What reference materials are must haves

This is the place to post any type of article related to coin operated machines.

Re: What reference materials are must haves

Postby nvmos2 » Wed Apr 03, 2013 8:18 am

“Slot Machines on Parade” could be a good reference guide IF .........
there were a Corrections Guide to it similar to a price guide.

The precursor to Parade was “Slot Machines A Pictorial Review” by David Christensen published in 1972. “It quickly became a cult classic as the only readily available record of slot machines in public print.”

Unfortunately, it was loaded with errors.
Fortunately, there was a reprint in 1976 with a lengthy foreword by Dick Bueschel that set the record straight. He provided 6 pages of corrections to the text that gave the book a new lease on life and allowed the book to live on and even serve as a good reference to this day.

The popularity and success of Pictorial Review probably led the guys at Mead to come out with Parade in 1980 when they saw that they would make some money on it. Now Parade is in dire need of a similar fix. There are enough comments scattered on this forum for a good start for someone to put together a Corrections Guide. It would be very informative and helpful in recognizing machines that are incorrect or have been over restored beyond their original state. It might even be a profitable venture; many, if not most, of the guys who have Parade would gladly pay a reasonable price to have a companion Corrections Guide.
nvmos2
 
Posts: 808
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2012 11:43 am
Location: SE Virginia

Re: What reference materials are must haves

Postby marsonion » Wed Apr 03, 2013 12:55 pm

A Couple of Great Quotes from "Slot Machines on Parade," First Edition, Mead, 1980:

Pg. 152: "...The color scheme is original, conceived and painted in 1978." :shock:

Pg. 153: "...Consequently, decorating is and will continue to be a growing trend in slot machine usage. Restoration will not only rejuvenate the machine, but will make its rebirth compatible with its new-found environment. There will always be collectors who will insist upon original colors (whatever that means)..." :shock:

In other words, the authors suggest you go ahead and paint it up in any groovy colors that'll complement the pillows in the conversation pit. I've seen my share of the results of people following this sort of advice.
User avatar
marsonion
 
Posts: 607
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2011 1:37 pm
Location: OR

Re: What reference materials are must haves

Postby nvmos2 » Wed Apr 03, 2013 2:51 pm

marsonion;

Yes; your quotes highlight one of the main problems with Slots on Parade;
the authors' ignorant (or lazy) use of the term "restoration" when they should be using "refurbishment"
or some other term that does not require the return to the machine's original state.

The second quote shows that the authors value refurbishment higher than they value restoration;
which will leave those collectors shaking their heads in disappointment/disbelief.
nvmos2
 
Posts: 808
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2012 11:43 am
Location: SE Virginia

Re: What reference materials are must haves

Postby andydotp » Wed Apr 03, 2013 11:08 pm

Now, now please gents,
Having been published numerous times myself (in another field) mistakes will always slip through - no matter how much proof reading or editorial input is devoted to the attempt.
However, I do whole-heartedly concur that too many machines in 'Slots..' are over-baked with the 'restoration', 'refurbishment', call it what you will but the vast majority of us out here in collector-world haven't a fraction of your experience & knowledge.
As for Christensen, wasn't that mostly intended to demonstrate his Unbelievable skill with pen & ink? Forgive the guy for a few factual inaccuracies surely?
Were it not for those who put in the time (and often the dough) to get a book or magazine out I wouldn't know half of what I know now. (Which ain't much :oops: ).
With all due respect to your commentaries, as the Elder Statesmen among us nvmos2/marsonion/SD &W'boy you come across rather harsh and hasty in your eagerness to leap upon any Negative cause you know better. In my view.
Accordingly, here's my cyber$29.95 in advance for your joint up-coming 'corrections guide'.
Regards, no Offence and a pinch of salt to boot.
andydotp

Spelling error corrected.
Last edited by andydotp on Fri Apr 05, 2013 12:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
andydotp
 
Posts: 119
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 6:39 pm

Re: What reference materials are must haves

Postby nvmos2 » Thu Apr 04, 2013 9:40 am

If I seem harsh, you ought to see me when I really get fired up!
Words are important; writers ought to choose them carefully.
If the writer is ignorant (not stupid) of a word’s meaning, his primary tool of the trade is his dictionary; to not use it regularly is just plain lazy. Writing well is hard work.

