... play the game ...

Rich Wolfin comes from Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey (US).

In December 1997 Rich Wolfin sent me some pictures he had been scanning from photo's he'd taken from his basement. Rich did put in some comments to this outrageous collection.

After that, in October 1998, I did receive some more scans. In the mean time he has acquired a new 1454 which has won the "Best Silver Age Jukebox" award at the Hackensack Jukebox show in October 1997, please follow me in guiding you through this nice gallery . . .

Coca Cola cash register - Needed to keep all of the change for all of the machines. This is an excellent paint job by Bob Levy a great friend of Rich and slot dealer on New Jersey.
This machine would not be like this in it's real lifetime (1950s), but doesn't it look cool now?

This 1454 has been with Rich for a while, I received this picture in December 1997. I'm not sure if it's still there . . .

 

(Tip: some pictures can be enlarged, by using right mouse button and choosing: show picture)

Here you see five arcade games in a row. The Official Baseball machine (second to the left), was made by Williams in 1960 and is a blast to play:

The horse racing machine in the middle is one of the few slot machines made by Seeburg. It is called Grand Champion.
It was made in 1936 or so. You select the horse you want to bet on with the front dial, pull the lever and wait to see if your horse ends up in the winners spot.
There is also an odds dial, which determines the payout for each race. There are 6 horses to choose from, so obviously the odds are the machine will win most of the time which it does. Payouts vary from 2 nickels to 20 nickels. This is a very cool and RARE machine. Rich bought it from an older slot collector from Colorado.

Both machines at the sides are replaced by the next two slot machines:

(Closeup of) the Horsehead, this slot is from 1937 and featured an animated B-O-N-U-S mechanism. The left reel has these letters under a cherry.
1 in 20 shot of getting a letter. When you get all of the letters in order, 18 coins pay out of the machine. This feature kept those nickels coming in especially if the player needed only one or two more letters.

Mint original condition, probably in storage for many years. From Bob Levy, New Jersey's best antique slot dealer.

Closeup of the Buckley Bones- payout craps (dice) machine from 1936. First cousin to the Bally Reliance which Rich traded to get this one.

Machine is perfectly restored by Allan Sacks of Chicago.

Rock-Ola World Series (1937)

Check out the king of arcade machines from the folks at Rock-Ola.
A gem to look at and play. It simply takes your breath away. Enough said.

Restored in incredible fashion by JohnPapa of the National Jukebox Exchange in Mayfield, New York. This machine caps off the collection.

Below: Closeup of World Series Playfield - Pitcher throws the ball, Batter hits, and umpire calls balls and strikes. It is amazing for 1937 or any time.

 

Now some more about jukeboxes and related stuff !:

Rock-ola 1454 - This machine won the "Best Silver Age Jukebox" at the Hackensack Jukebox show in October 1997. it was bought by a guy who lives near Rich, and he bought it from him one week later as his wife hated it. Also note the restored Coke cooler on the far left.

 

A nice 1546 Wallbox, to match the 1454 model.

 

Do you recognize the picture on the left of the machine that looks like a New York Building?

It is called a Shyver's Multiphone and comes from the West Coast of the US around 1940 or so.

They would be in a bar, and for five cents, the customer would talk to an operator via a phone line. That operator would then send your choice via phone line to the multiphone for you to hear.

 

Rock-ola 1422

The first jukebox produced after the war - and what a jukebox !
A totally new cabinet was made with several new features,  including four-color revolving lights and a good view at the mechanism.
The front was liberally covered with art deco ornaments.

Below: The 1530 wallbox (1941) that goes with it.

Rock-ola Tonette, and a AMI AMIVOX Spun aluminum 15" speaker (1947-50)

And last but not least, here are Rich's kids, who will play a lot with those beautiful machines! :

(Dec. 1999) Ben, the youngest will become 4 in April, daughter Samantha will be 7 in March, and the oldest named Jake will be 9 in February. In fact Mickey is of course the oldest (but then again he's no family (I presume ;-)