Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)
Issue: 1948 August - Page 7
Operators Concerned as Small
Business Readies Survival Battle
Dy WALTER H URD
The business of the average coin ma-
chine operator will be affected during the
next four years by the big battle now
shaping up as Small Business vs. Big Busi-
ness. The battle will grow more intense
regardless of who is elected president.
The outlook is that the fight between
big and little business will take the place
of the fight against labor unions. Farmers
voted against labor unions in 1946 and the
labor movement has been losing ground
since. Now, the way is open for the issues
between small and big business to take
the spotlight and the present year has
brought a good deal to , light about the
gathering storm.
The competition between big and little
business is a normal thing in a modern
competitive age, but inflation aggravates
the issues. Inflation cuts the profits of
small business men and tends to boost
the profits of big business. Small business
enterprises, including coin machine oper-
ators, are getting hurt by inflation in the
midst of great national prosperity.
The coin machine trade will be included
in the new battle that threatens to over-
shadow all other political issues, although
it is not easy to picture just how the trade
belongs in the battle. It is not easy to
draw the line between Big Business and
Small Business. A bill passed by the reo
cent Congress defines a small business as
a firm that employs no more than 500
workers, is independently owned, and ' is
not dominant in an industry. That would
COLUMBIA
TWIN FALLS
include a lot of coin machine manufac-
turers-and the law in question will help
these factories to get allocations of steel,
if they have government contracts.
A definition of a small business enter-
prise that has 'been used for many years
includes firms or individuals that have
an annual gross volume of less than $1,000,-
000. That would put most operators in the
small business class.
In some ways operators profit much from
big business. All types of machines make
most money in big cities generally. Vend·
ing machines in particular are best placed
in big factories and big buildings in big
cities, or nearby. And big factories and big
cities are really the outgrowth of big
business.
To show how the coin machine trade can
be drawn definitely into the fight between
small and big business, vending machines
are now being frequently mentioned in one
phase or another of the struggle. A recent
bulletin of the Dairy Industry Committee,
a dairy trade group, had the following
paragraph:
"Don't turn a vending machine into a
robot monopolist. Another salt industry
decision held a manufacturer may not re-
quire the use of a product exclusively in
his leased vending machines-even if he
agrees to meet any competitor's price cut·
ting."
The background of the above paragraph
and the court decision is explained in
AUTOMATIC VENDING, July issue page 29,
but the point here is that the bulletin by
the DIC has been widely distributed, re-
printed by a number of trade groups, and
thus given wide circulation, and all the
time mentioning vending machines as in·
volved in the gathering battle between big
and little business. Cigarette and candy
vending machines have been involved in
high federal court decisions in recent years
in cases that related to competition between
big and little business.
Senator Homer E. Capehart, phonograph
manufacturer and who has for a number
of years rendered great service as unofficial
spokesman for the Coin Machine Industry
in Washington, will be in the thick of the
fight which seems almost certain to take
the limelight in the next session of Con-
gress. Whatever may be the Senator's per-
sona l views in the fight between big and
little business, coin machine manufacturers
will have a very capable representative in
the thick of the fight.
Senator Capehart recently sponsored a
move to investigate, through a Senate com-
mittee, many phases of the present con-
flict, especially the effects of FTC regula-
tions and the recent decisions of the U. S.
Supreme Court on cases affecting big and
little business. One of the hot potatoes
Capehart's committee had planned to in-
vestigate was the frequent reports that big
firms and industries are following a policy
of limiting production in order to keep
prices up. But this particular point has
apparen tly been shelved for the time being.
Every o p e rator will b e vita lly con-
cerned in this investigatio n b ecau se he
canno t exp ect a n y thing e lse b ut a
slow a nd continue d d ecr ease in the
over a ll p a tronage o f co in m ach in es
until the cost of f o od, clothing a n d
o ther . n ecessities for the p eople b egin
to com e down .
Senator Capehart's committee will be at
work on its investigations during the fall
and winter months. Other investigations by
Congressional committees are under way
also, all gathering material for the big
battle that is brewing for next year.
Some reports say the biggest investiga-
tion will be that now under way by the
House Small Business Committee, headed
by Congressman Ploeser, of Missouri. This
committee is avowedly friendly to small
business, and it has already mailed ques-
tionnaires to 1,200,000 small business firms
in a dozen different trades to ' get their
views on the present struggle. Later in the
year this committee will investigate some
of the specific complaints that come before
FTC and the complaint of candy jobbers
about large vending " machine firms might
come up.
The House committee will hold hearings '
during the fall months in 25 cities, in·
cluding Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Phila-
delphia, New York, Minneapolis, Omaha,
Denver, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Birming-
ham, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Albuquer-
que, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, St.
Louis, Atlanta and Miami. Any members
of the coin machine trade who want to
hear what the shooting may be about, or
to get a chance to speak their mind, can
attend one of these hearings.
Operators will also be concerned in the
fight because some types of locations are
NEW GROETCHEN CONSOLE
Here's the latest an d greatest low priced
mec hanica l and electrical console ever de·
velo ped. Two players can play at one t ime,
nickels. dimes. Quar t ers and halves .
L ia ht. u p
console in beautifully styled wa lnut cabinet.
~e~~i~~~' action features. Buil t for years of
WRIT E FOR P RICE S
GROETCHEN
TOOL & MFG. COMPANY
126 N. Union Ave .
AUGUST, 1948
Chicago 6, III .
