Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

Issue: 1936 February

l
Music
Must Be
Merchandised
ROCK-OLA INTRODUCES NEW PRINCIPLE
,

Rhythm King MUlti-Selector features extra unit with treble and
bass speaker units.
"
CHI CAG O. -Among the outstanding fea·
tures of the exhibits at the 1936 Show was
Rock·Ola's introduction of three new
By GRANT SHAY
. 'models of their Multi·Selector phono-
Mills Novelty Co.
graphs, including the new Rhythm King
Phonograph operators- what have yo u got
with its ex tra unit developing a new prin-
that other operators haven't go t? Answer:
cipl e in th e reproduction and amplification
Ph onographs, good money·makers if mer·
of so und .
chandised right.
Chan ges in the two standard model s em-
That's really not all. Besides phono·
phasized the characteristi cs of beauty, clar-
graphs, you have a business that's bound
ity of tone and simpl e effic iency of mech-
to bring you fin e revenue all the time. But
anism. Mechanica:I chan ges in the 1936
- you must merchandise your music. The
models featured simplification of every op-
fact that you may own a fleet of phono·
era tion and th e elimin ation of every un-
graphs do esn 't necessarily mean that you're
necessary part.
a phonograph operator- oh no ! You may
be at a stand still- you probably haven't
tion. Buy the proprietor's kid a lollipop or
increased your earnings, or the amount of
the old man an El Ropo once in a while.
phonographs you own, year in and year
Don't run in a'nd out like a fiddl er's elbow,
out. Why?
but spend a little of your time asking
Well, sorry to say, mister, you're either
questions and getting information.
a bit lazy or negligent. Music must be
merchandised. You must study all the ins
When servi ce is needed, make the West-
and outs of the business. You must be a
ern Union look like a tramp steamer. Get
competent service man or h ave competent
there, or send someone over in a hurry, to
ones in yo ur employ. You must analyze your
right the wrong. Dig in the jeans and pay
prospective locations; if you don't, you
back the pri ce of the call to get you. You
can, and you will make money operating
lose money moving yo ur eq uipment around.
You may be making the mistake of over·
phonographs, if you really merchandise
lookin g good spots. You may always be
your music.
considering big spots with large dance
Years ago when electri c pianos were
floors on the night club style. It isn't always
used the operator made good money. And
the bi g places that pay well-good opera·
what a tin can rattler they were. To com-
tors say th at the small taverns, where
pare them today with modern phonographs
peppy crowds gather every night, pay best
would give anyone a good laugh. And they
of all.
cost the operator three times the price of
the present-day phonograph.
Records, Service Important
Records playa big part in boosting the
Rememb er, you are giving yo ur custom-
intake. Some spots like f!ist music, others
ers thousands of dollars worth of music
like th e smoo th er style, but it's up to you
for a ni ckel. Flaunt the idea around the
to find out. How? Simply by leaving a
location. Advertise on menus by printing
sheet asking the patrons' suggestions or
a little slip as for example: "Paul White-
by talking to the owner. Change the rec·
man gets $5,000 a night to play in New
ords as frequently as two times a week in
York. You can hear him here for only a
goo d spots. Make friends with your loca·
nickel-play our Do Re Mi" (or any other
The Rhythm King model consis ts of a
t all cabinet housing th e record selector,
record trays, - mechanism and amplifying
unit. The additional unit is described as
a combi nation of two walnut columns pat-
terned after the pipes of a pipe organ. In
spec ially constru cted chambers at the base
of each of the colu mn s are the sp ea kers,
one h andling the treble and the other the
bass notes to make each note di stinct. The
woo d was selec ted for its resonance, dif-
fusing the tone upward toward the ceiling
and throughout the room. Two of these
speaker units can be used with each
Rhythm King model.
make you may be operating.)
"Big Orchestra Week"
Have a special big orchestra week and
have twelve good records from some popu-
lar orchestra. Think up ideas of your own
to promote phonograph play-you can, if
