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Kiddie Rides and Mother Love-Updated
By Louis Boasberg
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Until now, American amusement game manu-
facturers and distributors have sadly neglected a large
segment of our population which , if given the oppor-
tunity, would patronize coin-operated equipment
and be blissfully happy in doing so. The people who
were neglected are the children between the ages of
1 and 10, together with their parents and grand-
parents. Kiddie rides is the equipment that has been
neglected for so long.
Long ago when the first kiddie ride appeared in
the form of a coin-operated Western horse, it was
sensational and several manufacturers went into the
ride manufacturing business. Sad to say, local opera-
tors in most cities did not take to kiddie rides. They
were too busy with what they thought was the " fast
buck " equipment and perhaps they were right. So
what happened?
Corporations and companies were formed to
operate kiddie rides throughout the United States.
These groups installed rides in a far-flung operation ,
but unfortunately they usually hired some local
mechanic to care for their rides and allowed locations
to have keys to empty the coin boxes.
Like all operations that are not handled with
personal and loving care , these neglected kiddie ride
operations soon withered away. To make matters
worse, the operators, operating by remote control
from far away, often got disgusted with the revenue
and sold the games to the locations, which kept the
rides in stores for years without changes or repairs.
Today, I am happy to say, there are not only
American manufacturers of kiddie rides, such as
Carousel International Corporation , Miracle Recrea-
tion Equipment Company, North American Amuse-
ments, Kiddie Rides U.S.A ., Amusement Technology,
and a few others, but there are also national distribu-
tors who represent the very best foreign manufac-
turers of kiddie rides. Some of these foreign manu-
facturers have developed the manufacture of rides to
a fine art. The British and Dutch especially have built
some beautiful, well-made kiddie rides with great
quality control.
As everyone knows, a mother, dad , aunt, uncle,
grandmother, or grandfather will sacrifice to do
everything for his children . We have seen the poorest
mother or dad , with only a limited amount of money
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for shopping, sacrifice and let his child ride the rides
to his heart's content. As long as the child is happy,
that is all that matters.
In our opinion , the kiddie ride business, which
has been sadly neglected in past years, will expand
greatly in the future , with the infusion of beautiful ,
appealing domestic and foreign kiddie rides . We
think you will see Kiddie Fun Rooms and kiddie rides
in more shopping malls and more large supermarkets
and other locations where parents bring their chil-
dren.
I think each and every operator would be sur-
prised what a well-run Kiddie Room would net in a
large shopping center and , who knows, perhaps small
Kiddie Rooms or kiddie rides might be a way to open
up the large chain fast-food locations such as
McDonald ' s, Wendy ' s, Burger King, Popeye's, etc.
One important thing we have noticed about
Kiddie Rooms and Kiddie Arcades is that they do not
inspire complaints that they bring a bad elem e nt to
the premises-all of the kiddie ride patrons are the
very young. There are never any complaints from the
other tenants of the shopping centers, and the rides
do not require policing or even an attendant, except
during busy hours.
We can say without question that the managers
of the various shopping centers where kiddie rides
and Kiddie Rooms are operated have been compli-
mented by the other stores in the shopping malls for
not only providing a prime attraction, but providing
something that keeps mom and dad on the premises.
We sincerely believe that parents also are grateful for
the kiddie rides as a built-in escape from the boredom
of shopping for their small children.
Most youngsters get bored with shopping. After
the first dish of ice cream , slice of pizza, popcorn , or
hot dog, they urge mama to go home. But they
don ' t want to leave when they are promised rides on
the horse, helicopter, motorboat, auto , train , or fire
engine operating in the mall or the supermarket.
To our way of thinking , every shopping mall ,
every supermarket, and every large department or
variety store in the United States should have one to a
half dozen kiddie rides to provide extra revenue and a
built- in amusement and customer attraction for the
kiddies.
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PLAY METER. February 1, 1984