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Coin . Machine Industry of Today Is
Offspring of Arcades . of· Yesterday
By Walter A. Tratsch
President of A. B. T. Mfg. _ .C o.
•
A question often asked is, "How does the
coin machine age at the beginning of the
century compare with our present ·day In;
dustry?" In an attempt to answer this ques·
tion, I shall give you my impressions of
that era insofar as my memory enables
me to.
The penny arcade was one of the major
enterprises and the forerunner of our pres-
ent movies. At that time there were no
movies, no radios, and very few phono·
graphs. For this reason the arcade became
a meeting place for young and old where
amusement was sold through automatic
coin·operated machines. There were, how·
ever, phonographs in the arcades of con·
venient height for a person to rest his
elbows comfortably; individual ear phones
were used to shut out distracting noise. He
could listen to renditions of beautiful music,
poetry, or speeches of famous people of the
day.
of Secrets of Harem Life, Thousand and
One Nights, The Chorus Girl's Dressing
Room, a dime was usually required. Indeed,
~ they were a collection as alluring as the
modern pin-up girl.
There was a greater variety of attractions
at that time than there are today. Many of
these novelty machines were imported. Ex·
amples of these were the famous fortune
telling type and palmistry machines which
were particularly popular because of their
life· like app earance and performance. For
instance, the grandmother of wax or papier
mache, in an old·fashioned.black lace gown,
would move her head, roll her eyes and
select a small card with a printed fortune
on it and then deliver it to the customer.
There were many more characters of this
type. Swiss or French canary birds in cages
had quite a play. There was the life·sized
hen which cackled for every five cents
deposited and laid' a hard·boiled egg.
In addition, they had several types of
view or picture machines and hand·operated
movies. The QuatToscope had a revolving
drllm of sixty still pictures. For one cent
the customer saw one set of views in color.
In this way the machine permitted the
customer to have a sequence of pictures.
Then, too, they had the intriguing peep
shows costing one cent for every set of 15
pictures. In order to see the complete show
Metal type stamping machines sold an
identification disc for five cents with name
and address printed thereon. The well·
known Rover Name Plate vended a small
aluminum tape with name and address for
use on homes and mail boxes. They were
very popular and sold by the millions.
Peanut, chocolate, chewing gum, post card,
and pop corn machines were also attractive.
Interesting exhibits of the day were minia·
ture models under glass of cotton gins,
harvesting machines, locomotives in detailed
action-all operated by coin.
.
Novelty and skill machines, electric shock
vibrators, bowling games, pin tables and
scales were featured . . There was strength
testing apparatns of vario)Is types for lift-
ing, pulling, punching ana gripping. Elec-
tric guns and pistol practice targets were
lucrative earners. One of the latter bears
description. A penny was placed in the slot
of the gun, which acted as a projectile and
propelled by spring power in the direction
of a target which held a dollar watch
covered by an exceptionally heavy glass.
The instructions on the machine read as
follows: "If you can break the glass on this
watch with a penny, the watch is yours."
Inasmuch as I have never seen or heard of
one being broken, this crystal must have
been a forerunner of bullet· proof glass.
At the entrance of the average arcade the
"come·on," or "bally·hoo" machines were
given a conspicuous place. There were auto·
matic banjos and harps. Then, too, the
Regina . Music Boxes produced tinny but
loud music by means of revolving steel discs
which were set in motion by a large crank
-which the prospective customer-had to wind
by spring motor. He got plenty of exercise
and had to pay for it. In addition, there
were Swiss music boxes, Sandell's famous
Violin Virtuoso, and last but not least, the
exquisite European.made Orchestrian which
rendered music of a dozen or more instru·
ments. A miniature leader, by a wave of his
baton, would give the signal to his sur·
rounding musicians in the pit, who, in turn,
would play their tiny instruments. The
actual music, of course, was produced by
the large mechanical device. Most of the
musical instruments were operated by elec-
tric motors.
Besides
the popular shooting gallery
OPEIAfOR'S 'RIClI
$145°0
FOB
CHICAGO, ILL.
All orders must II. eccompuf.d by 0".-... 11 .deposft.
posbt monevord.rorcertiJied cnec,,",bllance ':.O.D.
IMMEDIATE
DELIVERY
You virtually get four machones for 'he prICe alone. Columbia
(and only ColumbIa) is changeable right on location on a few
moments time to I-S·IO·2Sc ploy
Colns played lost are paid out fIrSt after having passed through
the visible escalator, thus you get double slug protection. And
you get a smartly styled, dazzling, durable Hammerloid finished
Columbia Bell s; silent -operation and trouble free mechonism.
GROETCHEN
_
TOOL & MFG. CORP.
126 NOUH UNION AVENUE,
CHICAGO 6, tLL"RANdolph 2107
COIN
"lACHINe
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