The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1905-10-19
BOX OFFICE TRICKS,

QUA UT Il NE IklCkS.
THE BERTH OF A THEATER TICKET
SELLER IS NOT A slNecuRe.
WY the Man Who Sits Behind the
Wicket Must he . Good JuAse oi
Human Natare-The Art Of ssDress.
Ing q Light Hease.
To the average theater goer the man
who sits behind the wicket in the box
ONCE and sells tickets seems to have
one Of the sinecures of earth. True, he
has to answer many fool questions and
deal with many fool persons who are
often ugly because others with more
foresight have picked up early all the
good seats. He has to handle diplo-
matically the woman who wants dollar
seats for IS cents and with the Othes
fellow who wants first row, center -
after the play has begun and that has
been sold for week ahead. But all
these things seem but his share of the
minor ills Of earth. Outside Of them
apparently his job IL what il generally
known as 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
II oil that 10 usually thought about his
duties. But ut the same time he il
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 IL need there be. and
1t keeps him hustling to hold his job
to do it too
The man behind the wicket is a good
man IL he can make you buy q seat
that costs you more than you intended
to invest to see that particular SHOW
all attractions in a playhouse are
Shows" in the parlance. be they opera,
comedy or vaudeville. Now, most men
think they know what they are going
to get when they visit theater, and
they especially have the price fixed in
their minds. Perhaps. psychologically
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
oollau~ II 20 h1o dOi1Vv routine ~vyl,iIo
1t is an occasional act on the mans
part. Hence he is fortified for the pub
lie, and the latter is not for him, and
so when the people step up, especially
II 1t 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.
Hos does he do it? Largely by the
power Of suggestion. He implies that
you want it. for instance, when you 60
up. In other words. he puts the ques-
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 1t rather apologetically.
He has the higher rate tickets in his
hand. and IL you do not take them he
reaches to the rack for the others, and
all the time the line is waiting. those
back Of you are scowling. IL not max
ing remarks. and every one within ear
shot of the window knows that you
have refused the higher seats for the
tower priced ones. This is embarrass-
ing. Especially is it 80 IL a girl is with
you, waiting just outside the rail that
separates the mob from the line, and
the chances are 10 to 1 that you will
take the cue, Involuntary, and pay a
quarter more. when you had no inten-
ton Of doing so when you approached
the clever man In the b0x.
That is one way. 1t doesn't require
any falsehood. 1t does require good
knowledge Of human nature. Some men
wouldn't 'stand for" that. They would
b 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 chart. A man will then
step up and ask for a good seat"
about a certain place. Running
through his lists. the seller finds him
something very near there, and he is
satisfied. That one man is finished in
q few seconds. 1t would take minutes
IL the sheets were there. Time is i'm
portant when the orchestra is playing
and the curtain about to go up.
Still further, the absence Of chart
enables the seller to dress his house,
provided the sale is light, and to keep
out "slngles" II it is heavy. Singles"
are seats left alone when the adjoining
pairs have been selected from q chart.
"singles" are hard to sell because very
few persons attend theater alone. AL
most all seats are sold in pairs. A
treasurer with bunch Of 'tsingles" on
bis hands. even with house threaten
ing to sell out, is "up against it," for
often he will lose sales that would
have meant capacity but for the fact
that he cannot place a couple in adj
Joining seats. though he may have sew
eral odd ones left.
Dressing house is the avoidance
Of this condition in one sense, but 1t
applies to light houses generally. When
q show is not doing well It is up to the
box Office to make the house look full
even Though II he Onlv narflv solid