Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

Common P leas Judge Frank H . Harvey
granted a temporary injunction , prohibiting
the collection of the taxes, on the plea of
Attorney Ben Holub, representing the Bell
Novelty Co. Joseph Elfant, who heads the
company, is president of the local coin pho-
nograph owners' association. Holub says in
his petition that the Cuyahoga Falls ordi-
nance is uncon stitutional. The devices are
fo r amusement and entertainment and need
no regulation, he said. Date for final hear-
ing of the suit is not set.
Akron's city council is watching the out-
come of the suit, since that city has been
trying for a year to get some of th e phono
nickels into th e city treasury. It is con-
vinced, however, reports say, that it can' t
get the money by th e $25 li cense fee route.
Judge Harvey ruled five years ago against
an Akron ordinance that was almost identi-
cal with the one just passed by Cuyahoga
Falls. The court said th en that cities could
charge only a "reasonable" fee for regula-
tion, and that $25 a year was excessive.
Meanwhile, furth er hearings on pin ball
machin es, coin phonos and bingo will be
delayed until later in the year, Akron coun-
cilmen said. Council had reconsid ered an
ordin ance to put coin-operated devices
under th e city's 3 per ce nt amu sement tax.
The measure is back in council's Tax and
Amusements committee in "cold storage."
Unanimously and without comment, an
anti-gambling ordin ance was passed by
Portsmouth City Council in its third read-
in g. Becoming effective early in June, th e
measure prohibits the di splay of bell ma-
chines, pun ch boards and pin ball ma chin es.
Under provisions of the new ordinance,
bell machines may be confisca ted and de-
stroyed if found in the city. Th e same has
been interpreted to apply to pin ball ma-
chines which offer a free game to the
player. Specifica1ly, th e measure applies to
any devi ce operated by a coin or token
which does not give each player or customer
the same amount of merchandise, amuse-
ment or entertainment. Regular vending
machines are not affected.
A 20 per cent drop in th e number of pin
ball machine permits in Toledo has been
attributed to the fa ct that the ordinance
there limits to two th e number of the ma-
chines which can be di splayed in one loca-
tion.
A "refined:' penny--ar1;ade -to be set up
in a 40-by-60-foot room off the Toledo Mu-
nicipal Airport lobby was squelched by
th at city's City Manager Arnold Finch, who
said that game room s containing devices
that might be used for gambling would not
be permitted.
Shuffleboard games in Columbus and sur-
rounding area continue to show a steady
growth, with a few more bars and grills
adding the games of skill each week. No
parlors are in evidence as yet, but th e
games are doing a lot to offset the televi-
sion influence in th e bars which already
have installed the games. Most of th em are
non-coin-operated -boards.
Th e latest a ddition at Central Police Sta-
tion to an assortment of food-and-b everage
dispensing machines that line th e hall is
a hot coffee machine. Already availa ble in
other coin machin es are sweet milk, butter-
milk, chocolate milk, pop corn, chewin g
gum, bottled soft drinks, ice cream, orange-
ade , eight varieties of candy and peanuts.
Beverage sales, es pecia1ly cold drinks,
have gone up in recent weeks and th e sum-
mer rush seems to be on. A ·good supply of
all leadin g brands is available.
William D. Bailey, of the Ohio Depart-
ment of Taxa tion , reported th at April sales
of cigarette tax stamps declined $35,414
over last year. Sales for th e month this
year were $1,410,468, whil e April .1948 sales
totaled $1,445,882.
No other Ball Gum Vendor like it !
Operator usually nets up to 75c out of every
$1 the "Hunter" takes in!
A real money-maker from th e mom ent you install it!
That's wh at operators say about th e new "Hunter." But
th at' s not all. Look at th ese two fea tures : 1- No
coin return . 2-No gum dispensed unless th e
player wants it. That's why many report a
net of 75c out of every $1 the "Hunter"
take!, in. Can you beat that for a
" Gold Min e"? Ord er now
through your jobb e r or
write for illustrated litera-
ture.
SILVER-KING CORP.
622 Diversey Parkway
•
*
Chicago 14, Illinois
He sa id sales for the year to date, how-
ever, showed a slight increase-00.94 per
cent, to be exact. Total sal es to the May 1
date last year were $5,365,079, and this
year, $5,415,760.
Most operators of scal es, nut vendors and
other machines r eport so-so conditions and
few , if any, are expandin g th eir routes.
W . C. Arthurs
-.1,,os Jlngeles
Shuffleboard started a trend in the West
whi ch is not bein g allowed to die on the
vin e. Shuffleboard helped give bars and
tavern s the club atmosphere instead of the
saloon reek, and folks now droppin g into a
bar no longer are wholly concerned with
downing liquid and hearing music, but re-
laxing at a skill gam e as well. The same
men who have built th e pu cked game into
a major entertainment are busy makin g
plans to augment shuffleboard with other
skill types. Result will be that folk s will
stay longer in a tavern or bar ; th ey will
spend more on beverages a nd games, and
both operator and loca tion owner will en-
joy greater margin of profit.
Mu sic has reached th e bottom and now
is on its way up , according to a consensus
of opinion amon g leadin g operators. Three
fa ctors point to a coming era of normalcy;
redu ced price of machin es; better quality,
lower priced records; and a n average of
ten per cent in c rease in gross.
San Diego mu sic operators continue to
move forw ard in good fa shion. Biggest prop
to th e 'Diego picture is th e steadily ex-
panding activity at tli e Naval Training Sta-
tion and th e amphibiou s base and airfield
at Coronado. Shuffleboard s, averaging a· $20
per week take-away, have cut into roll-down
receipts.
Now that th e ciggy pri ce war, started by
two dru g chains a nd extery din g to many
independent retail ers, has ended, vendor
gross has snapp ed back- not quite up to
normal levels, but well on th e way.
Hot beverage machine manufacturers are
eyeing th e more th an 1,000 industri al loca-
tions in this area as top spots for their
machin es. While Kwik-Kafe had th e fi eld
pretty much to th emselves in th e past, four
other vendors will soon be vyin g for the
industri al plums: Koffee King, Hot-0-Mat,
Coffee-teria, and Sayl or Homogenizer's hot
chocolate vendor.
Candy is beginnin g to show added life at
th e cash box. Ditto for po p corn . Bulk vend-
in g gross has risen encouragingly, whil e
scales co ntinu e stron g.
1,,ouisville
The famous Kentucky Derb y brou ght its
big crowd s and boosted business fo r many
loca tions, and al so th e coin machines in
th em. But th e fin al reports of business
places seem to agree th a t the bi g crowd
thi s year did not spend as th ey did last
year. This is th e opinion th a t has been ex-
pressed in trade mee tin gs, after th e Derby,
and it is th e vi ew th at has also been ex-
pressed in newspa pers. Operators agree with
this view of th e general results.
Music operators in the area are inclined
to report th at business has made some gains
during the last month or so. This, after
music men had been quite pessimistic.
Distributors also report th at an improve-
ment lias taken place in music sin ce sales
are beh er.
This is considered grea t pin ball terri-
tory but operators are pessimistic at pres-
ent, and th ey are inclin ed to blame shuffle-
board, for cutting in on their play. The
territory is considered very favorabl e from
( See REGIONAL REPORTS, Page 48 )
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COIN MACHINE REVIEW
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