Automatic Age

A uto m atic A ge
16
December, 1931
Committee Appointed to
Arrange Coin-Machine Exhibit
for New Industrial Museum
The new Rosenwald Museum of Science and Industry in Chi­
cago is to have a coin-machine section as part of the wonderful
exhibits planned for the new enterprise. The museum is located
in Jackson Park and is the old Liberal Arts Building of the World’s
Fair (1893) rehabilitated. A few years ago Julius Rosenwald,
the mail-order magnate and philanthropist, visited the Industrial
museum at Munich, Germany. He was so enthused with it that he
offered the City of Chicago five million dollars provided the city
would vote five million more for a similar museum or even on a
larger scale. This the city proceeded to do and today the beautiful
building, said to be architecturally one of the finest since the days
of ancient Greece, has been rehabilitated, faced with Bedford lime­
stone. Work is now proceeding to put the finishing touches to the
interior. It is planned to have the exhibits ready inside of a year.
A fter an interview with Director Kreusser, he appointed a
committee representing different branches of the coin machine in­
dustry to select the machines suitable for proper display. This com­
mittee is composed o f :
Fred Mills, Mills Novelty Co.
W m. Gent, W m. Gent Mfg. Co.
Nathaniel Leverone, Automatic Canteen Co.
B. L. Fry, National Sales Machine Co.
0 . C. Lightner, publisher of A u t o m a t i c A g e , is chairman.
The committee is now open to suggestions from the trade at
large regarding old types of machines.
W e want first to show the old pioneer coin-operated machines
of perhaps forty years ago. The requirements of the museum are
that the mechanism be exposed so that the machines may be en­
closed in glass instead of metal or wood. Visitors to the museum
will be allowed to push a button to see everything work. Through­
out the entire place there will be movement and activity. Likewise
it is desired to show the mechanism of coin-operated machines.
When the publisher of A u t o m a t i c A g e was in Europe last
summer, he visited the Industrial Museum at Munich and we can
say that there was a larger crowd watching the coin-operated ma­
chines than in any other division of the museum we passed through.
They had machines there from all countries in Europe, and some
from Japan. We are going to ask the Mills Novelty Company to
donate one of their early types of orchestral music machines which
the U. S. Patent Office pronounced one of the greatest inventions
in the history of the office. Frank Meyer, of the Exhibit Supply
Company, who visits the arcades throughout the country and Wm.
Rabkin of the International Mutoscope Reel Company will be
expected to pick up some old types of amusement machines. If we
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