George Miller, a founder and first president of what was then the Music Operators of America in 1948, has been selected to the first Amusement Industry Hall of Fame.
The Chicago-based MOA – now AMOA – first met on Jan. 21, 1948, when 68 representatives of state and local jukebox operator associations from around the country gathered to rally against stifling legislation.
Miller was elected the first president of that group and held the position until 1963. Under his leadership, the group held their first convention in 1950 at the Palmer House in Chicago with nearly 500 attendees. The association’s legislative efforts also thwarted bills that would have had operators pay jukebox royalties.
Afterward, Miller returned to California to run the California Music Merchants Assn., which he founded back in 1935 when he was a route operator in the state.