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Play Meter

Issue: 1977 June 20 - Vol 3 Num 12

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PlAt' ltiETER
June 20, 1977
Volume 3/No. 12
Rowe Gets New President:
Merrill Krakauer Succeeds D.J. Barton
Edward Simmons, president of
Triangle Industries, Inc., parent
corporation of Rowe International,
Inc., has announced the election of
Merrill Krakauer to president of
Rowe. He replaces D.J. Barton who
requested to be relieved from his
responsibility as president, express-
ing a strong desire to remain with
Rowe in a limited capacity and to
move back to the South.
Simmons stated, "Recognizing
full well the excellent job he has done
for Rowe over the past many years, it
is with reluctance that we have
granted Joe's request. We are
pleased that he will continue his
association with Rowe in an advisory
capacity.
Krakauer was promoted from vice
president and general manager of
Rowe's Whippany facilities where he
was responsible for the engineering
and manufacturing of many refine-
ments to the vending line as well as
innovative new machines. His varied
experience within the automatic
merchandising industry includes ma-
ny executive positions.
rakauer first joined Rowe in 1955
as director of engineering, and in
1957, at the age of29, was appointed
vice president. In 1961 he left to form
his own consulting and engineering
firm, Autovend Corporation. There,
as president and chief executive
officer, he designed and manu-
factured special items for the
vending industry.
Krakauer sold this firm in 1967 and
joined The Macke Company as vice
president. As a corporate officer he
was responsible for all capital
equipment purchases and asset
control. While there, he was the
chief executive officer of Macke's
largest vending food service region.
Krakauer again joined Rowe in 1974
as vice president and general
manager of the Whippany facility.
Throughout his career, Krakauer
has been responsible for designing
and introducing into the marketplace
many vending machines that are
now standards of the industry. He
holds in excess of 20 patents in this
field .
Announcing his retirement, D.J .
Barton stated, "I am grateful for the
support the many people within
Rowe and this industry gave me
during my tenure. I am also
appreciative of the considerations
allowing me to continue on a limited
basis in an industry and with a
company that I love. My change of
status is not a farewell because I'll be
active in my new capacity and I look
forward to seeing all my friends and
associates for many years to come."
Barton, a well-known industry
leader for 40 years, accepted the
presidency of Rowe in 1974 after
serving previously as senior vice
president and general manager of
distributor operations, vice president
of marketing, vice president of sales
and in other executive positions. He
began his career as a route service
man in South Carolina. Barton plans
to move back to the South.
Simmons pointed out that Krak-
auer's wealth of experience in all
aspects of the automatic mer-
chandising industry will assure
Rowe's leadership in providing the
best operator-oriented equipment in
the business.
Pinball Featured in Newsweek
"Pinball Lives!" reads the headline
over the splashy lead story in the
"Life/ Style" section of Newsweek
for May30. Underneath are full-color
photos by Allen Tannenbaum of
Elton John playing Capt. Fantastic,
of the playfield and backglass of
Fireball, and of the backglass art for
Space Time, another Bally machine.
"Once upon a time, pinball was a
tacky game played by punks who
hung out in seedy luncheonettes,"
the article begins. "Now it's a
respectable diversion for the leisure
class. Suburban crowds man the
flashing machines in plushly car-
peted arcades; singles play the
games in neighborhood bars; par-
ents have even begun buying pinball
machines for their children- and
themselves."
The article goes on to chronicle
the increase in commercial sales of
the machines and the burgeoning of
the home market. "The new interest
in pinball has been stimulated by its
identification with well-known per-
sonalities," it says. Elton John is
cited and Bally's plans to bring out a
machine dedicated to Hugh Hefner
(something of a pinball wizard
himself) are revealed.
Players interviewed say they play
as "a form of therapy" and because
"it's a definite high to beat the
machine."
