Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)
Issue: 1937 December - Page 58
Kutting the Korners
With Karnofsky
60
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
Johnny Michael has been installed a s
new manager for the Seattle branch of
Western Distributors. Previously, Lou
W olcher had handled the affairs of the
local branch personally, and made two
flying trips a month to San Francisco
to keep tabs on his California offices .
But having installed Michael, Wolche r
left for a two-week trip to San Fran-
cisco, satisfied that his Seattle interests
would be well taken care of by his
capable new manager.
Last month we told you about Slim
Hulin who was thrown out of work be-
cause his new boss in Raymond went
into receivership. We predicted that
Slim was such a competent mechanic
that he would probably have landed a
good paying position by the time the
next issue of the REVIEW was pub-
lished. Well, we missed our prediction
by two scant days. For no sooner had
the Northwest received their copies of
the REVIEW than Slim was at work at
Jack Moore's Spokane branch.
. Now Mac McFarland, one of Western
Distributor's ace mechanics, knows how
it feels to become a public hero and to
receive the acclaim and the applause
of his fellow men , for along about
Thanksgiving time Mac became a very
popular young man. Coin Row's good-
looking gals took special effort to use
their "personality" smiles when Mac
was around. Operators, upon whose
machines he was working and who pre-
viously had demanded rush service,
were tolerant and patient and told Mac
to take all the time he needed. Every-
one, it seemed, went out of their way
to be nice to him. The fact that Mac
bagged a mess of fine duck the Sunday
- before Thanksgiving had nothing o;t all
to do with it, they would have you
believe. The quiet, calm day that pre-
vailed was bad for duck hunting, but
not for a super-hunter and marksman
like Mac, (sounds like we've got our
eyes on one of those ducks too) , who
also pulled in a forty-pound '(Mac's
figure , not ours) salmon. When w e
asked Mac the size of the fi s h he
commenced waving his arms : w'ildly
about and said, "It's too bad I'rtJ. such
a little fellow and have such short
arms." (Author's note: Mac is s ix
feet tall.)
Bob Walker can thank the editors of
the COIN MACHINE REVIEW for blue-
pencilling part of the writer's comments
in the last number, and thus saving
him from the merry quips of Coin Row's
operators.
W e pause now, dear reader, to pay
tribute to one of the finest, tenderest,
and heart-warming animal-and-ma n
friendships we have yet had the oppor-
tunity to observe. The principals are
Mitzi, a dog, and "Porky" Jacobs , the
Northwest coin machine industry's Num-
ber One comedian. For sixteen long
years this little dog and "Porky" have
been the fastest of fast friends . When
"Porky" returns home after a long d a y
of emptying coin boxes, Mitzi leaps
around him with such unbounded joy
that "Porky" takes the dog in his arms
and Mitzi then proceeds to put its paws
around the comedian's neck and gives
an exhibition of spooning that many
humans could learn a lot from. When
"Porky" is around the house, Mitzi fol-
lows his every footstep, and when
"Porky" goes to sleep, Mitzi lies at the
end of his bed. So close is their friend-
ship, in fact , that Mrs. Jacobs ha s at
times threatened to sue "Mitzi" for
alienation of affections. But all this
threat·e ning is all in fun , for Mrs. Jacobs
is a tolerant soul and her years of mar-
riage with "Porky" have endowed her
with a sense of humor that only the
wives of super-comedians can have.
Merle Walker, formerly one of the
Northwest's ace game designers, who
is now employing his inventive genius
for Sulak Mf". Co. of Seattle, and Miss
Marguerite Irene Spencer will ankle
alterward s ometime in December. The
couple were engaged in November.
Coinmen come; coinmen go. Changes
are constantly being made, with new
environment and different surroundings
all around us. So with the new year
close at hand and 1937 fas t dwindling
into completion, we are g oing to look
back and publish a few of the "mosts"
and "bests" in the Northwest for 1937.
