Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

H ere is proof that
the scrap record
trade-in program
launched by RCA
Victor is bringing re-
sults. This Milwaukee
Journal picture was
taken of the Taylor
Electric Co_ where
Miss Ruth Hams is
shown behind a stack
of approximately
50,000 records. All
of the records shown
were turned in by
users to be melted so
that the shellac may
be salvaged.
COIH
MACHIHE
IIEVIEW
24
FOil
JUHE
1942
General Music Grows
LOS ANGELES.-It was only four short
years ago when the first office of General
Music Co. was opened in Los Angeles and
since then, with an additional office in San
Francisco, has grown to one of the leading
musical distributing organizations in the
country.
Presided over by Bud Parr, who man-
ages the Los Angeles office, today Gen-
eral offers music operators of the West
the acme in service and attention to even
the smallest request. Huge stockrooms in
San Francisco and Los Angeles are packed
witb supplies for music men such as tubes,
parts for all models and used equipment of
every type. General has anticipated the
operator's requirements for many months
to come and has made buge purchases in
all parts of the country so as to be able to
take care of any requirements an operator
might have.
.
.
.
Parr is a veteran m the com machme
' business having started as an operator in
San Francisco more than 12 years ago and
served an apprenticeship in sales and
servicing under Charlie Fey, inventor and
grand old pioneer ,of the industry. Ernie
Brennan, popular manage,r of the San
Francisco branch, can brag of 15 years
spent in all branches of the industry and
is currently putting his knowledge to good
use in couriseling with Northern California
operators and aiding them in their operat-
ing problems.
All in all General Music has made a
shining place for itself in the coin machine
industry in the West and the respect and
bountiful patronage accorded it by western
music men shows the esteem held for the
firm and its business principles.
Neumann In Army
SAN FRANCISC has had the northern California Rock·Ola
representation for his Rex V ~nding Co. Jor
a number of years is now m the Umted
States Army.
Neumann, formerly a glider instructor in
the German Army according to information
received by the THE REVIEW, is now hand-
ling the same chore for Uncle Sam.
Monarch Sounds Warning
CHICAGO-"We at Monarch have made
every effort to stock large quantities ?f
every type equipment, both b~a!ld ne,~ m
original crates and fine recondltwned, de-
clared Roy Bazelon and Al Stern of Mon-
arch Coin Machine Co. when interviewed
by a REVIEW representative.
"We have gone to great lengths to ob-
tain the diversified type machines on hand
here for immediate shipment, but neverthe-
less we are not holding any games for
higher market values which will be preval-
ent in our estimation within thirty days,"
they continued. "For operator~ to be panic-
stricken at the thought of eqUIpment short-
age is as bad as being over cautious in
present day purchases, one thought leads
to excessive buying, the other to not buy-
ing enough.
"Alihough heavy inroads are being made
on both our new and used game stocks, we
have sufficient reserves to assure all coin
machine men of a highly varied selection.
Fortunately, we have not found it neces-
sary yet to increase our prices 1? any.,great
extent. The situation. however, IS obVIously
becoming more serious and those operators
who have not made their present or future
purchases as yet will un~oubtedly be pay-
ing much more for machmes very early m
the near future. It is therefore advisable
for all coin men who intend carrying on
operations for the duration to insure against
price increases and material shortages by
ordering now.
"The law of survival of the fittest will
prevail in operating during the coming
months. We therefore urge coin men to
prepare themselves with reliable equipment
purchased from reliable distributors. We
all know th at there are -opportunities now
and now only to strengthen operating posi-
tions in the field aJ.ld to prepare for wider
and more profitable activity when the war
is over_
" Barring unforeseen complications, we
we will be in a position to assist operators
in obtaining any and all types equipment
for many months to come by our foresight-
edness in stocking large amounts of equip-
ment we now have on hand, which in our
estimation proves conclusively to all coin
men that we firmly believe in the continua-
tion of this industry under all hazards.
"In closing, our final thought to every
clear thinking operator is to visualize and
anticipate the needs of his operation, which
is vital to the well-being of his business
now, and for the duration."
Transportation of anything but war ma-
terials is of necessity set aside for indefinite
delivery. Therefore it is of vital importance
that operators consider transportation of
equipment to be the major problem that it
is and protect themselves by ordering early,
allowing plenty of time for delivery, so that
the machines they want will be on hand
when they want them.
KANSAS t::ITY
KANSAS CITY.-Cutting down tire, gas
and general truck and service car mileage
continues to be the big subject of concern
to Missouri Valley coin machine operating
firms as summer operation gets into full
swing.
From the coin machine manufacturing
and renewing standpoint, materials take the
spotlight as stocks in many plants and
shops begin to run short without much
hope of replacement in the original
brackets.
A good example in the latter case is the
Universal Manufacturing Co. According to
Sales Promotional Manager Herman, of
this firm, war shortages of certain p~pers
have forced the company to try substItutes
and, in so doing have uncovered substitutes
better for the purpose than the papers orig-
inally used. As Herman points out, many of
these substitute materials are, during nor-
mal times, much less expensive than those
used by the Industry in the past and should
result in a post-war lowering in price of
many operator needs.
Universal also reports that although it
ordered large amounts of machinery last
year in anticipation of a rush market this
year, most of the equipment has not been
delivered and the factory will continue its
policy of 24-hour operation in an effort to
keep up with orders.
Russell Thomas pretty well outlines the
action now being taken by most coin ma-
chine operators in this area to lower operat-
ing costs and drastically reduce truck and
service car mileage. "We're cutting our
mileage 25 per cent," explains Thomas,
manager of the Cigarette Service ~ompa!lY'
"And by this I don't mean that we re trYIng
to cut our mileage that amount-we're do-
ing it. Often it requires that we tak~ a
machine out of an out-of-the-way locatIOn,
frequently we must put two or more ma-
chines in a single location. We have cut
down service calls to a minimum of two a
week and the vast majority of 'our locations
are serviced only once a week. The less
profitabI~, locations are being cut out all
together.
The most encouraging development along
this line comes from a rural Kansas area.
Recently all the operators in a dozen ad-
joining counties there met With. the end in
view of dividing up their locatIOns so that
each would service a single concentrated
area and thus eliminate the necessity for
traveling ,g reat distances between locations.
Although the agreements of this group have
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