I LISTENING POST I I BEST OF EVERYTHING I MOW Thanksgiving Holiday Buffet s. $16.95 per person 11:30 to 5:30 Thursday, November 22 $8.95 Enjoy your Thanksgiving in our Grand Atrium and Jacques Demers Restaurant. children under 12 Our holiday table includes carved turkey, ham and roast beef, an ar- ray of salads, as well as a sumptuous dessert table. Bring the entire family and enjoy a holiday tradition at EMBASSY SUITES! Gs 0 4/ktes Zekfters S AURANT & LOUNGE MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW! NW/ de 350-2000 EMBASSY SUITES 28100 Franklin Road, Southfield, Michigan 48034 -5. • I I PIZ z t+ 31646 Northwestern Hwy., West of Middlebelt, Farmington Hills 85 5-4600 00 OFF ANY LARGE PIZZA or LARGE ANTIPASTO Of LARGE GREEK SALAD • Coupon Must Be Presented When Ordering • Not Good With Any Other Discounts or Coupons JN • Expires 11-22-90 onteok?' more DEL SI 32030 PLYMOUTH RD., WEST OF MERRIMAN 422-0770 Experience Freshly-Made Dishes Of Veal, Fresh Seafood, Pasta, Etc. . . . Created by Chef/Owner LUCIANO, Chef de Cuisine Mark Jordan Also Featuring Fresh Game & A Health Smart Dish Of The Day DINNER FOR TWO — MON. THRU THURS. $14.95 VEAL PARMIGIANA CHICKEN PICCATA ORANGE ROUGHY $14.95 $15.95 THESE DISHES ALSO INCLUDE: SOUP OR SALAD, PASTA OF THE DAY, VEGETABLE & BREAD BASKET $11.95 HOMEMADE LASAGNA INCLUDES SOUP OR SALAD AND BREAD BASKET LIVE JAZZ By Dolphin Dance EVERY WED. 7 to 10 72 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1990 PIANO STYLINGS FRI. & SAT. Please Present Cott ton Before Ordering 2 Per lithle Expires II- )1-90 Gimmicks, Gags And Videos Wow Marvin's Visitors DANNY RASKIN Local Columnist T hey call him "The King of Shtick" . . . and you'd readily see why after viewing his collec- tion of gimmicks, gags, video machines, overhead airplanes on a track, puppet shows, games galore from yesteryears and today. All are amassed under one huge roof in back of F & M at Hunters Square, Orchard Lake Road south of 14 Mile, where Marvin Yagoda's in- terests and activities have become one of the highlights in entertainment for parents and grandparents taking their children to a place where they, too, can have some fun. It's his Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum . . . fill- ed with a collection that dates back to 1887 with a quarterscope that you look in- to and see old movies . . . and I'm not so sure you won't find things there that are even older. Marvin's collection of over 30 years is one big doozy of fun . . . Hanging on the ceil- ing is probably the world's •largest pair of overalls . . . a size 72 waist . . . There's even a searchlight from Alcatraz . . . a 1930 Coca Cola ice box . . . rare Lionel trains . . . gyro fans a la the Rube Goldberg type, among the most seldom found . . . 30 full-scale remote airplanes, 40 feet up on a con- veyor chain . . . Coney Island machines, Neisner sign, ferris wheel, old-time gas pumps. Every inch of the 5,500 square feet at Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum is used . . . with all 700 electrical outlets in operation. It looks like a huge recrea- tion room chock full of fun .. . Most of the things he has were in private collections that people never got to see . . . So many that bring back much youthful memories from Edgewater Beach, Con- ey Island, New York; River- view Park in Chicago; Euclid Beach in Cleveland; Eastwood Park; Walled Lake Amusement Park, etc. Penny machines, magic machines, fortune tellers and other vintage exhibits . . . stone lithograph magic posters from the '20s, side show banners, over 100 neon signs and clocks, more than 300 coin-operated games and amusements. Marvin is a pharmacist at Sam's Drugs on Fenkell, which was founded by his father, Sam Yagoda, and has been at the same location 60 years. His wife Jean is a tour guide at the Detroit Zoo, which is also represented at Marvin's Marvelous Mechan- ical Museum . . . A back- ground board from the zoo's Chimpanzee Show is very visible. He's big on birthday parties, up to 50 people . . . A recent 50th birthday shindig was held there, but usually the younger kids have it for their own . . . with moms and pops and grandpas and grandmas also getting in on the fun. Marvin has row after row of devices and games, a nickelo- deon of the 1906 San Fran- cisco Earthquake next to a Zoltan, the Seer, staring into his fortune-reading globe .. . Nintendo Turtles are around too, as Marvin keeps the past out in front but finds room for today's hardware as well. In the area surrounding his snack bar and eating tables is a juke box imbedded in the tail of the 1957 Thunderbird replica . . . It sits next to another juke box molded into the cab of a lifesize 1930 model Chevrolet Country Classic truck. While young children eagerly explore the sounds and sights with obvious glee and determination to find out how things work, and enjoy themselves in the process, parents and grandparents pa- tiently sip a coke, or better yet, jump into things them- selves at a Bally table top Space Invaders game. Marvin himself is part of a network of vintage amuse- ment device specialists and collectors . . . His insatiable desire to collect and share shows up with the old pup- pets, honky tonk piano, etc., jammed together in a glorious array . . . It is a genuine fun place to take the family . At the same time, Marvin has his outlet for expressing a rich creativity and endless search for nostalgia items. Harry Houdini posters, the Neiser Bros. store marquee sign, strength testers, rides, etc., etc., etc., all add up to what is probably America's only no-admission-charge museum of its type. The steady stream of youngsters, parents and grandparents who visit Mar- vin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum enjoy the sterling collection of memorabilia, vintage coin machines, etc. that reflects eras of a younger America. Marvin Yagoda's Marvelous Mechanical Museum cap- tures the feelings of fantasy and playtime that an early Barnum had. In his fun palace . . . and that it is . . . Marvin has also saved a past from disappearing. IT WAS THE serious side of Max Sosin as he celebrated his 80th birthday at a brunch given by wife Ruth . . . with Size 72 overalls, rare Lionel trains, a searchlight from Alcatraz, 30 full- scale remote- control airplanes and Coney Island machines help decorate Marvin's. fun commentaries by son Harvey and daughter Sally presenting a slide show of yesteryears . . . at Congrega- tion B'nai David. Harvey and wife Liz had come in from Boca Raton, Fla. . . . Their son Randy and wife Jillian from Los Angeles .. . Randy danced with 6-month- old son Sidney and Jillian soon joined in . . . Their daughter Lindsey at the mike with Jodi, daughter of Sally and Phil Newman, saying "Happy Birthday" to a beam- ing Grandpa Max . . . Harvey's other two children also flew in from California . . . Beth, a senior at San Diego State, and Ilise. Morris and Tillie Brand- wine married on his birthday 53 years ago . . . Moe recent- ly turned 80 . . . 170 at the brunch . . . no hall is big enough to put in all Max's friends . . . Leah Nichamin, Bunny and Allan's daughter, making folks do a double-take . . . she looks so much like her mom did years ago as Bunny Woolf . . . Herman "One Shot" Jaffee not even con- sidering taking another pic- ture "to make sure" . . . Max's life story in drawings and words presented by Hy Shenkman . . . four genera- tions at the mike, Max, son Harvey, grandson Randy and great-grandson Sidney . . . Norman Allan with a huge gold Chai around his neck .. .