Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum facts for kids
Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum, located in Farmington Hills, Michigan, is devoted to a huge collection of coin-operated animatronic dummies, mechanical games and other oddities. Exhibits include, for example, the classic gypsy Fortune teller machine that used to grace many a carnival sideshow. Most of the machines still function, so visitors are encouraged to bring change. Marvin's is open 365 days a year.
The museum's founder, Marvin Yagoda, had been collecting the items that populate the 5,500-square-foot (510 m2) museum for over 60 years.He graduated from University of Michigan as a pharmacist taking over his fathers store Sam's Drugs in Detroit. Yagoda was a recognized expert in the field of mechanical and electrical game apparatus; he has been involved in appraisal of such items for the television series American Pickers. Yagoda died on January 8, 2017, at the age of 78. Marvin's son Jeremy grew up in the business and carries on his father's legacy.
Amongst the collection is P. T. Barnum's replica of the Cardiff Giant. Another oddity is one of Sing Sing Prison's Electric Chairs in which 30 people died. An automaton "food inspector" is set up to continuously vomit into a pile of milk bottles.
See also
In Spanish: Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum para niños
