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Pool, industry
veteran talks
about promotion
A Play Meter interview
with U.S. Billiards'
Len Schneller
H i on oj tho e p opl
v rybod eem to know
or about whom som one almost alway has a wild tory
to tell.
ot that by natur he i a wild JeLlow . On the
contrary, hi xtrovert d manner oJten seem to b Ii
hi true natur -- a qui t, humbl on . omething won't
let him tay qui t, though , and wh n v r h 's s en
about th country, hopping Jrom place to place, h
m to g n rat a much kin tic nerg as h us s.
And that ' a lot .
L 1l chn Ll r, director oj al s Jor . . Billiards, i a
Jami/iar name andJac ju t about an where on go in
the mu ic and game indu try and 0 it hould be, Jor
h has b n in olved in thi dynamic indu try since
high school, wh n he work d the ummer oj J934 Jor a
compan called ci ntific Machin Corp. Owned by
now deceas d Max Levine, th compan manufactur d
a roll-down gam call d X -Ray Poker, chneller aid.
Th gam almo t di d wh n it wa put out as a single
unit, h add d.
But chn Ller said he really got his introduction to
th coin indu try th JoLlowing summer, when his
broth rand h managed a X -Ray Poker stor in
Wildwood, .j. , wher the game wa nl1l a a group
game Jor a nick I and award d cigar II
as a prize .
From that impl start, it wa on to Philadelphia after
high chool Jor chn Iler wh r h and hi brother
work dJor Joe Ashe, now owner oj Active Amusement
ther . ch1l LLer sta d th r until about 1940, when he
"The belit!f I worked on wa.s that mo t people would prefer to
play pool at their local tevern and that most people did not
frequent pool halls per st. I felt they would rather go to the
local cafe or beer hall. drink a little and spend a few quarters
playing a game of pool with friends they might ml!l!t there . ..
married and nter d the s rVlce. In the army he
in truct doth r in armory gunnery and used a
I aching device called the Jam Handy .
The machine used two synchronized eight millimeter
cam ra and aLLowed th tudent to Jire an elect ronic
machine gun at aircraJt flash d on a creen, all oj which
chn !ler think is very imilar to Allied Leisure's new
F-114 gam . ., tra1lg to think uch a machine wa
u d wa back in 1943, .. h noted.
In 1946, chneller took a job with Dave Rosen, who
was th n AMJ di tributor in Philadelphia. H began in
th parts d partm nt and I arned the bu iness Jrom the
rout up . His brother at had b n working Jor Ro en
al 0, but LeJt shortl aJt rward and b gan converting
old pi1lbaLl game into n w on schneller joined later.
About 1949, he said, Colllieb came out with the Jirst
flipp r game, Humpt
Dumpty, and that caused
op ralor verywher to want flipper games. chneller
and hi brother b gan conv rting non-flipper games.
chn Ll r and hi brother b gan converting nonjlipper
gam
to flippers, changing the backglass and
pia ifield in the proces . Th r were new games
availabl at th tim , but th
chn lIers' venture
remained profitable Jor ome tim . Th U. . Billard
oJficial wa al 0 quick to cr dit Harr Williams and
Lynn Durant Jor the original concept oj converting
pingames .
n xl pag
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PlAt' JI£JEB
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