Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

Issue: 1947 April

--- ----~ -------------------------------------------------~--
Making Money
Is. Easy With
ROL·A·SCORE
CHECK THE REASONS
• Automatic Double Score
\
• Custom-Built of Birch
Panel
• Richly Ornamented with
Chrome
• Attractive and Unique in
Design
• All Parts Easily Acces-
..
sible
• Mechanically Perfect
• 6 feet long. 6 feet high
and 2 feet wide
eolN
MACHINE
REVIEW
12
• Constant Re-Play
• Sturdily Constructed;
Made f~om Finest
Material
FOR
APRIl,
1947
ROL-A-SCORE operators are
maleing top profits
PersonaliIY,~I ~11
of the Monlh IJ?lJ
THE REVIEWS HALL OF FANE
Dan King, m
Are you "fed up" with the coin machine
business? Do the potentialities of this vast
field lack lustre? Do you find yourself
bemoaning the "good old days" which you
fear will never return?
If your answer is "Yes" to any of the
above questions then this story is for you.
It is an incredulous yarn about a fabulous,
fantastic figure, ,
Dan King, III, started life as a ranch
hand in the family's 100,000 acre tract in
Kingsland, near San Antonio. He enjoyed
the wide open spaces but the horizons were
too narrow for a chap of his tremendous
drive and ambitipn.
A fellow cowhand left the ranch and
went into the insurance business in Okla-
homa. He wrote Dan about the tremendous
opportunities in that field. Dan didn't need
a second hint. He packed and took off for
Oklahoma where he sold hail insurance for
four weeks, netting $1200 a week.
When the hail season was over, Dan re-
turned to the ranch. But next year he was
again Oklahoma-bound. After a year as
salesman for a life insurance firm, he was
named sales manager:- ·
War carne and Dan enlisted, spending
two years in Europe with the famed Rain-
bow Division. Back in civvies, he formed
his own company, dividing his time between
Texas and California. The youngest presi-
dent of an insurance firm in the state of
California, he was also the most aggressive
and most successful. There was no prospect
too lukewarm for Dan to sell, no assign-
ment too difficult to hurdle.
With a fine flair for organization, he
formed companies, operated them for
three or four years, and then sold them. By
1933, he had sold seven in Texas, Oklahoma
and CaIlfornia, and had run his holdings
into a mil1ion dollars.
Dan King wasn't satisfied with doing
thingi'\ the way everybody else was doing
them. Do them better, bigger, faster, more
efficiently, he maintained, and your profits
will be proportionately greater.
Fourteen years ago he bought an airplane
and learned to fly. Automobiles and trains
were the , mode those days, but for ener-
getic Dan King they were much too slow.
I n 1936 he went into semi-retirement. A
firm believer in the ':all work and no pray"
axiom, he divided his time between training
personnel and running his organization with
hunting and fishing forays. He also joined
the Sheriff's Air Squadron of Los Angeles
County, the first of its kind in the world,
and performed yeoman service during the
flood of 1938 rescuing residents of washed-
out homes.
After retiring from the insurance busi-
ness in 1942, he met a winsome brunette.
One day he said, "Let's go for a picnic
Sunday."
She stood on her doorstep, basket in
hand, waiting for his car to drive up. There
was a hum of motors, a diving plane, and
Dan arrived, helmet in hand, ready for the
party.
It was an airway courtship, which cuI·
minated in marriage with the speed of
whirring propellers.
During his insurance days Dan had
financed many a coin machine operator,
advancing as much as $30,000 and $40,000
in a single transaction. The business in·
trigued him. In August of 1945 he dumped
his retirement plans and embarked in the
coin game as exclusive Western distributor
for Pace Mfg. Co.
Western States Distributing began mak-
ing history from the outset. He purchased
another plane and covered the 2500 miles
between Canada and the Mexican border
with speed and precision. Deliveries of
equipment, service calls, sales calls--aII by
air. In one two-week period he visited
seven states and sold $100,000 worth of
bell machines.
"If I had only started in this business
20 years ago," he says, "I would have made
coin machine history by now. As it is,
I may have been a little late, but I'm still
going to do some big things."
The dynamic dynamo sat back and
reached for a cigar. Although 49 years
old, there is a refreshing youthfulness
about hi,s personality. Sharp blue eyes
never relax in their acute observations.
He speaks with a Texas tang-and like
everything else, talks fast and pointed.
"The possibilities of this business are
endless," he said. "Just like the automobile
industry, there is no saturation point. It's
a year-in, year-out proposition. And re-
gardless of what some states might think,
amusement is a necessity for society.
People must and will play at something-
and amusement devices offer them more
good fun for less expenditure than any-
thing else. The games industry is lucrative,
interesting, clean-and I enjoy it immen-
sely. You know, I was pleasantly surprised
at the type of men in this business. They
are good fellows, warm, friendly, easy to
meet."
.
Birds of a feather flock together .
Dan King is a welcome addition to the
flock.
ROL . A - SCORE
JOO% Legal; Roll-Down. Bowling
Alley Type Game
It/eallor any location!
Write. W ire or Telephon e for
complete details and .. ame of
local dlstrlbutorlll
