Where Are They Now? Checking In With Jerry Monday, A CoinbizVeteran With a Heart & Story as Big as Texas

T here’s a Dallas-bred,Texas native namedJerry Monday who’swell known to many indus-try long timers…and for lotsof different reasons. Retirednow, let’s just say that dur-ing his 40-odd years in coin-op he’d been around theamusement industry’s hornand back…and left a ton ofmemories in his wake. Jerry’s worked on all

three levels of the trade inthe Southwest, been all overthe country and even theworld helping folks designand outfit new game cen-ters. He also was one of thevery first to recognize thatthe salvation for many afterthe “video slide” of the early’80s came in the form of theredemption game.Some veterans still

remember this flamboyantTexan, and occasionallyreminisce about him whenthey gather at associationmeetings and other socialaffairs. Few could entertainyou with better stories aboutthe business as it was “backin the day” than this guy(who once got the Gottliebpinball line for one of hisenterprises “by default”after the factory’s regulardealer got drunk and cussedout a member of theGottlieb family).Jerry’s been a route oper-

ator (Century Games out ofTulsa was his “starting line”

in 1960) and an arcadeowner (he once had a gameroom at the famous Knott’sBerry Farm amusement parkin California). He’s eitherowned or worked for dis-tributorships (like Southgateand SunBelt in Texas, Bet -son West, Circle Interna -tion al and his own CenturyVending dealership in Cali -fornia) and a selection ofmanufacturers (like Nin ten -do, Leisure Sports and hisvery own Century gamebrand). Jerry’s even been a trav-

eling coin-op consultant,taking him to such marketsas Mexico, Russia, China,Saudi Arabia and evenVietnam. But as often hap-pens, what began in Dallasbrought him all theway back there whenhe retired around 2001after selling his lastdistributorship there toBetson…and thenkicking back.

ShowbizManJerry Monday was

born two days afterChristmas in 1934 (hecelebrated his 83rdbirthday during lastyear’s holidays). Afterschooling, he servedfour years in the Navy(two of which werespent on the destroyer

USS Ganard).After discharge,he joined theAssociatedBooking Corp.specializing inbooking rock ’n’roll and countrymusic bandsinto colleges.“We repre-

sented a lot ofacts back then,” Jerryrecalled in a recent inter-view, “like Sam Cooke, theOsmond Brothers, LouisArmstrong, B.J. Thomas,and even Sam the Sham andTrini Lopez, if you remem-ber them. Our roster alsoincluded a man who becamea very close friend, ConwayTwitty.

“Conway’s real namewas Harold Jenkins,” Jerrycontinued. “He got his firstname from his hometown ofConway, Arkansas, andstarted out as a rock singerbefore going country,” headvised. “He loved baseball,and hamburgers with a sliceon pineapple on them.During a time when he lived

in Oklahoma City, heopened a fast foodplace called TwittyBurgers.“Conway had a

used military propplane that was so slowwe once flew out toLas Vegas and itlooked like the auto-mobile traffic on I-40below was movingfaster than we were,”Jerry continued. “Onenight, Conway was upon the stage at theAladdin Hotel when hestopped singing andtold the audience to‘say hello to the manwho wrote my big hit

F feature

Our man Jerry Monday today (right) withhis closest friend Johnny Gatens (AmusementDistributors, San Antonio). They originally met in1974 when John worked as a bookkeeper forthe old Sutherland Distributing Co. in OklahomaCity. He served as best man at Jerry’s weddingto Sue. “I cannot think of a finer gentleman in thisindustry,” said Jerry of his friend.

Country recording star Conway Twittywas a good friend of Jerry’s and the two evenriend and even entered some business venturestogether back in the day.

