elite hotels in one of th e world's most astonishing
cities. She is a school teacher who had visited
Chicago o nly once before - to march through town
with her high school ba nd.
We were truly a couple of co untry folk come to
town , and I'm sure it showed. Most of the hundreds
of people we met will probably remem ber us pre tty
easily: I was the guy with th e camera around my
neck and my mouth hung wide open in awe ; my
wife was the girl who usually greeted people at our
magaz ine's table in th e press lounge , smiling sweetly
and stealing away occasionally to wander thro ugh
th e myriads of ex hibits.
Yes, we were rookies - both of us. But somehow
we didn ' t feel like strangers.
As late as my arrival at th e Conrad Hilto n, all I
kn ew about wh at to ex pec t of an MOA Convention
came from the researc h I had done on the show for
our magazine's first issue and a short piece I had
read in Playboy about the '73 show.
Earl y in th e show I bega n see king out others of
my profes ion , both because I felt the more
seasoned journalists th ere might be able to offer me
a little advic e on how to cover the goings-on and
because I felt th e need for a little commaradarie.
I beca me friends with John Sturdivant of Record
Wo rld and Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune,
and the two of th em at least helped to soften my
initial landing on the convention fl oor. But so far as
professional advice was conc ern ed, they couldn't
really offer any substantial help. Page, whose
readership consists mainly of the general public , was
a lso attending the convention for his first tim e.
Sturdivant had bee n there before, but , he
admitted, only as a jesture o f fello wship for the
record industry 's "sister industry. " Coverage was
not reaUy his bag. He was there for fun.
So off I went, trusty camera in hand , to make out
on my own. I bega n b y ta king a casual stroll
thro ughout th e convention hall , just looking and
trying to get my fee t on the ground. I've always
been an avid player of aU types of coin amusement
machines, and so th e games themselves really
monopo lized a great dea l of my tim e throughoUJ th e
weeke nd.
And since I have always been such a faithful
follower of the coin slot, and am quite famili ar with
the games th at have been o n the market in th e past
(if only from a la yman's viewpoint ), I feel safe in
believing the conclusion that I drew almost
immediately - that this is an industry which is
booming at a downright ridiculous rate.
There w e r e milli o n - d o llar corporations
represented there th at didn ' t eve n ex ist las t yea r -
(cont. page 52)
mailbox
Received your compl imentary issue
of Play Meter in the mail yesterday,
and enjoyed it very much. I n fact my
15-year -old son brought it to my
attention . (He intends on going into
the busi ness after he is out of school.)
One added attraction which I think
would help, (and I think many
operators would agree) would be a
page or two on trade -in values and
retail values on used mach ines.
Leonard J. Rommelfanger
Cardinal Service Co.
Garnett, Kansas
We wanted to thank you for the
complimentary copy of your new
magazine. I have just finished reading
it and found it very good. I think the
8
quality of the first issue was excellent.
I noticed that the only thing
missing was a current price list of new
and used equipment. If you had this
section along with everything else you
have there would not be a need for
any other publication.
Keep up the good work .
J. H. Sprott Jr.
Commercial Services, Inc.
Austin, Tex _
(Editor's Note: On the matter of
price lists, please see our editorial on
this page.)
Looks like you have an excellent
magazine and just what this industry's
been looking for .
Also, if possible, please send me a
copy of Volume 1, Issue 1, as I did not
receive one personally and I would like
to save it for the Wurlitzer story.
Robert Willingham
P.O. Box 327
Ruidoso Downs, N.M.
Very much enjoyed the compli -
mentary first edition of Play Meter
magazine which I received at the
recent MOA Convention in Chicago .
I wish to compliment you on the
format and I'll look forward in the
future to receiving copies. I believe our
industry has a need for such a maga-
zine, and you're on the right track in
answering that need .
Not only did I enjoy the content of
the magazine, but especially the front
cover selection, picturing the famous
Jennings slots. With those "good luck"
Indian heads on your front cover,
there' s no way you can fail.
Best of luck in your venture .
Tom Carroll
President
T JM Corporation
Elgin, III.
I truly enjoyed reading the magazine
and knowing in the future issues of
Play Meter it will be of great value to
my business.
For the first issue, the magazine
was put together like it has been on
the market for years. It's laid out in
(cont. page 22)