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THE SHRINE
and
SOAPY SMITH MUSEUM
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| Jeff's private home saloon |
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Jeff Smith designed a nice private home saloon and museum from which to entertain friends and
showcase the Soapy Smith collection, which his ex-wife called, "The shrine." In the photograph above, on the left
side of the bar-top one can see an 1893 Clawson Three Jack-pot slot machine. The player deposited a nickle in a top slot and
pushed the plunger down which dropped the coin onto the glass covered playing field where the nickle bounced off pins
until it reached the bottom where three bins collected the coins. If the player was lucky the nickle would slip inside one
of three slot openings above the bins and the player won all the nickles in the corresponding bin. To obtain the winnings
the player once again pushed down on the plunger which opened the bin spilling the winnings out an opening at the bottom.
Every push of the plunger also activated a small music box so that for every nickle the player received a short tune. Jeff's
father purchased the machine from the famed Harriet Pullen museum collection in 1973 and it now resides proudly in the Skagway
City Museum.
On the right end of the bar-top rests an 1897 Decatur Fairest
Wheel trade stimulator. Not actually a slot machine a trade stimulator had the sole purpose of "stimulating trade"
by enticing a customer to purchase merchandise, in this case, cigars. Most cigars were 5¢ and the player of this machine
was guaranteed at least one cigar, with the hope of winning more. The player dropped his nickle in the slot at the top of
the wheel. The weight of the nickle falling along the inside edge spun the inside wheel. Numbers ranging from "1"
to "3" are spaced around the wheel with a stationary "winning flag" to display the winning number
once the wheel stops spinning. The number indicates the amount of cigars the players receives for his nickle.
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