Automatic Age

th e a u t o m a t ic a g e
Vol. 2
C H ICAG O, J A N U A R Y , 1927
No. 6
Williams—
Shows H ow to Run
Clean Arcade
Many leading citizens of Asbury
*«i'k first came to the Queen City on
excursion, but A. M. Williams,
I^oneer of the shore, rode into town,
a lad of 16, on his bicycle. A lively
sense of humor, tireless energy which
.as not burned out with the years,
Immense tolerance for his fellow be-
and a never failing enthusiasm
° r work carried him rapidly for­
ward.
His ambition was to be a show-
^an. Self confidence and a few hun-
J ’ed dollars loaned him by Banker
«enry C. Winsor when disaster
hreatened his first venture were the
Assets with which he set out in stren-
u°us pursuit of success. He found it
Asbury Park, where he settled
°Wn to the business of entertaining
People after visiting every city of
c°nsequence in the United States.
His upward career, however, was
n°t without discouragement, defeats
dnd opposition. Hotel keepers cried
° ut against “ cheap amusements,”
^'nisters protested against “ dark’’'
movie houses as “ dens of iniquity”
firemen complained about the
m apparatus “ fire hazard.” But in
‘"'Pite of all the opposition, cheap
Hrr>usements proved one of the best
Paying things in town, declares W il-
jams, who less than a year ago sold
to the
e>nbach interests for a lively con-
f 1 eration.
His guiding star has
een “ popular demands at popular
ices,” his business ci’eed— give the
0 Ter fellow a little the best of the
© International Arcade Museum
bargain, if only one per cent.
Photos While You W ait
His first business venture in A s­
bury Park was making ten cent
automatic tintype pictures on but­
tons. On the Boone’s garage site,
the young Brooklyn photographer
produced comic likenesses of his pa­
trons while they waited— sometimes
900 a day. His penny arcade, which
a shrewd friend described as “ some
little business under cover,” was
movable, and before Williams settled
down he pitched his tent in every
bright industrial town from coast to
coast. N ot everybody could afford
to buy a phonograph, but few could
not spend a nickle to hear their
favorite tune in the coin-slot ma­
chines when they came to town.
Starting out with 10 or 12 ma­
chines, Williams gradually increased
the number to 75 and then 100. It
was hard work, sometimes all-night
work when the machines had to be
packed for shipping before pulling
up stakes early the following morn­
ing. When the town was a “frost”
or profits fell to ,$8.50- a week as
recorded in one instance by Williams
in the accounts he systematically
kept for 35 years, he moved on. As
time passed, location rents increased,
traveling expenses became prohibi­
tive and the pace began to
tell.
Twenty-five years ago therefore a
permanent location was established
in the Palace merry-go-round, and
Williams gave up chasing after fairs,
carnivals and expositions,
married
http://www.arcade-museum.com/