I have often wondered what happened to all the spare parts present in
factories when production of coin operated pianos ceased.  I now have
information to what happened to at least _one_ batch of parts.

Jimmy Johnson, a close friend, worked for the Western Electric Piano
Company as a traveling salesman.  He later joined the Seeburg firm when
they bought out Western Electric.

In 1932, Jimmy formed his own company, Western Equipment & Supply
Company, with offices and factory located at 850 Blackhawk Street,
which was one of a number of addresses used by Western Electric Piano
Company.  That address was in reality on Seeburg property, around the
corner from Dayton Street.

Upon Jimmy's death in 1983, I inherited all the corporate records,
catalogs, photographs, patents (originals, not duplicates), drawings,
sketch books and other ephemera of not only Western Equipment & Supply,
but also Western Products Incorporated and Chicago Patent Corporation
which Jimmy founded with Ray Maloney, president of Bally.

In 1932, Jimmy marketed a gambling device called "Sweepstakes" and
guess what?  The horses and mechanism that drove them were actually
parts purchased from Seeburg and used in the Derby and Racehorse or
Greyhound pianos!  The only difference was the number of horses.
There were two models of the "Sweepstakes", one with a payout device
and the other without.

To see a photograph of this machine click on the link below.  Because
of recent "borrowing" of photographs and other material from my web
site without my permission, and without even crediting the source,
you will have to put up with a limited view of the machine and the
copyright notice imposed on the image.

Yes, there is a book in the works.  I have located what I believe to
be the last person to have worked for Jimmy Johnson in his coin machine
enterprises.  If he is not the last, then he must be next to last.
Extensive emails between he and I have confirmed a lot of what I had
gathered from the corporate records.  We meet for an interview next
week, and I am sure a lot more of the mysteries will be cleared up.

For the photo, click on  http://www.edgaida.com/sweep.html

Ed Gaida - Still 18 blocks North of the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas