TRIBUTETO (ANOTHER) COIN MACHINE GREAT
byRuss Jensen
- The company’s first upright slot machine was called the Mills Owl, introduced in 1897. This slot machine was housed in a late Victorian or Eastlake style furniture cabinet. The success of the Mills Owl sparked.
- Up for auction is a rare, vintage, 1950's console nickle / quarter slot machine. It is keeney's shawnee, shawnee indians decoration the glass game face, and it is working great!! Lights up scoring credits correctly, and come with key and has original warranty still in place in the back of the machine.
The swinging sixties saw the rise of electromechanical slot machines. Bally was the first company to create a slot machine with electric reels, called Money Honey. The game still needed to start with a mechanical lever.
Backin 1984 I wrote an article for COIN SLOT (published by a different publisher atthat time) called TRIBUTE TO A COIN MACHINE GREAT. At that time it was a tributeto coin machine pioneer Harry Williams (pinball designer and founder of no lessthan four pinball manufacturing outfits) who had recently passed away. Thisarticle, I'm very sad to say, is in memory of the late coin machine historianand author Richard M. Bueschel who passed away on April 19, 1998 at the tooearly age of 71.
WhileDick was not actually a member of the coin machine industry as Harry was, Ithink he certainly deserves to be called a 'coin machine great'.Dick's contributions in chronicling the history of that great industrycertainly cannot be overstated! Without his persistent digging into how variouspersonalities over the years have contributed to coin machines, and thendescribing that in great detail in his many books and articles, the history ofthe coin machine industry would probably still be more or less of a mystery -only bits and pieces of it being known by the individuals who were part of itthemselves.
Ican say for sure that almost everybody who collects almost any type ofcoin-operated device has heard of Dick Bueschel - and most of these haveprobably read one or more of his books, and probably many of his articles. Thisis because Dick has been writing on the subject of coin machines and theirindustry for many, many years, at least as far back as the 1970's. I do knowfor a fact that Dick formulated the idea for a book on the history of the slotmachine back in 1967! Certainly the news of this great man's passing was feltwith sorrow by all of those who heard about it - it certainly was by me!
Iwill now attempt to give a somewhat brief description of Dick's many, manyaccomplishments involving the coin-op hobby (any attempt to completely describethat subject would be a monumental task - and could even fill a book itself). Iwill also describe my personal association with this fine individual over theyears, and how he has helped me greatly in many of my meager endeavors in thefield of coin-op writing.
Butfirst, before I get into the details, I would like to relate a 'smallworld story' involving me and Dick - I LOVE 'small worldstories'! During a telephone conversation with him several years ago Ihappened to mention that I was born in October 1936 at the West SuburbanHospital in Oak Park, Illinois. Dick then proceeded to tell me that that wasvery interesting since on the day I was born he was a child (actually 9 yearsold) and lived two or three blocks from that hospital at the time! Who wouldhave known that over 40 years later we would share a common hobby and becomefriends? It surely is a 'small world'!
Probablythe first time I ever heard of Dick Bueschel was in the early 1970's. At thattime my hobby was collecting player piano rolls and I received in the mail amonthly advertising paper from an outfit in New York state called Vestal Presswho specialized in publishing books on the various forms of automatic musicalinstruments (player pianos, nickelodeons, etc.). In one issue of thatpublication I saw a small announcement which read something like 'COMINGSOON - Lemons, Cherries, and Bell-Fruit Gum - the history of the slot machineby Richard Bueschel' I remember thinking at that time that sure was a'neat title' since I did know a little about slot machines even then,and remembered their reel symbols. It would be many years before that book waspublished - I waited until it was and it was worth waiting for - but more aboutthat later.
Myfirst actual 'contact' with Dick was a phone call I made to himsometime in the mid-1970's. I can't remember exactly where I got his number, orexactly what question I asked him (but I believe it was about slot machinehistory), but he was happy to talk to me and answered my question.
Later,when I began writing for COIN SLOT in 1981, I noticed the advertising for Dick'scoin-op books in the magazine. In fact, Dick began his coin-op book writingwith Coin Slot Books which at that time was owned by Bill Harris (who alsopublished COIN SLOT at the time) - the man responsible for launching Dick'scoin-op book writing career.
Dicksfirst coin-op book was 'An Illustrated Price Guide to the 100 MostCollectable Slot Machines' which was released in July 1978, followedshortly by 'Illustrated Price Guide to the 100 Most Collectable TradeStimulators'. Dick's first book (Slots 1) incidentally was reprinted in a'revised edition' in August 1981, and subsequently a '10thAnniversary Edition' was printed in December 1988. During the years 1978through 1983 Dick published (for Coin Slot Books) four volumes of his slot machineseries, plus two volumes on trade stimulators. In addition, Bill Harris was thepublisher of Dick's 34 volume series of 'Coin Slot Guides' - smallbooklets each containing copies of manufacturer's technical information on aparticular model of coin-op gambling device.
