Automatic Age

September, 1938
AUTOMATIC AGE
By C
a r r o l l
13
E . V e t t e r ic k
W ANTED: LEADERSHIP
Huge Investments and Livelihood of Thousands
W ait for Industry to Abandon “Grab Bag” Methods
thousand busi­
S EVERAL
ness men and their fam­
CAPABLE AND INSPIRED
LEADERSHIP for the coin ma­
ilies who depend entirely chine industry IS HERE!
upon the operation of coin ma­
Now, if ever, the rank and file
chines for their livelihood are of the coin machine industry
wondering what the future of should be ready to support a
the coin machine business holds program designed to serve the
for them.
best interests of the entire in­
dustry—to
adopt sound business
Several hundred business men
practices
and
abandon “catch-
and their families and employees
as-catch-can”
tactics
— to help
who depend upon the manufact­
ure and sale of coin machines eliminate the “chiselers” and
for their livelihood are wonder­ the “hoodlums”—to substitute a
measure of cooperation for the
ing the same thing.
destructive “cut throat” com­
And several hundred thousand petitive practices — to win
location owners who formerly greater public approval and ac­
profited handsomely from the ceptance of all kinds of coin
variety of coin-operated games machines—to stand squarely be­
in their stores are also giving hind C A P A B L E L E A D E R ­
the subject some deep thought. SHIP!
With this same general trend
Aye, there is the rub! What
of thought running through so capable leadership? What pro­
many thousands of minds at the gram?
same time, it is possible that it
Capable leadership and a def­
may have a constructive value
inite
program for the industry
along with its serious and sober­
are
both
lacking at the present
ing aspects. With thousands of
time.
But
capable leaders are
business men eager to protect
not
lacking.
And all that is re­
their “stake” in the coin ma­
quired
for
a
program
is to agree
chine industry—anxious to safe­
on
a
few
simple
but
sound
pol­
guard their future income from
icies—and
live
up
to
them;
to
coin machines — desperate to
adopt
a
definite,
uphill
plan
of
provide a livelihood for their
families TODAY, it seems to me action and put it into effect!
that the golden opportunity for
The important thing right
© International Arcade Museum
now is that the members of the
coin machine industry, manu­
facturers, distributors and oper­
ators alike, should be ready, at
long last, to cooperate and sup­
port a program for the good of
the industry. Everyone should
be ready to admit that what is
best for the industry in general,
is best for every person and firm
connected with it.
A few years ago, when the pin
games were at their peak, there
were all kinds of theories and
opinions at to what would help
the coin machine business.
“We would be better off if
there were fewer operators,”
declared many coin machine
men. Today, there are fewer
operators.
“There are too many new
models being introduced,” wailed
the operators. Today there are
fewer new models.
“We will never get anywhere
until pay-out machines are out­
lawed,” protested the merchan­
dise and amusement machine
operators. And today they are
outlawed in forty States.
“We need two associations,
one to promote the interests of
amusement machines,” declared
some of the coin machine men.
Today, we have a second manu­
facturers’ association, supported
mainly by the amusement ma­
chine manufacturers.
“Licensing is the answer to
our problem,” said one large
manufacturer, and he was sup­
ported by perhaps half of the
industry. The other half said:
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