Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

"
Heep the Dickels Railing
advises CHARLES H. OPPENHEI MER, president, Designers for
Industry, Inc., and mentions a point that will help to do it.
R
IGHT AT THE START let's get down to funcla-
mentals. From the operator's viewpoint. at
least. there is only one reaso~ in the world f the existence of coin machmes, and that IS
their ability to lure coppers, nickels, dimes and pos-
sibly two-bit pieces from ' the patrons of game empo-
riums, drug stores, bars and other places of trade.
The efficacy of their lure is contingent upon many
things- the place, the time, the players and, of
course, the type of game or merchandise service ren-
dered- and their physical attractiveness.
Some machines pull a great deal better than oth-
ers. This is a matter that largely rests with inventor-
psychologists in the exercise of their ingenuity in de-
vising service or play-appeal along with the struc-
tural eye-appeal of the machine. The corner druggist
may confide that a simple marble game in which
players test finger feel against the resistance of a
marble propulsion spring is worth a "couple of hun-
dred dollars a month."
Again, some store owners will tell you that certain
machines are "no good at all," meaning that they do
not attract users. This is true of both game and vend-
ing machines. In many instances there is no ques-
tion as to the desirability of service rendered, or, so
far as players are concerned, the popularity or inter-
est holding qualities of a game or test of skill. But
. the machines are not "doing the business."
Where does the trouble lie? The machines are in-
animate things, responding only to the drop of a
coin. The fault lies with those who make the ma-
chines and those who offer their services. Patronage
and income are lost for the simple reasons of obso-
lescence lack of eye-appeal and because the makers
have not paid heed to the power of style and physi-
cal attractiveness in game and vending machines to
lure a beauty-conscious public. Many of the new
devices now being put on the market will not yield
the greatest possible return for the reason that the
physical design thereof. in correlation with the -func-
tions of the machines, does not command attention.
Also, the factor of obsolescence, of being out of
date, is one of the greatest enemies of the coin ma-
chine business, especially as regards vending ma-
chines, yet some manufacturers seem content with
old styles and old models. They think in terms of
materials, production and standardization. They have
ignored the most important factor in their sales pro-
gram- namely, the ultimate user. And the proprie-
tors of the retail outlets and pleasure emporiums
have near-sightedly ignored the fact that their cus-
t
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tomers are most effectively induced to drop coins by
something new, something different- not merely in
kind of game or service, but in point of physical at-
tractiveness. They are losing money because their
old machines lack the allure of eye-appeal. Eloquent
testimony to this is the countless number of idle ma-
chines that seldom click to the fall of a coin.
The public wants something besides a box with a
coin chute in which to deposit money. It ignores the
ugly, unattractive machine. It wants to be served by
or play with something that is smartly styled, some-
thing that is new and modern, and it willingly pays
for the privilege. The sound stimulation of house
furnishings, clothing and other markets by new styles
and designs is evidence that the public is responsive
to beauty. Even the buyers of industrial equipment
are influenced by beauty in such cumbersome things
as tractors to whose streamlining is attributed a
wholesome increase in sales.
In other words, the investors of nickels and dimes
and quarters in coin machines are beauty-conscious.
They are lured by beauty and there is no question
that there will be a far greater flow of coins into the
devices when manufacturers give more thought to
smartness of design and eye-appeal in their equip-
ment, and when merchants and others exercise the
good judgment to replace the old with the new.
A striking example of the success of coin machine
design for eye-appeal is the new penny weighing
scale recently introduced by a Chicago company. In
styling this scale, the designers capitalized upon
three elements not usually associated with machines
of this sort; they are motion, light and color contrast,
and streamlining. The motion eye-catcher is a
lighted rotating drum in the top of the scale, which
carries colored advertisements and stops intermit-
tently to permit a clear view of each advertisement.
The attractiveness of the rotating drum is enhanced
by the brilliant green porcelain enamel finish of the
scale body and the chromium finish of head and
platform.
Results are what count. Tests of this new scale in
Chicago's leading hotels demonstrated that it had
three to four times the penny-pulling power of ordi-
nary scales. It is an excellent example of the value
of designing for eye-appeal by men skilled in art and
design and sales psychology, to create new revenue.
It would pay manufacturers, jobbers and distribu-
tors to make a more frequent check on the first incli-
nations of patrons in places where equipment is
played, for there they would learn that the well-
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