Itshould be mentioned that all of Dick's '100 collectable' type books(which he produced over the years) had one thing in common. In the center ofeach was 100 pages, each showing pictures and a detailed description of onemachine of the type being discussed in that book. These machines were alwaysshown in chronological order, starting with the time when that type of machinefirst came into use and ending up with the current era (if that type of machinewas still being made). I can see how compiling that much information about 100machines for each book had to be a very time consuming task! Before and afterthis section Dick always included chapters dealing with such things as thehistory of the type of machine, how to collect them, and value (most of thesebooks - if not all - included a price guide for the machines illustrated init.)
Sometimein the early 1980's (I can't remember exactly when) I became involved in a newproject of Dick's, that of writing his first pinball book for Coin Slot Books,a book to be titled 'Illustrated Historical Guide to Pinball Machines -Volume 1'. First off, Dick asked me at some point if I could provide himwith black and white photos of the pingames in my collection for possibleinclusion in the book. My son-in-law Michael Smith came over one day and tooksome nice photos of all my games, plus several of me and the machines, and Isubsequently sent them to Dick.
Dickalso ask me to provide a list of what I considered the 'mostcollectable' pinball machines over the years. I, along with a coupleothers, provided him with this type of list which he used to determine which100 games to picture in the forthcoming book, and also in other volumes in theseries he planned to do later.
Afterhe had decided on the 100 games he was going to picture in the book, andobtained suitable pictures of them from various collectors (including myself)from all over the country, Dick sent a list of the games to me and severalother people who he had chosen to provide pricing estimates for the games -since a 'price guide' was to be included in the book. After receiving'price lists' from all of us Dick used them to come up with his final'price list' for the book.
Itwas about a year or so after providing this information for his first pinballbook that I finally had the pleasure of meeting this fine gentleman in person.This was at the first Pinball Expo show held near Chicago in November 1985.After communicating with Dick for several years on the phone and by mail it wassure nice to finally meet him 'in the flesh'.
Dickfinally finished his 'masterpiece' and it was published in 1988 byCoin Slot Books (which by that time had been sold to Hoflin Publishing, alongwith COIN SLOT magazine) I remember very well reading the extensive historysection of the book which covered the period from the origins of pinball's'ancestor', the game of Bagatelle, through the pioneer pingames ofthe early 1930's. One thing that really impressed me in Dick's historicalwriting was how he would include glimpses into the history of the world in thevarious eras with the coin machine history of the same periods! Ever sincereading Pinball 1 I have always thought of Dick as 'an historian'shistorian'.
Beforecontinuing with the history of Dick's writing accomplishments, I would like tosay a few words regarding the help he provided to me in my own writingendeavors. At various times over the years I have either written or phoned Dickwith questions concerning pinball history. He would always eventually respondby mailing to me photocopies of early advertisements for the games I hadquestioned him about, with small 'memos' attached to each. I stillhave all this material in a file and will treasure it forever. I cannot evenbegin to tell you how much help Dick was to me in my past writing career!
Oneof Dick's outstanding accomplishments had to be his two-volume hardback (alsoavailable in soft cover) set of books titled 'Jennings Slot Machines1906-1990', which was published in 1992 by Coin Slot Books and advertisedas 'Illustrated, Historical, Maintenance and Repair Guide to JenningsMechanical and Electro-mechanical 3-reel Bell Machines'. The two volumeset consisted of over 800 pages, including hundreds of photos (some even incolor). These books contained a detailed history of the O.D. Jennings Company(complete with early photos) and reproductions of large portions of themaintenance manuals for most (if not all) of the Jennings slots. This
truly monumental book set is still availablefor sale from Coin Slot Books.
About a year later in 1993 Dick came outwith another fine coin-op book (which he had been working on for quite awhile)in conjunction with well-known arcade machine collector Stan Gronowski, titled'Illustrated Historical Guide to Arcade Machines - Volume 1'. Thisbook featured a history of the arcade coin-op machine, plus photos anddescriptions of 100 collectable arcade machines. Another outstanding book byDick.
Delvinginto still another genre of coin machine, Dick came out in 1995 with a booktitled 'Big Head Lollipop Scales'. This book covered many differentvarieties of antique coin-operated weighing scales and was published by Coin-OpClassics Books of Fountain Valley, California.
Inaddition to his numerous coin-op books, Dick of course wrote many, manyarticles for many coin-op oriented magazines! Especially in recent years, youcould hardly open a coin-op magazine without seeing at least one (sometimesmore) articles by Dick. They covered almost any type of coin-operated machineyou could imagine (slots, trade stimulators, pinballs, arcade machines, etc.).
Notonly did Dick write for many coin-op publications, he also, at one time oranother, acted as an editor for many of them - one even having to completelyquit publication due to Dick's illness. Sometime back in the early 1980's, Dickbecame the 'Historical Editor' for COIN SLOT, which at that time waspublished by his old friends Bill and Roseanna Harris. When that magazine waslater sold to Hoflin Publishing in the Fall of 1984 (after a short-livedownership by Pennsylvania coin-op collector Joe Jankuska) Dick's title waschanged to that of 'Associate Editor', a post be maintained until theFall of 1994.
While still doing editing for COIN SLOT,Dick also became the editor (starting in May 1992) for a new coin-op magazinecalled 'Slot-Box Collector' which was started several months earlierby a young Virginia coin-op collector, publisher, and book designer named EricHatchell. Eric was later to become involved in Dick's coin-op book endeavors -but more about that later. In November of the same year (after publishing 7issues) the magazine changed its name to 'Classic Amusements'. But inJanuary 1993 the magazine quit publication entirely.
