Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

WHY PAY MORE?
/lel*culeJ
-THE ORICINAL BLACK TOP-
IS TI1E LOWEST PRICED QUALITY
SHUFFLEBOARD ON THE MARKET
$365 00
$195 00
GUARAN TEED FOR ONE YEAR AGAINST
WARPING AND CRACKING
18-20-22 FT.
BLACK TOP
7 FT. REBOUND
BLACK TOP PLAY FIELDS TO RE-
PLACE WARPED AND SPLIT MAPLE
PLAY FIELDS
$190.00 ea.
ALL
PRICES
F.O .B.
LOS
ANGELES
DISTRIBUTORS! A FEW TERRITORIE'S STILL OPEN.
INQUIRE TODAY!
HERCULES SHUFFLEBOARD CO.
204 S. WESTERN AVE.
LOS ANGELES 4, CALIF.
Phone DRexel 4274
manufacturers and cor porations generally
set recor ds profitwise last year, but small
firm s generally failed to come up to 1947.
Small firm s seemed to get squ eezed most
heavily in the first half of 1948. Dividend
payments climbed to an all-time peak last
year.
PRICES - This subj ect was introduced
in th e fi rst part of this column. Reporting
agencies emphasize over and over that
pri ces are on the way down . In some in-
dustries the decline has been as mu ch as
40 to 50 per cent, and declines of 20 to 30
per cent are said to be quite comm on_ A
decline of about 5 per cent in th e general
pri ce level may hap pen, many ex perts pre-
di ct; some say the year may brin g a 10
per cent drop in th e general price leveL
But everybody emphasizes th at a general
price break, as in 1920-21, is not in the
cards.
Farm commodities seemed to get another
slash about the sam e time the commodity
break occurred last year; a year ago th e
break caused a wave of national jitters,
many saying the recession is here. Before
. the recent crash in grains, prices on farm
pro ducts were runnin g about 13 per cent
below th e level of Janu ary 1948.
Opera tors are gettin g a taste of what th e
general price declin e means, in such trends
as a drop in candy bar prices_ Cigarettes
will pr,?ba bly be th e last merchandise item
to react to th e downwa rd pri ce trend _
RETAIL TRADE - Reports generally
emph asize the fact th at stores, got a good
response in J anuary to lower p ri ces_ More
recent reports emphasize that stores in the
bi g cities are seeing a new decline in sales,
and they think it may result fro m decline
in money ci rculation_ If this drop in the
total volum e of mon ey in circulation affects
store trade, it may be expected to reduce
M ARCH, 1949
amendm ents, but ' conclusive re por ts were
the patronage of coin ' machines also. The
not avail abe in time for this issue.
experts are puzzled about the decline in
WEATHER - Weather may play a
money circulation, many saying it is due
trump
card in busin ess durin g th e current
to in creased savings by th e people; they
year, even to th e point of reversing pri ce
have even increased their buying of E
trends. Th e wea th er during January fa-
bonds.
vored bumper grain crops in 1949. For the
The government report on retail trade
first half of J anuary un seasonally warm
shows such popular lo cations as drug stores
weath er was running a mean average of
declining in volume of tra de for - th e last
three months of 1948, ending below th e '34 per cent above th e same period last
year. At the end of J anuary, the average
level at end of 1947. Eatin g and drinkin g
was still well above th e sam e period last
places had a holiday gain, climbin g above
year_ But some unu sually cold waves have
the same period in 1947 ; filling station s,
follow ed varied patterns in recent weeks.
of course, have been makin g gains and will
It was the weather th at prevented a gen-
start a new upward climb in March.
eral price declin e in food s in 1947 ; hence
SMALL BUSINESS - As mentioned, th e weather will be watched closely for its
what happened to small firm s in compari-
influence on crops this year.
son with big corporations in 1948 will pour
Bergstedt W ins Acclaim
oil on this ba ttle in Congress.' A Congres-
sional hearing Feb. 16 provided an official
As Father of Black Tops
" Small Business Day" so th at representa-
LOS ANGELES--"Early in 1948," re-
tives of small firm s from all parts of th e lates J. E. Bergstedt, head of Hercules
country could make a showin g in force.
Shuffieboard Co. , "I began experim enting
One organization claims to represent more
with differ ent materi als in th e hope of find -
than 30,000 manufacturers.
ing a shuffieboard surface which would
In predi cting ihis hot issue between large ' not warp. In March of that year I dis-
and small business some month s ago, it covered th e Masonite black top , whi ch has
was predicted that the battle would include since been copied all over the United
such issues as the gold standard and the States."
Bergstedt not only takes pride in being
basing point freight policy. But even big
the father of black tops, but in building
business has. now agreed that " the time is
quality boards by mass production methods
inopportun e to restore the gold standard ,"
chiefly because of the cold war with Russia, to such an extent that he is able to offer
and the basin g point freight rate squabble . ·the lowest priced quality shuffieboard on
the market.
seems to be snowed under in the more
'' 'Every fea ture tha t makes for a long-
pressin g job of carriers' demands for hi gher
playing shuffieboard is in corporated into the
ra tes.
H ercules," he said, "which is backed by a
TAXES - Du e to th e volume of reports one-year guarantee against warping and
on this subj ect, a digest will appear in a
cra e-king."
se parate article.
B ~rgs tedt added th at tb ere are still a few
WAGES AND H O UR S-Hearings have di stributorships open for th e H ercu[es
bee n under way before Congressional com- 14-18-20 and 22 foot boards as well as the
mittees 01) Wage and Hour proposals and
H lircules 7-foot rebound.
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