Boxoffice-June.19.1948

II
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CONCERNING EXTRA-INCOME POSSIBILITIES
IN CATERING TO THE HABITS OF PATRONS
Hot Dog! But Business Is Good At
West Coust Thentres
^^^
N November of 1947, the first "Jiffy
Dog" machines were installed in the Orpheum
Theatre in San Fi-ancisco. The Orpheum
had booked an exceptionally good
picture that week, which meant crowds
wandering about in the lobby waiting for
seats, and, coincidentally, stopping by the
candy counter for a drink or a snack to
shorten the delay.
The appearance of the new, very trim
little machine, about the size of a table
model radio, on the edge of the counter
was causing a great bit of speculation and
finally someone asked, "What's a Jiffy
Dog?" "It's a hot dog," said the girl behind
the counter, "A hot dog that cooks
itself." The customer laughed but he decided
to try one. Several people collected
to watch the experiment. The girl quickly
inserted a carton into one of the two slots
on the machine. A small red light flashed
on. For 80 seconds the girl behind the
counter attended to other customers who
wanted beverages or candy bars. 'When
the red light went out, she removed the
carton and delivered it, unopened, to the
customer who found it was not only thoroughly
cooked but enjoyably hot. He also
liked the taste of it. and relayed his opinions
to the crowd.
Since then the little red lights of the
Jiffy Dog machines have been winking
steadily at the Orpheum candy counter,
and at all of the other San Francisco theatres
where they have been placed. The
bulk of the sales are made during the evening
performance.
A Pre-assembled Process
Actually, the Jiffy Dog is cooked by a
simple electrical process. An electrode fits
through two slots on the carton and punctures
the "wienie" at each end. The contact
of the carton slipping into the machine
starts the current flowing between
the opposite ends of the electrodes, and a
timing control cuts it off when the hot dog
is done. Since the Jiffy Dog are completely
assembled and packed before they are delivered
to the theatre every day, the girl
behind the counter has no extra labor.
The distribution of the product is handled
through franchises arranged by the
Jiffy Dog Co. of Pasadena, Calif. They
The hot dog machine is neat and trim ond about
the size of a table-model radio. It offers theatre
owners a newr source of revenue at a good
profit. Here's o patron who's enioying a snack.
have distributors who install machines and
service them daily with fresh Jiffy Dogs.
The locations pay for the "dogs" as they
are delivered.
The Jiffy Dog machines were first started
in Northern California before the war,
but the service was halted for the duration
and only got started again about a year
ago.
For the purchaser, there is the advantage
of a dated carton assuring him of a fresh
product, and for the manager of the theatre
there is a new source of revenue at
a very good profit. Besides, who wants to
eat a hot dog without a drink of some kind
to go with it?
All Sales Increase
During an average week the Orpheum
Theatre sells as many of the new Jiffy
Dogs as they do beverages. Not long ago
Al Dunn, the theatre's manager, conducted
a survey, and found to his amazement
that not only had the sales of beverages
increased, but also the popcorn and the
candy were at new highs. The report
showed, too. that no other item at the
counter had suffered because of the popularity
of the Jiffy Dog.
Although by this time the regular nevermiss-a-picture
patrons of the Orpheum are
educated to the mysteries of the machine,
a night rarely passes without a new group
collecting while someone waits to find out
"What is a Jiffy Dog?"
Jiffy Dog machines have been in use by
two of the biggest chains, the Golden State
and Blumenfeld circuits, in Northern California
for the past six months. The results
are both gratifying to theatre chain
executives and the Jiffy Dog Co.
"Everybody" eats hot dogs at the confection
counter of the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco,
where the sandwich idea was introduced.
The bulk of the sales are made during the evening
performance, according to the management.
EOXOFFICE :: June 19, 1948 33