Classic Mode

Play Meter

Issue: 1975 September - Vol 1 Num 9

- - - -- - - - - - - - - - - ---)
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
I
PlAt' JI£JEB
13
Coinman
I Continu d from previous page J
A
the pingame conversion business died down ,
chneller' company, A CO, began improving shuffl
alleys by putting formica top on oLder modeLs, adding
flying pins and pUlling in match scoring unit . Aft r
that bu ines ub ided,
hneLLer returned to work for
the di tributing end of the industry, moving on to
Atlantic Penn yLvania Corp., a eeburg distributor.
" At that time," chll L1er remarked, " there were
peopL th r like Bill Adair, Marvin tein and Jack
Gordon. In 1953 or '54, he introduced the firm to r ntaL
sy t m for mu ic quipmenl . That job went well for
four or ix years, th n chn LLer struck out on hi own
again as a partner in op rating an arcade. He aLso
returned to the conver ion business for a time in the
Late '50 ' by converting hi-fi coin-op phonographs into
tereo.
Another di tributingjob followed that stint, thi time
at W. . Distributing in Boston, another eebuTg
r pre ntative. For thr e ears he worked the
ew
EngLand area as their aLesman. FinaLLy, in 1966,
chneLL r went to Al imon at . . Billiards and it wa
whiL h wa th r that he heLped initiate succes {ul
p~o~ tou~am nt
that brought the then-sagging
bllbards mdu try back to Life.
PLAY METER : You m ntioned that pool had
d din d wh n ou joined
. Billiard and that it had
" It was the first time that anyone had ever .. . said to the
patron , 'look, not only are you spending your money for this
enterta inment, we are going to invest in a tournament so that
you will be rewarded for y our time and skills . ' They ate this
up . "
14
be orne a r pia ement bu ine . What happened lO
chang th at iluali n ?
CH ELLER: Mr. imon had failh in lh producl
and he de id d lO build a b ller producl and 1 lO g t a
b ller shar of the a le . It wa lh en lhal • came up wilh
the promolion a pect lO g 1 peopl ba k inlO lh ir local
ta ern , pia ing lh pool labl , bu ing cigar II
lC.
The belief . worked on wa lh al mo 1 people would
prefer to pla y pool al their 10 a l lav rn and thal mOSl
people did not fr quenl pool hall p r e . • felt the y
would ralher go lo lh I al af or beer hall , drink a
lilll and sp nd a few quarter pia ing a arne of pool
wilh fri nd lh
mighl meel lh r .
I 0, • worked
under the belief lhal om f lh
peopl had labl al
hom and would lik th e idea of compeling , f howing
their abi lil lO pia well. • felt thal Am ri an are a
good competilor a the are p Clalor .
PLAY METER : 0 how did you g t mor p opl back
int the la ern and pia ing pol ?
CH ELLER:. rememb red the old I agu concepl
from lh hufne aile da ' S, but . didn ' l agre wilh lhe
id a of ca rr ing p opl from 10 alion to local ion
be ause . didn'llhink the ' d la 1 the entire lour . BUl if
ou could lake a roup of op ralOr and ha
lh m hold
lournam nl in ea h of lh ir 10 alion , • r a on d , then
galher all the ind i idual 10 ali n winner in a final
co nte 1 al a pre lIglOu n ulral 10 a lion, ou would
enhan e the a pe 1 of pia ing th game well. Thi in
lUrn had lh
ff Cl of ha ing pia r praclic more
oft n and on nighl thal would normally be on id red
off nighl for lh 10 alion .
We began making mor p 01 pia er and th
were
p nding more mon '. Al lh
arne tim , • had e n
lhi lillie wril -up about B n palding in Pho nix ,
rizona . He wa ha ing orne kind of lOurnam nt , o .
d cid d lO lake a lrip lO s e whal lhi man wa doing . •
ailed him and it ound d er intere ting . • wenl
down lhere and helped him a l the tournam nt . It wa
held al lh I al la rn cil -wid -- eight-ball. • arne
away wilh man id a on how lO enhance lhi on of
thing . • wrOl all lhi up. • aCluall w nt hom and et
up 16 la rn in mown den -o J pUl a pie e of pap ron
lhe wall representing lho
16 lO
e how it work d .
Th n I w nt lO lh 10 al lav rn and check d on tim S.
How long il 1 ok lO pia game, elC . • wrol all lhi up
and pre nted il 1 Mr . imon . He aid lo go ah ad
with il. Then we lri d it in Long I land . We gOl 64
10 alion . It wa a 25,000 in
tm nt ... mutual -l pe
op ralion . It wa a big u ce
PLAY METER: Whal lime period wa lhi ?
CH ELLER: This wa about ' 67 . Th Long I land
op ral r f Il lhi was the b 1 lhing lh at had ver
happened . It wa lh fir 1 lim lhal an one had ever
nOl onl laken mon
from the palron that wa
frequenting his
labli hm nt , bUl aid lO lh patron .
" Look nOl only ar
ou p nding our mon
for thi
entertainm nt , ware going lo inve t in a tournam nt
o lhat ou will be r warded for our time and kill ."
Th Y a te this up . The a lural mon effect wa n'l that
great.
Th
wer
int r led In the
en
of
accompli hmenl. of bcin the be t , il wa a natural
motivalion . It offered a great el ment of incenti e for
them lo pia our po I lables.
W had about 15
lOurnamenl lhal
ar.

Download Page 11: PDF File | Image

Download Page 12 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.