,947; Ohio, 25,478; Texas, 22,937;
CLEAN AIND CHECKED
We can ship the following:
GOLD CUPS . . .... . . . .. . .. $149.50
J. SPECIALS ............ . . 124.50
SPEC. ENTRY ............. 75_00
Add $20.00 for payout model
KEENEY SINGLES ......... 245.50
KEENEY TWINS .. . .. .. .... 349.50
RESERVE BELL ... .
274.50
JENNINGS CHALLENGERS
5-5 or 5-25 . . . .
264.50
WESTERN DISTRIBUTORS
122& S.W. I&th
Portland 5, Oregon
ATwater 75&5
OCTOBER, 1949
Missouri, 16,072; Wi consin, 14,701;
ew
Jersey, 13,226; and Massachusetts, 13,973.
In numbers of locations with gaming ma-
chines, the following states were out in
front: Illinois, 6,961; Washington, 6,939;
Texas, 5,919; Californi a, 5,042; Louisiana,
4,824; Ohio, 4,160 ; Iowa, 3,690; Pennsyl-
va ni a, 3,612; Oregon, 3,398; and Maryland,
2,849. With but 1,534 gam in g locations, the
vaunted state of Nevada failed to break
into the top ten.
Treasury Department's fi cal year report
con tained an item of interest to the Indus-
try. Total amount of nickels and pennies
in circulation during th e year endin g June
30, 1949 was 355,000,000 a compared with
346,000,000 during th e 1948 fiscal year.
Circulation in thi category has been on
a • steady increase over th e last decade. In
1939, circula tion of ni ckels and pennies
totaled only 192,000,000. Part of th e in-
creased demand over th e last ten years for
small coi ns is attr ibuted by Treasury De-
partment to sales taxes and the popularity
of odd prices such as th e $1.98 bargains.
However, Treasury gives the Co in Machine
Industry with its famous nickel standard
rno t of the credit for increasing th e de-
mand for 5-cent pieces.
Agriculture Department pred icts that
sales of cigars and cigarettes will remain
at near-record levels durin g th e curren t
fisca l year_ Cigarettes are expected to ap-
proach 390,000,000,000 in sales for the
year ending June 30, 1950, while cigar sales
"are expected to be in th e neighborhood of
5,600,000,000.
Prospects for ice cream sales are not so
good. The agency's prediction for per cap ita
sales in calendar 1949 is 16 pounds, as
compared with a pound hi gher last year,
and th e all-time record of 22 .5 pounds set
in 1946, Only 49% of all families buy ice
cream during a give n week , Agriculture
says. Purchases of ice cream vary with
family income, with those earning more
than 3,000 a year buying twice as much
as tho e earni ng less than th at sum.
Total 1948 advertising budget for soft
drinks was about 77,000,000, accord in g to
a n estimate made recently by th e American
Bottlers of Carbonated Beverages. The.
estimate was based on ac tu al ad expendi-
tures of $38,694,250 by bottlers and the
assumption hy th e trade group that fran-
chi se firms spent an eq uivalent amount.
Mr. Employer:
Why do YOIl not sive your em-
ployees the consideration they de-
serve, since it costs you nothing?
The 1911 State UnemplO1ment deduction
that you take from their .. Iules and
send to the State does not buy them
as much unemplO1ment DiMblllty Bene·
fit as you CIIn obtain by purchasing a
regular insurance plan .... ith a Private
Insurance Carrier.
This is not sales talk, but a fact-.ince
the 10 .... provides that no private inaur-
ance company plan complies .... ith the
law unless it gives b,tlw prol.clio,. than
the state ill lb. slime cost.
The Association and Group Inaurance
Bureau .... ilI gladly assist you to make
the challge over witboul chule by tele-
phoning them or dropping them a note
at
ZEIGLER INS. AGENCY, Inc.
541 South Sprlllg s ..... t
Lol ,,"elel, Canf.
MlchTgGII 0961
ALL INSURANCE Gild BOND LINES
Poee Deluxe
Royol Console
Designed for your top loca-
tions-finest walnut cabinet
- chrome trim - standard
PACE mechanism - all coin
plays - 5c-l Oc-25c-50c-$1 .OO.
Any combination - Mys-3-5
- One Cherry 2-5 or Criss
Cross 2-5-Club Reels.
Same Pace mechanism as
used in all the l~ading Reno
Clubs- proven by test. Write
for new low prices.
Poce Mfg. Co., Inc.
2909 INDIANA A VENUE
CHICAGO 16. ILLINOIS
15