The article throws no new light on
the pinball phenomenon. Still the
recognition of the game's respect-
ability by a national magazine with
paid circulation of over 3 million is
significant media coverage for the
industry.
Staff
Rowe International of New Or-
leans is planning service schools for
June 28-30 . The schools will be
conducted by Rowe factory service
representatives .
Tuesday' s class will cover the R-81
solid -state phonograph and will take
place from 5:00 p .m. to 7:30 p .m .
Classes Wednesday and Thursday
will cover other Rowe products,
including the Model 406 cold drink
machine, the Model 530 Seville
cigarette machine, the Model 489
bag vendor and Rowe bill changers .
Classes both days will run from
3:00p.m . to 7:00p .m. Wednesday's
classes will be followed by a lock
demonstration by a representative of
National Lock, Thursday's by a
general question and answer period.
All classes will be held at the New
Orleans Rowe offices, 1601 South
Gayoso Street .
Because "today, more than ever,
the games industry, especially at the
operator level, has a critical desire
and need for updating older video
games," according to Joe York,
president, Venture Line is manu-
facturing two conversion logic
boards.
The two boards, the 6 PAC I and
the 6 PAC II, carry six games apiece
and are even interchangeable with
each other.
Installation is easy, according to
York. "For example, ifthe owner has
a wiring diagram for his game and
standard plastic plugs on his wiring
harness, we can probably make an
interconnect cable so he can plug
our board directly into his wiring
without having to cut or solder any
w ires," he said.
Both 6 PAC I and 6 PAC II carry a
pushbutton switch to allow the
player to chose the game he wishes
to play, after he has deposited his
quarter. And the video display cycles
through all six games during pre-
game so that passers-by can see the
variety offered .
Other Venture Line boards include
Casino, a video blackjack game for
from one to four players; Ace High, a
5-card stud poker game with player
controls for betting, raising, calling
and folding; and Breakaway, a take
off from the popular breakout type
games.
Venture Line has been producing
conversion equipment since 1975.
"We realized that there were so
many more 'pong' games being sold
compared to the newer video games
being slowly developed, and that the
industry basically had the bulk of its
finances tied up in only one type of
video game, " York said.
" In 1975, no company had any
conversion equipment," he added.
"The idea was there and we saw the
need arising faster and faster; the
time was right and the door was wide
open for somebody to offer a helping
hand to the industry .
"We decided then and there to
make available to the industry a
selection of video 'conversion' logic
boards," York concluded .
Re; Update for May 20. I must call
attention to an error in the article
about the Dynamo World Soccer
Tour . It mentions that John Gililland
is starting the World Table Soccer
Association and associates him with
Foos Noos.
John Gililland is not associated
with the World Table Soccer
Association, which is an inde-
pendent players (not necessarily
professional) association. The Dy-
namo Tour is not sanctionea by
W.T.S .A . Foos Noos, our official
publication, is part of the W .T.S.A.
membership package. Dynamo has
attempted to start their own players
association, but the W.T.S.A. or
Foos Noos is not a part of it.
Incidentally, I enjoy reading your
publication .
Joe McCarthy, President
World Table Soccer Association
Editor, Foos Noos
Publisher and Editor:
Ralph C. Lally II
Managing Editor :
RichardS . Dietrich
International Editor :
David Snook,
Editor, Coin Slot
Technical Editor:
Robin Minnear
Correspondents :
Roger C. Sharpe
Dick Welu
Mary Claire Blakeman
J .W . Sedlak
Randy Fromm
Art Direction :
Meyer Alewitz
Typography :
Skybird Typography
Circulation Manager :
Carolyn Desmond
Advertising Representatives:
Ralph C. Lally II
Carolyn Desmond
Advertising Production :
Don Randon
European Representative :
Esmay Leslie
Coin Industry PLAY METER, June 2,
1977 . Volume 3, No. 12. Copyright
19n by Skybird Publishing Com -
pany. Full editions of Coin Industry
Play Meter are published monthly the
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member
MemYI Krakauer
(see story previous page)
Rowe-N.D.
Plans School

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