A letter from The Kurosaka Family

The Soccer machine was in front of the Store in 1925 when Dad came up from NYC to LG for his health- loss of right leg & TB. He was given 2 years if he remained in NYC and may be 10 years if he moved to the country. You will see how wrong this prediction was later in the narrative.

Dad purchased the machine from Yellow Novelty Company of Schenectady in 1934 (approx.) prior to this, the  machine was on concession at 50/50 split of proceeds.  Dad maintained the machine till 1941 when I took over till 1946 when I graduated from LGHS & enlisted in the US Navy, my brother Bob took over till 1953 when he graduated from LGHS also.

In 1953 Dad purchased a "Newer" machine from Mr. Herman Murray, who was the original owner of the Playland Amusement Center - Mr Murray got the machine from the Glen Lake Casino - Dad paid $65.00 for the machine, It immediately replaced the original machine which had become quite shoddy & in a bad state of repair, that is the machine in the post card picture taken in 1956 (fall) for our 50th Season for the Bazaar since 1908 - that machine operated quite satisfactory till 1968 when it had to be completely refurbished.

Meantime I had returned from the service & attending RPI where I graduated in 1954 - Bob went off to Potsdam State from 1953 to 1955 the USMC 1956 to 60 he was in the 1958 landings by the Third Marines in Lebanon.  We shared maintenance of the machine in those years, as the one home would do the work on an as available & need basis.  In 1957 I returned to then area & resumed the upkeep of the machine - In 1968 with the aid of my Wife, my Mother &my Daughter Jan who did the art work - the machine, Players and Spectators were completely integrated to represent World Cup Style Soccer - and to up-date the machine to modern sports standards.

In 1969 Dad passed away some 44 years after coming to Lake George for his health - he lived 44 of the 79 years of his life here in Lake George, and is interred in Evergreen Cemetery.  At that time Mother gave me the Machine - from 1969 to 1971 the machine took in enough pennies to completely cover all costs & expenses for my trip to Japan in 1971 as an Assistant Scoutmaster of a B.S.A. Scout Troop to the 13th World Jamboree held in Japan.

In 1972 the machine needed a complete rebuilding & renovation, so a machine was constructed out of the parts available from the "Original" machine which we fortunately kept for parts & the 1953 machine - the present machine is the result of that combining of parts - by the mid 70s all the original glass was replaced by "Plexiglass".  This past season in June the front glass was pushed-in & the ball stolen - the machine was inoperative till the week after Labor Day when a new ball was donated by Mr. Frank Dunn of Fairhaven, NJ - Thanks Frank from all of us!!

The game board & players were repainted by my younger daughter Kim this past spring & new Jackets were made by my Mother (81 years young in Sept.) 

This machine is on Loan to the Lake George Historical Society Museum for the Winter as a Memorial to My Father, & for the debt and gratitude & appreciation that my Family & I feel for Lake George as a Community for their unbiased treatment & support during the trying days of World War II, when others of our ethnic background were either severely restricted in their actions & movements or interned.

Thanks Again Lake George! 

--Unsigned letter from Donor

Circa 1970

In your picture of the court house interior, on the far rear right, stands an old soccer game. It used to cost a penny a game. Sometimes it got stuck, but most of the time it worked fine. My father and I would always play that game whenever we passed the corner drug store, where it stood outside for many summers. I found it amusing to see it in the museum about 12 years ago because I was only 36 years old at the time. But also , I'm glad to see it preserved... a childhood memory I can visit and tell my daughter about.    

FRED S. ,LAFAYETTE,NJ.