COFFEE SLOT MACHINE
NETS VETS A JACKPOT
JAVA THIRST pavs off for K. Cyrus Melikian,
left, and Lloyd K. Rudd, who invented this robot
coffee maker.
By BILLIE WHEELOCK
AP Newsfeatures—
PHILADELPHIA — A couple of ex-soldiers who staked their
brains, brawn and $3,000 on building a vending machine for
dealing out hot coffee are heading toward easy street with a busi
ness that stands to gross’ $3,000,000 this year.
Twenty-seven-year-old Lloyd K. Rudd and 28-year-old K. Cyrus
Melikan discovered they had a common goal when theey met al
' Wright Field. Dayton, O., in 1945. Each wanted to get into business
for himself as a manufacturer.
So 2nd Lt. Rudd and Corp. Melikian began looking for a product
The post commander unwillingly gave Ihem an idea.
"We headed out for the post exchange about 10 o'clock one
morning for coffee," Rudd recalled. "But the door was locked
and a sign said the post com
mander had ruled out mid
morning java for the duration.
i “We hunted up a soft drink i
machine, spent our nickels and j
got to dreaming. Why not a ma
chine to deal out a hot cup of j
coffee? We talked about it again
a few nights later when Mrs. Meli
kian served instant coffee at their :
apartment.”
Rudd and Melikian, both me
chanical engineers, went back
to his home in Philadelphia ear
ly in 1946, they had models of
working parts for a machine,
a patent attorney on a retainer
in Washington, and $3,000 of
pooled *urds.
“By the time I got out of the
Army a month later,” Rudd said. !
“Melikian had sold his dad, a
North Philadelphia butcher, on
letting us use half of his double
j garage—rent free.”
They set up a company, Rudd
' Melikian, Inc., and got the fin
I ancial support of a super-market
j owner in Dayton, O.
With a going concern of lelsss
than a dozen stockholders, who
put up about $75,$$$, Rudd and
i Melikian hired an electrical engi
neer, Kirk Mahigian, and turned
out their first model machine.
Their robot coffee server re
sponds to a nickel with a paper
cup, a small wooden spoon,
steaming hot coffee and sugar
and cream if the customer push
es the designated buttons.
The machine, which sells for
$750 to $850 (depending on the
inumber purchased), holds 450 cups
and uses liquid coffee concentrate
and simple syrup.
“We abandoned using powdered
coffee and cube sugar because of
; problems caused by tsteam in the
imachine and moisture in the
Northwestern Alaska
Fair Association
Nome, Alaska
■
Si
rfwtotutce&
THE 10th ANNUAL FAIR
AUGUST 18,19,20,21,1948.
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_
(Continued from Page One)
that will enable them to operate
from British fields.
I
i Scampton. Waddington and the
Marham fields on the western edge
of East Anglia were chosen as
bases because of the length of their
runways. From this flat area the
Eighth Air Force mounted its war
attacks against Germany.
The B-29s will be used in sim
ulated bombing missions while in
Britain. Lt. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay,
commander of the U.S. Air Force
in Britain, said the flights prob
ably will land at U.S. bases in
Germany “from time to time dur
ing the course of their missions.”
JUNEAU, — (A1) — Justin Rip
ley, 13, of Sitka, won yesterday’s
annual Soap Box Derby sponsored
by the Daily Alaska Empire and
the Rotary Club. He will go to
Akron. O., in August to compete
1 in the national derby.
; room,” Rudd said.
Some 400 of the machines are
now in use throughout the coun
try.
-Pribilof Seals Will
I
Have Pictures Shot
JUNEAU, — l/P> —The Pribilof
Island seals are going to have their
picture taken. And, as a result,
Uncle Sam will learn pretty ac
curately how many valuable ani
mals he has.
Ralph C. Baker, assistant chief
of Pribilof fur sealing operations
of the Fish and Wildlife Service,
disclosed the plans here while en
route to the islands.
He said he will fly over the
area and take aerial pictures of
the seals. The result, he said, will
be a more accurate census than
heretofore been possible.
Baker will use a small landing
strip on St. Paul Island as a base.
The pictures Vill be taken from
an altitude of 700 feet.
Seals are now on the beaches
and will remain there not more
than 90 days before scattering to
to leave after the mating season
is over.
A Navy ship is scheduled to
sail from Seattle Aug. 1 to bring
back $4,000,000 worth of seal skins
from the Pribilofs.
For Good Printing Call Main 125
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