7
Business Readies Survival Battle
Dy WALTER H URD
The business of the average coin ma-
chine operator will be affected during the
next four years by the big battle now
shaping up as Small Business vs. Big Busi-
ness. The battle will grow more intense
regardless of who is elected president.
The outlook is that the fight between
big and little business will take the place
of the fight against labor unions. Farmers
voted against labor unions in 1946 and the
labor movement has been losing ground
since. Now, the way is open for the issues
between small and big business to take
the spotlight and the present year has
brought a good deal to , light about the
gathering storm.
The competition between big and little
business is a normal thing in a modern
competitive age, but inflation aggravates
the issues. Inflation cuts the profits of
small business men and tends to boost
the profits of big business. Small business
enterprises, including coin machine oper-
ators, are getting hurt by inflation in the
midst of great national prosperity.
The coin machine trade will be included
in the new battle that threatens to over-
shadow all other political issues, although
it is not easy to picture just how the trade
belongs in the battle. It is not easy to
draw the line between Big Business and
Small Business. A bill passed by the reo
cent Congress defines a small business as
a firm that employs no more than 500
workers, is independently owned, and ' is
not dominant in an industry. That would
COLUMBIA
TWIN FALLS
include a lot of coin machine manufac-
turers-and the law in question will help
these factories to get allocations of steel,
if they have government contracts.
A definition of a small business enter-
prise that has 'been used for many years
includes firms or individuals that have
an annual gross volume of less than $1,000,-
000. That would put most operators in the
small business class.
In some ways operators profit much from
big business. All types of machines make
most money in big cities generally. Vend·
ing machines in particular are best placed
in big factories and big buildings in big
cities, or nearby. And big factories and big
cities are really the outgrowth of big
business.
To show how the coin machine trade can
be drawn definitely into the fight between
small and big business, vending machines
are now being frequently mentioned in one
phase or another of the struggle. A recent
bulletin of the Dairy Industry Committee,
a dairy trade group, had the following
paragraph:
"Don't turn a vending machine into a
robot monopolist. Another salt industry
decision held a manufacturer may not re-
quire the use of a product exclusively in
his leased vending machines-even if he
agrees to meet any competitor's price cut·
ting."
The background of the above paragraph
and the court decision is explained in
AUTOMATIC VENDING, July issue page 29,
but the point here is that the bulletin by
the DIC has been widely distributed, re-
printed by a number of trade groups, and
thus given wide circulation, and all the
time mentioning vending machines as in·
volved in the gathering battle between big
and little business. Cigarette and candy
vending machines have been involved in
high federal court decisions in recent years
in cases that related to competition between
big and little business.
Senator Homer E. Capehart, phonograph
manufacturer and who has for a number
of years rendered great service as unofficial
spokesman for the Coin Machine Industry
in Washington, will be in the thick of the
fight which seems almost certain to take
the limelight in the next session of Con-
gress. Whatever may be the Senator's per-
sona l views in the fight between big and
little business, coin machine manufacturers
will have a very capable representative in
the thick of the fight.
Senator Capehart recently sponsored a
move to investigate, through a Senate com-
mittee, many phases of the present con-
flict, especially the effects of FTC regula-
tions and the recent decisions of the U. S.
Supreme Court on cases affecting big and
little business. One of the hot potatoes
Capehart's committee had planned to in-
vestigate was the frequent reports that big
firms and industries are following a policy
of limiting production in order to keep
prices up. But this particular point has
apparen tly been shelved for the time being.
Every o p e rator will b e vita lly con-
cerned in this investigatio n b ecau se he
canno t exp ect a n y thing e lse b ut a
slow a nd continue d d ecr ease in the
over a ll p a tronage o f co in m ach in es
until the cost of f o od, clothing a n d
o ther . n ecessities for the p eople b egin
to com e down .
Senator Capehart's committee will be at
work on its investigations during the fall
and winter months. Other investigations by
Congressional committees are under way
also, all gathering material for the big
battle that is brewing for next year.
Some reports say the biggest investiga-
tion will be that now under way by the
House Small Business Committee, headed
by Congressman Ploeser, of Missouri. This
committee is avowedly friendly to small
business, and it has already mailed ques-
tionnaires to 1,200,000 small business firms
in a dozen different trades to ' get their
views on the present struggle. Later in the
year this committee will investigate some
of the specific complaints that come before
FTC and the complaint of candy jobbers
about large vending " machine firms might
come up.
The House committee will hold hearings '
during the fall months in 25 cities, in·
cluding Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Phila-
delphia, New York, Minneapolis, Omaha,
Denver, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Birming-
ham, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Albuquer-
que, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, St.
Louis, Atlanta and Miami. Any members
of the coin machine trade who want to
hear what the shooting may be about, or
to get a chance to speak their mind, can
attend one of these hearings.
Operators will also be concerned in the
fight because some types of locations are
NEW GROETCHEN CONSOLE
Here's the latest an d greatest low priced
mec hanica l and electrical console ever de·
velo ped. Two players can play at one t ime,
nickels. dimes. Quar t ers and halves .
L ia ht. u p
console in beautifully styled wa lnut cabinet.
~e~~i~~~' action features. Buil t for years of
WRIT E FOR P RICE S
GROETCHEN
TOOL & MFG. COMPANY
126 N. Union Ave .
AUGUST, 1948
Chicago 6, III .
7
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).