Automatic Age

125
AUTOMATIC AGE
February, 1938
O p e r a t in g a s a V o c a tio n
p R O M time to time we have been
fed with statistics showing how
short the life of the average business
is.
The reason advanced for this
short life have been many and varied.
Too many grocers, too many butchers,
too many bakers, and too many
candlestick makers; inefficiency, lack
of capital, poor management, poor lo­
cations, too big overhead, lack of co­
operation, etc. Each one of these by
itself is sufficient to cause a business
failure and yet if closely analyzed I
believe the m ain reason for so large
a percentage of loss is that the ma­
jority of people go into businesses of
which they have no knowledge what­
soever, relying m ainly on the fact
that some friend or friends appear to
be making money in some business or
other.
This has been particularly true of
the operating business in so fa r as it
pertains to amusement pin tables, etc.
Thousands of unemployed butchers,
bakers, candlestick makers, dentists,
architects, coal heavers, etc., have
suddenly decided to become operators,
purchased eight or ten tables and
placed them in stores on a commission
basis, ranging from 50 to 85 per cent
without any provision for repairs, re­
placements, obsolescence, or any of
the items that constitute overhead
and believed that all they would have
to do would be to make a call once
or twice a week and rake in the
dough.
For two years this has been going
on and now, as we look about us, we
discover that approximately 75 per
cent of the new operators of a year
ago have called it “quits.” Many of
them have left their equipment to
rot” on the locations and went back
to their old vocations. A few have
developed into real operators and
they, together w ith the old-timers, are
in the game up to their necks and
m aking a go of it.
Operating is a highly specialized vo­
cation requiring, besides genuine busi­
ness ability, a high degree of business
ethics and cooperation such as prob­
ably is necessary in no other line of
endeavor.
The national government today is
concerning itself as never before with
the idea of cooperation among men in
identical lines of business and its im ­
portance among operators is practic­
ally the very life of operating itself.
Established rates of commission,
non-interference of one operator with
the locations of the other and mem­
bership in a recognized operators’
association are essential factors nec­
essary in keeping this business on the
high plane it deserves to be. This is
what is meant by cooperation.
The successful operator has learned
also by experience that high class,
well manufactured equipment, built
to stand wear and tear, and at the
same time of a design pleasing and
attractive to the eye of the storekeeper
as well as to the general public, will
continue to net him handsome revenue
week in and week out long after the
first cost is forgotten.
,
The A u t o m a t i c A g e has for years
been advocating cooperation among
operators and month after month
their editorial columns have repeat­
edly advised the purchase of equip­
ment that will stand up and that will
not become obsolete over night.
FLAT-TIRE
OLLECTIOnS
LET DIVVY-DEND LOAD UP YOUR MONEY BAGS
★ Diw y-D end! W h a t is it? I t ’s a new invention that revives the
earning power of old games. Instead of $2 per week, up she goes to
$10 . . . even higher. Sounds good! I t is G O O D . Very good. So
good that one of America’s leading manufacturers is going to install a
Diwy-Dend unit in his next game. Actually makes new games newer!
■fa How does it work?
Y ou know what a step-up switch is? Sure.
Divvy-Dend is just that P L U S a clever system of contacts controlling
the payout unit or lite-up award. Gives 2 points every 20 plays— 4
points every 80 plays— and one large payout (amount is up to you)
every 400 games. Remember— Diwy-Dend is N O T a “mystery” payout.
You control it. Can’t repeat. You set the payoff. I t stays that way
until you change it. I f a winner comes at the same time a Diwy-Dend
award is due, the game pays out whichever is greater.
Diwy-Dend boosts play on any game, new or old, from twice to five-
times. Keeps ’em going. Operates on any novelty, payout, bowling or
shooting game, or on any console or phnograph having a power pack,
transformer or batteries. Easy to install. Foolproof. Cheatproof. In ­
terchangeable.
(Y ou can use the same Diwy-Dend in game after
game.) Pays for itself in first week or two.
O rder a Divvy-Dend on 2 weeks trial. Y our game must show
a substantial gain or you can send Diw y-Dend back and
we’11 refund every cent. Price? $9.90 for one . . . $9.00
each for five.
Send $1 for each Divvy-Dend you xvant. Pay balance on
delivery . Or pay in fu ll and we ship prepaid. Order
TODAY direct Jrom this ad or write for more dope.
GUARDIANWELECTRIC
1621 W. WALNUT STREET
© International Arcade Museum
CHICAGO
http://www.arcade-museum.com/