...
cage to ask if they might know where I could find a guy
named Blake, when my heart began to speed up.
I didn't make it very far into the casino, for off to my
right I spotted a little Seeburg L. I quickly walked over to
check out this little musical wonder. When I finished look-
ing it over, it was time to find out whom it belonged to and
if it was for sale. I turned back to walk across the casino
floor and on the other side of the room I saw pay dirt ... The
Musical Victor was standing proud and tall between the two
picture windows of the building. I couldn't believe I was
lucky enough to stumble upon this machine which I had
been chasing but my luck was about to change.
I talked with the lady at the cage and she was able to get
me on the phone with Blake's son. I found out that they
also owned two other casinos and a hotel in town. He said
they would have no interest in selling the machine and I
could tell that the money would mean very little to them.
They enjoyed placing these old items from town in their
establishments. I ended up going to another one of their
casinos in town to meet him in person where I gave him
my card. I guess this was my closure on the find, as I knew
I would never be able to pry this old machine away from
them. Although it ended with the wrong conclusion, I was
very happy to have found what I was looking for still in the
town of Deadwood.
Two years later in 2009, we decided to head back to
South Dakota and ride bikes in the black hills again . We
went into Deadwood twice that week, but I never checked
on the machine to ask if he had changed his mind. My
cousin even joked with me about chasing down the ma-
chine again but I felt it would be a total waste of time. We
rode bikes all over South Dakota and Wyoming that week,
traveling through several old towns such as Deadwood,
Custer, Hill City, Keystone, Lead, and many others.
It was a long ride home, taking us just over twelve hours
to get back to Kansas City. We made it home late Wednes-
day night, and by the next day my mind was finally off the
old Wild West towns of South Dakota. Then, only five days
after returning home I received an unexpected phone call.
Blake was on the phone, the owner of the Musical Vic-
tor, asking ifl was still interested in buying his machine.
He was looking to buy another hotel in town, and thought
he might sell off a few items to help with the finances. I
couldn't believe it! We had parked our bikes across the
street from him only five days ago, and walked right past
his casino. I was so frustrated at myself for not stopping in
and checking up on the machine, for ifl would have merely
followed up with Blake once more, the machine would
already be at home and in my collection.
That was my biggest mistake on this hunt, but I quickly
came to my senses and made an agreement with Blake on
the machine. I was thankful that he had saved my card, but
in the same breath, I couldn't believe I had given up on this
machine so easily. It is amazing how things can change
over time, making what once seemed impossible, finally
able to come true. Great machines are still out there hidden
among the world; so don't give up when you feel that the
trail has run cold, for as long as your persistence does not
falter, there is always a chance.