Summarizing a number of points concerning the plan for
the automatic vending of Accident Insurance Policies:
The general plan consists of placing in suitable locations
thousands of machines so constructed as to deliver
a combination greeting card and accident insurance
policy to the person depositing a coin in the machine.
It will be observed that the idea combines a greeting card,
which the insuring public may use to send a daily message to
his family, and a stub to be detached and dropped back in the
machine. This stub will be automatically dated, and timed
when the operating lever is pulled down. This timing will
be done by a dating machine operated by a time clock.
On the face of the machine is an illustrated sign flashing
periodically, to call attention to the device at all hours.
Suitable places for the installation of machines will be
railroad and steamship offices, waiting rooms, bus terminals,
interurban stations, subway stations, hotel lobbies, filling
stations, elevated stations, overnight storage garages,
ferries, U-Drive-It garages, resorts, bath house entrances,
restaurants, automats or other places where people
congregate.
Aviation fields could be supplied, if desirable, with rated
policies.
At this time vending machines are largely patronized, and few
small commodities are not sold by this method. They are in
evidence almost everywhere people gather.
There will be found coin operated locks on doors, automats,
amusement and music machines, gambling devices, machines
for selling drinking cups, medicine, tooth brushes, soap and
towels, food and candies, post cards and almost anything else
that is small enough to be vended. AND THEY ALL SHOW A
PROFIT.
Vending machines eliminate the loss of time and inconvenience
of waiting on clerks or change and their ubiquity always
suggests a purchase, where clerks are too indifferent or
too busy to make the initial move.
The buying public is more interested in accident insurance
than ever before on account of the enormous increase in
travel, especially by automobiles, but the methods of
marketing it remain in the same archaic state that has
existed for generations.
In order to get a per diem policy, the customer is obliged
to seek it of a busy ticket agent thru a wicket, often with
a crowd waiting behind to catch a train.
The popularity of souvenir post cards is so great that an
enormous business has grown around the idea of a brief daily
message home rather than a lengthy letter on rare occasions.
From an advertising standpoint the names obtained from the
stubs will be of great value to the insurance company, as
they will be classified and later canvassed by local agents
for yearly policies.
The fact that they have bought temporary additional
protection shows that they are interested in
insurance. They should be good prospects.
The cost of classifying can be recovered by selling duplicate
lists to name brokers, magazine agencies, etc. They should
have a special value in that every one is a correct name,
address, age and sex of a living person, able to buy
something.
It has been stated by representatives of insurance companies
now doing business with railroad companies that the
advertising value of having the name of the insurance company
constantly on display in stations and waiting rooms has
an enormous advertising value as it keeps them before the
traveling public.
The Modus Operandi of The Automatic eliminates immediately
the commission paid to ticket agents and supplants him with
a man who can serve 200 or more machines by visiting them
bi-monthly.
Record keeping is reduced to automatic action. A numbering
device is attached to each lever on each machine and shows
at a glance how many cards have been delivered from it. The
cards are numbered in serials. The agencies are designated
by this means, and the agent in turn keeps a record of
the cards in each machine. They are charged to the agents
in bulk, and they account for them in money or in stock
returned or left on hand.
Claims may be traced quickly, for when an accident is
reported at the home office the serial number of the card is
given. This is immediately traced to the agency, who gets
the stub from the machine which vended it and sends it to
the home office.
Each claim paid will be a big advertisement for us.
The field to be covered is a vast one and it is estimated
that there should be an immediate market for thousands of
machines.
If business were confined to filling stations alone, not less
than a hundred thousand excellent locations are available.
Railroad stations, hotel lobbies, resorts, etc., should
absorb a large number and yield a large volume of business.
If only a small percentage of the available locations were
taken, and a profit of only $3.00 a month taken from each
machine the profit to accrue would be enormous.
All the necessary means have been taken to protect this form
of policy such as copyright, proper filing of patent claims,
etc.
This insurance should be underwritten by one of the large
insurance companies which already has an agent in every town
and city in the country, so that a skeleton organization will
already be set up to install and maintain the machines.
ESTIMATE BASED ON AVERAGE SALES OF $1.00 PER DAY PER MACHINE
GROSS INCOME
Total sales per annum per machine..........$365.00
Estimating 100,000 machines in operation, $36,500,000.00
DISBURSEMENTS
To Underwriters.............................$7,320,000.00
Commissions to owners of locations...........7,320,000.00
Depreciations on machines......................500,000.00
Gross profit to operating company...........21,360,000.00
-------------
$36,500,000.00
REPORTS
11/13/30 J. F. Drummond's letter to DEK:
Weaver and Drummond
422 Dickson Building
Norfolk, Virginia
Mr. David E. Kahn,
New York City
Dear Mr. Kahn:
We met with Mr. Cayce this morning and heard him give the
reading.
