NOTE: A Double Treat on the Fair Weigh Golf----
Bill Howard has also sent a story on his Fair Weigh adventure .... Enjoy!
Dealer and friend Jack Freund has
written several articles under the head-
ing "The Fun is in the Hunt" when dis-
cussing experiences involved in the
collecting of coin-operated machines.
When it comes to the wonderful Fair
Weigh Golf Scale, featured on page
160 of my book, Every Picture Tells
a Story. I think of a variation on this
theme, because in this case, the fun
was in the pick-up. As indicated in
my book, this is the only known com-
plete or working example of the Fair
Weigh Golf Scale - arcade machine,
which I believe to be the greatest
American Golf Machine ever made.
It was manufactured by the Colonial
Scale Company, and its history has
been well documented by other au-
thors (see Drop Coin Here, March,
1999, issue as well as Jim Collings
article in the March, 2003, C.O.C.A.
magazine), so this article wil I be de-
voted solely as to how I came to ac-
quire and pick-up my treasure.
In my book I credit my partner, Bob
"B.P." Peirce, Mike Gorski, and Mike
Galvin for the help they afforded me
along the way, and the story goes as
follows.
As a collector who specializes in
rare American Golf Coin-Op Ma-
chines, I had been waiting years for
the opportunity to purchase the Fair
Weigh Golf Scale. Consequently, when 1 discovered that
this only complete and working example, owned at the
time by the leading scale collector in the country, Red
Meade, was to be offered at auction by James Julia in
Maine, I rushed to my mentor, Mike Gorski, for advice.
The God Father made it clear to me that this would be
the one shot the ultimate owner would
ever have to acquire this machine and
that, in his opinion, the price would
go "through the roof." The only com-
forting part of this advice was that, in
Mike's opinion, the ultimate value of
this machine would probably exceed
the "roof' and become a proper and
proud cornerstone to the collection of
the eventual winner.
Time has proved Mike correct
again, as his nickname suggests. Ev-
eryone else I consulted with, seemed
to have a much more conservative
opinion as to what it would cost to
snare this treasure. In fact, I bet three
friends a dinner that the ultimate cost
of this example would be more to-
ward Mike's estimate then theirs. As a
consequence, I enjoyed three wonder-
ful dinners at their expense. Don't bet
against the God Father's advice.
Mike's advice caused me to tum to
my partner, "B.P." Peirce, for arrange-
ments to put up much of my stake in
our partnership at the auction to cover
my bid. I then had to contact good
friend Mike Galvin to appear at the
auction and bid for me after he had
checked out its condition.
When Mike reported to me during
a trial I was involved in that I was the
successful bidder, I was elated until he
gave me the rest of the news that my
winning bid was within $100 of all the authority and
money l had given him.
As years have passed, I have grown happier and more
comfortable about the way things turned out. Without
the help of these friends, I would never have been able
to outlast the several underbidders.
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