THE AUTOM ATIC AGE
Vol. 2
C H ICA G O , A U G U S T , 1926
No. 1
A TRAVELING PENNY ARCADE
BRINGS BIG PROFITS TO OWNER
By P. V A N A U L T
W ith pleasure did I read your
June issue of the Age. And found
two articles that I enjoyed: “ Trin
kets and Trifles” and “ Paltry Pen-
uy.
A very good friend of mine
penec a penny shop and he named
enny Arcade. So much faith he
ter, ln °Ud Penny- He had the let-
u
' n ox car s*ze over the door.
and $500 00 ° n
of his money
cent
■' 1 as a ° an> at a high per
trv P m
* watched this Pal-
three enny
~
yr
P
gTow-
That
of^ e “ da, WOrking
was
SiX
« I d S y„ n ethe“ „ ° f a 5he larg6St
Py flash that s
A c,ean’ snaP-
glance. Todav t h l
ProsPenty at a
Ove thousand dollara0^ 6^
1'65? ^ 8
eleven hundred dollars n°
count.,n5
all paid for by the n „ „ SS ga'n'
A Tour
•
p 0r Penny.
the sign, “ Penny” A r t0HP»d and SaW
Was hoard tr.
e» when he
under co v e r .'^ H e m o k l ^ 'l business
8 o S 3 . t r rewdS Free
a Penny Ihit’
“ n° t? And only
in pvp *i
• one came in and took
WOU1H
Penny Shop it
wav l C0St m $4-07- T hat is Broad-
it underW^ nCeS’ ABut the Penr,y Puts
this tv ,
over. Again, I have seen
dpt -
.
in $25-00 to $197.00
Hr f
only 1 to 5c machines.
mntrv lave today two or more movie
m lt,
e
Wh° got their start on
*?enny- Two things are very
read
« t in Penny sh°P s'
Si^ s
, ddlnf
Ladies Welcome,” and have
,, s 0 fortune machines. They are
drawing power on a woman. And
gain» ladies in an arcade speak well
01 youi business. The other one is
© International Arcade Museum
a good automatic piano or organ that
plays pleasing music.
When you
close at night you won’t find any pen
nies it it, but it mothers the ma
chines that are back of it and they
are the ones that catch. If a coin
operated piano is used it earns its
way in either direct trade or as an
advertising medium operated by slugs
which you insert yourself.
An organ that is out of tune is
like an old woman who is always
growling— one can’t stand it.
Lots of light, clean flags and good
music brings success to any arcade.
But don’t stop at that. I f you see a
machine not working and the man
starts out, and you think, let him go,
I am a cent ahead, you are not. You
are many dimes loser. Get him be
fore he gets away. Show him you
have good machines and a penny’s
worth in every play. And if any oth
ers fail, ask him to call your attention
to same. And see the faith they have
in you.
Again, have card machines marked
“ For Ladies Only.” Don’t slight them.
Have good fortune cards in it, and
watch the men play it.
This ma
chine is a good salesman. I saw a
man take picture machines that did
not bring him in 25c per week. On
the back was large display signs with
pictures of women. But it was poison
to business of this machine. So he
gets a sign reading “ Men Only— 5c”
and puts in place of the picture. The
first night it took in $2.95, next night
$4.45 and has gone far over that. He
worked the same on card machines.
Got all his dead stock (pictures of
women) and put in “ For Men Only”
and sold first night 500, and today
http://www.arcade-museum.com/