Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1905-03-09
BOX OFFICE TRICKS.
THE BERTH OF A THEATER aTiCKEl
SELLER is NOT A SlMECURe.

SELLER is NOT A SlMECURe.
Why the Man WHO sits Behind the
Wicket Must BE Good Judge Of
Human Nature-'Ehc Art eff .'DresS-
ing "a Light Eouae
To the average theater goer the mar
who sits behind the wicket in The box
Office and sells tickets seems TO have
one of the sinecures of earth. True, he
has to answer many fool questions ana
deal with many fool persons who are
often ugly because others with more
foresight have picked up early all the
matically the woman who wants dollar
seats for IS cents and with the other
fellow who wants first row, CENTER
after the play has begun and that has
been sold for week ahead. But ali
these things seem but his share Of the
minor ills of earth Outside Of them
apparently his job is what is generally
known as Il snap.
But the man in the box office has
other things to do besides sell tickets.
True, that is where he comes in con-
tact With the general public and that
is al that is usually thought about his
duties But at the same time he is
serving the public he is working for
two masters behind the scenes the
proprietor OF the house and the mana
ger of the attraction. and he must.
serve them equally; while their inter
ests sometimes conflict sharply Fur
thermore. he must serve them as
against the public if need there be. and
it keeps him hustling to hold his job
to do it too.
The man behind the wicket is Il good
man if he can make you buy scat
that costs you more than you intended
TO invest to see that particular 'ssh6W"
all attractions in a playhouse ar
SHOWS" in the parlance, be they opera
comedy or vaudeville. Now, most mep
think they know what they are going
to get when they visit Il theater and
they especially have the price fixed in
their minds Perhaps psychologicaily
speaking they are stronger minded
than the house treasurer Then they
do get what they want, and he never
questions it. But the average man is
not The treasurer is trained IN ticket
selling 1t is his daily routine. while
it is an occasional act OH the mans
part Hence he is fortified for the plii1-
lie. and the latter is not for him, and
SO when the people step up, especially
if it is rather late and there is some
thing of rush. clever ticket man
can easily get the extra price out of
them for higher selling seat
How does he do it? Largely by Tia
power of suggestion. He implies that
you want it, for instance, when You 20
up In other words, he puts the odes-
ton as to what priced seat by asking
you about the higher ones before he
mentions the lower ones, and when he
does refer to the latter, at your sugges-
ton, he does it rather apologetcal1y
He has the higher rate tickets in his
hand, and if you do not take them he
reaches to the rack for the others. aud
all the time the line is waiting. those
back of you are scowling, if not max
ing remarks, and every one within ear
shot of the window knows that you
have refused the higher seats for the
lower priced ones. This is embarrass-
ing. Especially is it SO if a girl is with
you. waiting just outside the rail that
separates tie mob from the line and
the chances are 10 to / that YOU win
take the cue, inyoluntarily, and pay q
quarter more when you had no inten-
ton of doing so when you approached
the clever man in the box.
That is one way 1t doesn't require
any falsehood. 1t does require a good
knowledge of human nature Some men.
wouldn't ''stand for that They would
be offended and it might hurt the
house That is for the treasurer to
beware He must "size up his Gus
Toners and act accordingly.
There is a great gain in time in sell
ing without a Chart. A man will then
step up and ASH for good seat
about certain place. Runnii.g
through his lists. the seller finds INN.
something very near there. and he is
satisfied. That one man Is finished ii
a few seconds. 1t would like minutes
if the sheets were there. TIi4e is ili,st
portant when the orchestl4. is playing
and the curtain about tce &c up.
Still further, the absence Of It chart
enables the setierto .sdrasS9 his house.
provided the sale is light, ard to Keen
out singles" il it is heavy .Siilgles''
are seats left alone when the adjoining
pairs have been selected from ii chart.
Shingles" are hard to sell because very.
few persons attend a theatcr alone. Al
most all SEATS are sold in pairs.
treasurer with a bunch of .'singles' on
his hands. even with a house threaten
ing to sell out. is mp against it, for
often he will lose sales that would
have meant capacity but for the fact
that he cannot place a couple in ai
Joining seats. though he t ma sew
eral odd ones left
Dressing a house is the avoidance
OF this condition i'll one sense. hut it
applies to light houses generally. When
show is not doing well it is M to the
box Office to make the house look full
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