Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

chine manufactures made available In
February 1949.
While the bigness of the manufacturing
industry shows up in the report, still there
are a lot of omissions that detract much
from the story. M~mbers of the Industry
will recognize quickly what the omissions
mean but people in general will take the
ce nsus figures for a true picture of the
total industry today.
Omi tted from the manufacturing to tals
are coin-operated phonographs, refrigerated
soft drink vendors, ice cream vendors,
penny scales and photographic machines.
These machines are all tabulated in other
industries, such as the radio and music
trade, refrigeration industry, and so on.
The report on 1939 praduction did say
that phonographs, scales, etc., not shown
in the coin machine tabulation, amounted
at that time to about one· fourth of the
grand total of coin machine manufactures
in dollar volume. In other words, the re-
port would have shown the manufacturinl!;
indu try at least a fourth larger if all coin-
operated machines had been tabulated in
the official release.
Some idea of the dollar value of the
omissions may be gained by considering
automatic phonographs. Estimates of out-
put in 1947 have placed the total at 80,000
to 85,000 phonographs. Then, phonographs
and accessories would have added $5,000,-
000 or more to the total. Estimates of the
1947 output of soft drink vendors have
ranged from 60,000 to 100,000 machines-
the estimates being indefinite due to the
secrecy around the output of machines
made for Coca-Cola Co. All the e vendors
with refrigeration do no t how up in the
coin machine total, nor do ice cream, milk
and other vendors using refrigeration. Coin-
operated washers are also reported in the
washing machine industry total.
The 1947 value of coin machine factory
output is said to be $57,000,000 in round
numbers, and if all types of coin-operated
machines were included in the total it
would reach at least $70,000,000 for a con-
serva tive estimate.
T he Census Bu reau may estimate the
value of these omitted types of machines
in its final report, a it did on the 1939
census.
The report will also raise interesting
questions about the total number of manu·
facturing establishment in the coin ma-
chine trade. In 1937, the census report
said 47 manufacturers; in 1939 the report
said 51 manufacturers; and the 1947 report
says 73 manuC acturing establishments. The
data tabulated is based on information sup-
plied by these 73 firms.
Various other estimates of the manufac-
turing industry in 1947 are also available.
A big utilities company gathered data on
a number of industries in the Ch icago
area, including coin machine manufac-
turers. Coin Machine Institute also gath·
ered statistics on the manufacturing indus-
try in 1947 and a general resume of the
data was published in the Chicago Tribune,
Jan. 15, 1948. The report said that the
Industry consists of more than 100 factories
that produce coin-operated machines, while
there were a many a 1,500 plants that
produced parts and accessories for these
facto"ries.
The official census does not take into
account the allied plants that furnish ma-
terials and parts, except to report th at coin
machine manu facturers in 1947 used ma-
terials, fuel, electricity and contract work
to the total val ue of $28,200,000.
operated machine, or parts and accessorie
directly therefor.
A difficulty shows up in all surveys of an
industry, and that is in trying to give a
picture of the number of firms that are ac-
tively producing at the time of the survey.
The Census Bureau checked on manufac-
ture of coin machines for an entire year
and hence a big majority of the live firms
in the Industry should have been active
during that time. The year 1947 continued
to show a lively influx of new firms into
the manufacturing industry, a trend which
had started at the end of the war but which
slacked considerably in 1948.
Interesting sidelights on the coin machine
trade may be had also by comparing other
government reports of 1947 with the re-
port on manufactures. If the total value of
the output of coin machines produced in
1947 is officially listed at $56,900,000, then
this may be compared wi th the Bureau of
Internal Reven ue report for 1947 that total
federal taxes paid on am usement and music
machines in that year amounted to $19,-
438,433. Roughly, the trade is paying a
The SOURCE BOOK OF THE COIN MACHINE
INDUSTRY, in its annual directory l ists 815
firms that manufacture some type of coin-
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