One unique feature about that magazine wasthat it was the first coin-op magazine to use color photography in a few of itsarticles! In fact it published one of my articles with color, the first andonly time (except for the Internet on-line magazine 'Silverball News andViews') to do that for me - and it sure looked great!
Shortlyafter Classic Amusements quit publication, Californian Pete Movesian startedpublishing another coin-op magazine in March 1994 which he called 'Coin-opClassics'. And who should be appointed as editor, none other than DickBueschel. That magazine was published more or less on a bi-monthly basis, andafter awhile also published a few articles using color photographs. But when itwas learned that Dick was ill and could not continue as editor, Mr. Movesiansadly decided that he could not continue publishing the magazine without Dick'seditorial services and quit publication in the Winter of 1997.
Dickalso acted in the post of 'Supervising Editor' for the tabloid formatcoin-op publication 'Coin-Drop International' which was published byhis old friends Bill and Roseanna Harris's outfit Royal Bell Ltd. Thatpublication began in July 1994, and Dick became its Supervising Editor aroundSeptember 1996. He remained performing those duties until shortly before hisuntimely passing.
Beforereturning to discussing Dick's coin-op books, I would like to mention the fineseminars he conducted as part of the annual Pinball Expo shows. But first, alittle about Dick's interest in, and collecting of, coin machine industryadvertising materials.
Dick'sprofession before he retired a few years ago was that of advertising executivefor a Chicago area advertising firm. So it was not strange in the least for himto have a keen interest in the advertising material of the coin machineindustry.
Dickcollected coin-op advertising material for years. This material was very usefulto him in the preparation of his numerous coin-op books and articles, andexcerpts from it were often used in many of them. In the last several years(and maybe even before - I am not sure) after using these documents in thecreation of one of his books, he would sell the material he had used and usethe proceeds from that to help finance his next project. Over the years Dickhad pass thorough his hands mountains of rare (and often expensive) antiqueadvertising materials for the coin-op industry.
Nowon to the Dick's Pinball Expo seminars. And the first of these involved coin-opadvertising - namely pinball advertising flyers. It was given at Pinball Expo'91 in October of that year, and titled 'The History of the PinballFlyer'. His presentation included much information on how and why flyersare prepared. Dick also showed slides of numerous examples of flyers from alleras - from one for the turn-of-the-century game LOG CABIN to those of some ofthe current games at the time, explaining how they were created. One thing Istill remember about that presentation was that Dick passed out to everyoneattending an actual flyer for a game from the late 1950's!
Atthe next Expo in November 1992, Dick's seminar was titled 'The Search ForPachinko'. He told of being contacted by a Japanese television producerwho was preparing a documentary for Japanese television on the origins ofJapan's favorite game (and an upright version of pinball), Pachinko. Thesepeople visited Dick because he collected old Bagatelle games - an'ancestor' of both pinball and pachinko. We were entertained by Dickwith many anecdotes of that memorable visit, and even shown video clips of thefinal product.
Thefollowing year at Pinball Expo '93 Dick was part of a four-person team who gavea presentation titled 'Pinball History, Art, and Technology'. Theother members of the team were Canadian pinball historian Wayne Morgan (whotalked primarily of the 'popular culture' aspects of pinball,collector Gordon Hasse (who talked about pinball art), and pinball guru SteveYoung (who talked about the 'technical' side of pinball). Dick's partof the presentation was a review of the early history of pinball.
Itwas back to pinball flyers again for Dick at Pinball Expo '94, with a seminartitled 'Collecting Pinball Flyers'. This time, of course, Dick toldof how pinball advertising flyers have become 'prime collectables'.After telling of how the prices for these 'paper items' haveincreased in the past several years, he gave examples of some flyers and theircurrent value. The major part of Dick's presentation was a great slide showshowing many rare and unusual pinball flyers from the past.
AtPinball Expo '95 Dick's seminar was titled 'The 100 Most CollectablePinball Machines of the Past Ten Years'. Earlier I told of Dick's firstpinball book, 'Pinball 1', in preparation for which he collectedlists from myself and others of what we considered the 'mostcollectable' pingames of the past. Well, it being about 10 years sincethat was done, I guess Dick decided it was time to add some of the later modelgames to his 'most collectable list' so he could use them in a newbook he was preparing with a similar format - more about that later.
Duringthis seminar Dick had people from the audience 'nominate' pinballsfrom the past 10 or so years for possible addition to the 'collectablelist'. He then proceeded to have the audience vote on the various gameswhich had been nominated, coming up with a final list of the 'top 5'new games for addition to his list.
Beforedescribing Dick's last two Expo talks, I want to go back to his books for alittle while. In 1995 Dick did a book for Schiffer Publishing which embodiedhis interest in all forms of coin-ops, This fine hardback book had all colorillustrations and was titled 'Collector's Guide to Vintage CoinMachines'.
Thebook contained separate chapters on each type of coin-operated collectable,included a 'price guide' covering all the machines shown, and endedwith a chapter titled 'Resources' which told about, and listed,various publications and coin-op shows. The categories of machines pictured anddescribed (including history of each) included: Slot Machines, Jukeboxes,Pinballs, Arcade Machines, Trade Stimulators, Vending Machines, and Scales. Avery find and informative book to say the least!