We'll start off with the pluckiest fellow
in the business for the past year: He 's
Vincent Collins, whose remarkable fight
back to health after a near-fatal auto-
mobile accident went down in the an-
nals of medical history as one of the
most miraculous of the present day.
The coinman with the most winning
personality: Budge Wright, n ow Western
Distributor's manager at Portland.
The title of the most patient coinman
of the year goes to Al Muir, manager of
the Seattle branch of the America n
Record Corp. of Calif., whose patience
and calmness is a thing to marvel a t.
Most happy-go-lucky operator: Mickey
Hannon, ex-pug at Anacortes, with Ray
Swing of Seattle close behind.
King of Coin Row 's deadpans for 1937:
Ph onograph Operator Bill Roy.
Best conversa tiona list and most in-
teresting speaker: Art Anderson, ma na-
ger of the Washington Amusement As-
s ociation.
Most dignified looking coinman in the
Northwest: This is a dead-heat between
Chet King of Seattle and Bill Smith o f
Chehalis.
1937's most contagit>us smile is the
one owned and gorgeously d isplayed
by Sybil Stark, phon ograph record buyer
and o ffice manager fo r Heberling
Brothers.
Most up-and-coming y oung operator:
Frank Countner.
Busiest coinman: B. A. Almvig of
Tacoma.
The most versatile man in the North-
west coin machine industry: Cliff Carter,
stock clerk and record juggler for the
Seattle b ranch of the American Record
Corp. of Calif.
Operator with the best location: Ha rry
Weatherwax who has the exclusive
operation of pin games at Ben Paris' ,
Seattle's largest and best-known recrea-
tion center.
SometimeJ they stand up straight, sometimes they lie on their sides, but whatever
theIr pOSItIon, the Rock-Ola Imperial 20's remain on the convey01' assembly line for
only a s h ~rt time befo re they are speeded on their way to eager operaton. Workitlg
on tJ01h sides of the machrne, 56 men handle the final assembly along the belt which
is in no small measure responsible for maintaining a high production schedule,
With Karnofsky
60
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
Johnny Michael has been installed a s
new manager for the Seattle branch of
Western Distributors. Previously, Lou
W olcher had handled the affairs of the
local branch personally, and made two
flying trips a month to San Francisco
to keep tabs on his California offices .
But having installed Michael, Wolche r
left for a two-week trip to San Fran-
cisco, satisfied that his Seattle interests
would be well taken care of by his
capable new manager.
Last month we told you about Slim
Hulin who was thrown out of work be-
cause his new boss in Raymond went
into receivership. We predicted that
Slim was such a competent mechanic
that he would probably have landed a
good paying position by the time the
next issue of the REVIEW was pub-
lished. Well, we missed our prediction
by two scant days. For no sooner had
the Northwest received their copies of
the REVIEW than Slim was at work at
Jack Moore's Spokane branch.
. Now Mac McFarland, one of Western
Distributor's ace mechanics, knows how
it feels to become a public hero and to
receive the acclaim and the applause
of his fellow men , for along about
Thanksgiving time Mac became a very
popular young man. Coin Row's good-
looking gals took special effort to use
their "personality" smiles when Mac
was around. Operators, upon whose
machines he was working and who pre-
viously had demanded rush service,
were tolerant and patient and told Mac
to take all the time he needed. Every-
one, it seemed, went out of their way
to be nice to him. The fact that Mac
bagged a mess of fine duck the Sunday
- before Thanksgiving had nothing o;t all
to do with it, they would have you
believe. The quiet, calm day that pre-
vailed was bad for duck hunting, but
not for a super-hunter and marksman
like Mac, (sounds like we've got our
eyes on one of those ducks too) , who
also pulled in a forty-pound '(Mac's
figure , not ours) salmon. When w e
asked Mac the size of the fi s h he
commenced waving his arms : w'ildly
about and said, "It's too bad I'rtJ. such
a little fellow and have such short
arms." (Author's note: Mac is s ix
feet tall.)
