Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

28 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, December 31, 1949 Jackson . . . (Continued from Page 24) makes an oldster like me wonder if folks have any idea of the wealth of promise a day holds and the abundance of enjoyment and accomplishment that can be gotten out of it." Old Man Minutes shook his head dejectedly as he seemed to ruminate before adding : Always With Us "If there were just some way to make folks understand that TIME deals only in highly perishable merchandise; that we have no definite quota of days for each customer, and that there's no telling when a chap's supply will be completely exhausted. If we could just impress on folks that there can be no assurance of an unblighted crop and that their best chance for survival and security lies in getting the utmost from each day in the order of its calendar appearance, while they possess the strength to wring it dry of useful ingredients. Somehow or other, we can't make people appreciate our inability to keep our stock free from worry termites and failure bugs. These pests are always with us, and it evolves on the customers to exterminate them through careful planning and hard work." He was pacing a bit nervously and scanning both ends of the street looking expectantly for the appearance of his new assistant. He checked his hour glass and when that dependable device indicated the presence of many unused minutes before the new lad was due he proceeded : No Free Samples "Do you know that TIME got its start the same day Adam got his first glimpse of sunlight in the Garden of Eden? Yes sir, we've been serving man all these years and will continue to serve him as long as it's God's will. It's a, pity we can't give out free samples based on the long experience we've had. But the rules are that each man decide for himself just what he wants to do with the element we place at his disposal and, while we deplore the careless way some folks handle and use our product, there's nothing we can do about it under our system of operation. We've been through innumerable wars, famines, plagues, inflations, depressions, and every other possible scourge. It'd be wonderful if we were privileged to pass GET HEADY FOR 19S0s riRST BIG EXPLOITATION DATE! yPre-sell it with a /^SPECIAL TRAILER ■^—311/ from ... FILMACK NfWYORKl 619 W. 1 54th SI. 1 NOW SPECIALIZING^ IN REFRESHMENT SERVICE FOR DRIVE-IN THEATRESy SPORTSERVICE Corp. Jacobs bros. 703 MAIN ST. • BUFFALO, N. Y. " WA, 2S06 to each generation the formula that enabled a lot of our customers to survive and succeed despite the most serious adverse conditions. But rules are rules, and from TIME's first beginning it's been decreed that we neither advise or admonish. Our job is to serve the hours and days and leave the fabrication — good, bad or indifferent — entirely to the customer's discretion. Of course, it makes us very happy when our product is welded into success by a combination of wisdom and effort and, conversely, it makes us very unhappy when we see precious hours and days wasted on some undeserving and useless project. "If it were possible for us to give even the slightest hint of what has gone before, I'm sure that our 1950 customers would embrace every minute and squeeze every hour until it had relinquished its last atom of usefulness. Of course, there's always the hope that man will some day awaken to the fact that a day once lived is forever gone, but the hope becomes dimmer and dimmer as we move from one year to another. "Yes sir, the job of supervising TIME's business is a tough one. I've been at it for eons and eons. Yet, it's still harder on the store manager. See that bewhiskered fellow peeking through the window of the 1949 shack? Last ' year he was a youngster but now he's called 'Father Time.' He's just waiting for me to unlock the back door and let him sneak away from that crowd out front who clamor futilely for what they've already dissipated or left unused. The only customers now are those who forgot to pick up today during the past week of holiday parties. They need today to buy horns and noisemakers — at least that's all most of 'em will use it for — to celebrate Father Time's passing and the advent of my new store manager. The job is such a thankless one and such a constant headache that 12 months is all a fellow can stand." Brushing his white locks over his shoulder he cupped a wrinkled hand over an ear, listened attentively, then turned to say : "Well, I hear that new fellow coming down the road so I'd better get over and give this staiT to Father Time so he can leave according to tradition. Better get the new keys so I can open up here for the new lad, too, cause they tell me this is a right smart, sharp chap the folks are going to like doing business with. I New Theatres Memphis — Malco Theatres, an 800-seater in the crosstown section near Sears & Roebuck. Atlanta — Rube Richard of Augusta, Ga., a drive-in on the Bremen Highway near Carrollton, Ga. West Frankfort, 111.