Laterthat same year the project Dick started thinking about way back in 1967 finallycame to fruition. Dick's definitive history of the payout slot machine'Lemons, Cherries, and Bell-Fruit Gum' was finally published! And itwas sure worth waiting for! The book was published by Dick's old friends Billand Roseanna Harris' Royal Bell Ltd. outfit - and you'll probably remember thatBill Harris was also the first person to publish one of Dick's coin-op booksback in 1978.
Thisbook was beautiful! And I have often referred to it as 'the most beautifulcoin-op book ever published'. One person responsible for the book being asbeautiful as it was, was Dick's old friend Eric Hatchell (former publisher ofSlot-Box Collector and Classic Amusements magazines) who was the ProductionManager for the book. Eric sure has a flair for designing attractivepublications.
Thechapters in the book were divided into 'decades' in a way, butdifferently than any other book using that format. Instead of each chapteroutlining the history starting at the beginning of the decade (1910, 1920,etc.), Dick's chapters each began in the middle of the decade (1885-1894,etc.). One reason for this somewhat odd organization was because his historybegan in 1885 (the middle of a decade). Dick also pointed out that for somereason significant events in slot machine history often occurred in the middleof a decade.
Anotherinteresting and attractive thing about the book was that the text for eachchapter was printed on a different color paper - probably one of Eric's cleverideas. This does make reading a little more difficult for people with limitedvision like myself, but it sure added to the attractiveness of the book ingeneral.
Almostall of the copious illustrations used in the book were taken from advertisingmaterial from various slot machine manufacturers, which of course came fromDick's extensive collection of such literature which I mentioned earlier. Dickused this graphic material along with his text to very effectively tell thestory of the development of the slot machine from its very early years to thecurrent machines of the 1990's.
Ican remember very well when I first received my copy of the book, reading itwith fervor, and being fascinated by Dick's way of presenting the material. Ittook me awhile to read the entire book, but it was well worth the time andeffort. The book I had read about in the 1970's was finally here!
Lemons,Cherries, and Bell-Fruit Gum was published in both a 'standard'hard-back edition with a nice color cover, and a 'special' leatherbound 'collector's edition' which sold for $150. I originally boughtthe standard edition, but after awhile something wonderful happened to me! Inthe Spring of 1996 I attended Bill and Roseanna's COIN-OP SUIPER SHOW heldabout 75 miles from my home. After I left the show and returned home I receiveda phone call from an old friend who was still there. He informed me that myname had been drawn to receive a 'door prize' which (believe it ornot) was the leather bound edition of that book. Even though I was not there topick it up, my dear friend Roseanna mailed it to me after returning toColorado. What a prize indeed!
Dick'snext hard-back book was part of a new project he began for the SilverballAmusements outfit of New York pin collector and parts and literature supplier,Steve Young, and pinball collector, historian, and author Gordon Hasse. Thisfine book was titled 'Encyclopedia of Pinball - Volume 1' and was tobe the first of a projected six-volume series of such books. Each volume was tohave a 'history section' outlining a different period in the historyof pinball - Volume 1 to cover the history from pinball's early'ancestors' up through 1933. The history sections of the otherplanned volumes were to cover 1934-1936, 1937-1947, 1947-1961, 1962-1981, and1982-2000. Each of these history sections was to include several chapters eachincluding a large number of illustrations, many in color.
Eachvolume was also to include (ala Dick's previous '100 collectable'coin-op books) a 100 page section picturing and describing 100 collectablepingames. The games in that section of all the books would be shownchronologically and cover all decades of pinball production in each volume,unlike the history sections. In addition to those two sections, there would beother chapters at the end of each book covering other aspects of pinball andpinball collecting. Each volume was also to come with a separate 'pricelist' giving values of the 100 games pictured in that volume. Separatevalues would be given for each game for five different 'conditions'of the machine.
Volume1 of Encyclopedia Of Pinball was printed just prior to Pinball Expo '96 and thefirst copies were delivered (including mine) at the show in November.. It wassure something to behold! Dick's history section was astounding, and includedexcerpts from a multitude of interviews he had conducted over many years withfascinating people who worked in the pinball industry over the years. Thesewere complimented by numerous quotes from coin-op industry trade publications.Dick skillfully wove this information with his own comments to present afascinating and very complete early history of the pinball machine and itsindustry.
Ona personal note. The photograph of the first Bally game BALLYHOO, whichappeared on the cover of the book was loaned to Dick and Eric Hatchell by yourstruly, and was from the cover of a Bally Manufacturing Co. annual report whichI owned. Also, in one of the chapters in the back of the book there was a photoof me which I had sent to Dick many years earlier.
Assoon as Encyclopedia of Pinball - Volume 1 was 'put to bed' Dickalmost immediately began work on Volume 2. He worked feverishly on that to haveit ready for publication only one year later - and he made it - as Volume 2 wasagain available by Expo time in November 1997! That volume was just as great asthe first volume, with a history section covering the years 1934 through 1936.Regrettably this would be the next to the last book Dick ever published (theonly of his books published after that being a book on counter games and tradestimulators for Shiffer Publishing which came out a couple months later). Theseries, however, was to be continued, but more about that later.
