C.O.C.A. Times

steamship sunk, its cargo holds were full of supplies
and goods, in route to the many merchants located
in cities along the banks of the Missouri River.
V's, Oak Acorns, and a Zeno display
case for $895. Right next door at the
Maine Street Mall, we found a punch-
ing bag/boxing machine for $7,000. I
picked up a Victor Halfback with an
unusual tum handle for $22 ( see
photo). We also stopped in
Springfield, just north of the Ozarks,
at a shop called George & Joan's
Antique Mall. They were ready to close when we
got there, but it was a big shop with lots of nice
stuff. Common machines were expensive, but we
found a Major Alwyn, in somewhat rough shape.
They offered it to us for $225, but we just didn't
have the room.
After a guided tour, where we learned historical
details of the ship and its sinking, we were allowed
to roam freely through the museum. The merchan-
dise was so well preserved it was incredible. Large
quantities of china, glassware, silver, tools, guns,
fabric and more lined display cases. We spent an
hour looking at all the well preserved antiques
before moving on. Our next stop was at an antique
shop just a few blocks away, the River Market
Antique Mall. I didn't find any coin-op in the mall,
but I struck up a conversation with one of the deal-
ers there. He said he had a 1940s Silver King with a
broken globe. We swapped business cards. He
called me the week after we got back home, and
sold it to me for $35.
While we were in the downtown area, we decided to
visit State Line Antique row. Unfortunately, it was
Monday and all the shops were closed. Too bad,
some of the shops looked promising. Then we drove
to a cluster of shops in Levenworth and Weston,
Northwest of Kansas City. We found a few scales
and pinball machines, but not much else.
On our way out of Springfield, in route to our final
destination (St. Louis), we stopped at an antique
shop. The outside lot looked like a
junk yard, but we found coin-op
machines inside. Many of the
machines had been restored and were
quite expensive. I picked up a 1950s
Topper with a broken globe for $30
there, ( see photo). We stopped at
many other antique shops on the drive
to St. Louis, but didn't find much.
The next day we headed for the
Ozarks. Old Gas Pumps and
rusty Coke Machines were a
common site in front of the
many antique shops on our way
to the Ozarks. When we got
into the city, we found many
huge malls, but prices in most,
were high. In one shop, I
picked up a 1950s Coast Basketball machine ( see
photo), in excellent condition, for $200. The store
owner said he had just picked it up at an auction.
They also had a nice looking English Cigar vendor
for $800, and lots of gas station and oil collectibles.
In the Ozark antique mall, we found a lot of coin-
op. They had a 1930s WizBall pinball machine for
$295. Also, a crane machine, missing the bottom
half, for $395. They also had some Victor Model
The first morning in St. Louis, we visited fellow
coin-op collector Steve Fautsch. He showed us his
collection of machines which was very nice. I found
we had a lot in common, and our collections were
quite similar. We had only one afternoon to shop in
St. Louis, and my wife wanted to visit the Cherokee
Antique Row shops. We were told it was in a rough
area, and shouldn't go. But, she was driving, and
guess where we ended up. We found that as long as
you stayed on the main road, it was OK. But I
stayed with the car and let my wife and son do the
hunting. We picked up some Northwestern 60 and
49er globes for $15 each. There were some really
nice shops in that area. Later that afternoon we
stopped at the St. Louis Arch. It was hot and quite a
long walk. Security was high, and we had to pass
through an X-ray machine, which destroyed several
rolls of film.
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