Automatic Age

14
T
he
A
u t o m a t ic
A
ge
SO M E T H IN G N E W IN A R C A D E
EQ U IPM EN T
H. W . L erned, o f Red K ey, Ind.,
is an en terprisin g arcade operator
w ho believes in g o in g righ t to the
custom er w ith his service. T h ere is
an old adage that g oes “ When) the
m ountain w ou ld n ot com e to M oham ­
med, M oham m ed w ent to the m oun­
tain.” M r. L e m e d has made it p os­
sible f o r thousands to en joy his en-
U nited States, w ith a com plete en ­
tertainm ent
center m ounted
on a
F ord chassis.
This equipm ents in­
cludes p ost card m achines, m ovie m a­
chines, fortu n e tellers, electric sh ock­
ers, w eigh t and grip test m achines,
peanut and gum m achines and a
num ber o f oth er novel m achines both
penny and n ickel play.
N ote the crow d around this m obile
m on ey-m ak in g arcade unit, operated
Lerned o f R ed K ey, Ind.
tertain m en t w ith ou t com in g to him.
H e takes his pen ny arcade, w hich is
m ounted on a truck, a lon g the h igh ­
w ay s and in to tow ns and parks it
on a main street. T he sm aller com ­
m unities th at do n ot su pport a local
arcade are thus privileged to en joy
the m any features o f this travelin g
arcade. A g ood m any arcades travel
with circuses and carnivals and quite
a fe w are independent. M r. Lerned
fo rm e rly pushed an ice cream cart
a lon g the curbs o f K ansas City, M o.,
but speculated on the possibilities o f
a travelin g arcade. H e bou g h t a full
equipm ent o f som e fo r ty
m achines
fro m one o f ou r advertisers, the E x ­
h ibit Supply C om pan y and has fo r
three years traveled over the entire
© International Arcade Museum
arcade— a
b y W . H.
M any a tou rist cam p w ould p ros­
p er with such an equipm ent and fo r
th ose w ho w ork northern territory in
sum m er and southern territory in
w in ter the easily .m obility o f this sort
o f roadside operation w ould prove a
m on ey maker. N o stand is com plete
w ithout som e kind o f pen ny and
nickel m achines to take in the extra
coins tourists are eager to spend.
A n d Mr. Lerned has capitalized on
this feature.
A m on g the jails o f lo n g ago was
one at Sw anage, E ngland, w here an
inscription ov er the d o o r read as f o l­
lo w s: “ E rected fo r the P reven tion o f
W ickedness and V ice b y the Friends
o f R eligion and G ood O rder.”
http://www.arcade-museum.com/