Over One Thousand Machines ... But Whose Counting?
by Donna & Barry Goldfarb
I am married to a collector, Barry Goldfarb. Not just
any collector. Not a stamp collector, a coin coll ec-
tor, or unfortunately for me, not a jewelry collector.
My husband collects slot machines. Three wheeled
beautiful, old, large, and very large slot machines.
We have put a third floor in our house, just for him
to display more of his slot machines. Over one thou-
sand machines ... but whose counting? He has been,
as most people are, who have this type of personal-
ity, an avid collector. He reads, studies catalogs,
repairs, paints, travels to shows, attends meetings,
and basically spends most of his leisure time pursu-
ing this hobby. He started collecting slot machines
over 25 years ago, but after he sold his company in
1994, his desire and interest in collecting soared. He
doesn't miss the "big" show in Chicago twice a
year. He recently purchased the "Liberty Bell", the
first slot machine ever made! He doesn't set it apart
from all the others, but has it among the rest, like a
father who doesn't want to single out his most spe-
cial child, senstive to the others.
machines in the garage in the morning and evening,
but don't seem to desire having more than a couple
of anything, CD's excluded!
Barry is a collector in its truest form, he enjoys the
hunt, the pursuit, and ultimately, the prize! He cap-
tured my heart almost 20 years ago and I am still
crazy about my collector, after all these years!
I guess my wife pretty well summed it up, but now
some of the neat stories and details. I still remember
buying my first slot in 1973, a Mills bursting cher-
ry. It was a real basket case that I bought at a garage
sale for a couple hundred dollars. I took it apart,
painted it and with a couple of extra parts, I was
hooked for life.
I used to joke with my friends that I would not stop
collecting until I had them all, not realizing how
many thousands of different coin op games there
are. It gave me a great excuse to keep going,
because I truly am addicted.
I am not a collector. I have tried, with his encour-
agement, to collect turtles, salt and pepper shakers,
limoges, napkin rings, but always lose interest. That
is because I don't have the "bug." I admire him hav-
ing a passion that doesn't stop. Where I get bored
with hobbies after some time, he remains true to his
passion, his collecting.
Over the years I've found some truly unusual
machines, a Clawson coin drop with music, not too
many of these are around, when you push that
plunger it really turns peoples heads . The Hoke
snake is everyone's favorite, interesting how Hoke
got around the law by calling it a skill machine.
He enjoys having his other "slot" friends over too,
discussing the machines, and hearing other collec-
tors' stories as well. We have made good freinds
from all over the world. The local slot club buddies
have always been high on his "to do" list, calling to
see what' going on in the area, looking for that rare
find.
The all wood Pace Comet is like a piece of art, made
during World War II when metal was scarce. The
pace Royal Double is as beautiful as it comes, very
cool how you could play two different coins with
one pull. Frank Polk started the character figure
craze, a real artist. My Polk "miner" is so life like,
people who see it for the first time think it's a real
person.
If collecting is genetic, then it has skipped over our
children. Our 18 year old son, Michael and our 15
year old daughter, Amy have grown up with this
collector of a father, seen him tinkering with his
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