Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

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By Dorothy Petsch
38
COIN
MACH INE
REVIEW
Prosperity, reveals the San Francisco
Chamber of Commerce, came around that
corner and into full view this month. The
best business since before the big toboggan
slide of 1929 was noted by the Chamber's
research department after plotting curves
and tabulating long lists of figures.
The past two weeks have picked up no-
ticeably in coin machine .circles, according
to jobbers. Advance Automatic names
Genco's Bangs, Stoner's Snooks, and Ex-
hibit's Avalon as the best sellers this
month. Wolf Sales and the Jack R. Moore
offices both name Baily's Pick 'Em, while
Golden Gate Novelty nominates Genco's
Bangs. Wolf Sales has been receiving ship-
ments of Pick 'Em every other day and
are still twenty-five machines behind in
paid up orders. Exporting has slowed up
slightly. Viking still finds Central America
anxious for nut machines, with the South
Seas and Australia the best markets for
games from Advance Automatic and Wolf
Sales.
Most heartening news of the month is
the settling of the labor front in the phono-
graph trade. With 12,000 phonographs
signed on the dotted line, Joseph Baker,
president of the Automatic Music Merchan-
dising Association, Inc., believes this to be
the only time in the history of the business
when operators presented a united front.
Oakland, Fresno, Stockton, Sacramento and
San Francisco are all under ten year con-
tracts with the Association. George Miller
has been named as Baker's assistant.
Successfully pigeon-holed is the bill in
the state legislature to tax phonographs $25
per year no matter what the age, condition,
or location of the machine. Baker points
out that 60% of the boxes now in use are
old merchandise with an earning power in
most cases of from $1.50 to $2 per spot. To
assess each of these $25 would wipe off the
map most of the operators of these ma-
chines. The bill was backed by local au-
thorities anxious to fill the city coffers.
Business isn't so bad when the boys go
out and buy new cars. Archie Gammelle is
sporting a new Cadillac and Stanley Harris
a shiny DeSoto.
F. S. Grant has entered the operating
business in Watsonville. His trip to San
Francisco this month netted him over a
dozen new machines and he's going strong.
Grant is also a prominent fight promoter
along the Coast, specializing in the feath-
erweight class.
John Gilder, local operator, has hied
himself off for the Middle West. He in-
tends to visit friends and relatives for over
a month and hopes to pick up a few new
operating tricks along the way.
Wolf Reiwitz, owner of Wolf Sales, en-
tered the operating field this month with
the purchase of Jimmy Dahle's route of
machines. It is Wolf's plan to limit the
route to one hundred boxes.
Candy lentils, boston beans, roasted al-
monds, and the new teeny beans are top
requests this month at Viking, according
to Les Baker. He adds that the candy
business in July almost doubled that of
June.
Lou Wolcher is spending several weeks
in the Pacific Northwest, dividing his time
between his Portland and Seattle offices.
He will return to Advance Automatic the
middle of August. His San Jose Speedway
is still running strong. The roadster races
staged there August 6 drew a crowd of four
thousand.
Wolf Sales are still making good with
their phonograph cabinets in the East.
Florida seems to be the heaviest buyer this
month. Twenty-five cabinets were also
.shipped during the last week to Los An-
geles.
P. & M. Sales report a booming business
since the opening of the new branch of their
business devoted to jobbing used cigarette
machines. According to Richard Parina,
owner, requests for machines are coming in
from all parts of the country, and letters
are piling up daily from satisfied opera-
tors. Each machine that is sold is first
thoroughly cleaned and renovated so that
it is in first-class working order when it
reaches the customer. The company is also
enjoying a neat business with locks, a
MIDSUMMER CLEARANCE!