(andydotp: You may be published, but without further details, I reject the implication that you know better than I when it comes to writing nonfiction. When it comes to slot machines, there’s the trouble: I DON’T know better than most slot collectors and rely on the printed material available for information on machines.)

Yes; Christensen was an artist and his book’s strong point was his fine drawings. He even states in his Introduction that the book is a “pictorial study,” but he goes on to say the book is also an effort to preserve the “historical” merits of early slots and bring the reader up to date on their development. That’s where he gets derailed with far more than a “few” errors. There is so little text in the book, Bueschel’s corrections seem disproportionally huge. Back in 1972 there probably wasn’t a lot of information available for Christensen and his editor to fact-check his work, so I would think he was happy and thankful when the revised edition with Bueschel’s corrections came out and improved the historical aspect of his book.

Mead is a different story; they are a publishing company for goodness sake. I think they even published a coinop magazine for a while. For them to let Parade stand all this time with factual errors and not publish a revised edition or a supplement or even a magazine article with corrections is downright irresponsible. Parade seems written for the person who wants just one pretty machine as a conversation piece without concern for authenticity, but I’d bet most of the people who bought it are collectors who know the difference between restoration and refurbishment. I’ve seen a lot of Silent FOK machines “restored” to look exactly like the one pictured in Parade; now I’ve come to believe that was never a Mills color scheme at all.

It’ll probably take 20 collectors to do for Parade what Bueschel did single-handedly for Pictorial Review.
Here’s my recommendation for you COCA members to pass on to leadership:
COCA publishes a magazine and has a collective brain trust on slots.
Start with a magazine article with know errors in Parade.
Solicit peer review of the article and additional corrections.
Once all the input is gathered and vetted, make it available as a supplement that could slip inside the back cover of Parade.
(andydotp: Send me your hard cash $29.95; I’ll hang on to it and make sure you get the supplement when it’s available.)

A meaningful life is centered around the search for truth. The correct colors of a vintage slot may not make much difference in the cosmic scale of things, but if we can’t get that right, how short do we fall on the important questions?

The truth is out there..........
now my head hurts; maybe we should just go have a Foster’s.
nvmos2
 
Posts: 808
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2012 11:43 am
Location: SE Virginia

Re: What reference materials are must haves

Postby watlingboy » Thu Apr 04, 2013 12:50 pm

Gee, golly, shucks, tee hee hee Andy. A new collector asks for reference books. There have been comments about Slots on Parade being a nice coffee table book but not a good reference book. The comments that followed were as a result of you sugggesting it is a good book with great color pictures. Some of us respond, Dave being the first, with some of the inaccuracies in the book and we are labeled as Harsh and Hasty with negative comments. Aren't you the guy who apologized for some comments made to a guy who was selling a Jennings Peacock. And I reread my post about the Watling 5/25. I was responding to a question that was asked as to whether printed material existed, NOT whether the machine existed. You responded that Watling did make a 5/25. I said the "No" was in response to printed material, I guess there was article an about it in the Loose Change, although not indepth. Instead of you saying nothing or thanks, you come back with "ooh,ooh, nice save." Do we really need these comments. Insert your favorite icon here, the one I want to use isn't there.

One more thing about Slots on Parade, this book was done at a time when collecting was at its infancy and it was thought to achieve top dollar on a machine it had to be restored. I tried to talk many people out of restoring nice original machines, usually with no luck. Fortunately, now many collectors see the value in nice original machine and these have separated themselves from the rest of the pack in price. I do still talk to collectors ocassionally, mostly new, who say they don't like the unrestored stuff and like them shiny. Lots of pieces of cast iron were chrome plated in the early days because the owners didn't like polishing them. Dan Meade was a publisher and not a collector. He had 1 or 2 machines and relied on other people for help and articles. This is not a defense only and observation.

