INDUSTRY HAILS EVANS PLAY BALL
When H. C. Evans & Co.,
spoke the magic words of “ Bat
ter Up” recently, and the new
coin machine sensation, “ Play
Ball” , made its official bow to
the world, from north, south,
east and west, the news was
hailed with a tremendous ova-
t i o n. Congratulations a n d
thanks poured in from leading
distributors and o p e r a t o r s
everywhere, say company offi
cials. No game in coin machine
history was received with such
rousing welcome from the trade.
“ Play Ball introduces the
most ingenious achievement in
coin game engineering,” said
Rex Shriver, official of H. C.
Evans & Co., “ something engi
neers for years have been
dreaming about, but hardly even
dared to hope for. A machine in
which a game of baseball is ac
tually played, not by make-be
lieve or makeshifts, but by
actual manikin players, with the
most uncanny realism, right be
fore your eyes. Years of pioneer
ing work, months of research
and experiment, and the most
gruelling tests imaginable, are
the secret that made this epoch-
making creation a reality.
“ And what players those
manikins are! A pitcher who
really picks up the ball with his
hands, winds up, throws it right
through the air with plenty on
the ball. A batter, controlled by
the player, steps up and bunts,
steps back and swings, hits, sac
rifices, f o u l s , ‘fans’ or is
‘walked.’ A catcher who actual
ly catches the ball on strikes and
many fouls. Why, they’d be a
credit to any league.
“ The first reaction of the play
er is to marvel in awe at the un
believable spectacle before his
eyes; then comes the longing to
play and play, as one game
seems to call for another with
out end. The playing field is a
miniature reproduction of a
baseball diam on d, true-to-life
even to the dugouts. Alm ost
46
every baseball play can be made,
including sacrifices, which ad
vance base runner. The massive
score board shows play-by-play
results as completely as a box
score. The rich moderne deluxe
cabinet is an attraction in itself
and an ornament to any loca
tion. From backboard to base,
it’s the supreme achievement of
the industry. You’ve waited pa
tiently for this super-game, but
believe me, it was well worth
waiting for.”
R. W. (Dick) Hood, president
of the company, was elated over
the enthusiastic reception of the
game by the trade.
“ From the origination of con
sole games to the present mo
ment,” he said, “ Evans has been
a leader in giving the industry
its greatest game successes. It’s
only natural that the trade
looked to Evans to build the real-
play baseball game the world
has been waiting for. In Play
Ball, Evans’ engineers have vir
tually brought a coin machine to
life, almost endowed it with
brains, and precision-engineered
it to such fine points that it is a
miracle of mechanical perfec
tion, entirely free from bugs,
absolutely dependable in oper
ation. Distributors are already
predicting that this game will
carry the industry to new
heights of public approval and
acceptance, and put coin ma
chine operating on the high
plane it deserves.”
DRAW STRAWS TO
PICK PHONOGRAPH
When the Cleveland Phono
graph Merchants Association de
cided to use an automatic
phonograph for dancing at the
organization’s August 28 coun
try outing, they wanted to be
fair to the five distributors in
the city, so drew straws to see
whose machine they would use.
Rock-Ola won.
Association guests at the Aug
ust meeting were members of
the M i c h i g a n A s s o cia tio n ,
headed by President James Ash
ley.
Some of the operators, music publishers, and newsmen who came to meet Russ Morgan at the
Mills Music H a ll. Russ brought Jana, the 15-minute caricature artist, and Phyllis Lynne, vocalist,
with him.
AUTOMATIC AGE
© International Arcade Museum
September, 1941
http://www.arcade-museum.com/