PENNY ARCADES
:Jheir ~rrangement, Operation and
Garning POjjitiAUej
By PERC SMITH
Exhibit Supply Co. Sales Mgr., Arcade Division
There are several different types of
Penny Arcades. The Main Street Arcade
is a year 'round proposition. More and
more of these spots are being opened up
and operated successfully. The Amusement
Park Arcade is a permanent setup, and
the finest and largest Arcades in the coun-
try are of this type. They are found to be
so profitable that such Arcades are gener-
ally owned and run by the park manage-
ment.
The Carnie Arcade is an outfit in a tent
with a traveling show. The Free Lance
Arcade' is one where the owner has his
outfit on a truck and dates street carnivals
and local celebrations during the summer
season.
The basic difference in these various
types of Arcades is that the Carnie Arcade
and the Free Lance Arcade take their ma-
chines to the public, whereas a Main Street
Arcade and the Amusement Park Arcade
bring the public to the machines.
As regards the arrangement of machines
in Arcades, generally athletic or gym ma-
chines are at the back end of the layout;
such machines as Punching Bag, Chin
Machine, Bike Trainer, Fist Striker, Ham-
mer Striker, Foot Ease Vitalizer, and oth-
ers. Along the side walls are arranged the
Post Card Vendors, Cockeyed Circus, Drop
Picture machines, small Meters, Whatsis,
and three Wheels of Love, and all other
small amusement devices that can be set
on counters or benches. Scattered around
the middle of the Arcade are the large
fun devices such as Kiss-a-Meter, Magic
Heart, Ramasees, Smiling Sam, Diggers and
similar full length floor models.
An important necessity is the cashier's
desk where the owner or attendant makes
change - hands out the pennies in ex-
change for "white money" - nickels, dimes,
and quarters. This desk is usually placed
well to the front but in the center, so that
a close watch can be kept over the crowds
at all times. On Carnie Shows some tents
have the opening long way, whereas other
owners prefer to have the opening, or en-
trance, on the end. No two fronts are alike,
every manager having his own idea of
what kind of a display will stop the crowds
and pull them in. Names for Arcades are
as varied as the front display: Penny Won-
derland; Funland; Squint Land; Penny
Arcade, free, walk in; loyland; Fun for a
Penny; Playland Squintorium and Amuse-
ment Palace.
During the last two seasons, big advances
have been made in lighting effects - neon
signs in colors are used extensively outside
and inside the arcade. To keep pace with
outside illumination, electric display signs
are now built into modern amusement ma-
chines. There is nothing like bright colored
light effects to attract and hold, the crowds.
One well known showman, when in Chi-
cago, bought a complete eq~ipment for
making neon signs, and also . took back
home with him a skilled neoh. workman.
Since then his Arcade has become one of
the most talked of on the road for "flash"
and "bally-hoo."
What's the earning power - how much
will an Arcade take in? That's the main
question with the man considering such an
enterprise. I have talked over this matter
with old timers as well as men who started
recently. The very fact that there is a gen-
eral reluctance to give out earning data
indicates that the profits are good enough
not to broadcast. I remember one day last
summer when Mrs. Smith and I accepted
an invitation to look over the Arcade on a
well known Carnie visiting Chicago. I have
known this Arcade Manager for a long
time. I stood alongside his glass enclosed
cashier stand and watched him hand out
the little piles of pennies through the small
arched windows in the glass. It kept him
hustling. The arcade was crowded and it
looked like every machine was getting a
play. Later his wife took over and he
walked with us around the carnival. Finally
I asked him what he figured the "take"
would be for that day.
He guessed it around $250. His Arcade
consists of about 75 machines in a 30' x
50' top (tent).It is quite usual for an up-to-
date arcade to take in several times its
cost the first year.
.
The day after last Labor Day, lack Mur-
ray with Beckmann & Garety Shows, wired
me as follows: "The Kiss-a-Meter had
3,207 people try it Labor Day." This seems
almost incredible, but the telegram was
volunteered. We have received many other
expressions of unusual Kiss-a-Meter earn-
ings. The three little Meters are also great
favorites with the public. "Those three
small Meter machines grossed $27.30 the
first four days," testifies S. W. Lake, Gold
Medal Shows. "I took $33.40 out of three
little Meters for two days play," claims
G. A. Skinner, Penny Arcade Navy Pier,
Chicago. A Punching Bag will average $10
to $15 a day in a live spot. The above
earnings are mentioned to give the reader
an idea of the possibilities of arcade ma-
chines.
It's the universal opinIOn of Arcade
Managers that of all penny machines, post
card venders get the most consistent play
from the public. Business ethics forbid re-
vealing the big quantity of Exhibit cards
purchased yearly by well known Amuse-
ment Parks and Carnie Companies. Suffi-
cient to say there is not an up-to-date ar-
cade that has not got a battery of from
ten to twenty-five of these popular penny
getters.
For the small amount of investment re-
quired, there is no other equipment that
fills more space, makes bigger flash, or
earns more steady pennies, than a line of
Card Vendors, and it's been proven over
and over again that these Card Vendors
are the backbone of the Penny Arcade
business. The main reason for their suc-
cess is the continuous introduction of orig-
inal and attractive cards. Frank Wittlinger,
penny arcade manager, writes: "An Arcade
cannot get along without Exhibit Post
Cards. They are the best advertisement I
have."
There never has been a time when penny
arcades had the opportunity they have to-
day_ One reason is because of the tremen-
dous quantity of pennies in circulation, and
a Penny Arcade is the only place on the
midway where pennies can buy fun and
plenty of it. Another reason is that pros-
perity is increasing. People have odd
change to spend again - at summer resorts,
beaches, picnics, town celebrations, on va-
cations, automobile trips, around Army
Cantonments - everywhere you find the
crowds is a good spot for a Penny Arcade.
The spenders are coming, so work fast.
Our concern (Exhibit Supply Co. ) will
be glad to send interested readers layouts
for model arcades, as well as to discuss
the entire Penny Arcade subject with those
who may be considering going into this
more and more profitable branch of coin
machine operation.
•
Where pennies circulate by the miflions. You can't keep the cro wds away. Above is a picture
.of .one..of _,,£xltibit4q.uipped-:5podltmds,-mrrJ .Ar.cD.d:es.
C O IN
MACH INE
REVIEW
13
FOR
MAY
1941