Bob Walker can thank the editors of
the COIN MACHINE REVIEW for blue-
pencilling part of the writer's comments
in the last number, and thus saving
him from the merry quips of Coin Row's
operators.
W e pause now, dear reader, to pay
tribute to one of the finest, tenderest,
and heart-warming animal-and-ma n
friendships we have yet had the oppor-
tunity to observe. The principals are
Mitzi, a dog, and "Porky" Jacobs , the
Northwest coin machine industry's Num-
ber One comedian. For sixteen long
years this little dog and "Porky" have
been the fastest of fast friends . When
"Porky" returns home after a long d a y
of emptying coin boxes, Mitzi leaps
around him with such unbounded joy
that "Porky" takes the dog in his arms
and Mitzi then proceeds to put its paws
around the comedian's neck and gives
an exhibition of spooning that many
humans could learn a lot from. When
"Porky" is around the house, Mitzi fol-
lows his every footstep, and when
"Porky" goes to sleep, Mitzi lies at the
end of his bed. So close is their friend-
ship, in fact , that Mrs. Jacobs ha s at
times threatened to sue "Mitzi" for
alienation of affections. But all this
threat·e ning is all in fun , for Mrs. Jacobs
is a tolerant soul and her years of mar-
riage with "Porky" have endowed her
with a sense of humor that only the
wives of super-comedians can have.
Merle Walker, formerly one of the
Northwest's ace game designers, who
is now employing his inventive genius
for Sulak Mf". Co. of Seattle, and Miss
Marguerite Irene Spencer will ankle
alterward s ometime in December. The
couple were engaged in November.
Coinmen come; coinmen go. Changes
are constantly being made, with new
environment and different surroundings
all around us. So with the new year
close at hand and 1937 fas t dwindling
into completion, we are g oing to look
back and publish a few of the "mosts"
and "bests" in the Northwest for 1937.
We'll start off with the pluckiest fellow
in the business for the past year: He 's
Vincent Collins, whose remarkable fight
back to health after a near-fatal auto-
mobile accident went down in the an-
nals of medical history as one of the
most miraculous of the present day.
The coinman with the most winning
personality: Budge Wright, n ow Western
Distributor's manager at Portland.
The title of the most patient coinman
of the year goes to Al Muir, manager of
the Seattle branch of the America n
Record Corp. of Calif., whose patience
and calmness is a thing to marvel a t.
Most happy-go-lucky operator: Mickey
Hannon, ex-pug at Anacortes, with Ray
Swing of Seattle close behind.
King of Coin Row 's deadpans for 1937:
Ph onograph Operator Bill Roy.
Best conversa tiona list and most in-
teresting speaker: Art Anderson, ma na-
ger of the Washington Amusement As-
s ociation.
Most dignified looking coinman in the
Northwest: This is a dead-heat between
Chet King of Seattle and Bill Smith o f
Chehalis.
1937's most contagit>us smile is the
one owned and gorgeously d isplayed
by Sybil Stark, phon ograph record buyer
and o ffice manager fo r Heberling
Brothers.
Most up-and-coming y oung operator:
Frank Countner.
Busiest coinman: B. A. Almvig of
Tacoma.
The most versatile man in the North-
west coin machine industry: Cliff Carter,
stock clerk and record juggler for the
Seattle b ranch of the American Record
Corp. of Calif.
Operator with the best location: Ha rry
Weatherwax who has the exclusive
operation of pin games at Ben Paris' ,
Seattle's largest and best-known recrea-
tion center.
SometimeJ they stand up straight, sometimes they lie on their sides, but whatever
theIr pOSItIon, the Rock-Ola Imperial 20's remain on the convey01' assembly line for
only a s h ~rt time befo re they are speeded on their way to eager operaton. Workitlg
on tJ01h sides of the machrne, 56 men handle the final assembly along the belt which
is in no small measure responsible for maintaining a high production schedule,
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).