YOUR GUIDE
The genius magician who was responsible for 1990s TV show The Secret Cabaret, Simon Drake now performs once a month at The House Of Magic, which is stuffed with spooky memorabilia, trinkets and books. He also acts as a consultant for music tours, films and TV shows. We sent him on a quest to visit the weirdest places in the USA.

MEET
Marvin Yagoda
Marvin owns Marvin’s Marvelous (sic) Mechanical Museum in Michigan, north of Detroit. The 71-year-old has been collecting arcade machines, sideshow attractions, and automatons since the 1950s. In his own words, the museum’s “known from coast to coast, like butter and toast. From headlines to bedlines, from school rooms to pool rooms, this place is like no other that can be found in the contiguous United States and other environs of the free world.”

I arrive at a bitterly cold Detroit airport to be greeted by Marvin Yagoda, the Donald Trump of arcade oddities and coin slot machine collectors. He’s wearing a thick, limited edition Disney jacket to keep the freezing weather out. Marvin’s a short and amiable man, and on the way into town he asks if I’m hungry. I most certainly am, so he suggests we stop at the finest restaurant in town.

Five minutes later we pull up at a huge warehouse that looks like it’s been dipped in an enormous cheesy vat of Las Vegas glitz. As we walk in I whisper, “Marvin, this is a strip club.” He grins knowingly and replies, “Yep, the titty bars have the best food in town.”

The chunky, muscled boss of the club greets us personally, shows us to the best table and we get the pick of the menu – on the house. Marvin is quite a celebrity in Detroit, with stars such as Eminem and David Copperfield visiting his museum.

Marvin owns and runs a pharmacy, but the museum is his pride and joy. It’s wedged somehow between two halves of a shopping mall. I enter the building and look around at the banks of ancient machines with my mouth hanging open in astonishment.

Marvin shows me around his collection. He laughs, “Many of the old machines were a con – they kept you hanging.” He points to a machine in one corner. “For example, this one has a slogan written on the front, ‘Roll up! Roll up! Look if you dare! They’re naked; they’re live, moving and real!’ But when you insert a coin into the machine, all that’s revealed is an ant colony. In the old days they used live ants but the ones I’ve got are plastic. That’s the recession for you.”

The recession is also proving tough for the rest of the arcade. There are many modern videogames in here, but Marvin’s real passion is for his vintage arcade wonders. He explains, “The place is not a big money spinner since the rise in popularity of home consoles, but we keep going in spite of our 00-a-month electricity bill. The kids still love it, and adults.”

There’s not an empty square inch in Marvin’s amazing museum, and he even has PT Barnum’s Cardiff Giant. The original Cardiff Giant – a massive stone figure dug up from the ground, believed to be a 2,000 year-old petrified man – caused a sensation in the 1860s when it was exhibited by a syndicate of hucksters in Syracuse, New York.

After the success of the exhibition, PT Barnum offered to buy the figure but the syndicate turned him down, so he made his own version. The original giant then turned out to be a fake, created by New York tobacconist George Hull, an atheist who wanted to trick a religious friend into believing in ancient beings.

It’s obvious this is one of Marvin’s prize possessions. “I love collecting; the thrill of the chase is the best part,” he says. “I was so proud to get PT Barnum’s Cardiff Giant. It’s 11ft, 2990lb and one of the most famous hoaxes in American history.”

Other joys to be uncovered in the den of penny falls and cheap thrills include a dummy strapped into an electric chair, which was supposedly used at Sing-Sing prison, the maximum security jail near New York.

And, exhibited alongside the Barbie Water Race and the Whack-A-Doodle-Do games are real ‘hooker tokens’ from the Wild West (bought in barber shops and bars, redeemed in the local brothel), and Ku Klux Klan ‘money’ from the early part of the last century.

Earlier, over our meal at the titty bar, Marvin had told me about his girlfriend, Julie. She’s roughly 30 years his junior, and lives mostly in Las Vegas. He met her in a club where she was a lap dancer and he tells me she’s the source of his anxiety and depression, and something of a money pit.

During my stay, he keeps telling me how she’s got under his skin. I share my experiences with him, as years ago I too was suckered by a young lady – and can only hope he’ll heed my advice.

Months later, I receive a call from a jubilant Marvin. He’s no longer with Julie, and is now blissfully happy in a solid relationship with a woman only two years younger. I’m delighted to tell you that Marvin is bringing her to London to meet me this summer.
Marvin’s Mechanical Museum is simply fantastic. It’s open 10am until 9pm every day in Farmington Hills, Detroit. Go and see it – and tell Marvin I sent you! See more of the collection at Marvin3m.com