Hi My Name is Eric Have a Skee ball?

cellremote

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I found this forum by accident while searching for information on my Grandfather, Julius Seidel and the skee ball alley. Hopefully some arcade buffs and maybe some manufacturers that maybe on this forum can shed some light on my story which I know as fact and probably contains some fiction as well. This search came about as I found two Seidel's skee ball coupons on an e bay auction and I'm waiting for it to end. I should have asked some questions from my Uncle, Edward Seidel (Seidel Amusement) Before he passed.

Here goes the story as I know it,

The Skee ball alley was invented in 1909 by J. Dickenson Este, Easy enough to find out on Wikipedia. It's the time during the great depression between the invention of the machine and the purchase of it by Philadelphia Toboggan that is under contention here.

As my mother (Edward's sister) recalls, My Grandfather Julius who was a tool and die maker by trade working for a company called National skee ball which was building the 36' alleys, But, on the side he built a 14' skee ball alley in his shop on 42nd St. and Farragut Rd. in Brooklyn, NY when she was 5-8 years old (1931-1934) I'm not sure of Ed's age at the time But he was younger. She remembers him bringing home lumber and steel and my grandmother Anna asking where he got the money for his silly invention. He always told her he sold some bluefish he caught at the Canarsie piers. She then remembers two men, one of who's name was Mr. Bergofen,(his boss) at National skee ball and the other, she's not sure (I think he might have been a thug!!) from National skee ball came to the house which was upstairs from the shop, sitting in the living room and buying the machine from him for $ 500.00 and making him sign the papers (I don't think there was any patent at the time). She said there was a lot of screaming and yelling going on.

Six months later, National skee ball supposedly sold the machine to Wurlitzer for
$ 250,000.00 (Big bucks during the depression!!!) Which then sold it to a man named Mike Munves from Philadelphia Toboggan for an unknown amount. I suppose my two sisters, my cousin (Ed's daughter) and myself eventually inherited this vast fortune of $125.00 each (minus legal fee's)

Can anyone confirm of dispute any of this????
Are their any relatives of the players involved out there. I would really like to know.

Eric
[email protected]
 
Welcome, Eric. I don't have any answers for you but your story is interesting. There are lots of knowledgeable people here in all areas of gaming so if anybody can help you, you'll probably find them here.

Good luck in your search. Keep us posted if you find out anything new. I'm probably not the only here who would be interested to know more.
 
Thank you. I posted in the discussion section and it seems to be getting a few responses. Which is bringing up more questions. I do have the feeling that history has forgotten (more than likely never knew my grandfather) I hope some of my uncles old employees might see this. They would know the story. Very cool forum. I'm not a collector or a historian. But I do like the subject and I think I stumbled onto a group of people that know a lot more on the subject than I.
 
Eric,

Welcome to the forum. I'm glad that you found us and shared your family history with us. I'm an EM collector and an overall arcade enthusiast. I can only share my thoughts as I know little of National.

Your families story is the story of many families during the depression. I can almost close my eyes and see the scene as it was on a stage in Brooklyn, NY. Your grandfather in secret designing a machine. Maybe he told or had shown a freind over a beer that talked too much - snitched on him at work to brown nose the boss. Being strong armed by a thug and the owner of the company. Forcing him to sign the paper. Designs were stolen quite a bit back in those days.

Wurlitzer and Philadelphia Tobbagan Company we're very large companies back in those days. PTC was an amusment company they designed roller coasters, amusement rides, and bought and patented the ski-ball machine. They had the financial strength even through the depression to make money in the amusement industry.

Several companies made ski-ball versions. They would just give them slightly different names. Bally had a ski ball but it's official name was skill roll. I'm the owner of a 1967 Chicago Coin Criss Cross Ski Ball. My family loves the ski more than any arcade in my collection.

There's not a ton of information out there on the small amusement manufacturer's like National, Brooklyn, NY. This is an industry that has seen the giants like Midway, Chicago Coin, Bally, Williams all be but a memory. PTC is a shell of what it once was and believe they only make coaster trains for amusement parks.

Again this is the place to share your history. No one will refute what you wrote because we thirst for history about the hobby we love. Once again thanks for sharing and welcome to the boards.

OHEMIO
 
The part I'm not understanding is your grandfather worked for a skeeball company and he built a skeeball at home....what was so different about the version he built?
 
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