''THE GuMBALL QuEEN''
BARBARA LARKS-TUCKER
When he passed away, I had to dispose of the busi-
ness. When it broke up into pieces, people came from
all over the country to buy the parts, the machines, and
whatever else we had. Anything that had to do with
gumball collecting, I decided to keep for the decal mail
order business. As it happened, the day that he passed
away he was on his way to make a catalog that I now
use. All I did was take over from where he left off. I
had the catalog published. Inside, there are over 250
decals. I have added some new ones and I change the
price guide every year. I am very proud of what I have
been able to continue from Marshall. I want to main-
tain it because I don't want anybody to ever forget what
he did. He was truly a pioneer in the gumball machine
business.
Maybe the Lord works in strange ways because it
has kept me in touch with the other coin-operated folks
who were so kind and good to me. I always feel as if
Marshall will never really die and everyone will know
of him because of the decals that I sell and the fact that
I do what I do. I do the coin-op show at Pheasant Run;
I used to go to California, but it became too costly and
too difficult for me to do that by myself. I really enjoy
it; for a brief time in my life, I feel as if I am in the busi-
ness with Marshall that he stared.
It is now time to take a different road. My many
friends that I have seen at the shows will be sadly
missed. It's time for somebody younger and with the
same enthusiasm as Marshall to take over. I have since
sold the entire business to Scott Tidbal. I hope Scott has
as much fun as we did!
When we were in a posi-
tion to open up a business,
(Marshall had been in many
businesses, including the
antique locksmithing busi-
ness.) We chose a business
he truly loved. From the day
he started being interested
in gumball machines, un-
til the day he died, he truly
loved what he did. I'm very
happy to say that at least he
lived a life doing what he always wanted to do. When
we would go to a show, there would be lines of people
waiting to talk to him about a problem, to ask advice,
or even to open up an old machine they couldn't do by
themselves.
What happened was I began to ask people if I could
help them because they all seemed so impatient in
wanting to speak to him, and in some way or another
I began selling the decals that we had in our collec-
tion. Through the years, Marshall bought up old decals
from vendors. He collected them. Then he did the art-
work on them and had them reproduced. He had the
biggest inventory of decals in the world. I began to get
more interested and knowledgeable about which decals
went on which machines, so that I could help the people
who were standing in line. When he died so suddenly,
we had a store called The Gumball Warehouse; it was
huge. Anyone who knew Marshall knew that he was an
absolute saver and keeper of things. We had walls and
shelves filled with machines and parts and basements
that were so filled you could hardly walk in them.
GUMBALLS GALORE
FOR SALE
-WANTED-
Williams Music Mite Juke Box, Coin-Op Exercise Bike
1950s Soda Fountains, Traffic Lights, 39 in 1 Video
33, 45, 78 rpm Record Players - Kiddie Rides
• ANTIQUE ADVERTISING
• NEON CLOCKS & SIGNS
• SODA FOUNTAIN COLLECTIBLES
• GUM RELATED ITEMS
• COUNTRY STORE ITEMS
GAMEROOM POSTERS
WITH YOUR NAME IN THEM
- COIN OPERATED MACHINES -
GUM & PEANUT, SLOTS,
JUKE BOXES, COKE MACHINES
www.GameRoom Antiques.com
202-338-1342
~
- NEW STUFF EVERY WEEK
24
Randy & Sue Razzoog
:E=.J o!Ala\c"''.I.. n6 Fairfield N.W.
Grand Rapids, Ml 49504
(616) 453-8044