C.O.C.A. Times

TALES OF THE HUNT - CONTINUED -
byJackFreund
Second "Tale" is told by Shawn Flock, Hesperia, MI
VELVET INT
GUM VENDOR
opportunity. They are so scarce that only one other col-
lector that I have talked to has ever seen one. All they
know is that there is at least one other out there because
it is pictured in Silent Salesman Too. With that being
said, I replied to his e-mail with the following message
"Don't show them to anyone; don't tell anyone about
them ; I want them. CALL ME IMMEDIATELY!!!".
When he called, he told me the story of how he
found them. He had been waiting for years to get the
chance to do an estate sale for an elderly woman that
he knew. When he finally got the chance to do the sale
he went to the house to go through it and see what was
there . While going through the main level of the house
the family members told him that he should go up to
the attic because they thought there were a couple of
old kerosene lanterns up there that should go in the sale.
The picture shows what he saw when he went to the at-
tic. He knew right away that they were gum machines
and that he needed to call me and find out what they
were. He asked the family members if he could sell
them before the sale if he could get a better price than
he thought he could in the sale. Luckily for me they
agreed. I knew before he called that I was going to buy
them, I just didn't know how much I was going to have
to pay. I asked him what the price was, his response
was "I don ' t know, make me an offer". This of course
sent numbers reeling through my mind. I thought for a
few seconds, taking into consideration the rarity of the
machines, and the scarcity of funds in my bank account,
and came back with a number. There was a long pause
on the other end of the line; I don't think that he was
expecting a number with that many digits. He said that
it would be a deal but I had to look at them and make
sure that I was happy before money changed hands. I
asked how soon I could come and pick them up.
I drove the three hours to meet him that Sunday. On
the way down to meet him, many things went through
my mind. I still didn't have any more information
As serious collectors we all visit as many antique
stores, rummage sales, garage sales, estate sales, etc. as
we can. Most of the time we leave these places emp-
ty handed, now and then we find a little something to
take home with us, and once in a great while we get to
come home with a real treasure that "makes our year".
Personally I don 't have much time to go hunting for
treasures. I don't travel much, and my two young kids
keep my wife and I very busy so I don't get to auctions
and antique stores as much as I'd like. Even with my
limited time for searching I was recently lucky enough
to be on the receiving end of a great, previously undis-
covered find.
The story starts with a phone call on a Wednesday
night from a friend that sometimes shares a booth with
my father and me at a general antique show. Our friend
sometimes finds a coin-op piece in his travels and calls
me to see what it is and ifl want to buy it. He has found
a couple of common pieces in the past but nothing out
of the ordinary. This time was very different. He e-
mailed me a picture that night and when I opened the
picture I almost fell out of my chair. He had found not
one but two extremely rare Velvet Mint Gum Vendors.
For those of you who do not know what a Velvet Mint
is, let me just say that there is probably only a hand full
known to exist. The chance to own one would be amaz-
ing and the chance to own two is a once in a lifetime
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