Holyoke Memories: Russell-Hall Vending

Thursday, May 15, 2025

Russell-Hall Vending

Russell-Hall Vending piqued my interest in learning more about the business, which brought music into my life in the early 1960s.

Beattie Music Inc. was incorporated by William Beattie in November 1951 and had operated at 427 Main Street in Holyoke since 1946. In March 1954, the corporation was approved for a name change to Russell-Hall Inc. The three new officers/owners were Ralph W. Hynes, President, Russell Mawdsley, the Treasurer, and Leslie Hall, the Corporate Secretary.

The Russell-Hall business supplied jukeboxes, coffee, and food vending machines to schools, industry, and commercial ventures..The company also had a retail location at 427 Main Street to sell used jukebox records, including 45 RPMs, LPs, and EPs, at drastically reduced prices.

In 1954, the company purchased Thomas A. Ryan's cigarette vending business. Russell-Hall sought to restore lost revenue from the city's ban on pinball and other coin-operated games, which took effect in January 1954. At the time, Russell-Hall had 57 such games in operation.

In the late 1950s, the company sold new record releases, the latest console stereos, and rented jukeboxes for parties. It had the area's largest jukebox service route.

Russell-Hall purchased the cigarette vending machine business of Polep Candy & Tobacco Company of 12 Bowers Street in 1962. The Polep concern, which had 25 to 30 employees then, sought to expand its wholesale business.

On September 18, 1965, Russell-Hall's real estate wing, R.L.R. Realty Trust (the first name initials of the three officers/owners), purchased the commercial building at 116 Race Street. The building had been owned since 1944 by Joseph Beaulieu, who had used the space for his electrical contracting business. Russell-Hall had relocated to the address in 1962. A city official commented at the time, "They need the 4,000 square feet of space at their new quarters to count the nickels and dimes."

In the 1970s, the company refurbished pinball machines for resale, adding jukeboxes and pool tables in the early 1980s.

By 1973, Russell Mawdsley had become the corporate President and Treasurer.

Russell-Hall, Inc. diversified in 1979 when it acquired Taft Power Equipment, which sold and serviced lawn and garden equipment on Front Street.

In the mid-1990s, the company's revenue stream was impacted by the prohibition of cigarette vending machines. Also, vending machines had problems accepting the Treasury's newly designed paper money.

Early in 2025, an out-of-state LLC acquired the real estate at 116 Race Street. It is presently unknown whether Russell Hall Inc. remains operating.

Citations:

Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.

Price & Lee City Directories, Holyoke, Massachusetts, Holyoke Public Library.