C.O.C.A. Times

Making Some Predictions!
by Tim Laganke
"If the recently organized "Penny Arcade Owners Association" would hold their next convention in Cleve-
land it would be a university education for all of them. "
That is what the editor, of"The Automatic Age" said in 1931, and there was a good reason for that statement.
In those days there where not many people in the world that recognized the quality and mechanical ability of a
man from Cleveland, Ohio who built, sold and operated some of the finest arcade machines ever produced. His
name was William Gent, best known for producing one of best fortune-telling machines ever made and is now
known as the Cleveland Grandma.
In 1931 visitors to the Cleveland convention of the Coin Machine Operators Association of America, had
an opportunity to visit the most beautifully situated coin-operated machine factories in existence. The factory
stood on the bank of a river which one could cast a fishing pole out the window and take, a couple of hours from
strenuous labor, catching fish. From such an environment came the clear thinking and the perfect workmanship
of a number of substantial arcade machines. What a pleasure it must've been to work in those surroundings that
prevailed at the William Gent Manufacturing Company in Cleveland Ohio. Mr. Gent was one of the old-time
operators and arcade machine inventors in this country. He had been through every phase and experience of the
coin machine business. His arcade at Euclid Beach Park was recognized as the model for penny arcades around
the world. One of his most outstanding successes was the Grandmothers Predictions machine, the large fortune
teller that swept the country and made tremendous profits in chain stores, department stores and amusement
parks.
In the factory they manufactured scales and other coin-operated machines of various types and Mr. Gent was
the first president of the Coin Machine Operators Association of America.
Now, that you have a little history of the Gent Machine Co. and the man who made them, I would like to tell
you about mine and some of the many Grandmas that I restored and owned over the last 35 years.
In 1972 I made my first trip to
Mike Munves, (a coin-op machine
distributor) in New York City and
at that time, it was the largest col-
lection of arcade machines that ex-
isted in the world. There were four
or five floors of just the greatest
stuff that you could ever imagine.
My good friend, Wes Brewer and I
had free-range of the whole build-
ing. Climbing over Chester Pollard
Derby's and wedging ourselves
around and thru '27 and '37 World
Series baseball machines, and then
on and off the elevator, finding so
many great and early machines
that we couldn't make up our mind
what to buy. Many of the ma-
chines had pieces of masking tape
with initials of JS and DR and oth-
ers, meaning that they had already
been spoken for. Many years later
I realized that the JS had stood for
Jim Smith, it seemed that he and
a few others always had the first
pick of new arrivals. We had gone
there especially to find a Cleveland
Grandma. And then on the third or
fourth floor, coming off the eleva-
tor, we didn't just find a Cleveland
Grandma, but we found another
great looking piece, a grandma
with a cat over the shoulder. And
there were two or three fortune-
tellers of other makes. My friend
immediately said that he wanted
the Cleveland Grandma, it was in
good condition and according to
Joe, the owner of Munves, it had
just been picked up at an arcade in
Harlem. He said that it had been
well used by people looking for
a 'number" to play everyday. We
asked him what he wanted for the
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