I was in the coin machine business for many years.  I owned and
operated the arcade games at Seabreeze Park in Rochester, New York,
and at Fun 'n Games Park near Buffalo, New York.

The amusement parks and bars, et cetera, did not want to purchase
games so we would purchase the games, install them, and repair them.
The venue owners would, and still do, receive 50 percent of the money
generated by the games.  I would guess this was what a "route operator"
did back then.

By the way, I met Matthew Caulfield at Seabreeze Park!

Dave Kaspersin - Dynamic Recording Studio
Rochester, New York