Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum

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.[1] Marvin's is open 365 days a year.

For the album by Tally Hall, see Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum (album).
Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum
Coordinates42.52525°N 83.3618°W / 42.52525; -83.3618
Websitewww.marvin3m.com

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.[2]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.[3][4] Yagoda died on January 8, 2017, at the age of 78.[5] 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.[6][7] Another oddity is one of Sing Sing Prison's Electric Chairs in which 30 people died.[8] An automaton "food inspector" is set up to continuously vomit into a pile of milk bottles.[9]

Tally Hall, a band from nearby Ann Arbor, titled an album after the museum. Tally Hall was the name of the shopping mall where Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum existed before the indoor mall was converted to an outdoor strip mall in the late 1980s.

See also

Notes
  1. Semion, Bill (September 1, 2000). Fun with the Family in Michigan: Hundreds of Ideas for Day Trips with the Kids (6th ed.). Globe Pequot. pp. 59 of 352. ISBN 0762708085. Retrieved August 4, 2011. ISBN 978-0762708086
  2. Godfrey, Linda S.; Moran, Mark; Sceurman, Mark (2006). Weird Michigan: Your Travel Guide to Michigan's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets (hardcover). New York: Sterling Publishing. ISBN 1402739079. Retrieved August 4, 2011. ISBN 9781402739071
  3. Marvin Yagoda (2008). "1972 Nutting Associates Computer Space". Archived from the original on January 30, 2009.
  4. Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum spot on American Pickers television show
  5. Wisely, John (9 Jan 2017). "Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum founder dies". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  6. "Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum". RoadsideAmerica.com. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  7. Nicklell, Joe (May–June 2009), "Cardiff's Giant Hoax", Skeptical Inquirer, 33 (3)
  8. Faraci, Devin (December 16, 2011). "Hit The Road: Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum". BadAssDigest. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  9. "Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum Atlas Obscura". Retrieved January 16, 2013.

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