650 international exhibits added to Gauselmann Collection
Espelkamp. In the mid-1960s, Jean-Claude Baudot had compiled a collection of historic coin-operated machines that was unique in France. From 1981 to 2004, parts of the collection were shown at much noticed exhibitions in Paris, Nice, Montreal, and Las Vegas.
The approximately 650 exhibits include slot-machines, entertainment and vending machines, but also old wheels of fortune, lottery games, bagatelle tables, and pinball machines. However, the focus of the Baudot collection was the historic development of French and American gaming machines. The slot-machines of the American manufacturer “Caille“ are especially valuable. Around 1900 “Caille“ was one of the most important slot-machine manufacturers in the USA, next to “Mills“.
Jean-Claude Baudot, a passionate collector through and through, who dearly loves every single piece he collected, decided to sell his collection some months ago because of his age. This became fast known among the collectors, and rapidly bids were made for acquiring parts of the collection. However, Baudot harbored the wish to sell the collection in total, in order to secure its long-term survival.
“After first talks between Jean-Claude Baudot and us, we fast developed mutual trust,” explains Armin Gauselmann, “which grew even stronger, after Jean-Claude Baudot had visited our corporate museum and the warehouse facilities in person. The manager of Sammlung Gauselmann (the Gauselmann Collection), Monika Kokoska, went to Southern France to get a personal impression of the outstanding quality of the collection. Our family agreed very fast to acquire this important collection and thus to increase the international importance of our own collection considerably. In the medium term we intend to realize a second permanent exhibition in Berlin, next to the permanent exhibition at the company headquarters in Espelkamp.” Today, the Sammlung Gauselmann (Gauselmann Collection) has more than 1,800 exhibits including a multitude of rare unique pieces, and is one of the biggest collections of its kind in the world!