Item: Caille Busy Bee Trade Stimulator 5 Cent Coin Operated
Sold For: $16,766.66
Bids: 21
Date: Jul 29, 2012
Auction: Ebay
Description and Image By: sandyoldbug
The machine is in original condition. It has not been restored. It does work. The wheel spins when a nickel is placed in the single slot and the handle turned. One nickle will show in the coin window and will drop when another coin is inserted and the handle turned. There is no coin box. The wheel and the small coin window do not have covers over them. The nickle plating is peeling in some places and there is some rust. There is a broken piece of the cast iron casing on the rear bottom base. There is no key for the back. The lithograph award card has scratches and is discolored. The pay off on this machine was in cigars.
My father purchased this machine when he was a young boy. My best guess is that this would have been in the late 1930s. He lived on a farm in East Central Wisconsin. The story he told was that he paid 25 cents for it, and when he got it home and was able to get the back off he found several nickles in the bottom of the machine!