Case said the coin mechanisms often need to be replaced so he keeps plenty in stock. The hardest thing is when the bolts holding the coin necks on to the main body rust out. Replacing them takes a combination of skill, strength, balance, patience and, sometimes, a little bit of luck. “I just don’t have enough hands,” Case said.
When it comes to repairing those old-fashioned newspaper street boxes seen around town, Marvin Case has the magic touch.
“I grew up broke. My parents had nothing. They grew up in the depression. So I’m accustomed to refurbishing rather than replacing,” said Case, who now serves as publisher emeritus for The Reflector. “I’d much rather fix something then go out and buy a new one.”
After buying The Reflector in 1980, Case accumulated about 30 of these street boxes to help distribute the paper across the county. Although only eight of them are still currently in use, Case believes these newspaper boxes are an important keepsake and shouldn’t be thrown away. Even though he sold The Reflector in 2010, Case still doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty fixing them. In fact, he has four boxes in his garage ready to be redistributed.
“These things sit outside and they get substantially rusted. The plexiglass fronts and the price tags get to where you can’t see them any longer after a while because of the sun and rain or whatever,” Case said. “And occasionally, they get whacked by a car or a truck. Not that often, but it does happen.”
When a damaged box comes to his home workshop, Case spends a few weeks taking it apart, cleaning it out, replacing the bolts, springs and the plexiglass, sanding out any dents, painting and putting it all back together again.
The coin mechanisms often stop working and need to be replaced, so Case keeps them in stock. He said things get tricky if the bolts holding the coin necks to the main body rust out.
“When you take the heads off them, they break. Or they’re so badly rusted that you can’t get the nut off. So then you have to drill them out and put new bolts in,” Case described.
Adding new bolts becomes more difficult because there’s a lid inside and two of the bolts have to go underneath the lid. Case turns the box over on its side and strains to get the nuts and bolts in place and fasten them.
“It’s very difficult to reassemble by myself,” he said. “I just don’t have enough hands.”
Case uses his own handmade tools to replace the springs and the rods in the doors. If there are dents on the outside, Case sands them by hand, uses a wire brush or a rotary sander.
“The Reflector buys the green paint. A gallon of green paint does several boxes. I buy the white paint,” he added. “Sandpaper, however, is not cheap. I’ve worn out a number of wire brushes. I couldn’t really tell you how much it costs to repair them. I charge nothing because I’m just a volunteer.”
Thanks to Case’s ingenuity, the boxes keep bouncing back after abuse from the elements looking good as new.
“Several hours and a certain amount of money have gone into each of them, but what’s the alternative? Just because it’s not functioning or bad looking, you can’t just throw it away. You have to refurbish.”
