machine. However, upon taking a closer look you will
quickly see that the two are completely different. You
will notice the name change on the top casting, the ex-
tra little kitty window in the front, the counter window,
and some detailed changes in the castings.
was tom down in February of 2014 by the city. Harry
Brinck lived on the second floor of the building above
his business; he passed away in 1982 at the age of 88.
Bob Wedlake, Louie Hettick, & John Darlington
worked for the Brinck Company and they bought it
from Harry just before he passed. In the early 80's
when the laws changed in Montana that legalized the
collecting of slot machines manufactured prior to 1950,
the three partners cleaned out the basement. The place
was loaded with lO0's of old coin machines including
numerous Pace and Buckley slots.
I have always continued to stay in contact with Fred
over the years in hopes that someday I would own this
special machine. It only took 8 years since the first
phone call for that day to finally arrive which made me
the proud new owner of the slot machine. I now know
the feeling that Fred must have had when he pulled it
out of that old dark basement in Butte.
One of the partners, Bob Wedlake, was a very good
friend of local gambler and dealer Tommy Kallas who
was also Fred's father in law. Bob promised to sell
Fred one of the antique slot machines that had been
sitting in the basement for decades. In September of
1984 Fred went over to the old building to pick up his
new acquisition. They headed down to the basement
and Bob agreed to sell Fred a Pace orange front comet
for $600. Fred was excited to get the new machine but
when they looked at the orange front Bob had in mind,
he noticed the handle was broken off. Bob told Fred to
just take the white comet machine sitting on the floor
since the handle was in good shape. Fred hauled it out
of the basement and outside into the daylight. That is
when he discovered it was not just a Pace Comet but a
Pace Kitty! The machine turned out to be in remarkable
original condition as it had seen very little use.
Never give up and always stay on the hunt. When
you stumble upon something you can't have, always be
patient as your luck may change over time. I enjoy talk-
ing about these old slot machines, if you have a Pace
Kitty or a story to share please feel free to give me a
call @ 816-835-3316 or you can reach me from my
website www.kccoinop.com, thanks, Johnny.
The Pace Kitty is a very desirable and unique slot
machine that was produced from 1937 to 1939. This
machine is different from the rest of the pack since it
has four black cat symbols on the first reel strip replac-
ing what would typically be seen as a lemon or a loser.
When you hit a black cat symbol a coin will fall into
a chamber behind a small window to the right of the
jackpot. This is where the machine's gets its name
"the Kitty" as it can build up and hold as many as 40
coins. If you play the machine 10 times in a row with-
out hitting a winner the Kitty will pay out. You will
also notice the counter window on the front right of the
machine to keep track of the losing plays until a win-
ning combination is hit and you will always start back
at zero with any payout. The case style on the Kitty
can be overlooked for a Comet if you just glance at the
more photos on next page
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