Automatic Age

10
T he A
u t o m a t ic
f o r ball gum and oth er kinds o f vend­
ing m achine gum p rod u cts. C hicago
is said to be the center o f the scale
m anu factu ring
business,
although
M ilw aukee and D etroit fa cto rs claim
second h onors i f not equal h onors on
this type o f m achine.
H ow ever, a
h a lf dozen b ig fa ctories em ploying
several hundred men turn out hun­
dreds o f coin opex*ated scales in Chi­
cago daily.
There are a dozen or
m ore specialized fa ctories produ cin g
different m achines in this and allied
lines w hich w ill be enum erated and
described in oth er parts o f this issue.
Som e tw o or three years ago the
C h icago
Cham ber
of
C om m erce
through its B oosters Club advertised
C h icago as the G reat Central M arket,
and i f they had the coin controlled
m achines in mind they w ere n ot very
fa r w ron g. A n idea o f the size o f
the vending m achine business in Chi­
ca g o m ay be had from a survey o f
the lon g list o f m anufacturers and
distributors o f w hich the fo llo w in g is
a representative list: O. D. Jennings
& Co., M ills N ov elty Co., W a tlin g
M an u factu rin g Co., P ace M an u fa c­
tu ring Co., H. C. Evans & Co., A m er­
ican Sales Co., P ublic Scale Co., W a t­
lin g Scale Co., A m erican T ick et Scale
Co., J. P. Seebui'g Piano Co., N elson -
W ig g en Piano Co., W estern E lectric
Piano Co., H. C. Evans Co., N ational
Coin M achine Co., A. B. T. M fg . Co.,
C h icago Slot M achine E xch ange, R ex
N ov elty Co., Chusum P rodu cts Co.,
T ylka N ov elty Co., Trasch & W ey -
man, R ain bow N ov elty Co., A m eri­
can Sales Co., A dvan ce M achine Co.,
M ajestic Cabinet Co., A . W . T ripp &
Co., B u ffet D istributing Co., G oblin
M int Co., Peanut Specialty Co., Mrs.
L om b ardi’s Candy Co., J. W . H o o d ­
win Co., A. Elstein, Specialty M anu­
fa ctu rin g Co., A dvertisin g Prem ium
C o., Prem ium N ov elty Co., R ain bow
N o v e lty Co., Sh erw in-W illiam s Co.,
A dam s & E ltin g, Central Steel P r o ­
ducts Co., O. A . M iles Co., W in n er
M it Co., A . G. K eeney & Sons, Jen ­
kins M fg . Co., and num erous other
sem i-m anufacturers and distributors
© International Arcade Museum
A
ge
w ho are interested in an y w ay or an­
oth er in the coin operated machine
business.
F avorable shipping conditions have
tended to make C h icago a desirable
distribution center. L o w cost manu­
fa ctu rin g facilities and C h icag o’s un­
excelled equipm ent fo r dies and cast­
ings also had much to do with the
gravitation o f so many plants to the
Lake Shore. C hicago also is an ideal
operating center having som e 150
operators o f various
m achines the
m a jority o f w hom are m em bers o f
the C hicago L ocal O perating A s so ­
ciation. C h icago is so laid out that
there is an excellen t tran sfer corner
evei'y h alf mile in any direction, as
the street car system extends across
the city fo r som e thirty miles from
any direction. This advantage is
peculiar to C h icago and has been o f
inestim able value to operators o f out­
side m achines.
A s an
am usem ent
center C hicago has tw o large am use­
m ent parks fo r the general public, the
colored popu lace have an exclusive
park, the city has its ow n m unicipal
pier and num erous beaches and the
M unicipal stadium at Soldiers Field
and in the suburban sections are the
M exican quarters o f H am m ond and
G ary where am usem ent m achines are
stron g ly played. C hicago is the in
tersection point o f a h a lf dozen trans­
continental h ighw ays and has alon g
its suburban highw ays hundreds o f
stands, roadhouses, etc., w here all
kinds o f m achines are in constant
play which also is a great advantage
to the operator.
A c co r d in g to local patriarchs oi
the business C hicago claim s honors
to several oth er im portant features
o f the coin controlled industry. Som e
say C h icago has the largest individual
operator in the w orld, others say Chi­
ca g o has the oldest vending m achine
operator.
T h e records
sh ow that
C hicago w as the first city to form
an association and that city has been
a leader in the m ovem ent to am alga-
(C ontinued on P age 21)
http://www.arcade-museum.com/