Nowback to Dick's Pinball Expo presentations. At Pinball Expo '96 in November 1996(the same year Volume 1 of his 'Encyclopedia' was published), Dickgave a seminar titled 'Researching and Writing Encyclopedia of Pinball -Volume 1'. During his talk Dick told of some of the things required toproduce such a book, and gave some idea of the time frame involved in producingit. Most of the session was devoted to Dick answering questions from theaudience. Intermixed with that Dick told about several of the pinball industry'old-timers' he had interviewed in the past, information from whichhe used in preparing the book.
ForPinball Expo '97 in November of that year Dick had been scheduled to make apresentation titled 'Pinball Myths and Mistakes', but when the timecame for Dick's presentation show producer Rob Berk got up and told us that Dickwould not be able to speak, and that instead Las Vegas 'supercollector' Tim Arnold would give a talk on 'starting a pinballclub'. When Tim began speaking he gave us the devastating news that thereason Dick was not giving his scheduled talk was the he had been diagnosedwith 'an inoperable brain tumor', shaking up the members of theaudience who had not heard this shocking news previously.
Butjust after Tim began his talk, Dick entered the room in a wheelchair pushed byhis daughter Megan, bringing on a massive sustained round of applause! Dickthen came up on stage and began a brief address to the assembled people.Details of this talk were previously presented in Part 1 of my coverage ofPinball Expo '97 (which appeared in the Spring 1998 issue of COIN SLOT) so Iwon't go into it here. Needless to say, Dick's last public talk (as far as Iknow) was very emotional indeed!
Thatends my discussion of Dick Bueschel's illustrious career in writing books and articleson coin machines, editing magazines, etc.. I will end with a few more personalnotes regarding my association with this great man, and a little about how hiswork is still continuing in one way or another.
Back in the late 1980's, after Dick's firstpinball book (PINBALL 1) was published, I received a 'surprisepackage' in the mail. It was from Dick and contained his originalhand-written manuscript (on yellow legal-size paper) for that book! I couldhardly believe it! When I later asked him why he had chosen me to receive sucha prize, Dick simply answered 'because I thought you would like it'.All I can say is that I will treasure that forever!
But that was not the only surprise gift Ireceived from Dick. After his next pinball book (Encyclopedia of Pinball -Volume 1) was published and I got my copy, I noticed that one of hisillustrations (in the chapter on the early history of Bally) was the cover ofthe December 1931 issue of BALLYHOO magazine (a very popular satire magazine ofthe time) - the magazine which supposedly inspired Bally founder Ray Moloney toname the simple pingame he was creating BALLYHOO. The magazine's colorful coveralso supposedly gave Ray the idea for its colorful playfield. Not only that,but when Ray decided to form a company to produce his new game he decided tocall it Bally Manufacturing - and a great name was born!
SinceI owned a BALLYHOO machine I though it would be nice to at least have a colorXerox copy of that famous magazine cover, so I asked Dick if he could possiblycopy it for me? Dick said he would think about it. Well, not too long afterthat I received another surprise in the mail. Dick had decided to not copy themagazine cover, but to give me this rare magazine (and piece of pinball historymemorabilia) as a gift! That, of course, is another thing I will treasureforever!
In addition to those two special gifts Ireceived from Dick, I will also always treasure the autographs he gave me onmost of his books which I own. One of my personal favorites is the one he wrotein my copy of 'Collector's Guide to Vintage Coin Machines' which read'For Russ Jensen - You and I are each other's greatest fans'.
Thatconcludes my review of Dick Bueschel's illustrious coin-op writing career, butit's not really over. About a year or so prior to his illness, Dick began stillanother massive book writing project. He decided to do another book for hisgood friends Bill and Roseanna Harris' Royal Bell Ltd. The book was to covertwo related forms of coin-operated machines - the jukebox and coin-operatedautomatic musical instrument. The title of this work was to be 'Let TheOther Guy Play It'
WhenI was once told by Dick about this project, I told him that years ago I wasinterested in mechanical musical instruments (not coin-operated, but playerpianos) and that I had saved bulletins from an organization I belonged to thencalled 'Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors Association' (AMICA)which dealt with both coin-op and non-coin-op instruments. I subsequently loanedthis literature to Dick which he copied and returned to me later.
Dickwas deeply into this project when his illness forced him to finally stopworking on it prior to its completion. Well, I have been told by Roseanna thatthere is a good chance this book may eventually be published because Roseanna,with the possible help of Dick's daughter Stacey Bueschel McDonald, willattempt to finish Dick's last writing project (other than the Encyclopedia ofPinball series - more about that next). Anyway, if all goes well, this longawaited book many come out and Dick's name will once again be listed as theauthor of a newly published coin-op book!
There was also another book that Dick wasfinishing up prior to his having to quit due to his illness. That book he wasdoing for Pete Movesian's Coin-Op Classics Books, was titled 'Keeney SuperBells', and included detailed technical information on that series ofconsole slot machines. I contacted Pete and he informed me that he is puttingthe finishing touches on that book and expects it to be published later thisyear.
