Billboard Magazine
Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2019 9:50 am
I quite often use Billboard Mag as a research tool and I believe it's very much an un tapped source of slot machine info. I recently found a series of four articles written for Billboard in 1948 by well know British coin op men describing the state of the industry in the UK from their individual point of view. (the four men were Tom Boland, Morris Shefras, Philip Shefras and Thomas Kosh (juke box maker)). I will add the other three to the existing thread on the Boland article as soon as I can.
Billboard was, in the years that interest us at least, a massive weekly publication and the size and content of the sections it was divided into are a surprisingly good indicator to the strength of the various parts of the entertainment industry, especially if you go back ten years or so and compare an earlier edition. The July 24th 1948 edition is a good example, along with 10 pages of general and legal news it is divided into:
10 pages of radio & TV
20 pages of Music
4 pages of nightclubs and Vaudeville
11 pages of outdoor (not including fairgrounds)
3 pages of parks/resorts/pools
4 pages of circuses
18 pages of carnival and traveling fairs
2 pages of roller and ice rinks
12 pages of merchandise
4 pages of Juke boxes
4 pages of variety
4 pages of Vending machines
and not forgetting a staggering 26 pages on coin machines.
Go back 10 years and TV doesn't exist of course, vaudeville, variety, ice rinks and music are bigger sections and resorts, juke boxes, vending machines & carnivals are smaller.
Not every edition is archived, but most are from the '30s onward. It really is an interesting and useful resource.
As the editions are archived in their original form it's very informative (and entertaining) just to scan through the slot machine adverts.
Find it here:- https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Bi ... gazine.htm
Billboard was, in the years that interest us at least, a massive weekly publication and the size and content of the sections it was divided into are a surprisingly good indicator to the strength of the various parts of the entertainment industry, especially if you go back ten years or so and compare an earlier edition. The July 24th 1948 edition is a good example, along with 10 pages of general and legal news it is divided into:
10 pages of radio & TV
20 pages of Music
4 pages of nightclubs and Vaudeville
11 pages of outdoor (not including fairgrounds)
3 pages of parks/resorts/pools
4 pages of circuses
18 pages of carnival and traveling fairs
2 pages of roller and ice rinks
12 pages of merchandise
4 pages of Juke boxes
4 pages of variety
4 pages of Vending machines
and not forgetting a staggering 26 pages on coin machines.
Go back 10 years and TV doesn't exist of course, vaudeville, variety, ice rinks and music are bigger sections and resorts, juke boxes, vending machines & carnivals are smaller.
Not every edition is archived, but most are from the '30s onward. It really is an interesting and useful resource.
As the editions are archived in their original form it's very informative (and entertaining) just to scan through the slot machine adverts.
Find it here:- https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Bi ... gazine.htm