We were astounded at the grasp shown of the entire
proposition, and seriously impressed with the manifestation.
We are free to say that our confidence is greatly reinforced.
Mr. Cayce's Secretary will forward the manuscript to you
directly and also furnish us with a copy.
Awaiting your further comments, we are, with kindest regards,
Yours very truly, Weaver & Drummond, J.F. Drummond
11/28/30 W. W. Weaver's letter to DEK:
Mr. David E. Kahn,
New York City
Dear Mr. Kahn:
We had hoped to hear from you by this time, and being very
anxious to proceed with our plans, we would appreciate a
letter at your earliest convenience.
If possible, kindly let us hear from you by the first of next
week, as we have other connections with whom we wish to talk
if we make no deal with you. However we wish to state that
as suggested by you, we have discussed this matter no one
outside of our group since talking with you.
With kind regards, we are,
Yours very truly, Weaver & Drummond, by W. W. Weaver
Copy to Edgar Cayce
12/03/30 EC's reply [to DEK asking for another copy of
4904-1]: "...I phoned Weaver and Drummond. I think they
are nice boys, and I hope you will be able to work out the
proposition for them in a way that will be most satisfactory
to everyone concerned..."
12/05/30 Mr. Drummond's letter to EC:
Mr. Edgar Cayce,
Virginia Beach, Va.
Dear Mr. Cayce:
We enclose a letter received by us from Mr. Kahn [See Par. R5
below], together with copy of our reply to him.
With very best wishes, we are,
Cordially yours, WEAVER AND DRUMMOND, By: [signed] J. F.
Drummond
12/02/30 DEK's letter:
FEDERAL WOOD PRODUCTS CORPORATION
419-421 La Fayette Street,
New York, N.Y.
Weaver & Drummond,
422 Dickson Building
Norfolk, Virginia
Gentlemen:
In answer to your letter of November 28, I realize that you
are in great haste to get action on your proposition.
However, you must remember, big things move slowly and
although we have had several meetings in New York, it takes
time to get groups to determine what they are going to do.
I have a man coming on from the West this week, who is
President of one of the largest insurance groups in the
country. He is due here Wednesday or Thursday. We have
other meetings planned during the week but I can make no
promises as to when we can get the groups entirely together.
I know they are interested. I have not suggested your coming
to New York because the time is not ripe for you to spend the
money to come here and wait.
You can rest assured of one thing, however; nothing will be
done in a definite way until you are present at the meeting.
The reason I made my suggestion about discussing this with
anyone else is, because in New York, the first question is
asked: "Has this proposition been turned down by anybody?"
Secondly, "Are you discussing it with anyone else?" If you
are, they are not interested.
It is better to work it through the channels that I am now
working in and if it cannot be handled with them, it can be
handled with no one because they are the largest people in
the business. One other group I have, are worth seventy-five
million dollars. I would like to have it understood that you
will always give me thirty days' notice of any intention on
your part of discussing this matter with other parties.
I will promise you, however, that in the event we have
not something definite that we are working on, you will be
released from your promise immediately upon receipt of your
letter or a good reason will come to you why we want to
continue on.
We do not want to mislead you but at the same time, we must
have a definite understanding because we spend time and money
in discussing these matters when to you it may seem that no
action is being taken.
Have you considered putting a stamp machine for the sale of
postage stamps in this same machine? What protection have
you against slugs being used in the purchase of insurance?
With kindest personal regards and trusting to hear from you
at once, believe me
Very cordially, [signed] David E. Kahn
DavidEKahn/BBS
12/04/30 Mr. Drummond's letter to DEK:
Mr. David E. Kahn,
419 La Fayette St.,
New York, N.Y.
Dear Mr. Kahn:
Replying further to your letter of December 2nd, we feel
entirely satisfied to have you handle the situation at
your end according to your best judgement.
We wish you to understand that we have implicit confidence in
you and your ability to take care of things, and assure you,
as we did in New York, that the matter is entirely in your
hands.
I believe we told you that we had shown the proposition to
two other persons in New York who are able to put it over,
and who are personal connections of the writer. They both
asked for a chance to handle it, but were given to understand
very definitely that we were dealing with you, and that you
have the first call.
Therefore, being entirely free from any obligation
whatsoever, we willingly accede to your requirement, and
hereby obligate ourselves to give you thirty days notice
of any intention on your part of discussing the matter with
other parties, in full accordance with the terms of your
letter.