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Hello, Darlin’. He pointeddown at me and the spot-light followed. Some ladiesthought I really had writtenthat song and asked for myautograph. Conway loved toplay jokes on people.” The Twitty/Monday

friendship ultimately blos-somed into a business dealwith an Oklahoma operatorby the name of DaleCuzalino selling mobilehomes. The business ulti-mately went south, but Jerrysays Twitty paid him everypenny he’d lost on his invest-ment. The next Mondayinvestment brought him toTulsa and the opening of astring of nightclubs thatincluded Mr. Magoo’s, ThePlaygirl and the Scotch Mist. In 1960, it also brought

him into the coin machinebusiness when he decided toexpand the pins, jukeboxesand pool tables he got forhis clubs into a service forfellow club and bar ownersaround town. Before long,the enterprising Mr.Monday had himself a routewhich he called CenturyAmusement. He ran thatroute for nearly a decadebefore selling out andreturning to Dallas.In 1962, he married a

beautiful lady named DianaJean. In due time, they had ababy son whom they namedJerry, Jr. Tragically, whenthe boy was only six yearsold, Diana Jean was killedin a drunk driving accident,and “big” Jerry became asingle parent.

Making &Selling CoinMachines“Around 1969, I part-

nered up with a formerDallas banker named Marty

jerry monday

Jerry and Sue Monday at their Century Distributing office inGardena, Calif. where they were among the first to recommend redemp-tion machines to customers after the video game business had softenedup. One year, they were Skee-Ball’s biggest distributors.

Glazerman to build coin-operated foosball tables,”Jerry advised. “The compa-ny was called Leisure Sportsand we named our first tablethe Lil Hustler. This earnedus a cease and desist orderfrom Nissan Motors whichmade a pickup truck by thatname,” he revealed.“Anyway, we took an

exhibit booth at that year’sMOA Show. It was my firstof many and was held in thedead of winter at Chicago’sConrad Hilton Hotel. Afterdealing with the Teamstersto get our booth going, weended up without a singlesale until a buyer fromMontgomery Ward gave usan order for a hundred hometables on the last day of theshow. Four years later,Wards closed and so didLeisure Sports.” Next stop on Jerry’s

coin-op circuit was at asmall video cocktail tablemaker in the San FranciscoBay Area called StellaGames. The factory wasowned by a man namedDavid Price, who in futuredays would work for Jerryduring the time he spentwith Betson West. Jerryremembers that his firstStella video game sale wasmade to Oakland, Calif.,route operator (and the firstimporter of NSM jukeboxesfrom Germany) HenryLeyser. “Stella Games closed in a

year and we were paid off inbad checks,” says Jerrytoday. “My son and I hadmade the move out there andnow, I was a single parentout of a job. But, I’d beenmaking some sales callsdown in Los Angeles toguys like Dean McMurdie atCircle International and Bob

Century made some games of their own in the early 90’s, one ofwhich was featured on the June 1994 cover of RePlay. That’s Jerry andSue with their salesman Mike Robinson touting the Paint ‘N Puzzle “paintby the numbers” touchscreen game.

132 | RePlay Magazine | March 2018

Portale at his place on PicoBoulevard. Tom Portaleoffered me a job as a sales-man in L.A. When BobPortale passed away, Ilearned that Bert Betti fromBetson Enterprises in Jerseyhad been an owner all along. So, guess what happened

then?” Jerry laughed. “I wasmoved back up to the BayArea to manage what wasnow Betson West Distribu -ting on Howard Street. In1982, I hired a lady namedSue Gaynor to help memanage the place. A coupleof years later, we got mar-ried, and stayed married fora very busy 17 years. Mybest man was my goodfriend then and now, JohnnyGatens from San Antonio.”

