ST. LOUIS – Did you know that Soda Museum on Main Street in St. Charles also has an arcade? It opened in December in the basement below the museum. The games line the walls, dating from the 1940s to 2002.
They utilize the space for groups, meetings, and birthday parties. The basement features a kitchen, dining space, and a bar. Owner Tom Smith plans to put the space to use to better fit his customers’ needs but is not sure how that will look yet.
“I’ve been working on renovating the building for almost three years, trying to get it in shape,” said owner Tim Smith. They currently have 30 games on the floor, with more in storage ready to rotate out at any time.
“All the games are free to play with your admission. The museum alone has a $10 admission fee. The arcade’s admission is $15 per person, but once you’re down here, all the games are free to play. If you pay for both the museum and the arcade, it’s a $5 savings,” said Smith.
Most of the games in his collection are vintage. They have a game called “Relief Pitcher (1992)” featuring Cardinal Famous Jack Buck as the sports announcer. Another game is “Crane” from 1956, a Williams Crane game that moves lentils from the base of the canyon to the bucket.
There’s also “Space Pilot (1968)” where the player must hit targets. Smith emphasizes precision in playing this game. They have “Ice Ball,” similar to ski ball, and a bowling game that uses actual balls to hit miniature pins.
“I started collecting vintage Coca-Cola stuff when I was 10. By age 15, I told my dad that someday I was going to open a museum,” Smith said. “My dad started collecting vintage video games shortly after I started collecting Coca-Cola stuff back in the early 1980s.”
He mentioned having a vintage Coca-Cola machine in the basement, and his parents thought it would be fun to put a pinball machine next to it. “My dad bought a pinball machine. And then, you know, if you have one machine at your house, you get pretty good at it. After I kind of mastered that pinball, it became a little less fun.”
His father purchased another pinball machine, and as both collections grew (soda and pinball), Smith knew he wanted to create a space for others to enjoy his passions and have a place to convene with friends.
“It’s a space for everybody, and that’s what I had envisioned when I put this together,” said Smith. “Kids can spend a little time away from their electronics and come here to play these games and be social with other kids. That’s exactly what we’ve seen.”
Smith mentioned seeing kids playing games they might have never known existed, often getting their scores beaten by their parents. His favorite game is Joust, which he does have, but it’s currently undergoing maintenance in the back.
Smith shared that the original pinball machine that started the collection was sold over two decades ago. However, from that one purchase, a passion grew. And that passion is now open to the public from 10 a.m. each day, except for Sunday, when it opens at noon.
