Gone Baby Gone
Recycled for parts and left to sit, one arcade distributor’s old cabinets recall the shining past of coin-op gaming.
Located on a stretch of Western Avenue in the North Center neighborhood of Chicago, Western Automatic Music’s beige brick façade might not catch the eye of the average passerby. But I can’t creep past on the No. 49 bus without spotting the same sun-faded NBA Jam Tournament Edition cabinet, one of several such machines visible through the large picture window. From the outside, it looks like an arcade was picked up on one end and shaken until the contents crammed against the east wall.