you'll make the small effort.
Th e music operating fever must be con-
tagious, because in our experience at the
Show booths in years gone by, if 5 per
cent of the operators showed any interest
at all in music, we were overjoyed. At the
recent 1936 Show over 50 per cent were
interested in our Do R e Mi exhibition. It's
really amazing how phonograph operating
has grown among old-time coin machine
men. Years ago in the Mills Novelty Com-
pany mailing rooms we used to send sep-
arate mailings to the coin machine and
phonograph operators, but today because
practically all coin machine operators op-
erate phonographs we send the same mail-
in g to both.
The phonograph has come a long way
sin ce the days of the old honky tonk piano.
The chief r eason is that men have come
into the busin ess who know how to mer-
chandise.
----FEBRUARy MUSIC SURVEy----
Below are listed the Best Sellers reported by the leading record companies for the past month.
Credit is given to the side responsible for the heavy sale of the complete record by listing it first .
BRUNSWICK
7587-Th e Music Goes ' Round and
Around-FT
Dinner for One Please. James
FT
Hal Kemp and his Orchestra
759 1-The Broken Record-F T
T oo Mu ch Im a,g ination-FT
Fr eddy Martin and his Or -
chestra
758 I-S pread in ' Rhythm Around-FT
You Let Me Down-FT
Teddy Wilson and his Or-
chestra
7559-0ne Night in Monte Carlo-FT
A Littl e Bit Ind epend ent-FT
Freddy Martin and his Or -
chestra
7590-Moon Over Mi ami-FT
Th e Ghost of th e Rhumba-
Rhumba FT
L ud Gluskin and hi s Orch es-
tra
7584-1 Wanna Woo-FT
A Bea utiful Lady in Bl ue-
Wallz
Leo Reisman and his Orch es-
Ira
'C OLUMBIA
3087-D-Ride. Red, Ride-FT
Congo Caravan-FT
M ill s Blu e Rhythm Band
3099-D- lf You W er e Min e-FT
Alone-FT
Mark All en and his Or-
chestra
3110- D-Th e Music Goes ' Round and
Around-FT
Th ere'll Be a Gr eat Day in
th e Mornin ' !-FT
Frank
Froeba
and
hi s
Swing Band
FEBRUARY ,
1 936
3 105-D-Black
Satin-Violin
with Piano Ace.
Red
Velvet-Violin
Solo
Solo
with Piano Ac e.
Joe V enuti and Russ Mor-
gan
3 : 07- D-Moonburn-FT
My Heart and I-FT
Little Jack Littl e and hi s
Orchestra
3 100 - D-A Little Bit Independent-
FT
Remember Last Night-FT
H erbi e Kay and his Or-
chestra
VOCALION
3 134-The Mu sie Go es ' Round and
Around-FT
I'm Shooting High-FT
Wingy Manone an d his Or-
chestra
03 111>-Sweet Violets
Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet
Th e Sweet Viol et Boys
030 13-Monkey and th e Baboon
Wipe It Off
Lonnie Johnson and Spenc er
Willi ams
Lonnie John so n and Clar-
ence Willi ams
3 122-A Little Bit Ind ependent-FT
N o Oth er On e- FT
Putn ey Dandridge and his
Orchestra
2982-Chasi no Sh adows-FT
Wh en I Grow T oo Old to Dr,eam
-FT
Putn ey
Dandridge and hh
Orchestra
3 123-You Took My Breath Away-
FT
You H it the Spot-FT
Putn ey Dandridg e and his
Orchestra
MELOTONE
6- 02-07-Th e Mu sic Goes 'Round and
Arou nd-FT
Rhythm
in
My
Nursery
Rhymes-FT
Joe Haymes and his Or -
chestra
6- 02-62-Th em Hill-Billi es Are Moun-
tain-Williams Now
San
Hoo.s ier Hot Shots
6-01-06-A Littl e Bit Independenl -
FT
Pr ec ious Little One-FT
Jimmy Carr and his Or-
chestra
6-02·05-With All My Heart-FT
Moon Over Miami-FT
Eddie Pau l and his Para-
mount Orc hestra
6-02-IO-Th e Music Goes ' Round and
Around-Voc al
Moon Burn
Chick Bullock
6-02-04-A lone-FT
YGU T Gok My Breath Away
-FT
Eddie Paul and his Par-
amount Orchestra
DeCCA
578-Th e Music Goes 'Round and
, Round
Lookin' for Love
ReillY-Farl ey and th e Onyx
Club Boys
COIN
M ACHINE
651- Moon Over Miami
Beautiful Lady in
Jan
Blu e
Garber
GI G- Red Sails in the Sunset
Boots and Saddle
Bing Crosby
647-1
Feel Like a Feather
Breeze
I'm Shooting High
In the
Jan Garb er
500--Hors- D'O euvres
Streamline Strut
8ert Ambrose and his Orch.
637- 0 inner for One
The Genera l's Fast Asl ee p
8 ert Ambrose and his Orch.
VICTOR
25201-Th e M usic Goes ' Round and
Around
Rhvthm in My N urs ery Rhymes
T ommy Dorsey and his Orch.
252 : 0-Th e Broken Reco rd
Al one at a Table for Two
GUY Lomb ardo and his
Roy al Canad ians
25209- With All My Heart
A Beautifu l Lady in Blue
Ray Nobl e an d his Orch .
25212-Moon Ov er M iami
Lights Out
Eddy
Duchin
and
his
Orch.
2521 I-I've Got My Fingers Crossed
Spreadin' th e Rhythm Around
Fats Waller and his Rhythm
252 15-Good -bye
Sa ndm an
Goodman
and
his
Benny
Orch.
REVIEW