Also,as I explained earlier, Dick was also heavily involved with his projected sixvolume 'Encyclopedia of Pinball' series. When it appeared that hisillness would not let him complete that ambitious project, Dick began makingpreparations for the series to continue. He started working closely with hisold friend (who was also involved with the publication of the first two volumesof the series) Gordon Hasse, grooming him to continue the series in the eventof his death.
Dickhad already pretty much planned in detail the next volume (Volume 3) of theseries, as well as 'mapping out' what should be in the rest of thevolumes as well. At the time I am writing this Gordon has 'picked up thehelm' and is working hard on preparing Volume 3 of the series. Gordonhimself readily admits he has 'no illusions of replacing DickBueschel', but I am sure he will do an admirable job and that in futureyears the entire series will be completed in the 'great Dick Buescheltradition'!
That ends my tribute to that wonderful humanbeing and fabulous author Richard M. Bueschel. He already is sorely missed bymany, many coin machine hobbyists, and certainly by me! Who will answer themany questions which continually arise concerning antique coin-ops and theirhistory? This will have to be done by a variety of people now that there is not'one major source' of this type of information! We all miss you Dick- and always will! Bye, bye good buddy!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ihave tried to compile as complete a bibliography of Dick's coin-op books as Icould. I believe it is fairly accurate, but with such a prolific author it'shard to say for sure. In addition to his coin-op books, Dick in the past hasalso written a few books on other subjects including World War II JapaneseAircraft, Communist Chinese Aircraft, and even saloon and bar goods, which Ihave not listed.
Theinformation contained in the bibliography was compiled mostly fromadvertisements in various coin-op magazines over the years, and I even checkedthe Library of Congress website on the Internet. The books are listed bypublisher and in a somewhat chronological sequence. While some of the bookslisted are now out of print, many of them are still available from such sourcesas Coin Slot Books, Royal Bell Ltd., and Silverball Amusements.
BIBLIOGRAPHYOF COIN-OP BOOKS BY RICHARD M. BUESCHEL
From - COINSLOT BOOKS (HARRIS)
SLOT MACHINESERIES
Slots 1: An Illustrated Price Guide to100 Most Collectible
SlotMachines, Volume 1
Slots 1: An Illustrated Price Guide to100 Most Collectible
SlotMachines, Volume 1 - 'Revised'
Slots 2: An Illustrated Price Guide to100 Most Collectible
SlotMachines, Volume 2-150 pgs
Slots 3: An Illustrated Price Guide to100 Most Collectible
SlotMachines, Volume 3 -142 pgs
TRADE STIMULATORSERIES
Trade1: Illustrated Historical Guide to 100 Most
CollectableTrade Stimulators, Volume 1 - 122 pgs
Trade 1:Illustrated Historical Guide to 100 Most
CollectableTrade Stimulators, Volume 1 - 'Revised'
Trade 2:Illustrated Historical Guide to 100 Most
CollectableTrade Stimulators, Volume 2
COIN SLOT GUIDES
CS Guide No. 1(Mills BLACK CHERRY, GOLDEN FALLS
andJEWELL machines)
CS Guide No. 2(Jennings CHIEF)
CS Guide No. 3(Caille SUPERIOR, SUPERIOR JACKPOT
andSILENT SPHINX)
CS Guide No. 4(Pace DELUXE, ALL-STAR COMET and COMET)
CS Guide No. 5(Jennings CLUB CHIEF and STANDARD CHIEF)
CS Guide No. 6 ( Mills 21 Bell'7-7-7')
CS Guide No. 7 (Pace PACES RACES)
CS Guide No. 8 (Mills SILENT War Eagle)
CS Guide No. 9(Watling ROL-A-TOP and TREASURY)
CS Guide No. 10(Evans GALLOPING DOMINOS, BANG TAILS
andLUCKY STAR)
CS Guide No. 11 (AC Novelty MULTI-BELL)
CS Guide No. 12(Mills DEWEY and CHICAGO)
CS Guide No. 13 (Mills VEST POCKET)
CSGuide No. 14 (Coin Devices MAJESTIC, Auto Bell THUNDERCHIEF
andcorresponding HIGHTOP models)
CS Guide No. 15(Mills MYSTERY 'Blue Front')
CS Guide No. 16 (Baker BAKERS PACERS)
CS Guide No. 17(Mills 1926-1931 Gooseneck OPERATOR BELL,
COUNTERO.K. and FRONT O.K.)
CS Guide No. 18(Schall STAR)
CS Guide No. 19 (Groetchen COLUMBIA)
CS Guide No. 20(Mills Bell-O-Matic FOUR CROWN and STANDARD
HIGHTOP)
CS Guide No. 21(Sittman & Pitt/Monarch/Reliance/Mills/Caille
MODEL/RELIANCE/VICTOR/DRAW POKER/FLORADORA)
CS Guide No. 22(Yale, YALE WONDER CLOCK)
CS Guide No. 23(CHICAGO RIDGE, OOM PAUL and AMERICAN BEAUTY)
CS Guide No. 24(Mills 1918-1925 OPERATOR BELL,
COUNTERO.K. VENDOR and FRONT O.K.)
