the a u t o m a t ic a g e
vol .
CH IC A G O , F E B R U A R Y , 1928
N o /7
Texas Offers Large
Field for Expansion
By O. C. L IG H T N E R
'If I owned hell and Texas,” said
general Phil Sheridan, "I 'd rent
exas and live in hell.”
®ut the old hero of Winchester
^ as then in his dotage. He was blind
one eye and coulcln’t see out of
other. Texas, like God, is all in
a 1 whatever that means. It’s a long
•jump f rom the overcoats of the Pan-
fudle to the straw hats of Browns-
^ e- It is big not only in size, but
m Possibilities.
Finds Live Wires
I found some live wires in the op
ia tin g game down there and heard
®f others since my limited time made
j ^Possible to visit more towns than
did. Dallas claims to be the me-
r°polis, but San Antonio and Hous-
° n are running her neck and neck.
A t Dallas I talked with G. A.
oering, operator of Nelson-Wiggin
Pianos. He also operates at San An-
onio and is one of the live men in
game in the Southwest. Mr.
oering will attend the convention in
™cago this month. He is also op
ia t in g some of the new. coin-con-
° ” ed pipe organs and says he gives
n°thing to the locations where they
are installed.
L. Ligon operates a large string
° f various kinds of vending and
ainusement machines. He started
^ t h a handful and is gradually
© Inte rn ation al A rc a d e M use um
building up his route. He is a young
chap, keenly interested in the game
and a natural born operator.
Tw o Vendors Pay Rent
I ran into a new penny arcade man
that I had not known before. C. A .
Crook operates at both Dallas and
Ft. Worth. He formerly operated in
St. Paul and Minneapolis. Mr. Crook
had a couple merchandise vendors
which he says pays his rent many a
day. He rigged . them up himself.
They have a large glass show case
displaying all kinds of flash such as
beads, etc. It is a nickel player and
vends some article shown in the glass
case attached to it in a carton. Most
any sandwich machine could be re
built to do the work.
Leo Mills, a big operator of mint
vendors, called me up at the hotel.
He is operating now in Oklahoma
and the W est Texas oil fields.
Cities Are Growing
# Texas is full of good growing
young cities that offer golden oppor
tunities for local operators to estab
lish routes of all kinds o f machines
and build up a fine business. In such
towns as Waco, estimated 60,000 peo
ple, and Temple, 20,000, what ma
chines I saw were owned by outside
operators on locations.
A t Austin I met Frank A . Burn
h ttp ://w w w .a rc a d e -m u se u m .c o m /