Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

FOlir Fabulous Swedes-Revert to
Coin Machine Manufacture
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This story, one of many
to be told in the months ahead about the work
our various manufacturers were engaged in dur-
ing the war months, concerns the four Pierson
Brothers in Kansas City and their Vendo Co. The
story of how the nickel-In-a-slo. did a tremen-
dous job for the war in Kansas City, looks like
one of the more fantastic proofs of American
inventive genius. Below, in part, we reproduce
an article recently appearing in the St. Loui&
Globe Democrat which gives an interesting ac-
count of the Four Fabulous Swedes.)
COIN
MACHIN!
REVIEW
16
The story revolves around four fabulous
Swedes, brothers, who owned a factory
which turned out vending machines for soft
drinks when the war started. They wound
up with so many military contracts, 167 of
them in one year, that they had to cut to
just thinking out projects, turning them
over to other factories to do the work.
The Swedes are the Piersons-Elmer F.,
John T., Fred N. and Carl G.-big, happy,
blue·eyed men, who have prompted one
employee to say the company (it spilled
over into five buildings through the war)
should be called "four Swedes in a Sweat."
Their inventiveness is carrying on into the
peace.
They started in '37 by manufacturing
those vendin g machines into which you
drop a nickel and get a cold soft drink.
Their machines go all over the world. But
the machine posed a problem because some
people put slugs into them.
So, as the war started, the Pierson reo
searchers had just found a "slug rejector"
wl,ich caught the phony nickel through the
sound it made. The researcher who worked
oul the device was a young man with no
fOlmal research education, but a tireless
interest in the science of sound (super·
sonics). Now he's writing on supersonics
for erudite journals and devising more
gadgets for the Piersons.
The war broke and Elmer Pierson took a
plane to Washington to ask what he could
do. He learned that the High Command
was worried because their current testing
method for 20mm. shells was letting
thr0ll;gh a lot of cracked ones and imperfect
shells were killing gun crews.
The shells were being inspected by peo·
pIe who could merely look at them closely.
The method took a long time-another
drawback.
Pierson said, "I think we can lick that
problem with supersonics." In 10 minutes
he was surrounded by gold braid who
begged him to hurry. He flew back to
Kansas City, began hiring, and his reo
searchers went to work. Soon they had a
device which included an anvil onto which
the shells were dropped.
If there were no faults, the shells gave
off two tones-tones in the higher fre·
quencies which cannot be heard by the
human ear-and the device lit two lights.
If the shell was cracked the lights failed to
glow. The device was shipped to ordnance
FOil
JANUARY
7946
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plants. In one run of 300,000 20mm. shells,
it picked out 26 faulty ones.
The Piersons' plant-it's called the Vendo
Co.-got up to 1,600 employes at the peak,
a comparatively small pay roll for what
was turned out.
They made a large portion of the radio
and radar antennae used by planes. One
device, which went onto one· man life rafts,
looks like a double butterfly, two feet
across. It catches all radar impulses in its
neighborhood and bounces them back to
the sender, whether ship or plane. That
starts a hunt, and as a result hundreds of
men stranded on the sea were saved.
When the war ended the Piersons had
gone much farther. They were turning out
a gadget to be strapped to planes and life·
boats, which sent radar waves instead of
just waiting for them.
When peace came, the Piersons were
ready. On Aug. 12 they already had an
assembly line in one plant to turn out metal
kitchen stools. The stools were intended
primarily to keep people on the pay roll
while they reconverted the rest of their
plants. Buyers wanted 600,000 of their
stools, but they're stopping at 115,000, be·
cause they're interested chiefly in long·time
steady production.
Now they're back to making vending rna·
chines. But this time they'll be bigger and
better. One model which should be out
within 12 months happened because Elmer
'Pierson visited the New York World's Fair
and was shocked at the waste he saw-
empty soft·drink bottles lying all over the
grounds. He decided he'd make a vending
machine which kept the bottles.
It is now being tested. When you put a
nickel or dime into it, you will see, through
a glass door, a bottle move into position, a
claw will uncap it and then it will pour
the drink into a paper cup. A little glass
door will slide open and you can reach
in for your paper cup. The bottles won't
be wasted.
The Piersons haven't advertised the rna·
chine yet, but they already have a letter
from Egypt, of all places, asking for 100
of them.
(See FOUR SWEDES, Page 20)
5"
5"
5"
5"
5"
5"
5"
5"
5"
5"
CONSOLES
Keeney Super Bell ("omb.I..$300.00
Jennings Derby Day.............. 25.00
Jennings Multiple Ra"er...... 50.00
Keeney Tra"k Time ·37........ 35.00
Pa"es Reels '40 .................... 100.00
Bally Royal Draw.................. 65.00
Mills Jumbo Parade, C.P..... 75.00
Exhibit Chu"k·A·Lette ... _..... 50.00
Pa"es Ra"es, Brown (as is) 90.00
Pa"es Ra"es, Red Arrow
(as is I................................ 90.00
SLOTS
1" Callie, 3/5, Red .................... $ 39.50
5" Caille, 3/ 5, Red.................... 49.50
10" Caille, 3/ 5, Red.................... 59.50
10" Jennings Golf BaiL................ 75.00
25" Jennings Golf Ball.................. 75.00
5" Watling Rol·A-Top, 2/4,G.A. 75.00
5" Jennings Vidory Chief, 3/5 200.00
5" Mills War Eagle, 2/4............ 95.00
10" Mills Roman Head, 3/5 .........• 175.00
25" Mills War Eaale, 2/4 .......•...• 145.00
FOLDING STANDS (All Makes!..
2.50
KING PIN GAMES to.
826 Mills Street
Kalamazoo, Mi"higan