Coin Slot Magazine - #047 - 1978 - December [International Arcade Museum]
most
A number of other states are working
collectors
ar©
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flourishes as cabriole legs on these
coin-operated cast-iron curios, some of
which are embellished with brassy or
on similar legislation. Mr. Getlan and
others Insist that the changes in the «
laws are necessary to stop Hie confisca
tion and destruction of machines that
chromed facings.
are as much a part of the American
heritage us carousels and weather-
collectors deiight la keeping
t everything glittering — the chrome or
van^. Th«jy also fear that delays may
cause misunderstanding, especially If
'brass gleams, the paint is enamel
bright. Others prefer the patina of age
and opt for a duller finish. And ma
chines are found either way at flea.
a backlash develops against Atlantic
City's gambling, to halt the spread of
licensed gambling to other states.
Mr. Getlan said, "Of course, we don't'
markets, antique shows and shops* •
Sometimes the paint, job has. been
dramatically altered — marring or im-'
;want to be even remotely connected
with the push for legalized gambling..
That would hurt us.-:?-.-' .
•
"These .early machines that collec
tors and others seek to save predate the.
electromechanical • ■ equipment that
began to appear around 194L The
earlier designs should not — in many
cases cannot — be used regularly any
more. They are worn out — the springs
proving the design or at least erasing
what to some are extremely offensive
connotations. Tw© cases iif point ere
gum and candy machines in the shapes.
of men's busts—one, called, the Happy
Jap, is an ugly-three-dimensional ear-
■ toonlike stereotype that is improved by
painting out some of the oriental facial
-characteristics; the other one,..deep
brown, no longer looks like a black per
and levers doa*t always movs.?1"
son when painted red. .
Coin-operated vending machines are
about 200 years old and the first ones-
are said to have dispensed holy water.
Some of the earliest devices in 18th-cen» ■
tiny England were called honour boxes
— a coin opened the lid of a cigar box,
for example, and the person wad honor-
bound to take only one. But the boom in
-
_
*
Many collectors insist today on pur
chasing or restoring their machines to
the original finish but until now Hiai
■ h$s been difficult because of .the-ab
sence of authoritative information if*
print and books on the subject .Now all
that is changing. Vestal Press of Ves~
tal, N.Y., .publishes "House" Organ"
coin-operated' machines began in the
which keeps- track of-developments in
the field. So doesJ'Loose Change/' a
1880*s and lasted to about 1940.
The American public became ©b-
sessed with such devices and willingly
responded to every new offering,
monthly put out- bythe Mead Company
of Long Beach, Calif., and "Coin Slot/8
. a bi-monthly of Wheat Ridge9 Colo. .■■■'.
' Three books;.are out or soon will be.
The first, "An Illustrated Price Guide
to the 100 Most Collectible MacMnes"
by Richard M. Bueschel, is published
plying machines with pennies and nick
els. By twisting a dial, depressing a
plunger or merely inserting coins in a
slot, they were rewarded with a stick of
gum, a sourbail, a squirt of perfume,
by Coin Slot Books in Wheat Ridge,
their fortune or weight or both on a
card, an activated game, a song, collar '
buttons, a pencil, breath mints, cigars
or the chance to test one's strength.
Colo. ($13.45- by mail). A more colorful'
.com
m
:
u
se
from -mu collector
d
.of such machines, and a
e
e
d
The machines range a
in she from
the
d
a
writer who hastSone the bible on carou-
o
l
c
r
n
15-inch tali candy
and gum dispensers,
.a
. sel carvings, is also completing' a for-
w widen
Dow that
w
to nickelodians
are
and _
w
'. midable study on the subject.; His will-
/
/
:
taller than upright
pianos,
and
in
price
be a five-volume book covering eoin-op-
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coverage is available in "Drop Coin
Here" by'Ken Rubin, just published by
Crown ($10). And Fred Fried, a pioneer
from $25 or $50 to $40,000. They are in
variably painted in bright colors* and
■ the graphics are consistently ingenious
,erated.machines ~ their--history,, the
major * manufacturers;
for its publication.
and compelling. What really appeals to
© The International Arcade Museum
the esthetics
and the cost. No date has yet been sel
13
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http://www.arcade-museum.com/