Back to SoCal“After that, I put in a

year or two working for RonJudy and Al Stone atNintendo, and then Sue andI relocated back down toSouthern California where Imanaged the PicoBoule vard distribu-torship CircleInternational afterthe death of itsfounder DeanMcMur die.”The next move

proved to be Jerryand Sue’s mostimportant when theyfounded CenturyDistributing in theL.A. suburb ofGardena. Over thenext decade, theybuilt their productroster from zero towell over a dozenfrontline brands ofcranes and prizegames from BayTek, Benchmark andBob’s Space Racers

to Seidel and Smart. “In ourfirst year, we were Skee-Ball’s biggest customer,” heproudly noted.The redemption revolu-

tion was on and their arcadeexpertise put them a bitmore in front of the curve

than some other distributors.They also branched intomanufacturing with a “paintby the numbers” videotouchscreen game calledPaint ’N Puzzles, a crane-like piece called Round theBend and even a photo

booth. In addition,their Spirit Designarcade consulting divi-sion was floweringunder Sue’s direction.(They divorced aroundthis time and Sue nowlives and works as adesigner inSacramento; Jerry saysthey’re still friends.)In 1996, Jerry but-

toned up Gardena andmoved to San Antonioto work at SouthGateDistributors on theinvitation of its ownerand bosom buddyJohnny Gatens. A yearlater, Jerry movedfrom San Antonio backto Dallas to runSunBelt Distributors,eventually buying that

business and renaming it hisnow-traditional CenturyDistribu ting. In 2001, heended up selling that placeto Betson. And then, ourbusy boy finally “put downhis tools!”

RetirementSo, what’s it like to kick

back after all of this?(Readers are cautioned toseparate the facts from theblarney.) “I have tried golf,but after a year, I stillcouldn’t get the ballthrough the windmill intothe 18th hole,” he grinnedwhen asked. How abouttennis? “Not much betterluck. Just ask that 16-year-old instructor with thewhite shorts. Besides, Ihave had two hip replace-ments, two stents and a suicide clause in my insur-ance policy that doesn’tallow exercise.”Television? “I almost got

addicted to GeneralHospital and As the WorldTurns. A surprise interven-

jerry mondaywant to fill us in on what you’ve been up to post-coinbiz? email editor@replaymag.com

Century also made a crane-like reaction game called Round the Bend shown here at the Gardena office byJerry, salesman Mike Robinson (left) and technician Paul Horning.

Jerry’s arcade design business has taken him tonumerous exotic markets, from China to SaudiArabia to Viet Nam. Here’s he’s making a wish at themore familiar Fountain of Trevi in Rome.

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tion from a case of Bud Liteshared with some friends at aCowboys game at Hooterscured that habit. I’m enjoyinglife in Dallas and keeping inas best a shape as I can. Ithink back on all those tons oftiny meatballs I ate at thoseBally, Nintendo and Segahospitality parties they hadback in the glory days.”What does Jerry also

remember from video boomtimes besides meatballs? “Iremember way back in 1982when some guy named AlStone stopped by Betson’s inSan Francisco when I ran thatoffice to tell me he and afriend named Ron Judy were importinga video game from a Japanese companycalled Nintendo.“I asked the big boss Peter Betti if

we could buy some. He saw the poten-tial, and ordered a small container. Therest is history. Betson ended up sellingthousands of Donkey Kongs. I alsoremember getting a Pac-Man cocktailtable shipped from Betson’s Jerseyoffice out to me on the Coast. I sold themachine to a Reno operator who in turnsold it to an operator in Jersey. That

thing had more miles on it than the guywho went around the world in 80 days,and everyone made a profit on the deal.Different times,” he said.“I’ve done a good bit of traveling

since I sold my place to Betson, con-sulting but also just for fun like arecent cruise I took. But recently,another guy who designs entertainmentcenters called to offer me a consultingjob in Dubai. I’d worked on one FECwith this guy’s firm many years agoselling games. I ened up turning him

down because I wouldn’tknow what games to recom-mend today. But it felt goodto get the offer, even if Icouldn’t take it,” he admitted.

