Operafor6
Or &ea£ :Juned
By Tommy Dorsey
(" Tha# Sentimental Gentleman of Swin g" in " Mills Spinning Reels.")
68
COIN
MACH/HE
ll.l!VIEW
Too few people, particularly among those
outside the trade, realize the important part
the coin machine and its operator plays in
the promotion of a band or song today. To
the average person, a band, song, or record
is popular because he likes it along with
several thousand other people- who by some
strange coincidence like the very same
thing. Others scratch below the surface a
little, just a little, and let it go with a
radio build•up, the doings of the record
company, plugs by the song publishers or
press notices.
True, all these are important to us band•
leaders and song publishers and they all
contribute greatly toward putting things
over. As for the public's likes- well, you
can't force something it doesn't like down
its throat. The folks like a lot of things.
The idea is to pick out the ones you'd like
them to like best and feed it to them. We
in the trade know how this works.
However, with all these credit lines he•
ing given out by the people who spend
the money, very few have stopped to con•
sider the coin machine. To them the coin
machine is something to be played in re•
laxed moments and not considered a part
of any promotion setup at all. Very few
realize the large business into which this
field has grown, thanks to these same
people.
A powerful operator with several hun•
dred machines working in good spots is in
a position to help make-or help break-
any of us and any of our tunes.
It's evident how he can help make them,
simply by plugging them in all his ma•
chines. Costly? Naturally, but if it's good
material, it'll pay off and nobody knows
this better than the operator. He doesn't
plug bad material. He wouldn't have those
several hundred machines if he did.
Turnabout is fair play and the operator
is in a better position to "kill" a song or
band in his territory. He just eliminates
them from his machines, then to drive in
the nail a little further, features a similar ,
song or orchestra of the same style. He
leaves out some popular novelty ditty that
may be sweeping the country in favor of
another novelty record. The customers play
what he gives them and a star is born.
None of this has been any startling
news to the operators. I mention it merely
as a means of pointing out the force behind
the coin machine, a force not realized by
the public and recognized only recently
by the trade. Now the operators are being
showered with promotional material, more
than they realized ever existed. As a matter
of fact, most of it never did exist until an
analysis or two showed the powerful posi•
tion of the operator in the industry.
I don't think I've been writing out of
turn in painting this picture of the nickel
driven power, for I've watched it closely.
I've tried to make contacts with as many
operators as possible in my journeys and
for the past two years have kept in touch
with them through my promotion man,
Jack Egan.
When we turn out what we believe will
be a good record for a coin machine, we
tell the operators about it. We don't an•
nounce everything we wax, for we don't
want to wear out our welcome. We con·
sider ourselves fair judges and I don't
think we've called a wrong one yet.
Traveling around with a band keeps one
pretty busy, even when we're in a city for
a week. However, I have managed to meet
a representative crowd of the country's
operators and have found them all fine fel.
lows and good businessmen with definite
ideas on showmanship, many of which
have helped us in our record work. I've
had lots of laughs with them at social
meetings and engaged in conversations that
drew forth fine business logic.
I've never tried to pamper any coin oper•
ators because they're not the kind that
want to be pampered. They like their talk
straight from the shoulder, without benefit
of fancy dressing. They'll give your word
a try and, if you're on the level with it,
they'll listen the next time you want to say
something. If you're feeding them hooey,
there isn·t much sense in coming back.
I've been surprised at the reaction of the
majority of operators to our letters. Rather
than read them and toss them away, as
you might expect the members of such a
powerful industry to do, they sit down
and write letters. We have correspondence
with thousands of operators and the an•
swers they've sent to our queries have
been more than helpful to us in our work.
Their suggestions all make sense, their
criticisms are all constructive. And to top
it off, they write that they appreciate the
attention we give them.
It's a thrill to me to find people like that,
people who'll come down to your level and
play ball with you without eternally think-
ing you're trying to "take" them. That's
why I like the coin operators-they're one
bunch of fellows who'll buckle down and
work with you to help put across something
to mutual advantage.
I'm Irish all right, but this hasn't been
any "blarney." A whole file full of letters
from operators will back up these state·
ments and I'm very happy to say, they're
all friendly letters.
You know, it's a great feeling to have a
lot of friends in the coin machine business.
♦
But then, you fellows know that!
• •
Goober: "I know one girl who thinks her
husband is perfectly wonderful."
Stingo: "Oh, so you've just come from a
♦
wedding?"
MONARCB
REMOVAL SALE!
RECONDITIONED PAYTABLES
BALLY PAYOUT WITH JACKPOT
Spor t King ............................................ $129 .SO
Grand National
cash and ticket comb ....................... 110 .00
Grandstand
c a sh and t icket comb ..................... 77.50
Gold Medal ............................................ 65 .00
Hawthorne ............................................ 62 .50
Bally Sport Page .................................. $
Western He y Day J. P.........................
West e rn Feed Bag J. P.......................
Bally Stables ........................................
Bally Prea kness ....................................
Mill s Flasher ........................................
Mills HI-Boy ............... _................... ........
55.00
42 .50
39.50
24.50
19.50
44 .50
42 .50
LEGAL E9UIPMENT
Western Baseball Brown Cabinet 1940 Model Free Play' .................................................. $ 89 .50
Western Baseball Brown Cabinet 1940 Model F.P. & Payout .......................................... 102.50
Keeney Anti-Air craft Gun-Block Coblnet--Guoronteed Per fect .................................... 122.50
Seeburg Chicken Som Console Model-Factory Reconditioned........................................ 77 .50
Seeburg Hockey ................................ $ 29 .50
Exhibit Vitalizer...................................... 82.50
Keeney Anti-Aircraft Gun-Brown Cabinet-New Appearing .......................................... 144 .50
SLOT MACHINES
Jenning A:igorola Console
XV Model-comb . Sc & 10c ploy .. $
Mills Blue Front Sc ploy
400 ,000 serial ..................................
Mills Blue Front 1 Oc ploy
400,000 serial ..................................
Mills Fut ure Play Sc..............................
Mills Future Ploy 1 Oc..........................
Mills Ve.+ Pocket-Blue and Gold ......
84.50
47.50
47.50
42. 50
42 .50
39.50
Mills Vest Pocket
Conservative Reels ........................ $
Mills Cherry Be ll Sc play
425,000 seria l ..................................
Mills Melon Bell Sc ploy
425,000 serial ..................................
Mills Melon Bell 10c ploy
430,000 serial ..................................
J e nnings Chief 10c ploy ................ ,.....
29 .50
52.50
47.50
47. 50
29.50
CONSOLES
Mills Four Bells ..................... '. ................ $245.00
Keeney Triple Ent ry .............................. 125.00
Boker 1940 Pacer-like new .............. 190.00
Evans Lucky Lucre
Sc play-1940 model ...................... $139.50
Jennings Multiple Racer...................... 69 .50
MONARCH COIN MACmNE CO.
1731 Belmont Ave. (Cable "MOCOIN"}
CHICAGO, ILL.
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