Only such an occasion can explain the following
CUT PRICES
5
4
6
10
5
20
15
15
9
Hawthornes .............................. $ 89 .50
Thistledowns ............................ 79 .50
Grandstand s ............................ 72 .50
Sport Pages .............................. 64. 50
One-Two-Threes , late models
with rever sed reels .................. 55 .00
Fairgrounds .............................. 39 . 50
Foto Finish ................................ 17.50
Golden Wh eels ........................ 12.50
Ray s Tracks, late serial num•
bers ............................................ 49 . 50
COUNTER GAMES
Tallys .............................................. $ 9.50
Sparks .............................................. 12.50
Kounter Kings ................................ 7 .SO
Bally Babys............ .......................... 8 .50
SLOTS
Sc Blue Fronts ................................ $49.50
1 De Blue Fronts .................. .............. 54 .50
25c Blue Fronts ................................ 59 .SO
Vest Pockets ............................ 32. 50
Mills Cigarette Machines , lat,
serial numbers ....................... ..... $44.50
7-column Gorettas .......................... 29 .50
4-column Gorettas .......................... 19. 50
W e also carr y a fu ll line of new and used Novelty Games.
Drop us a line and be assured of results
WOLi' SALES CO., Inc.
1120 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco , Calif.
complete line for all types of vending ma-
chines having been installed by the com-
pany at the time it opened its doors for the
cigarette jobbing trade.
Seeburgs are still selling furiously at the
E. T. Mape Company this month. New
shipments are being received in San Fran-
cisco as fast as the Eastern plant can send
them out, but it's not fast enough to suit
the operators; there's still a long list of
"must" names that are clamoring to get
their machines.
It's vacation time at the Seeburg head-
quarters, too. Vance Mape and his wife
returned this month from an extensive trip
through Alaska where they not only bagged
a lot of fun but some excellent pictures to
prove it. Mrs. Felice Church, recently
placed in charge of operators at the E. T.
Mape Company, is now taking a week off
to rest up for the hard winter to come. She
plans to concentrate on seeing what Treas-
ure Island has to offer. On her return Carl
Anderson will take a combined vacation and
honeymoon. He isn't revealing his destina-
tion, but he's going to forget the account-
ing business for a while.
Jerry Berman is passing around cigars
this month. He's the proud father of a
baby girl, Susan, born the middle of July.
The Wm. Corcoran Company has taken
over the agency for Rock-Ola in San Fran-
cisco. This is not entirely a new step, for
Bill has carried these machines along with
his Wurlitzers for several months. How-
ever, since the transferring of the West
Coast office from San Francisco to Los An-
geles the Corcoran company has been
named headquarters for the northern Cali-
fornia area.
Newest machine in San Francisco to
cause a big stir this month is the Auto
Golf, Inc., machine which is being shown to
amazing crowds in the Lou Wolcher offices.
It's a five-ball game played with an ordi-
nary golf putter on a low green-carpeted
board about four by six feet. The upper
end of the board is slightly elevated, there-
by increasing the difficulty of sinking the
putt. A foot-operated pedal brings the ball
onto the green for the play. The play
board its elf is encased in glass and if
you're a dead-eye shot the ball rolls onto
the board for an eagle, a birdie, or an ace.
Par is 20 for the game. The trim, the coin
counter, and the light over the cup are all
made of spun steel. Mildred Alexander
and Estelle Cyr, the brunette and blonde
secretaries at Advance Automatic, are daily
demonstrating how easy it is to roll up a
score if you just have that certain touch.
Al Berman has moved his offices from
Golden Gate Avenue to 1254 La Playa.
Leon Sarkasian, old-time operator in the
Bay area, has opened a new Sportland at
the Golden Gate International Exposition
on Treasure Island. His establishment is
well-located for trade on the Gayway and
reports are that play has been excellent.
He is operating Wurlitzer bowling alleys
and Ray-o-lite gun machines.
The Jack R. Moore plant is operating on
a new summertime schedule to enable its
employees to get the most out of a day.
The portals open now at eight o'clock and
close at five-thirty. One Saturday a month
is given to the employees according to a
staggered schedule.
Offices of the San Francisco company
have had their faces lifted this month.
The conference room has been stipled in
cream-colored plaster, new indirect light-
ing fixtures installed, the floor covered with
a deep wine carpet, and attractive drapes
hung over the windows. The stairs leading
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