That must have been a regional thing. When I was growing up, Aladdin’s Castle was one of several local joints. Places were competing for your business! Galaxy Games. Urbana IL. They had red quarters. And maybe other colors. If you used the change machine and a red popped out, you actually got a bonus of a few more quarters from the attendant. Think of it. A dollars worth of coins would play 4 games, but if you could get people to put in a few more bucks to get a red or blue, it was a win! They get a few quarters and probably spend their money there also.
I seem to remember some sort of colored quarter prize down the shore in NJ. I hadn't thought of that in a long time, but I can still picture the sign above the change machine with 4 colored quarters.
Well that’s certainly a better explanation than whatever was playing out in my head.
That’s a 30 year itch FINALLY scratched.
Great post and I definitely remember red quarters, although they seem to be extinct.
Did you by any chance work at the Aladdins Castle in the Richland Mall in Ohio? That was my first job in the 1990's lol.
That must have been a regional thing. When I was growing up, Aladdin’s Castle was one of several local joints. Places were competing for your business! Galaxy Games. Urbana IL. They had red quarters. And maybe other colors. If you used the change machine and a red popped out, you actually got a bonus of a few more quarters from the attendant. Think of it. A dollars worth of coins would play 4 games, but if you could get people to put in a few more bucks to get a red or blue, it was a win! They get a few quarters and probably spend their money there also.
I seem to remember some sort of colored quarter prize down the shore in NJ. I hadn't thought of that in a long time, but I can still picture the sign above the change machine with 4 colored quarters.
Telephone repair men also used this method when diagnosing problems with mechanical pay-phones. 👍.