Automatic Age

12
IT H
the bugle sounding
“ taps” a t 2 P. M. on J a n u ­
ary 14, the curtain was
draw n down on the business activities
of the 1937 C oin M achine conven­
tion held at the Sherm an H otel.
W
This convention proved w itho u t a
doubt the m agnificent strides m ade by
the industry in the past year. P ro m ­
ises made by the N .A .C .O .M .M . offi­
cials of hav in g a show th a t was b ig ­
ger and better th an th a t o f last year
have been fullfilled. I t was g ra tify ­
in g to browse around the aisles view ­
in g one creation after the other, all
serving a fixed purpose, either as a
vending autom aton, or a coin operated
am usem ent device.
As it often has been stated th a t the
coin m achine show is an accurate
barom eter o f business to f o l l o w
throu g hou t the year, we can all h a p ­
pily look forw ard to w hat 1937 holds
in store fo r us.
A n im po rtant fact th a t was em­
phasized du rin g the convention, is th a t
finally our industry is recognized and
placed on a par w ith other industries
th a t also are a proven service to the
public.
In the first place, the Chicago daily
newspapers treated our convention as
a real source of news. A rticles ap ­
peared in the columns of these papers
fo r three days previous to the con­
vention, ca llin g the pu b lic’s atte ntio n
to w hat the press finally considers an
im po rtant gathering.
‘L ife ,” th a t grand new picture m ag ­
azine published by the publishers of
“ T im e”, had a camera m an covering
the entire convention, and unless I
miss m y guess, you w ill find a large
num ber o f ‘show ’ pictures in the next
issue of “ L ife .”
W h a t does this mean, you m ig ht
ask. I t means ju s t this:
RECOG­
N IZ E D !
T hat
long-sought after,
heretofore elusive term we all wanted
to apply to our industry, can finally
and ju stly be applied to our business.
February, 1937
AUTOMATIC AGE
D o n ’t be ashamed of the line o f en­
deavor you have chosen. D o n ’t hide
the business you are in. W e are all
serving the public.
W e live in an
autom atic age and we play an im p o r­
ta n t p a rt in this age, so go out and
toot your horn. O u r day o f certain
recognition is here.
N ow th a t we have lim ited recogni­
tion, let’s hold and keep dear to us
this priceless possession. A s W . A .
Tratsch, the re-elected president of
N . A . C. O. M. M. stated fro m the
speaker’s p latfo rm a t the coin m a ­
chine banquet on J a n u a ry 14, “ W e
m ust organize.”
In order to meet the ever increa­
sing dem and fo r new m achines, m an y
heretofore unheard o f m anufacturers
sprang up over n ig h t. Some o f these
m anufacturers introduced successful
am usem ent devices and prospered,
while others stayed in business six
m onths or a year and finally “ folded
up.” However, the m anufacturers th a t
weathered the storm , and are still in
business, are today tu r n in g out m a ­
chines th a t our industry can well be
proud of. T heir m a n u fa ctu rin g plants
and business offices are pretentious
quarters th a t any outside firm m ig h t
well envy.
O n ly three words, b u t how im po r­
ta n t they are! “ I f we are strong in
num bers,” he w ent on to say, “we
can secure hearings in the local and
federal adm inistrations, on u n ju s t tax ­
ation and u n fa ir legislation in all lines
of our industry.”
A m usem ent m achines have g ra d u ­
ated from the “pin gam e” or “m arble
tab le” stage. O u r ingenious m a n u ­
facturers now construct coin con­
trolled games th a t are direct descen­
dants o f some o f the fam ous in and
out o f door sports th a t Jiave been
I
m ig h t add the follow ing :
The enjoyed by h a lf the A m erican public
N a tio n al Association of Coin O pera­
fo r the past century. Coin controlled
ted M achine M anufacturers is now
rifles, bo w lin g games, pool tables,
w orking on a plan w ith w hich you
baseball machines, fo o tb all machines,
w ill be made fa m ilia r in the very
etc., are excellent examples of this
near future. The basis o f the plan is
type of equipm ent.
th a t we should w ork in closer h a r­
m ony, tac kling our problem s together
True the advent of the “pin gam e”
and setting down a set of rules to
was responsible fo r our grow th and
follow th a t w ill insure our keeping
development, b u t we have n ot stopped
and ho ld in g our newly acquired pos­
in serving Jo hn ie P u b lic ’s desires by
session: R E C O G N IT IO N .
g iv in g him elaborate am usem ent de­
vices only. V end in g m achines are
Several years ago, du rin g the
m anufactured th a t au to m atically sell
greatest economical depression the
a wide range of needed commodi­
world has ever know n, a new industry
ties. Services are also sold auto m ati­
sprang up. This new business was
cally. Coin controlled shoe shin in g
to be know n as the m an u fa ctu rin g
machines, coin-operated toilet locks,
and operating of “ pin games,” “ m ar­
phonographs and radios th a t begin
play ing w ith the insertion of a coin,
ble tables,” or w hat have you. I t
etc., are all various types of services
thrived and prospered u n til we be­
th a t are obtained fro m an autom aton,
came convinced th a t it was some­
who very efficiently takes your coin
th in g to be reckoned w ith as a source
and perform s its service.
for perm anent livelihood. This was
* * *
not sim ply a side line, a p a rt
business, or more evening work.
was a new field, where a m an
actually obtain a good liv in g
stable basis.
© International Arcade Museum
tim e
Here
could
on a
W e have grow n and prospered in
the last few years. L e t us all strive
to create other ways whereby we
(See page 26)
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