C.O.C.A. Times

As for the very beginnings of this machine, and the
Draw Poker machine, there is a good write-up on the
history of Charlie Jameson and his new founded com-
pany, National Coin Machine Exchange, that is found
in Richard Bueschel 's "Guide to the l 00 Most Collect-
ible Trade Stimulators", on page 80. Charlie first started
out back during the Yukon gold rush as a grifter. He be-
came a "lieutenant" in Detroit's notorious Purple Gang
and a leader of the local slot machine operator's asso-
ciation. At one time Charlie was running slots in over a
dozen states. When he started to make big money, he
formed his company in Toledo, Ohio to try and escape
the shadows of the mob in order to produce machines
of his own. But one day in 1936, some of his "Purple
Gang" buddies from Detroit walked into his shop in
Toledo and said he had a real good thing going and
they wanted to be part of it. That night, Charlie closed
the factory doors, and never went back to Toledo, so
the machines that he produced between 1934 and 1936
were very limited in their production.
In the process of restoring this machine, I did re-
search to find out what color or colors these machines
were produced in. What I found out was that they were
done in silver with blue trim and light yellow or beige
with red trim. I choose to go with the light yellow with
red trim. The art deco designs are highlighted with dark
red, bright yellow and bright orange. The blocks around
the numbers 1 through 5 over the window and on mar-
quee are in black and red. The original reel strips were
in too bad of condition to reuse, so a sign specialist in
Dallas was contracted to recreate a totally new 1930 's
art-deco-look deck of cards printed on mother-of-pearl
colored paper in order to give it the slightly faded look,
but still go with the new restoration.
These machines, both the Draw Poker and Royal
Gum Vender, work so smoothly, it's a shame that these
are so rare, especially the Royal Gum Vender; only a
few examples exist. l feel very fortunate that I was able
to acquire this rare example because I had been look-
ing for years for a National Draw Poker but found in-
stead its predecessor. This machine is a great piece of
Americana along with its origin. If you have any in-
formation regarding the Royal Gum Vender including
articles, pictures, serial numbers, etc., please email me
at dappledman@yahoo.com.
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For comparison, see the Draw Poker
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