Coin Machine Journal

70
THE
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COIN
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MACHINE
October, 1932
JOURNAL
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International News Section
German Curfew Laws
Help to Operators
Early Closing Hours Boost Machine Sales of Many Items Not
Generally Vended in United States.
AVING just returned from
an extensive trip through
Europe that has brought
us through England, France, Italy,
Switzerland, Germany with short
stopovers in Belgium and the Neth­
erlands, a brief survey of the coin
machine situation abroad will be
of interest. You cannot but observe
these machines wherever you may
happen to be in Europe. It is,
therefore, with pleasure that we fol­
low the request of the editors of
T h e Coin M a c h in e J o u r n a l to
give their readers some glimpses of
the automatic situation abroad.
H
Certainly, the most interesting
country from the viewpoint of this
magazine, is Germany. Not only
that Germany has a highly progres­
sive automatic industry but it is
also very alert in picking up new
ideas in the automatic field and
adapting them to practical use. In
spite of the depression that has hit
Germany harder than almost any
other nation, the activity in the au­
tomatic field, both from the produc­
tion and distribution ends, is
astounding.
Germany Boasts Variety
The coin maehine in its various
forms is much in evidence wherever
you happen to be in Germany.
There is one factor making a par­
ticular stronghold for the increase
of coin machines for retailing mer­
chandise: The strict curfew laws
for retail enterprises all over the
country. Every retail establish*
By H A N S ULLENDORFF
Staff Correspondent
Berlin and New York
;
7; '
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ment must be closed week days at
7 p. in., with the only exception
that on Saturdays grocers and other
food stores may remain open until
8 p. m. No store of any character
is permitted to open Sunday. The
same regulations apply to news­
stands and tobacconists as well.
Many people, of course, want their
cigarettes and evening papers after
7 p. m., and that is where the auto­
mat comes in.
Multiple Newspaper Vendors
The automatic dispenser of news­
papers, such as shown in the Sep­
tember issue of T h e C oin M a c h in e
J o u r n a l, is of comparatively recent
origin. But it is found at practi­
cally all subway and elevated sta­
tions in Berlin. The service is.
maintained by a subsidiary of the
corporation controlling most of the
city’s newsstands. Three different
papers are on sale and their service
is organized so that the latest edi­
tions only are supplied. Since out­
side locations are hard to control
and to service, there being also the
danger of possible rifling of the
vendor, newspaper automats have
not yet appeared on Berlin’s streets
or in similar locations.
Cigarette Machines Popular
As to the use of cigarette auto­
mats there is some opposition voiced
Enhanced Scans © The International Arcade Museum ■ ■ ■
by the cigar store owners who are
afraid to lose their business. There
is actually 110 foundation for this
antagonism in view of the rather
restricted use of these automats,
due to the manifold price ranges at
which cigarettes are sold in Ger­
many, also to the lack of uniformly
sized packages. Once they have
come to realize the advantage of
standardizing the size of their cig­
arette packages, there ought to be
good business in the automatic sell­
ing of cigarettes in Germany.
Candy Bars in Demand
The automatic selling of choco­
late and candy is reaching a volu­
minous turnover year after year.
For several decades the German
people have been accustomed to buy
10-pfennig packages of chocolate
bars or hard candy from automats.
After a temporary standstill dur­
ing the inflation this again has
turned into quite a profitable busi­
ness. There is no uniform method
adapted in the operation of these
vending machines. They are oper­
ated and serviced partly by the
candy manufacturers themselves,
partly by outside operating com­
panies. The buying power of 10
pfennig amounts to about 5 cents
in American currency. No attempt
is being made in building merchan­
dise coin machines for smaller de­
nominations, one of the reasons
being the rather restricted use of
chewing gum in Europe.
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