C.O.C.A. Times

COIN-OP COLLECTIBLES
SPAWN RENO LANDMARK
by Marshall Fey
Unorthodox would be the best way to describe the museum-like atmosphere of Reno's for-
mer Liberty Belle Saloon & Restaurant. Even more unusual is that the business was named for
a slot machine. The owners, Marshall & Franklin Fey, were grandson's of the first slot's inven-
tor, Charles Fey. A German immigrant who patriotically dubbed his invention the Liberty Bell
after the famous American symbol of freedom. A year after opening the business an "e" was
added on the bell, thus adopting an agnomen popular with early western saloons.
GENESIS OF THE LIBERTY BELLE COLLECTION
In 1995, as a side venture, Marsh and Frank, along with a third brother and a friend, decide to create a casual
drinking tavern for the younger crowd. It operated as a beer-only bar located in San Mateo, California, and we
named her the Swinging Door, for the entry popular in movies depicting old west saloons. It was a fun place
with the imbibing patrons pumping a player piano and singing along with the words inscribed on the rolls of the
old time songs. A low budget remodel of a former young girls dance studio, it was furnished with old chairs (25
cents each), discarded tables ($1.00), and outdated light fixtures all obtained from second hand stores. A little
paint, burlap bags on the cei ling, peanut shells on the floor, and a self-constructed bar completed the informal
ambiance.
Being bachelors into their late twenties, Marsh and Frank, were able to financially make many antique addi-
tions to the popular beer parlor and began starting to accumulate coin-operated collectibles- this became the
birth of the Liberty Belle Collection. These additions included a refurbished 1946 Wurlitzer Colonial Model
108, purchased for $250 (78-rpm jukeboxes were fast becoming obsolete); another $250 "great find" was a 24
cylinder Edison Multiphone along with a number of other coveted pieces. To assist us at the Swinging Door
our father donated a pair of very desirable and unique attractions that we could operate. One was a 1920 Mills
Violano Virtuso (purchased new in 1922, operated in his arcade and then stored in his shop after the violin was
stolen from it) and the other a 1905 Mills Auto Stereoscope. We placed the latter machine, featuring the 1906
San Francisco Earthquake photos, in front of the bar to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of this historic
event. Collecting coin-op music had not yet become popular, so we were able to purchase a Nelson-Wiggins
Orchestration and Seeburg and National pianos, all in the $200 range. The Swinging Door, the "in place" for
young patrons, proved to be more fun than fortune , but it created an insatiable appetite for collecting and a valu-
able experience for setting up and running a simi lar business. As a bonus the Swinging Door also provided the
brothers with two pretty, young brides.
OUR SOURCE OF INCOME ENDS
While the Swinging door was a side fling, the brothers worked full time for their father, Edmund Sr., a con-
cessionaire at Play land-at-the-Beach in San Francisco and owner and operator of the coin-operated amusements
machines there. The elder Fey had started his business there in 1920 by placing arcade machines around the
Merry-Go-Round when the amusement park was in its infancy. Thirty-eight years later his friend and long time
owner of the park, George Whitney, died. Whitney's son and son-in-law, wishing to control all of Play land 's
revenue, terminated all leases for the numerous concessionaires. Suddenly, we were out of gainful employment.
A CHANGE OF CAREER BECOMES MANDATORY
Armed with the operation experience of the beer bar and the unique collection of machines we had acquired
after three years at the Swinging Door we felt a good future might be to open a combination bar and museum,
especially since we had access to our grandfather 's original Liberty Bell slot. This would be the focal point of
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