CS Guide No. 25(Buckley CRISS CROSS and JACKPOT BELLE)
CS Guide No. 26(Evans LUCKY LUCRE and CASINO BELLS)
CS Guide No. 27(Buckley DIGGER)
CS Guide No. 28(Canda/Mills/Caille PERFECTION/UPRIGHT)
CS Guide No. 29(Mills LIBERTY BELL/OPERATOR BELL)
CS Guide No. 30(Evans, EVANS RACES and EVANS LONG SHOT RACES)
CS Guide No. 31(Jennings TODAY)
CS Guide No. 32(Buckley POINTMAKER/SAFARI)
CS Guide No. 33 (Keeney SUPER BELL)
CS Guide No. 34(SUPERIOR RACES)
From - COINSLOT BOOKS (HOFLIN)
SLOT MACHINESERIES
Slots 1: AnIllustrated Price Guide to 100 Most Collectible Slot
Machines,Volume 1 - '10th Anniversary Edition
Slots 4: AnIllustrated Price Guide to 100 Most
CollectibleSlot Machines, Volume 4 - 150 pgs
Jennings SlotMachines 1906-1990(2 Volume Set - Hard & Soft
bound)Illustrated Historical, Maintenance and Repair Guide to Jennings Mechanical andElectromechanical 3-Reel Bell Machines.. - 800 pgs
TRADE STIMULATORSERIES
Trade2: Illustrated Historical Guide to 100 Most Collectable
TradeStimulators, Volume 2- 'Revised Edition'
PINBALL SERIES
Pinball 1:Illustrated Historical Guide to Pinball Machines,
Volume1 - 246 pgs
ARCADE SERIES
Arcade 1:Illustrated Historical Guide to Arcade Machines,
Volume 1, - 304pgs
From -COIN-OP CLASSICS BOOKS
MILLS CONSOLES - serviceinformation for 39 models - 120 pgs
PAYOUT DICE MACHINES - Serviceinformation for 15 models
-116 pgs
BIG HEAD LOLLIPOP SCALES -Illustrated History of Big Head Scales
- Reproduces Original AdvertisingMaterials - 236 pgs
ARCADE SPORTS GAMES - Collector's Bookof 15 of the Most
Popular Sports Games - 270 pgs
PROBABLY TO BEPUBLISHED
KEENEY SUPER BELLS - Illustrated HistoryOf Large Floor Model
Console Bell Slot Machines -Photographs and Reproductions
Of Original Advertising and Manuals
From -SCHIFFER PUBLISHING
COLLECTOR'S GUIDE TO VINTAGE COINMACHINES - 220 pgs
GUIDE TO VINTAGE TRADE STIMULATORS& COUNTER GAMES
With Price Guide
FromWORDMARQUE DESIGN ASSOCIATES
COIN-OPS ON LOCATION - with EricHatchell
From ROYALBELL LTD.
LEMONS,CHERRIES, AND BELL-FRUIT GUM - Illustrated
Historyof Automatic Payout Slot machines - 329 pgs
PROBABLY TO BEPUBLISHED
LETTHE OTHER GUY PLAY IT - Covering jukeboxes and
coin-opmechanical musical instruments
FromSILVERBALL AMUSEMENTS
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PINBALL - VOLUME 1
Through 1934, plus 100 collectablepinball games
from all eras. - 253 pgs
ENCYCLOPEDIA OFPINBALL - VOLUME 2 -History of Pinball
1934 - 1936, plus 100 collectablepinball games
from all eras. - 252 pgs
RETURN
EnlargeGumball slot machine from a Shullsburg, Wisconsin, tavern, 1945
Source: Wisconsin Historical Museum object #2008.13.1A-B
EnlargeDetails of the gumball slot machine, 1945
Detail of the top of the trade stimulator showing the point “payouts” and card values. The yellow section could be flipped forward to hide both the payout information and card windows. Wisconsin Historical Museum object #2008.13.1A-B
EnlargeEvidence tag when it was confiscated
Evidence tag that was attached to the machine shown above after it was confiscated during a raid by the State of Wisconsin. Source: Wisconsin Historical Museum object #2008.13.1C
EnlargeStar Bar and Grill Room with slots, 1942
A Friday night at the Star Bar and Grill Room, at the intersection of Highways 41 and 43 in Kenosha County, April 10, 1942. View the original source document: WHI 34262
EnlargeState officials destroying slot machines, c. 1948
Officials from the state beverage and cigarette tax division destroying slot machines at Law Park in Madison, c. 1948. Investigator L.D. Lewis, who seized the machine featured here, is third from right (wearing apron). View the original source document: WHI 41345
EnlargeSlot seizures in Marathon County, 1924
Wisconsin officials tried for decades to suppress slot machines. Here authorities exhibit slot machines seized during a raid in Marathon County, January 1924. View the original source document: WHI 2288
Trade stimulator gumball slot machine seized from a Shullsburg, Wisconsin tavern in 1945.
(Museum object #2008.13.1A-B)
When is gambling not gambling? When you're buying gum, too. At least that was the theory of many tavern owners. Authorities have tried to ban slot machines almost since they were invented in the late 19th century, and their makers have continually modified the devices to skirt the law. With each nickel, this compact machine not only dispensed a gumball, but also spun five mechanical reels printed with playing card values to produce a poker hand. Players won different numbers of points - redeemable for drinks or cigarettes - for different hands. Because a player purchased a gumball with each pull, the makers claimed that playing did not constitute gambling. Instead, they argued, these amusement devices simply encouraged patrons to spend more money.