91
here's what
music operators say ...
like an especially good one, and we
have already gathered quite a bit of in-
formation from it, which information
will be valuable in operating our mu-
sic machines.
Enclosed one dollar for which enter
our subscription for one year.
ORGAN SUPPLY CORPORATION ,
By Rueben G. Kugel.
*
- -_ _ _ _ _ Sorting the Mall With EL THOMAS - - - -- - -
J UDGING from the response to operat-
ers' letters appearing in this column in
January, th ere is wide interest in what
operators themselves are thinking and do-
ing_ They welcome this column as a me-
dium for exchanging ideas and almost
without exception indicate that they
would rather read what operators write
than any other article in the magazine_
Fine! After reading this column, sit
down and unburden yoursef of anything
that's on your mind_ Address your com-
municatio ns to THE REVIEW, 1113 Venice
Boulevard, Los Angeles, Calif.-and en-
close a snapshot of yourself to pep up the
page !
Binghampton, N_ Y.
EDITOR, THE REVIEW :
I have rece ived a copy of THE R E-
VI EW and like it very much . We need
a trade paper that covers the music
field more thoroughly.
There seems to be only one prob-
lem for us and that is a satisfactory
method of handling records. By that
I mean some method of knowing the
records that have been used on the
locations so that programs can be
. made up at the office. I know that
. many operators do not attempt to keep
such records but I cannot see how
they can operate satisfactorily with-
out knowing the pieces that have been
used. It's out of the question to carry
a hundred or so records and let the
location paw them over. It takes too
m'uch time.
If we were using only one make of
record, it would be much simpler, but
that is not possible, either. Now, we
VIRGINIA UPS
are keeping an alphabetically ar-
ranged book for each customer. The
service man copies the titles after the
program is in; he turns this in to the
office and they in turn copy into their
book under the proper letter. We then
know something about the records
that have been used although there is
still some confusion owing to having
records of the same title from three
or four companies.
I would appreciate any information
you can give me on this.
GEORGE R. THAYER.
*
*
*
In the ' mailbag this month is a very
friendly letter from Operator J. S.
Westbrook, a real old-timer who could
tell you a raft of stories about the op-
erating business.
J. S. handles a
stri ng of phono-
graphs and other
equipment in West
Union, la. Here's
hoping Mr. West-
brook w i I l s i t
down at his trusty
Remington and
pound out some
livelygossip about
music operating in
the Middle West
J. S. WESTBROOK
for the readers of
this column next month.
*
*
Erie, Penna.
EDITOR, THE REVIEW:
Yesterday we received our first copy
of the PACIFIC COIN MACHINE RE-
VIEW.
This magazine looks
' s another occasion when Southern hospital-
CELEBRATE -~ere
Ity re a lly warms the heart. The occasion was
the opening of the Southern Vending Machine
Co.'s new bu i'ldlng in Danville, Va. All th ei r location owners and employees were guests
at the celebration, marking the firm's completion of a year of operating automatic
phonographs and five years in the coin machine business. R. N. Strange, owner :(on
the left) says th ei r music activities have far exceeded expectations. Others, left to
right, are C. H. Brown, W. R. Barbour. H. B. Fowkles and R. C. Bragg'.
*
*
Florence, S. C.
EDITOR, THE REVIEW:
I would like to say this much about
the operating conditions I have found
in this locality and the Southern States,
especially in the State of South Caro-
"lina.
I think that it
would be a very
fine idea if in
some way the op-
~rators could have
some kind of mu-
sic operators' as-
sociation whereby
we could get to-
gether and be
friends instead of
being business en-
e m i e S. Another
thing: If we could
N. G. ANDERSON
in some sensible
way adopt the percentage basis that
the State of North Carolina has, it
would help considerably. We have
no set percentage basis with which
to work upon. I have tried to hold
this down, but this condition is get-
ting worse every day.
I wonder if in some way you would
be in position to offer any suggestion
along this line'; I am willing to sign
an agreement on any reasonable basis
along this line and will live up to it.
Of course I realize that I am a small
operator. Nevertheless, the larger the
operator the more protection he should
need, I think.
You have a real magazine and it
should be greatly appreciated by all
operators in any section of the coun-
try.
What are the chances of me getting
a complete set of Legal Index pages
for a permanent record?
I trust that in some way we boys
dowr:l here will be able to get organ-
ized and all be one big family and
I ive as neighbors should.
N. G. ANDERSON .
P. S.-I have been operating only
one year last month. Have 32 ma-
chines, all phonographs. How am I
doing?
*
*
*
Minneapolis, Minn.
ED ITOR, THE REVIEW:
We have just finished reading an ar-
ticle in your magazine in regard to a
wooden platform to protect phono-
gra phs on location. The article is on
page 69 of your November issue.
We wou ld appreciate getting any in-
format ion you may have on the plat-
fo rm-as to how it is made, etc.
ACME NOVELTY CO .,
By Theodore T. Bush.
The article to which Mr. Bush refers de-
scribed a wooden stand about seven inches
deep and mounted on casters to permit easy
moving about the location. Th e phonograph
is set on the stand, . the sides protecting the
instrument from scuffing feet and mopping
operations. Three·quarter inch wood is
used, with blocks at the corners for mount -
ing the casters.
92

COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
FEBRUARY,
193 6

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