Automatic Age

T h e A u t o m a t ic A ge
15
VENDING MACHINES FOR APARTM ENT
HOUSES
E M E R G E N C Y N E ED S A U T O M A T IC A L L Y M E T A T A L L HOURS,
R E P O R T SHOW S
The use o f the apartment house as a
means o f distributing food and drug staples
through the medium o f automatic venders
is being recognized by coin-operated ma­
chine manufacturers as having extensive
possibilities, acording to an oral statement
Mar. 11 by J. A. G. Pennington o f the spe­
cialties division o f the Departement o f
Commerce.
These locations, manufacturers believe,
offer opportunities fo r establishing individ­
ual automatic market centers in carrying
out the “ emergency shopping idea” which
is looked upon as the most promising de­
velopment in machine merchandising, Mr.
Pennington declared.
Emergency shopping, as conceived by ex­
ponents o f automatic retailing, entails the
dispensing o f such commodities as bread,
milk, razor blades, drug specialties, and
other articles often needed in a hurry. The
convenience afforded to apartment dwellers
in making these necessities immediately
available at all hours o f the day or night
should result in stimulating the use o f au­
tomatic venders, it was stated.
The recent annual exposition o f coin ma­
chine operators in Chicago indicated the
interest taken by the industry in adapting
machines to dispense perishable foodstuffs,
Mr. Pennington said. Manufacturers re­
vealed plans incorporating refrigerating
units fo r vending machines to retail bever­
ages, ice cream, and frozen confections.
Some o f the leading beverage manufactur­
ers are reported to be watching closely the
experiments leading toward the develop­
ment o f miniature automatic soda foun­
tains which mix carbonated water and
syrups, he said.
The general trend o f the industry is
toward the high class merchandising and
amusement machines, with quality rather
than price the priniciple incentive to sales,
it was stated. Manufacturers are also giv­
ing more attention to supplying the mer­
chandise to be dispensed by the machines
and in some cases are also manufacturing
the articles fo r which their machines are
designed to hold. Frequently, also, coin
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machine producers sell their entire output
directly to packaged goods manufacturers
who distribute their products through these
automatic venders, it was pointed out.
The development o f coin machines to
fit various commodities, especially the
electrically operated devices, is receiving
the serious consideration o f manufacturers.
The trend toward the electric phonograph
and the radio, the latter operated by coins
and permitting free selection o f stations, is
already apparent in the music machines,
and some progress has been reported in
adapting domestic apparatus, notably elec­
tric washers, to coin operation, it was
stated.
The industry is still faced with tw o ma­
jo r problems, however, which at present
are believed to retard an even more rapid
development. These are the slug evil and
the question o f coin adjustment. W hile a
slug detecting device has made its appear­
ance, few machines have yet been equipped
with this safety feature, manufacturers be­
ing largely o f the opinion that the present
price discourages its adoption. The neces­
sity o f adjusting machines to the price o f
frequently changing commodities is also a
problem which must be solved. A djust­
able coin chutes now in the process o f de­
velopment are believed practicable to this
end, it was declared.
Women’s Wants Increase
A nationally known merchandising ex­
pert says the wants o f our grandmothers
could be divided into 74 sorts o f purchases.
Feminine wants have increased to 1,500
classifications. And what if some o f these
wants cannot be satisfied? Does this mean
that the modern woman, not getting what
she wants, may be made about 20 times as
unhappy as her old-fashioned grandmother?
W ell you know how restless they are. It
is no small chore to satisfy the lady shop­
per but it helps mightily in keeping the
wheels o f trade going round. *
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