ELECTROMATON, Inc.
Designers and Manufacturers of
Coin-Operated Amusement
Macblnes.
'.
and 7th Streets
Hoboken. N. J.
Mon ro ~
Manufacturers of every type
WOOD CABINETS
AMUSEMENT - VENDING -SPECIALTIES
STANDS -
PLATFORMS -
BASES -
LIGHT BOARDS
ENGINEERING &
DESIGNING STAFF
C!O UNTERS
BACK BOARDS
SINCE
,PH
COMPLETE FINISHING
& SILK SCREENING DEPT
LARGE AND SMALL QUANTITIES
" IF IT IS M~~E OF WOOD-WE CAM MAKE IT"
ROBERT WO'LFF WOODCRAFT CORP.
1123·1137 UNION AYE.
BRONX 59, N.Y.
DAytoa 9-1103
Application of Two Simple Words.
Will Boost Arcade Earnings
The arcade man who installed a battery
of machines, put up a sign, and opened
the door to greet a flood of entertainment-
ilungry citizens during the war is a sadly
disillusioned man today.
The machines are still there, and the
door is still open, but volume has dropped
off as much as SO per cent. "When this
recession is over, things will be back to
normal," the arcadester rationalizes. "Until
then, I'll just have to get along as best
I can."
While the arcade man sits back listening
to traffic beat a steady tattoo on the cobble-
stones, he is losing a golden opportunity
to bolster profits. The lush war days have
twisted his perspective, so that he looks
outward for excuses instead of looking
inward for the cause and remedy.
Two magic words, properly combined
and applied, oft·times mean the difference
between minor and major success. The
words are "curiosity" and "free."
Curiosity is an inherent inquisitiveness,
especially about things which do not con-
cern one. To illustrate: Stand on a street
corner and look up. It won't be long
before you will he joined by another
person. He is curious about what has
piqued your curiosity. In a matter of
min'utes folks on all four corners of that
street will be looking skyward.
If the object of curiosity is an item
which is rare and different, interest will
accelerate sharply. And if that magical
word "free" is spoken or written in con-
junction therewith, traffic congestion will
ensue.
Carnivals, fairs and circuses capitalize
on these words and everything they imply
to such an extent that without them they
could not survive as profitable ventures.
The free, interest-arousing show outside
the tent is the lure which brings ' the pay-
ing customers inside.
The arcadester has atl the advantages
of circus exploitation, plus one: he doesn't
have to put on his free act outside the main
show and then attempt to draw the cus-
tomers in. Instead, he places his free
attraction well inside the arcade, and the
coin·operated devices are right at the pros-
pect's elbow all the time.
There are a number of good interest-
getters which have been used successfully
in the past and which warrant the arcade
man's consideration.
An old stand·by is the checker tourna-
ment, with the boards set up midway in the
arcade. 'prizes, purchased at a nominal
cost, can be provided oy the owner or
in cooperation with local merchants. Ad-
vertising and promotion, announcing the
contest and keeping the local populace
informed on its progress, should be carried
on through -community papers. As many
boards as desired can be set up and
elimination games held at certain hours
of the day or night-preferably during
the arcade's slack period. Each player
will develop a following and interest will
mount as the finals are reached. An im-
portant by-rule is to provide for a IS
minute recess after each half hour of
play. This will not only give the contest-
ants Ii rest but provide watchers with an
opportunity to get acquainted with the
arcade pieces. Another important adjunct
is a blackboard outside the arcade, on
which are posted the names of players
taking part in each day's competition.
A live attraction which not only in-
trigues the public but stimulates play-
especially nut and seed vendor receipts--
is the monkey. The black spider is most
desirable. He is small and playful and
<;Ioes not have the filthy habits of the other
types. The cage should be large and have
a sufficiently high ceiling so that he can
use his long tail to hang from the bars
. and swing. Spider monkeys are lively,
likable little fellows, and very few people
can resist the urge to feed them-hence the
advantage of having nut and seed vendors
nearby.
Macaws, talking 'parrots, and canaries
are excellent permanent attractions and
have the knack of building up personal
followings. The appeal to children is
strong, and as long as it doesn't cost a
cent to see them, Junior will drag Pop
along every chance he gets. Before Pop
leaves the arcade, however, Junior will .
have spotted a few other attractions with
coin chutes attached. -
Macaws and parrots should be well out
of reach of the public and chained to their
perches, as they will bite if teased. Can-
aries should be placed in individual cages
near a phonograph with specially selected
records. A sign on tbe phonograph, "Drop
A SPECIALIZED C IR EDIT AND
FINANCING AGENCY FOR MANU·
FACTURERS AND DISTRIBUTORS
OF COIN.OPERATED MACHINES
134 NORTH LASALLE STREET
717 MARKET ST •• SAN FRANCISCO. CALIF.


CHICAGO 2

ILLINOIS
CONSTRUCTION BLDG •• DALLAS. TEXAS
'
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
13
FO R
APRIL
1947

Download Page 12: PDF File | Image

Download Page 13 PDF File | Image

Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).

Pro Tip: You can flip pages on the issue easily by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.