The Daval Manufacturing Co., of Chicago, Illinois began making this Ace 'trade stimulator' in 1940. By that time Daval, which had been founded in 1932, was the second largest company specializing in small counter games. Only 6.75 inches high by 6.25 inches wide by 5.5 inches deep, the 'Ace' was ideally sized for whisking out of sight of any authorities who might stop by. But this one wasn't whisked fast enough. It was seized at H.R. Ryan's Tavern in Shullsburg, Wisconsin, on July 17, 1945 by L.D. Lewis, an investigator for the Beverage and Agricultural Tax Division of the Wisconsin Department of the Treasury.
The first coin operated games of chance appeared in the 1870s and required a human attendant - a shopkeeper or bartender - to hand over any indicated winnings. In 1893, San Franciscan Gustav Schultze developed the first recognizably modern slot machine featuring an automatic payout mechanism. Over the next ten years slot machines further evolved and proliferated, becoming commonplace in corner stores and neighborhood taverns as well as in gambling houses.
Not everyone was pleased by their popularity. The machines ran afoul of the often patronizing reform impulse of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As a democratic form of gambling - available to anyone who could scrape together a few coins - slot machines aroused the movement's desire to protect the lower classes from their own shortcomings. Lawmakers across the country soon attempted to outlaw the machines. San Francisco, where slot machines were born and perfected, banned gaming machines in 1909 and California followed two years later.
Manufacturers, who by then were largely based in Chicago, countered these legal restrictions by turning the slots into 'trade stimulators,' which sold a pack of gum with every pull and replaced cash payouts with merchandise tokens, usually good for drinks or cigars. (Never mind that the gum was usually ignored and the tokens could be exchanged for cash.)
Wisconsin has a long history of opposition to gambling. The state's 1848 constitution banned lotteries and other games of chance, and the legislature repeatedly outlawed betting on other events, including 'numbers,' horse races, and even agricultural futures. Moreover, the Wisconsin courts enforced an extremely strict definition of gambling. They held any activity involving - no matter how remotely - the three elements of chance, a prize, and a 'consideration' (or something of value offered by the participant) to be unconstitutional. This banned virtually all sweepstakes, raffles, and bingo games, along with slot machines and trade stimulators.
Nevertheless, slot machines took firm root in Wisconsin during Prohibition. Slot machine companies, some reputedly operated by organized crime, typically leased the machines to club owners or shopkeepers, who kept a share of the profits. When the Depression arrived a few years later, slot machine income kept many small businesses (and after Prohibition, taverns) afloat. The machines became especially popular in the state's northern resort areas, where vacationers evidently felt the machines added an extra element of fun and excitement to their visits. In 1945, at least 45,000 slot machines were operating in Wisconsin - the most in the nation.
Besides their traditional moral reservations, state leaders began to worry that popular acceptance of the 'one-armed bandits' was fostering a widespread disrespect for the law, and that the illegal profits they generated were beginning to corrupt local government and law enforcement. In response to these threats, future Governor Vernon Thomson introduced legislation to clamp down on the problem. To circumvent local authorities who might be reluctant to harass their own neighbors, the legislation granted enforcement powers to the State Beverage Tax Commission, which could revoke the liquor license of any establishment caught operating slot machines for a period of one year.
Slot Machine Games
This gumball trade simulator was confiscated just six weeks after the 'Thompson Anti-Gambling Law' took effect in June 1945. According to the Shullsburg newspaper Pick and Gad, H. R. Ryan and his partners had applied to the Shullsburg City Council for a Retail Intoxicating Liquor License Class B only a few weeks earlier, on June 19. The Council approved their application on July 3, when it received the group's required bond. The first raids under the new anti-gambling statute took place the following day in Racine.
Herbert R. Ryan was born about 1895 in Jordan (Green County), Wisconsin to farmers John and Mary Ryan. He married Edna Vick around 1922 and by 1930 the couple operated a farm in Willow Springs (Lafayette County) with their children Virgil, Kathleen, and Rose. Herbert was about 50 years old and had been farming all his adult life when he became part-owner of the Shullsburg tavern. He may have viewed the tavern as a future source of retirement income. If so, the seizure of this machine a mere two weeks after opening for business probably came as a shock. This trade stimulator was admitted as 'exhibit 10' in a hearing before the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court held on September 19, 1945. It is not known whether the seizure cost Ryan and his partners their brand new liquor license, but evidently it did not deter him from continuing in the business. Ryan owned or operated several other taverns in Shullsburg in subsequent years.
History Of Keeney Slot Machine Company In Illinois
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[Sources: Holy, Richard. The Control of Gambling in Wisconsin (Madison; Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library, 1956); Bueschel, Richard M. Collector's Guide to Vintage Coin Machines (Atglen, PA; Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 1995); Fey, Marshall. Slot Machines: An Illustrated History of America's Most Popular Coin-Operated Gaming Device (Las Vegas; Nevada Publications, 1983).]
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History Of Keeney Slot Machine Company Ltd
Posted on May 22, 2008