olddudes sat eve stories #3
There is more then one way to skin a cat (from the book "30 years on the road) by Michael c. Wier
I'm not feeling too well this weekend so I'm a bit late and this will be a short one.
Most people think Midway games are all crooked. Some are and there are entirely crooked shows but, the real money maker is to make it straight but tough. The biggest money maker on the lot is those huge teddy Bears won by a few customers referred to by carnies as, marks. Some time I will go into where that name came from, and will explain hot the games are against you. (the odds are still much better then Vegas
Two of our games were rock climbing walls. At that time my son was about eight years old and was so good he could climb either rock in six to eight seconds, every time, any time. Only one other climber in four years ever made it to the top He was a kid in Boston when he made it I hired him on the spot, He climbed it one hundred and 40 times in one day with only one miss.
The way it worked was you paid $5 and got one shot to make it to the top and ring a bell if you made it you won $20 in 6 years we gave out 1 $20 out of thousands . Some notables were Tracie Adkins, Cheryl Tiegs and family, Biggie Small, Kid Rock, and many Rodeo riders.
Before opening the fair we have inspection day and in many cities the police or Sheriffs dept. goes to each game and the operator has to prove the game can be won.
We were fine for the first 2 years giving away the cash instead of a prize because we were considered a skill and legally you could pay some one cash for a provable skill. By the 3rd year on the circuit the law was on to us, or so they thought, In Ft Myers Fl the sheriff came to us and told us we would have to give away a prize like the other games. Ok no problem so we hung up some big "plush" ( a name referring to some prizes like stuffed animals).
we tried bug Bears. CD players, Boom Boxes, portable TV, and about every thing else. Nothing worked like the cash and our income was cut about 60%. We had to find a solution. Then like a bolt of lightning it hit me. We were in Connecticut some where I do remember Law enforcement was pretty Anal.
When they came around for inspection I asked to see the supervisor so they sent him the county code guy and some other enforcement people to my lok (game location on the midway) Here you have to note the common term for a prize is just that a Prize. In our inspection conversation I very pointedly referred to our "prize" as a "gift" several times and every time code enforcement called it a prize I corrected him by referring to it as a gift.
The second day 3 sheriff deputies showed up and referred to our large new sign printed in large red letters. "climb the rock and win a Walmart $20 gift card" They of course immediately arrested the operator
of the rock and came to my motorhome and arrested me at gun point.
The next morning I went before the county judge, in my defense I plainly and simply pointed out there in my permit for all to see ,I was allowed to give out a "gift" also pointing out the Walmart card Clearly said Walmart "Gift" card. With court findings and transcript in hand we never had another problem and retired in peace in 2002.
The lesson here is," there is a way" just Improvise, adapt , and ,over come mcw.