To be explicit with you, we wish you to understand, as we
told Mr. Cayce, that we laid all our cards on your table, and
with no reservations, put them into your hands to be played,
in mutual confidence as to your protection of our joint
interests.
We might call your attention to the tendency of some
one man in any group who always wants to tell one why
something cannot be done.
We have studied this proposition from every angle, and we
have the answer to every kind of objection a critic can
offer. For this reason, we believe that when the time comes
we can be of considerable service in handling this phase
of the matter, and in closing such prospects that you
might suggest our seeing.
In this way we can relieve you of considerable burden at the
proper time.
Both of us have had varied business experience along
financial lines and as salesmen, and we are well
qualified to relieve you of most of the detail work.
As to the rejection of slugs by the machine: We know that
machines vending chocolates, or any other tangible goods,
take in a considerable number of slugs, the most of which
are made of steel or iron punchings.
Such slugs are easily taken care of by leaving an opening
in the side of the coin chute, with a small permanent magnet
directly opposed to the opening. This draws this class of
slug and permits it to drop into the box before it reaches
the operating device.
We have given this much thought and almost reached the
conclusion that since we are not selling something tangible
to tempt a thief, and in view of the fact that the purchase
is entirely valueless except in the eventuality of accident,
the intake of slugs will be reduced to a minimum, especially
since the purchaser is buying a contract and his name must be
written on the stub and left in the machine.
Further, we believe it safe to assume that the traveling
public are not apt to be loaded up with slugs with which to
buy accident policies. The type of person who practices
this method is hardly of the class to consider his
dependents enough to worry about accident insurance.
The kind preparing to defraud the Insurance Company, would
hardly be the ones to risk having their claims contested on
the ground that had bought the insurance with slugs.
Again: The machines will be in places where they are under
observation at all times, and not apt to be tampered with.
We have carefully considered the stamp machine being
incorporated in this machine, but in our opinion it would not
be good sales psychology to suggest to the buyer that he must
go to the trouble of finding an extra penny with which to buy
the stamp.
When a policy is bought at the ticket window, you don't
expect to get a stamp, but buy one elsewhere as a matter
of course.
It might be well to locate a regular stamp machine near our
machine for the convenience of our customers.
As each machine holds over 2,000 cards, the frozen capital
invested in unsold stamps would be very large.
One minor point, which we do not believe we mentioned to
you in our talk: We suggest calling the card the "A.B.C."
meaning "Accident Benefit Card." This gives us considerable
advertising value, as we parallel the Safety First motto
"Always Be Careful."
In closing we wish to say that we know this proposition can
be put over so as to be a wonderful success. No doubt some
apparent obstacles will arise, as in every large proposition,
but we are sure that there will be none which cannot be
overcome with ingenuity, and sufficient capital.
With best wishes, we are,
Cordially, WEAVER AND DRUMMOND, By: [signed] J. F. Drummond
CC to: Mr. Edgar Cayce
1/20/31 Mr. Weaver's letter to DEK:
Weaver and Drummond
422 Dickson building
Norfolk, Virginia
Mr. David E. Kahn,
New York City
Dear Mr. Kahn:
We have been hoping to hear from you for the past week,
according to the message we received through Mr. Cayce,
but have been disappointed.
We assume that you have been making progress, but would
appreciate it very much if you will advise us how you are
getting on.
On Jan. 6th we sent you a full set of blue prints of the
machine, same being signed for by "C. Hofer", but have had
no word from you that you received them. Please advise.
We realize fully that it is no slight task to get your end
lined up properly, but as we wrote you several weeks ago,
time is working a hardship on us, as we are naturally anxious
to proceed with our plans, so we can get on an income basis.
Last week we were visited by a man who has put over
several large enterprises, who wanted to take hold of our
proposition, offering us money for options etc., but we told
him plainly that we were definitely committed to you, and had
no intention of dealing with any one else at present.
Therefore, Mr. Kahn we hope to hear from you as soon as it is
practicable, as it is necessary for us both.
With kindest regards, and best wishes, we are
Cordially yours, WEAVER AND DRUMMOND, By: W. W. Weaver
CC to Mr. Cayce
1/22/31 DEK's letter to EC: "...While in Chicago, I
had a meeting with all parties concerned in the insurance
machine. They are very enthused and very interested.
They expect to make a million dollars a year out of this
proposition so before any definite thing is done, we want
to decide just what our group is to get out of it and how it
is to be handled. The model is now being figured upon and
will be ready, probably within ten days. There are several
improvements which we want to embody but will discuss that
with Weaver and Drummond when I come down..."
1/26/31 See
4904-2.
Edgar Cayce Readings © 1971, 1993, 1994, 1995 by the Edgar Cayce Foundation