— D. J. Sullivan and R, L. Strauss, a 500-car under-skyer on Route 37, three miles west of this city. Hartford, Conn. — James V. Holmes, applies for permit to build a drive-in on the Waterbury-Meriden (Conn.) Road. Chicago — Alliance Theatres, a 600-car under-skyer near Marion, Ind., and a second one near Kokomo, Ind. Oklahoma City — Cole Theatres. Inc. — a 580-car ozoner to cost $7 5,000 at Rosenberg. Tex. Cincinnati — Charles Scott, a drive-in at Vevay, O. Los Angeles — An 850-car under-skyer in East Los Angeles. Hoquiam, Wash. — Harbor Drive-In Theatre, Inc., a 650-car under-skyer two and a half miles from Aberdeen, Wash., to cost $100,000. Milwaukee interests, a 480-seat theatre at Kewaskum. Wis., which will be managed by George Hanson and Son and booked by Dr. F. E. Nolting. Russellville, Ark. — E. A. Patton. a drive-in here. St. Louis — Elbert W. and Homer S. Butler, Jr., a 480-car ozoner. two miles from Hillsboro. 111. ; Robert Strauss and Joe Sullivan, the 400-car Midway Drive-In, near Benton, 111. ; Frisina Amusement Co., a 750-car under-skyer to cost $100,000 on the outskirts of Litchfield, 111. Minneapolis — Clem Jaunich, 975-seat deluxe theatre in Austin, Minn. sure hope the people give him less trouble than they did the 1949 manager. They sure treated that lad badly!" As Old Man Minutes stalked of? in the direction of the waning 1949 stand I felt like assuring him that, after I managed to get his remarks into type, I'd bet that folks in theatre business would be far more careful what they did with the hours and days of 1950. Just to make sure that I wouldn't be making a rash promise, I went back to the 1950 windows and gandered around until I found the theatre department. It's one of the nicest booths in the entire establishment and the location is right in the middle of everything where folks are sure to see it. Finest Array in Years On the product shelf is the finest array of pictures in ten years. No less an authority than the Breen office declares them as such and lists more than 80 films as being better than anything in years. On another shelf is the array of concoctions for improving public relations at the level of your respective theatre. On this you will be given the assistance of TOA and the personal contact they establish to lend national influence and support as well as to guide your personal effort. I couldn't quite see it but I believe the entire program is to carry the label of the very top names — I mean Zukor, Skouras, and others of similar prominence. There's an abundance of material to guide you on the moot matter of competitive bidding with advice from the higher exhibitor legal minds and no end of printed detail from the page of STR and other trade journals. From, the array of available matter you can only blame yourself if you fail to find the smoothest route 'for your theatre through the competitive bidding morass. It's Up to You The array of national advertising campaigns from Youngstein, Einfeld, Lipton, Dietz, etc., is such as was never before on the producerdistributor agenda. Here again it's up to you to make the best use of this costly work at the level of your theatre. When it comes to buying and booking you never saw such assists as STR and other industry journals have lined up to help you keep the square pegs out of round holes and fit the product where it will profit most. There's a whole smear of detail on housekeeping and maintenance that will be made available to you at exactly the right time through the equipment guide pages of STR and others. Those monthly charts of day-to-day reminders will be of great help in avoiding the pitfalls described by Old Man Minutes as always resulting when a fellow fails to choose the right time to do things. There's a lot of stuff on divorcement, but since that only effects a few of you lads there is no use in doing more than to refer those interested to the news columps of STR. Insurance, accounting, new additions to the equipment family, guides to programming, television, 16-mm., etc., will be completely covered to assist you in making every hour of every day in 1950 score in the success column. But remember, those words in the arrow on TIME'S big sign, "You think and fabricate," will govern precisely what you accomplish during the hours and days of 1950. How about trying to conduct theatre affairs during the coming year in such a manner that Old Man Minutes will do nip-ups when he e.xamines our success chart for 1950? Happy New Year, Everybody!