Coin Machine Journal
Issue: 1946 December - Page 9
9
THE COIN MACHINE JOURNAL
December, 1946
Sees Greatest Years Ahead
Pioneer Vendor· Manufacturer Reviews
Some of the Past- Urges Tolerance and
Perfection of Production and Service for
Post-War Expansion.
Progress made in expanding the
scope of influence of the coin machine
industry thru various public relations
channels, particularly the latest pro-
gram inaugurated by Coin Machine
Industries, Inc., commands a paging
backward of the industry. Such a re-
view of more than two decades of in-
dustry growth brings into focus the
foundation upon which this industry
is built.
No one, perhaps, is better qualified
to paint this picture than one of the
members of Coin Machine Industries
public relations board, J. W. Coan.
Mr. Coan is among the earliest manu-
facturers in the food vending branch
of the industry. He was a contempor-
ary of that splendid pioneer of mer-
chandising machines, the late Arthur
H. De Grenier. Both introduced mer-
chandise venders and their initial
venture was the sandwich machine in
the early twenties.
Now one of the foremost manufac-
turers of coin controlled vending
equipment, Mr. Coan, who is president
of Co~ Manufacturing Co., Madison,
Was. (U-Select-It venders) is quali-
fied to lead his branch of the industry
and help direct its future by virtue of
his having come up the hard way and
succeeded against many odds.
Many fine people have engaged in
this industry throughout its long his-
tory; some have passed on to their re-
ward, but the job of post war expan-
sion rests on the shoulders of the sea-
soned members of the industry who
have demonstrated their capacity for
production and distribution of equip-
ment and merchandise.
Following the committee meeting,
the publicity group of which Mr.
Coan was chairman, at which the
huge coin machine public relations
fund and organization was set in mo-
tion, he gave an exclusive interview
to the editor and publisher of COIN
MACHINE JOURNAL. This editor
and Mr. Coan were among the orig-
inal group who set up the first defin-
ite industry organization program in
1925. It was from the efforts of this
group that the first show and conven-
J. W. Coan, Pres. Coan Mfg. Co.,
Madison, Wis., manufacturers U.
Select-It Vendors; member CMI All-
Industry Public Relations Committee,
Pioneer Merchandise Machine man.
tion came to be; a development
which, viewed historically, was an out-
standing event in automatic merchan-
dising.
Mr. Coan recited in this interview
how, in the early days, the industry
being new, untried and unproven, its
members were timid and uncertain of
the future, hence reticient, if not dis-
trustful. There was room fQr plenty
of distrust in those days. A period
of unlimited promotion had preceded
the move to bring the industry into
ethical channels. Manufacturers look-
ed with questioning eye on any move
that would tend to put the industry
on a sound footing. They didn't be-
lieve it could be done.
Once in the swing of things, the re-
sponse of the operating public and
later the general public, convinced
most factors that here was the road
to permanent expansion and stable
markets. It was not all smooth sail-
ing.
Factional differences caused
splits in the ranks. The depression
disorganized things, and many were
thrown on their own resources.
To recite observations ar.d con-
clusions advanced by Mr. Coan it was
not until each individual manufactur-
er got down to business and engineer-
ed dependable precision built equip-
ment, that there was any sound basis
for group activity. It took some ten
years of work and effort to get to that
point.
The late war, itself, contributed
much as it gave manufacturers a true
picture of what precision production
and mass production could accomplish.
Mr. Coan, very modestly, acknowledg-
ed that his organization had got its
(Continued on page 14)
Uniformed, Cleanly, Route Men, Efficiently Organized, Give Public Better
Service; Brings Industry Greatest Acceptance, says Coan. Here is typical
U-Select-It Service Crew Ready for a Day's Run.
Journal reader• are the
world'■
beat operators.
https://elibrary.arcade-museum.com
THE COIN MACHINE JOURNAL
December, 1946
Sees Greatest Years Ahead
Pioneer Vendor· Manufacturer Reviews
Some of the Past- Urges Tolerance and
Perfection of Production and Service for
Post-War Expansion.
Progress made in expanding the
scope of influence of the coin machine
industry thru various public relations
channels, particularly the latest pro-
gram inaugurated by Coin Machine
Industries, Inc., commands a paging
backward of the industry. Such a re-
view of more than two decades of in-
dustry growth brings into focus the
foundation upon which this industry
is built.
No one, perhaps, is better qualified
to paint this picture than one of the
members of Coin Machine Industries
public relations board, J. W. Coan.
Mr. Coan is among the earliest manu-
facturers in the food vending branch
of the industry. He was a contempor-
ary of that splendid pioneer of mer-
chandising machines, the late Arthur
H. De Grenier. Both introduced mer-
chandise venders and their initial
venture was the sandwich machine in
the early twenties.
Now one of the foremost manufac-
turers of coin controlled vending
equipment, Mr. Coan, who is president
of Co~ Manufacturing Co., Madison,
Was. (U-Select-It venders) is quali-
fied to lead his branch of the industry
and help direct its future by virtue of
his having come up the hard way and
succeeded against many odds.
Many fine people have engaged in
this industry throughout its long his-
tory; some have passed on to their re-
ward, but the job of post war expan-
sion rests on the shoulders of the sea-
soned members of the industry who
have demonstrated their capacity for
production and distribution of equip-
ment and merchandise.
Following the committee meeting,
the publicity group of which Mr.
Coan was chairman, at which the
huge coin machine public relations
fund and organization was set in mo-
tion, he gave an exclusive interview
to the editor and publisher of COIN
MACHINE JOURNAL. This editor
and Mr. Coan were among the orig-
inal group who set up the first defin-
ite industry organization program in
1925. It was from the efforts of this
group that the first show and conven-
J. W. Coan, Pres. Coan Mfg. Co.,
Madison, Wis., manufacturers U.
Select-It Vendors; member CMI All-
Industry Public Relations Committee,
Pioneer Merchandise Machine man.
tion came to be; a development
which, viewed historically, was an out-
standing event in automatic merchan-
dising.
Mr. Coan recited in this interview
how, in the early days, the industry
being new, untried and unproven, its
members were timid and uncertain of
the future, hence reticient, if not dis-
trustful. There was room fQr plenty
of distrust in those days. A period
of unlimited promotion had preceded
the move to bring the industry into
ethical channels. Manufacturers look-
ed with questioning eye on any move
that would tend to put the industry
on a sound footing. They didn't be-
lieve it could be done.
Once in the swing of things, the re-
sponse of the operating public and
later the general public, convinced
most factors that here was the road
to permanent expansion and stable
markets. It was not all smooth sail-
ing.
Factional differences caused
splits in the ranks. The depression
disorganized things, and many were
thrown on their own resources.
To recite observations ar.d con-
clusions advanced by Mr. Coan it was
not until each individual manufactur-
er got down to business and engineer-
ed dependable precision built equip-
ment, that there was any sound basis
for group activity. It took some ten
years of work and effort to get to that
point.
The late war, itself, contributed
much as it gave manufacturers a true
picture of what precision production
and mass production could accomplish.
Mr. Coan, very modestly, acknowledg-
ed that his organization had got its
(Continued on page 14)
Uniformed, Cleanly, Route Men, Efficiently Organized, Give Public Better
Service; Brings Industry Greatest Acceptance, says Coan. Here is typical
U-Select-It Service Crew Ready for a Day's Run.
Journal reader• are the
world'■
beat operators.
https://elibrary.arcade-museum.com
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).