Watlingboy
watlingboy
 
Posts: 645
Joined: Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:43 pm

Re: What reference materials are must haves

Postby marsonion » Thu Apr 04, 2013 2:16 pm

I'm a lot more thrilled with the sense in which Geddes uses the word "original." I wonder how long before a serious SMOP reader posts an eBay blurb that says something like this:

"The paint on this antique slot machine is ORIGINAL! I thought up the color scheme all by myself and even stirred together the bright greens and pinks with a stick in the garage just last Friday! It's still FRESH!"

:D






nvmos2 wrote:marsonion;

Yes; your quotes highlight one of the main problems with Slots on Parade;
the authors' ignorant (or lazy) use of the term "restoration" when they should be using "refurbishment"
or some other term that does not require the return to the machine's original state.

The second quote shows that the authors value refurbishment higher than they value restoration;
which will leave those collectors shaking their heads in disappointment/disbelief.
User avatar
marsonion
 
Posts: 607
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2011 1:37 pm
Location: OR

Re: What reference materials are must haves

Postby Dave » Thu Apr 04, 2013 9:13 pm

I didn't really mean to dis Slots on Parade in my earlier comment. I was just pointing out that the photos were not necessarily accurate to what the machines really looked like back in the day.

When I first started into slots (back in the 1980s) Slots on Parade was one of my first books.

I was thirsty for ANY information on slots and Slots on Parade really helped feed my passion (addiction). Just seeing the huge variety of machines was great so I am thankful for the people who put it out.

I later found out that many of the machines were not painted the correct colors and some were not even restored properly. However, that's OK. I sometimes leave the book out when we have company over so people can look at it and see the great variety of slots that were made. I don't tell them that some of the machines were not painted the correct colors because to them it does not matter.

I still think the most entertaining and interesting books are Slots 1, 2, 3, and 4 by Dick Bueschel. The history is fun to read and yes there are errors in those books as well but they are still a great source and I would highly recommend all new collectors to try and get a copy.

I agree that it is such a shame that Dick was taken from us so early. He was an outstanding individual. Always willing to help out. When I put out my Coin-Op on CD product back in 1995 he sent me a ton of his published articles and said I could use any of them as I deemed fit and wouldn't charge me a royalty or anything.

I actually took my copies of Slots 1, 2, 3, 4 and converted them to PDF and made the PDF searchable. I have it on my laptop and iPad so I can lookup information at any time. I wish the original publisher would do this.

I am very appreciative of everyone who has published information on coin op (Mead, Geddes, Bueschel, Gustwiller, Rubin, (to name a few), etc.). I am sure putting a book out is not easy task and I doubt it is a very profitable venture.
User avatar
Dave
Site Admin
 
Posts: 1781
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:29 pm
Location: Broomfield CO

Re: What reference materials are must haves

Postby andydotp » Fri Apr 05, 2013 12:47 am

Oh Gawd, me & my big mouth. :oops:
Once again it seems I must post a personal apology because someone's taken me Not as I intended.. and got the hump. :(
Before we (hopefully) move swiftly on: In order of your responses guys:
I didn't imply for a split second that I know better than anyone,, on anything.
As for the rest of your post - well said, totally agree and I've sent $59.95 so we can all have a beer - on me of course.
I thought $12.5k for a Peacock was a tad high, "nice save" is an every-day Aussie colloquialism made in jest and I'll politely decline that icon thankyouverymuch.
Green & pink paint - you should see my Lion Front!!!!
Never thought for a minute you were dissin' SMOP.

Anyone got a spare Aspirin?
Regards to all in the (serious) interests of our hobby.
andydotp
andydotp
 
Posts: 119
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 6:39 pm

Re: What reference materials are must haves

Postby TJ » Thu May 23, 2013 11:19 am

Where are you located? The A.C.M.C.A. is a Southern California based coin-op club we like to help out newbies. T.J.
TJ
 
Posts: 144
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 5:54 pm
Location: San Pedro California

PreviousNext

Return to Articles

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest