Caille Good Luck

[cpdretired]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0577170090
What was this person thinking?

[marsonion]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360577170090
What was this person thinking?

This is a VERY UNIQUE example of a ANTIQUE Coin Op Trade Stimulator...It is a Caille "Good Luck" Penny Poker Trade Stimulator that spent most of its life across from an auto plant in a Detroit Michigan Union Hall...In being at that location they placed many automobile badges, emblems , and other watch fob and token medals on the machine...It has several attachments that by themselves are worth some money...The machine itself is in nice WORKING condition with obvious wear (top has cracks, but is stable see photos) from its years in the Union Hall...I also have the key for the rear door...I am sure some would consider removing the badges and restoring this machine, but I consider this a very unique example that is essentially frozen in time as a piece of U.S. auto manufacturing / organized labor history as well as a quite desirable trade stimulator...

I agree with him 100% and--coming from a family of vintage auto collectors-- think this is the most interesting historical artifact I've seen show up on eBay in many moons. Each of those insignia badges is a precious collectible worth quite a bit to particular automaniacs and motorheads (I wouldn't expect anybody else to understand) but I'd sure hate to see this item parted-out.

I want this.

[SLOT DYNASTY]

Well Hot Diggity-Doggy! If this isn't sumptin!
This has to be put into a museum, (my museum), and left untouched. This is History at it's finest! I want it too! Being a car buff as well, there are some great badges on there.

This is going to open up a whole new venture for 'Hot-Panties' in Vegas. There will be a new batch of machines showing up with Cracker Jack prizes, and Cereal Box toys glued all over the case, and listed as RARE. But, after all, he's just 'cleaning out the shop'!

[Mike Gumula]

Wow Bill, that is some kind of nifty machine, and It does belong in a museum ! Would probably look better in NC than CA !


Mike Gumula

[flipper77]

Look for a real Caille Good Luck with real patina and real history. They are beautiful.

[Mike Gumula]

The picture you sent was pretty sharp too, but there is something really special about the one on ebay. It would almost be a crime to take anything off of it ( you might not even want to polish it - see Bill you have made me a believer regarding "over-restoration ). Knowing who is interested in it, I don't even want to guess what it will end up going for.

mgg

[marsonion]

Look for a real Caille Good Luck with real patina and real history. They are beautiful.

I gather from the several sarcastic and mocking comments I've read here that there is something obviously faked or ridiculous about this object and its purported history in the eyes of the TS experts. Maybe I'm just gullible, but the story sounds about right for what I'm seeing here: a bunch of Detroit autoworkers in the '30s decorated this Detroit card-roller with Detroit insignia from their Detroit employers and their trades, along with honorary medallions featuring John Deere and Dizzy Dean and other stuff they liked. I've been told that union halls back in the day were a lot like clubhouses, and that they featured mascots and other inside jokes. I don't regard what these guys might've done to this machine back 80 years ago the same way I would if some guy in Vegas did it today.

Is this an obvious fake? Is the seller notorious? Are there some anachronisms I'm missing here? Was this put together a month ago with shoe polish and a box of Detroit memmorabilia by some cynical miscreant going after the vintage auto collector market--? (Wouldn't he have done better to make it look like it came out of a country club and stuck pictures of Bobby Jones on it?) I really want to hear the bona fide TS expert point of view on this one-- without the sarcasm.

[WS65711]

It looks like most of those medallions are attached with screws. Someone having a serious interest in the machine could ask the seller to temporarily remove one of the medallions and photograph the wood underneath. If the medallions have been there for 50+ years it should be obvious . . .

[SLOT DYNASTY]

OK, on a serious note................To answer marsonion and WS65711.............This tread, regarding the Caille "Good Luck" has absolutely nothing to do with the Jerk in Vegas that slaps all the Phoney machines together, to snooker the collector. All about his antics can be read in several other threads.
I can feel safe to say, that this is a genuine piece of history, of what a bunch of union buddies did many years ago. It is just not something that some clown in their right mind would do for the sake of making some extra bucks on eBay, as some of those badges are worth serious money to the collector of such memorabilia, even though some appear to have had holes drilled for mounting. Many are mounted with wood screws, and others with small brads & escucheon pins. The seller of this machine has been on eBay for a very long time, and has always had good quality items listed, and in better shape than others found. They sure have a knack for coming up with the unusual at times. I am quite sure the seller would unscrew a badge or two if asked, but I really do not think it is nessasary. If you look at all the pix posted, you can see the original finish showing under the scuff marks. I am not sure if the case was painted, or a dark ebony stain was put on it, but it was surely either. Also, that big decal on the front, is not factory design, and was put on after the current finish, and it was done many years ago, because that decal is crazed & flaking. If the current finish was applied after all the badges, there would be overflow on the edges. Look at the big V8 spear on the top right side, and the Anchor on the top left. You can see through them, as well as others. Also, on another note, collectors of such badges would not normally be looking in the Trade Stimulator category for them. I also have great interest in other fields, that some of these badges represent, but do not know their current worth. Most all of the auto mfr. names have been long ot-of-business. The most recent being Oldsmobile, and they are history as well. Another thing is, this machine was probably stashed in a storeroom before the union fellows had a chance to fill in the rest of the left side, back & top. Oh, how I would love to hear the real story behind this machine. As excited as our late collector friend & historian, Dick Bueschel would have said, "WOW! I GOTTA FIND OUT ALL ABOUT THIS ONE"! I sure miss him dearly. We used to spend many hours on the phone, almost on a daily basis at times. And this was before my introduction to the WWW. I am going to contact the seller, and see what other info I can come up with on this machine, and will post it here, if I learn anything. Regards, Bill

[marsonion]

Thanks, Bill! I hope you'll let us know what you find out about what this kid's been through. BTW, if you want to see a really pretty line of automobiles, just image-search Graham-Paige... that's part of the legacy of the union coachbuilders of Detroit.