Coin Slot

Issue: 1980 October 068

Coin Slot Magazine - #068 - 1980 - October [International Arcade Museum]
Letters to the Editor continued
serial numbers: Mills 5 cent on 448646 frame. Mills 10 cent
(Mint Vendor) removable front—FOK 1873 (to load mints). I
can't find any other numbers on case or mechanism? Where
that nature. It is apparent, that to find a current market value of
would they be located. Will you advise which manuals I should
order (Coin Slot Guides).
a particular stock or bond, one generally refers to the business
Thank you,
section of a local newspaper. Likewise, it is essential for a
Robert Lewis
collector of coin-operated machines to have a publication that
7 Ea. 14th St. Apt. 1110 I
can print comparable market value information. Moreover, in
New York, NY 10003
that auctions are a very good indicator of the current market
price, articles in your magazine regarding auctions should
include such information, not only for its informative value, but
also for the awareness it imparts, which is a necessity to an
investor and collector such as myself.
I wish I had the time and opportunity to attend many of the
coin-operated machine auctions in this country. A collec
tor/investor needs all the up-to-date information he can obtain
to keep abreast of the changes that often occur in this area. By
not publishing such prices when you have them available is
depriving many of important data.
For the above mentioned reasons, I would appreciate your
reconsidering your decision not to print the dollar amounts. I
would also like to state that such prices have been published in
your magazine articles on the subject for years. To eliminate
such information now would be a disservice to many discerning
collectors.
I would appreciate your consideration on this matter.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Nofal
Dear Editor,
I am enclosing photos of my slot machines with the following
Is proud to announce the release of the largest illustrated
catalog of Gambling antiques in the world! Over 60 pages,
hundreds of rare, one of a kind gambling collectibles
pertaining to the following catagories: Faro, Roulette,
Hazard, Chuck-A-Luck, Lotteries, Horse Racing, Slot
Machines, Trade stimulators, Gambler's weapons, Cards,
Dice, Tops, Card Presses, Chip Racks, Table tops,
Dealing Boxes, Card Trimmers, Corner Rounders, Gam
ing Sets, Poker Chips, Markers, Counters, Pocket
Gambling items, all types of Cheating Devices, Saloon
antiques, Colorful Layouts, Punchboards, plus a large
assortment of Paintings, Prints, Postcards, Books and
Catalogs pertaining to the field. So send your $2.00
today!
The catalog will be mailed 1st class on Nov. 10th. The
price is just $4.00. Send your check today to
Which Coin Slot Guides you ask? Well, first ofall, you've got
some interesting machines there. That Mills 5-cent with the
serial 448,646 looks like a "Blue Front" MYSTER Y, but it isn't.
The bigjackpot with the lock above it is the clue. The machine is
the Mills HANDLOAD of about 1938, nicknamed the "Black
Front". It's the same machine as the MYSTERY exceptfor that
oversize handloaded and lockedjackpot. Sofar there is no Coin
Slot Guide for the HANDLOAD, and none projected, as the
MYSTERY Guide No. 15 does the trick.
The next machine is even trickier. It's the Mills JACKPOT
FRONT VENDER SKILL. The problem here is that, while a
Coin Slot Guide for the Mills jackpot and skill machines is
projected and in the works, the Guide is No. 96 and won't see the
East Coast Casino Antiques
98 Main St.
Fishkill, N.Y. 12524
Dear Robert,
:
rom -museu
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light of a printer's press until some time next year. So, you'll
want No. 96 when it comes out. In the meantime, Guide No. 17
covering the Mills Bells from 1926 through 1931 will help you
with the mechanism as your machine is a "Bullseye", or 1926 or
later. The only thing missing will be the jackpot and skill stuff,
but if it's the mechanism you need to know about Guide No. 17
will do the trick.
Hope this helps.
Editor
6 — THE COIN SLOT
© The International Arcade Museum
OCTOBER, 1980
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
Coin Slot Magazine - #068 - 1980 - October [International Arcade Museum]
We'd
Like
You
To
Meet
Dick
Bueschel
by Rosanna Harris
Has the question
ever crossed your mind, "How
When the paper route money could swing it, Dick and
does someone become an expert?" It crossed
his friends would go to a classy movie theater, The Lamar,
ours and we decided to go to the source and find
on Lake Street in Oak Park. They would pass a big square-
out. We've talked extensively with Dick Bueschel.
block house at Pleasant and Home and wonder at all the
He is recognized as a top expert in the field of antique slot
people coming and going. Years later he would come to
machines, but we also discovered that he is a recognized
find out that it was Mills' House.
expert in other fields as well.
Dick, it seems, was born into slot machines because he
was raised on the west side of Chicago. "It was a strange
and wonderful section of the city called 'Austin'; it had
been a small town, but when Chicago grew and grew in the
1890's the town of Austin was engulfed." Before that it had
been a showplace along with the neighboring town of Oak
Park. Although it became an "old" section of Chicago in
the twenties and thirties, the residents believed that it was
still the small town it had once been.
Dick, in fact, was born December 26, 1926 (Mao Tse
Tung was also born on December 26— a fact of no
particular relevance.). It was a time when children began
.com
m
:
u
work early in their life and m
Dick was no
exception. He
us all e over
fro route
started his career with
a paper -
Austin. "I
m
d
e
e
d Some c of a my
d
a
started at 5:30 l A.M.
customers
were.
. . Tom
o
r
n Pine,
.a old
ow North
w
NNatling D on
man Mortimer Mills with his
w
//w the street from Merrick Park (well
garden right
tp: across
t
h
known for its Indian trail marker elms; still there when I
was a kid) and a much younger Bert Mills on west
Washington."
OCTOBER, 1980
© The International Arcade Museum
From the paper route Dick graduated to machine shops
and then to a hobby shop where he learned to build model
airplanes for collecting enthusiasts. One avid collector,
having over 100 models in his collection, later donated his
collection to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.
During the war years Chicago (and its western suburbs)
was coin machine nirvana. The Jennings plant was batting
out scab SILVER CHIEF and BRONZE CHIEF Bell
machines. Mills built plant #3 for war work, while on west
Fulton at the Watling Plant the lights were on night and
day. The largest employer in the area was Mills and to the
young
Dick Bueschel
it seemed that everyone in his
neighborhood either worked for Mills or had a relative who
did. Even so it didn't really seem to be such a "big deal."
The summer of 1944 found Dick and a few of his buddies
biking around Lake Michigan. At the end of two weeks
they were flat broke and took any work available which
Continued on page 8
THE COIN SLOT — 7
http://www.arcade-museum.com/

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