cellremote
New member
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]
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]