See whats inside an unopened 30 year old Mello Yello can on new VH1 Classic show

[sledworks]

Had the opportunity to be on a new TV show called "For What It's Worth".  Hosted by Howard Stern staffers, Gary "Baba Booey" Dell'Abate and Jon Hein. Had a blast doing it even though it was 104 degrees that day and even hotter inside my non-air conditioned building. It aired last Thursday and has been re-running.

I wrote an article for GameRoom Magazine about helping Gary find an old pinball machine he played as a kid and then delivering it to his house. We've remained in touch the last few years so when he and Jon pitched the show idea to VH1, they suggested visiting Old Sled Works to see my collection of soda stuff, arcade machines and sleds for a segment.

Here's the episode (sorry, it has commercials). Enjoy...

http://tinyurl.com/d4a7k4d


Jimmy Rosen
Old Sled Works
Duncannon, PA
www.sledworks.com

[skipperslittlebuddy]

Jimmy.
I saw the show the other day,was amazed at your collection.Was surprised that the Mello Yellow can had an additional 50 cents to buy a can of pop.I would love to come and spend a day looking through your shop.I also used a sled like yours when I was  kid,boy they were fast but no brakes.

Skipperslittlebuddy

[Slider-Bob]

Cool video...and an awesome shop!  Congrats.  Thanks for sharing!

[MoonDawg]

        Great clip, this is the true definition of "Reality show"

[tkaz]

Really cool Jimmy, thanks for sharing!  Must have broken your heart a little to open that can up!

[jbrumett]

Jimmy,

Thanks for sharing. Lot's of cool toys you have there especially that soda fountain!!!

Jeff

[sc1101]

Just watched the video. What a great collection! I like how you still let people use the games which is what they were intended for. Congrats great job.

[mznb1u]

Jimmy,

Great stuff.  I will definitely be stopping by next time I am in PA.  I noticed a pretty nice looking Eastern Electric Cigarette Machine in one of the shots.  Is that still working?  Those are cool machines.

Thanks for sharing!

  Tim

[collecture]

Great video Jimmy!
Glad you are getting the credit you deserve...fantastic collection! I agree that it is wonderful that you let customers play the machines.
I bet you have two cases of the Mello Yellow can...don't you? I would have never let somebody open mine...OK money talks!

Just curious.....what made the sled business unprofitable? Being from the southern US, we never had a lot of use for sleds; however, they are good fun for kids and adults alike and fun never goes out of style!

[scalebowler]

That was really cool! In addition to all the cool stuff you have I really liked the old press and the time clock from the factory. Do you have any other equipment like that still in there?

[Larry]

I agree that time clock is really cool.  I love the collection of pre war pins and, as mentioned previously, I love the fact that you use the machines.  I can't stress that anymore than you did, they are made to play.  I don't have anything near as cool as your collection but whenever people come over, nobody wants to touch anything.  I always tell them it was broke when I got it and it can be fixed or adjusted if anything goes wrong, just play them.

I also loved seeing one of those hot chocolate machines working behind your soda bar.  I was outbid on one years ago and always thought of getting one.  Now I want one even more.

If I only had a warehouse.......

[sledworks]

Thanks for all the nice comments.

Try to answer some of the questions...
1. The sled museum has quite a few artifacts in it. Most of the machinery is gone. We had to clear it out to make room for vendor spaces.
2. I didn't mind opening the Mello Yello can on camera. (I only had one.) I figured that was the best way to do it. After filming, Gary and Jon both signed the shirt. I'm putting it in a display case along with the can, the two quarters and some pictures from that day. It will be near the Pepsi machine we used. Side note..we should have used my Coke can machine to be more accurate since Coke owns Mello Yello but the Coke machine was not in a good spot for filming.
3.Eastern Cigarette machine smoked one time (no pun intended) after I tried it years ago. Needless to say, I keep it unplugged.
4.Sled biz had been declining for many years. Plastic toboggans, video games and other societal changes contributed to the demise of the old fashioned sled. When my father bought the company in the late 60's, there were over a dozen sled manufacturers in the US. When we shutdown around 1990, there were two.
5. We shot for 6 hours for an 8 minute segment. No script. A lot of takes. I'm not great in front of the camera. Plus it was so hot, we had to stop fairly often to get toweled off. I wore an apron to cover my perspiration. Seemed to work.

[Slapshot42]

Great video thanks for sharing!

[bcharlton]

Great video Jimmy,

Do you have an old soda fountain at Sledworks?  I did not see it but I love the old maltshop.  I have an old Bastian Blessing Bobtail form the late 1950s.

Let me know.

Brian

[sledworks]

Brian- do u mean the entire soda fountain area or just the stainless steel unit with sinks and syrup rail,etc? I have a Bastian blessing unit and front counter back there. Been there since mid-90's.

[bcharlton]

Jim,


Please send some pics of the soda fountain.  Here is the fountain that dispenses drinks in my basement maltshop.

BC

[cohammer]

That was great I enjoyed that