History
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Born
in Brooklyn, New York, Eric Kamen
visited Coney Island for the first time at the age of seven.
He called it, "a dream come true." Although Eric is
deaf, his disability hasn't affected his love for mechanical
amusement devices. He is a pro at mechanical game repair.
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Eric repaired the FLIP FLOP pinball.
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Herb Silvers' Fabulous
Fantasies!
This month's game room is a kick for me. When I opened this
letter and read the story, I just had to laugh. Eric Kamen is
a name I remember from my days of hanging around my local pinball
distributor, C.A. Robinson in southern California. Eric used
to be one of the techs that I bothered for information about
games. I'm sure he doesn't remember me but Eric, you were a
great and understanding guy. Now off to Eric's latest home and
his game room in Denver, Colorado.
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A dream comes true! I was seven years old and I went with
my parents to Coney Island in New York. There I saw all the old-fashioned
styles and things from the past, such as pinball machines and
other games (because of this, I started to get interested in mechanics).
I later went back to New York in 1990 to a store I had seen, in
search of pinball machines so I could add them to my collection
back home, but the machines were gone. I was really disappointed. |
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Joel and Eric (Son and Father)
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I was born May 6, 1958 in Brooklyn, New York, but despite
my disability, I showed aptitudes of putting things together
and mechanical ability. At the age of 2½ I attended
Lexington
School for the Deaf until the age of 12 and continued
to show my ability in mechanics.
My interests really
got started when I was 12 years old, while a student at
the New York School for the Deaf, also known as Fanwood.
The school had a game room and whenever a game or piece
of equipment would break, the school authority called
upon me to repair whatever was necessary to keep the game
room operating. At this point I vowed that some day I
would own my own game room!
While attending Fanwood, I was sent to West Chester Community
College where I took a course in House Wiring. After a
year, the instructor said I was #1 in my class. But due
to my disability no one would hire a deaf man. Despite
my frustration, I continued to improve my ability in working
with wires and tools.
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At 16 years old, I got
a job at McCann Amusements in the Bronx, working on Saturdays
repairing pinball machines and other mechanical games. While
working at McCann, I learned to cannibalize various machines
for the parts, which became useful and important. My boss, George
McCann, gave me a Gottlieb Play Mates (1968). I now have the
back glass on the wall and added a scorekeeper, which is also
a clock that I made myself. My boss also gave me a Midway Golf
Champ (1972), which was a wall-mounted electromechanical game.
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I appreciated the gifts very much. After graduating from
Fanwood,
the encouragement of other deaf boys helped me to decide
to go to Westminster Community College. Two years later,
I relocated to California where I worked for a distributor
of mechanical games. The distributor was C.A. Robinson Amusement
Co. The technicians who worked there were classified as
"professionals."
I worked for Robinson
for six years,  learning
my craft and improving my skills. They would say I was one
deaf person who is a rare breed in a hearing world
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I now live in Denver, Colorado because I love the outdoor
activities, the mountains, and the weather. I have been
working for the post office for the past six years.
I do get job working part time repairing pinball and
slot machines.
My first love is amusement and mechanical games and
over the past several years I have been buying and selling
various machines. This is my game room and I'm proud
of my accomplishment.
Born
in Brooklyn, New York, Eric Kamen visited Coney Island
for the first time at the age of seven. He called it,
"a dream come true." Although Eric
is deaf, his disability hasn't affected his love for mechanical
amusement devices. He is a prop at mechanical
game repair.
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