C.O.C.A. Times

Can Gum and Peanut Machines Be Faked?
by Terry Harte
Part I
I've been collecting and restoring gum ball, peanut
and other coin operated machines for the last 25+
years. This hobby started for me when I was at the
Pasadena Rose Bowl swap meet one Sunday look-
ing for oak furniture. My partner and myself had a
small space in an antique mall and needed more
merchandise. I was very much involved in refinish-
ing and restoring antique oak furniture. After awhile
we started seeing that reproduction oak furniture
~as selling better than antique oak, so I was think-
mg about doing something else that relates to
antiques, but didn't know what.
While looking for furniture at the Rose Bowl I saw
a box of gumball parts and semi complete machines
including globes. I didn't know anything about
them, but the price was right. I took the machines
home and restored them to what I thought was back
to original factory condition. I later found out they
were ,:\dvance Machine Co., Model D. I kept the
one with the football globe because it was different
than the others I had. I still have it in my collection.
puring ~he past ye_ar~ of searching, restoring, trad-
mg, sellmg and bmldmg the collection, one discov-
ers that sometimes a machine is missing parts, or
they're broke. I always tried to find original parts to
complete my machines, but when necessary had the
local foundry "recast" the part I needed from a bor-
rowed orig!nal piece._ I sooi:i discovered the foundry
was recastmg parts mcludmg whole machines for
other people.
This brings me to the point of this article. When
recast parts are used to complete a machine, i.e.
door flap, bottom plate, vending wheel, etc., they
can't always be identified later on as being "origi-
nal" or "recast". I had the foundry make some
replacement parts that were so good in appearance
and quality, that it was hard to tell them from the
original. When the original piece is very sharp and
clean, and the person who makes the sand cast mold
is very talented, it can be hard to tell the difference
by looking. On the other hand, I've had parts that
look so bad that I had to return them to be re-done.
Within the last year or so I've been talking to other
C.O.C.A. members about what seems to be a new
outbreak in the market of reproduction machines
and parts. Some have been listed on eBay and sold
as "original", or "implied" as original. Later the
new buyer discovers machine is not real but fake.
This . tactic o~ passing off completely faked
machmes as ongmal to unsuspecting buyers will
ultimately destroy our hobby, resale value and cred-
itability for future collectors. Dan Davids had a
good quote on this topic; "My issue is that some of
these fakes are being sold with the express purpose
to defraud the buyer by passing the machines off as
originals, with the original's price. It's all driven by
greed".
Most of us are aware of people in our hobby who
manufacture globes, decals, specialty springs, rods,
replace flap doors, etc. that serve our needs when
the original part cannot be found and the machine
ne~ds to be competed. I don't believe that anyone
obJec~s to some recast or replacement parts on their
machme. After all what are you going to do when
you find this great all original (including paint)
Columbus Model A, but the globe is missing? You
b~y a repl~cement globe and decal, now you've got
this beautiful early machine for your collection. If
!~e original globe shows up someday, great, replace
it.
I also don't have a problem with completely re-
made or faked machines such as the "Smilin' Sam"
Salted Peanut Man. The difference here is that these
are being displayed and sold as "REPRODUC-
TIONS". Even with the "aged" paint jobs, there are
ways to tell the difference between new and old. We
also know of Pulver cases that have been complete-
ly_ re~one with "new porcelain". Here again I think
this is acceptable because it's being sold as an old
c~se with new porcelain. Besides, you can tell the
difference between old and new porcelain. Some of
the ways to tell the difference between replacement
and f ~ed parts as compared to genuine original
parts will be better explained in detail in later arti-
cles in this series.
This finally brings me to the reason why I wanted to
write . this article about ' 1 Can peanut and gum
machmes be faked? The answer is YES.
Somewhere between 15 to 20 years ago, I wanted a
cast iron Columbus A with Dish Base. I could never
find one for a price I could afford. So I borrowed
continued ....