The HighlightJerry’s been involved in

numerous deals, but we askedwhich one was the highlight.“I once bought a large enter-tainment center in Knoxville,Tenn., from the bank that hadtaken it over,” he began. “Isold the entire contents to aRussian gent named GrenadyFurman. Over three-day’stime, five other Russians

packed up ten containers of games, softplay parts and rides, and off they went.“At the time, I had my personal

account at a small Bank of Americabranch. On the day the Russians wiredseven figures into that account, I got acall from the bank’s vice president tocome and see him. That’s when Ilearned they had an ‘upstairs’ for impor-tant customers where free coffee andbagels were available and no waiting inthe teller line. I learned how folks withmoney lived. But after I transferred the

jerry monday

Jerry proudly hugs granddaughter Kiley at her wedding. He’s also closeto Sue’s daughter Shantelle whom he helped raise after he married hermom. “We speak or text every week, mostly about politics,” he says.

The guy at the desk signing autograph for Jerry Monday is theNFL’s all-time leading rusher Emmit Smith who played most of hiscareer for the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry’s hometown team.

Jerry with grandson Craig Kiley and great grandchildren today. Inretirement, he still travels a bit and is active in two investment groupsthat meet on a quarterly basis. But mainly, he just enjoys life in his hometown of Dallas.

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Russian’s money over to another bank,no more bagels.”

Good PeopleJerry says he’s met many fine peo-

ple in the course of his long and busycareer. Besides Johnny Gatens, there’sLinda Fernandez of the Fun Factorychain. “I did 21 IAAPA shows andevery one of Linda’s famous parties,”he noted. “Sue and I were at her firstone and were there for her at anothertime when her husband Kane was laidto rest. “Of course, Bill Cravens, Kenny

Anderson and Al Kress are on top ofmy list of industry greats. And thenthere’s Marcus Webb, a close friend ofmine during the time he was RePlay’sEditor and since. He even ran a numberof my very own ‘think’ pieces in themagazine. I’ve been lucky to know anddo business with a lot more nice folkslike them. “I also witnessed many acts of

kindness over the years. Like theFernandez family providing scholar-ship money to their Hawaiian employ-ees. Or when one of my own employ-ees at Betson died and the companypaid his wife three-month’s salary. “Then I remember when Maynard

Ostrow, the arcade operator at CircusCircus in Las Vegas, shipped me hun-dreds of stuffed animals for a Dallascharity for abused kids that I was sup-

porting. These and others were all goodpeople.“I met a lot of folks and made a lot

of friends over the years. I hope someof those who spent a fun-filled nighttogether with me will remember me

fondly, especially now that I’ve mel-lowed,” he laughs. “Any possibleembar rassment I may have causedthem was strictly unintentional,” helaughs.

The first time I met JerryMonday, it was instantlyclear that he had a mar-velous, country-style senseof humor (think author DanJenkins or standup comicJeff Fox worthy). Like a lot ofgood old boys from Texas,Jerry has often hidden hisconsiderable businesssmarts behind a down-home, unpretentious man-ner.

The more people havegotten to know JerryMonday, the more they real-ized he’s basically a teddybear with a gentle soul and

a gift for friendship. He lovespeople. He also loves fun,five-star restaurants, greatmusic, great movies, and anadventure now and then.

When RePlay startedrunning a monthly columnby Jerry many years ago,we discovered he had thatrare humorist’s writing talent.He took great pleasure insaying politically incorrectthings about the industry(and when it came to indus-try big shots, he lovedpulling the lion’s tail).

In 1997, when I was stillworking at RePlay, I visited

Jerry in SanAntonio andhad the goodfortune –– ormaybe the mis-fortune –– toshare one of hismore memo-rable adventures. That wasthe weekend Princess Dianadied in a car crash, and Inearly drowned during whatwas supposed to be a calm,peaceful, river rafting tripwith Jerry.

The highlight of the storycame when we hit a patch ofunseasonable white water

and I wasbounced

over the side.As I disap-peared belowthe surface forthe third time,Jerry (as he

later admitted) was thinking:“If Marcus drowns, what willI tell Eddie!?”

Happily, he never had tomake that phone call, andwe have been laughingabout that unplanned swimfor 20 years.

from Marcus Webbformer RePlay Editor

Marcus Webb

Marcus Webb: A Big Monday Fan

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