OPPORTUNITIES
IV
by HAROLD S. KAHM
This is number fo ur in the series of articles discuss-
ing new coin machine opportunities by Harold S.
Kahm, author of the book, " New Business Oppor-
11,nitie.r for Today. 11
exists is easily proved by the fact that they
are sold in the five-and-ten cent stores. But
the supremely logical place to sell them is
directly in the lobby of the theatre. The
enthused patron, leaving the theatre, has
1. The lobby of any large first class ho-
an opportunity to purchase there and then
tel is usually filled a great deal of the time
the photos of the handsome heroes and
with men and women who have nothing to
charming women who have, for the last two
do for a period of time except to sit. Some
hours, caused her to palpitate and perhaps
of these are strangers from other cities,
swallow her gum. It is, in other words, the
bored . with endless traveling, endless mov-
psychological moment.
ies, endless magazines and who have large-
To pursue this advantage to the utmost,
ly given up hope of ever finding life
it would be advisable to vary the stock each
amusing again. Many are local people who
week, or as often as might be necessary, so
are waiting to meet friends. A majority of . that the stars whose pictures are • on sale
them, whatever their situation might be, are
are those who appear in the current screen
at the moment killing time.
offering.
There is no pleasanter way to kill an idle
It is not going too far to envision a chain
half-hour than by listening to good music,
of ten thousand such machines operating
and a considerable proportion of the hun-
in motion picture theatre lobbies and
dreds of lobby-loungers who daily seek the
lounges from coast to coast.
lounge chairs are music lovers. The lobby
3. Apples are now sold by automatic
is therefore the logical place for a coin-
vendors; a larger machine, selling rubber
controlled phonograph.
balls, would find a profitable welcome at
The hotel management, in the case of a
the nation's beaches. Playing ball while
first class establishment, particularly, can
getting a sun-tan has always been regarded
easily be made to see the advantages of
as a very pleasant pastime, but the majority
having music in the lobby-especially the
of beaches do not have the balls for sale,
light string classics; the type of music that
and most people either do not own them,
lends a refined, gentle background to a
or they forget to bring them. Or if they go
first-class place. The music thus produced
to the beach by street-car or bus, they do
is superior to a radio because there are no
not care to take a ball with them because
long periods of announcements and adver-
it is too bulky to be conveniently carried.
tisements, or disagreement as to which pro-
A beach ball should be brightly colored,
gram should be put on. Moreover, the coin
and as large as is practicable for vending
machine will produce an extra cash rev-
machine purposes. The machines may be
enue for the hotel.
located in the refreshment stand, locker
room, or any other indoor place where it
The better the hotel, the larger the per-
is visible to bathers. An average sized
centage of high-class music lovers one finds,
beach with several thousiind patrons on a
so that classic music-particularly the pop-
warm day should be good for a substantial
ular classics, such as Gilbert & Sullivan-
sale of balls.
will have as many ardent fans as could be
4. Every year millions of greeting cards
found for a machine specializing in hot
are sold in e-Yery community in the coun-
swing. Among the best bets are the high-
try, and there is no reason why the coin-
class residential hotels among whose guests
controlled vending machine should not get
are to be found many school teachers,
its share of the fortunes being spent by
widows and elderly people.
the public in this field. The profit in greet-
Although there are some hotels that
ing cards averages better than one hundred
might not be interested in having the ma-
percent. The demand is so universal that
chines, the number of prospective locations
any populous location is a good one. But
is so large that it is doubtful if it would
particularly advantageous is a thickly-
require more than a day or two to secure
settled residential neighborhood. The ma-
not one but several valuable locations.
chines may be located in the lobbies of
2. There are more than twenty success-
apartment buildings, grocery stores, dry
ful movie fan magazines being published in
cleaning places, drug stores ( not all drug
the United States, with a combined circu-
stores handle their own cards), circulating
lation of many millions. The readers of
libraries, restaurants, dry goods stores and
these publications are chiefly young women
the like.
each of whom has her favorite stars of both
Of course the biggest bulk of business
sexes; the male stars she adores and sighs
occurs at Christmas, starting in the last
about wistfully; the female she strives des-
part of November and extending until the
perately to imitate.
first of the year, when all the world and his
There is therefore an opportunity in the
brother buys Christmas cards. After the
lobby of every motion picture theatre in
Christmas rush there is a demand for
the country to cash in on this prevalent
"thank-you" cards, and New Year greet-
type of hero-worship by means of vending
ings. All year round there is a steady sale
machines selling photographs of the stars.
of .Birthday greetings, "get-well" cards,
That the demand for such photographs
etc. And then, of course, there are the
other important seasons - Easter cards,
Mother's Day cars, Father's Day cards,
Jewish New Year cards, and others. The
stock would of necessity be changed at in-
tervals according to the season.
The opportunities in this field are un-
limited, due to the enormous proportions
of the greeting card industry and the con-
stant demand for cards of all types. Al-
though vending machines would offer neces-
sarily a limited selection of cards, the con-
sumption is so vast that there are thou-
~ands of ready customers in every location
who are not too finicky about their choice
of cards. Because of the limited variety
offered, the cards used should be simple in
design and verse.
Even pool rooms offer a good location for
the cards, for the boys who hang around
are extremely conscious of the need for
sending a card home on Mother's Day, or
at Christmas, and they are the type who
definitely do not like to "go shopping"; it
is easier to follow the line of least resis-
tance.
There is, however, almost no type of lo-
cation that would not lend itself to this
plan, whether the lobby of a factory or the
lounge of a tea room, for the demand for
cards is universal amongst all types of
people. Here is an opportunity worthy of
serious consideration.
♦
"Enjoy Yourself Today"
Is Advertis-ing Theme
NEW ARI(, N. J .-As part of a concerted
drive to acquaint the public with the enjoy-
ment and benefits of amusement games,
the Amusement Board of Trade of New
Jersey and the New Jersey Jobbers Associ-
ation of Coin Electric Ball Garnes are now
carrying on an extensive campaign of adver-
tising and publicity.
One of the initial features of the cam-
paign, under the supervision of a Joint
Advertising Committee, is the issuance of
large display cards, to be used in street
cars, stores and locations. The cards are
distributed by the jobbers to their cus-
tomers and by the members of the Amuse-
ment Board of Trade of New Jersey to
their locations. A number have also been
placed in trolley and bus lines in New
Jersey.
LeRoy Stein, manager of the Amusement
Board of Trade of New Jersey, states, "We
believe it to be in 't he best interests of
the Coin Electric Ball Game Industry to
advocate the use of these car cards and
similar advertisements by all Coin Electric
Ball Game Operators' Associations.
"It is our hope that other Associations
will cooperate with us in the printing of
these advertisements in tremendous quan-
tities so that the cost of each Association
may be materially reduced."
It is expected that these large illustrated
cards will be printed and placed in loca-
tions throughout the country. The card
11 by 21 inches, and printed in three colors,
urges people to "enjoy yourself today," and
shows, in an illustration, a marble table
with several men and women grouped
around it. Copy, similar to that published
in newspaper advertisements, tells the
story, "Enjoy life-every minute of it. Go
places and do things. Take advantage of
the great variety of entertainment being
offered you by the ingenuity of America's
amusement industries. Have fun while you
can. Enjoy yourself today! And by enjoy-
ing yourself, you'll live a happier, better,
fuller life."
Other copy follows with, "Enjoy the
movies, enjoy good music, enjoy the the-
atre, enjoy electric ball games-an econom-
ical and 1;elaxing diversion."
♦
5
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
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