FORUM

Remember when they sent John Prescott off to the USA to research super casinos? The combination of naivety from the Labour government and very well funded lobbying from the bookmakers persuaded Labour to jump at the chance of a new lucrative duty revenue stream they could get by allowing bookmakers to keep their new fixed odds betting terminals (previously deemed illegal).
Without realising the consequences of releasing a genie from a bottle they could never get back in, they abandoned the casinos and super casino licensing idea when they realised the negative impact the flood of new high street betting shops was having, but it was all too late.

Just to clarify Mr.Moonriver's post with regard to Machine games duty [MGD]. The duty payable on a type 1 machine ie one that the cost to play does not exceed 20p and does not pay out more than £10 is 5% of the NET takings so in this regard it doesn't make any difference if the coin pusher for example is a 2p or 10p one. The rate then jumps to 20% for type 2 machines -ones that cost no more than £5 to play.If a machine doesn't fall into these categories then the duty is 25% [type 3]. No MGD is payable on redemption machines that only offer tickets with no cash prize.

I was referring to machine duty pre February 2013 and before I jumped ship following 25 years of operating arcades

Sweetmeats kindly sent me these photos of Clive Baker and John Hayward's National Museum of Slot Machines 'Vintage Penny Arcade' on Brighton Pier taken July 1983.

This fortune teller is similar to the Brighton Museum Adelphi Man Co Gipsy Fortune Teller and only has one central eye in the forehead which is unusual. It doesn't work, and I haven't seen one working, wonder if the eye moves?

I think you'd have to be quite committed to having your fortune told to consult the uncanny one-eyed gipsy.
I commented to Clive last week on the unparalleled selection of games this arcade presented to the public (notice the Full Team Football, BMR bandit, Stevenson & Lovett Strip Tease etc.) One of the problems at the time, he said, was punters excavating worn and bent pennies from the beach and jamming the machines with them. Now they run almost entirely on 'decrappinated' pennies, he may be able to reintroduce some of those rarer games.

More penny machines on the pier from Bryans Fan:

Why is there a penguin on top of the one eyed fortune teller? Could have been worse, I guess. Could have been a pigeon.

J Peterson
Birds of a feather flock together in America

I think it might be a guillemot?

Fuzzy image of "Uncle Bill" Tolley's Amusement Arcade, High Street, West Bromwich, "one of the best automatic arcades in England... ably managed by Mr. Hunt" from the Automatic Age, January 1933.

Fascinating to see such an array of arcade treasures just down the road from me... an Ahrens Football Game, Waltonian Twins, Ahrens Crystal Gazer, Quested Automatic Lighthouse, Mutoscope Digger?, Mills Electric Shocker and Ahrens Bell Ringers. It's a pity the wall machines are too indistinct to make out.

This image from Ned Williams' Midland Fairground Families shows some fine Ahrens machines stationed around The Ocean Wave ride, believed to be inside Brighton Pier.

moonriver wrote: ↑Wed Jul 26, 2017 1:03 am This fortune teller is similar to the Brighton Museum Adelphi Man Co Gipsy Fortune Teller and only has one central eye in the forehead which is unusual. It doesn't work, and I haven't seen one working, wonder if the eye moves?

To be honest here, I don't really think any of them really work you know?

Post merged - Site Admin.

I found this photo and thought at first it must be in the UK because of the sailor in the photo, but on closer examination im not so sure..sailors do travel, at least he seems to have pulled a pretty (but expensive looking) girl. Some interesting machines in the background.

The Bee Amusement Arcade, Blackpool, with Brenner Human Analyst, Bradshaw Green Ray and Wheel Em In sign, from the Cyril Critchlow Collection.

All the following photos are of arcades (except two) in the USA, but all show interesting machines or are of special interest, which is why I've added them.
The first is a non arcade photo. It shows the staggering collection of single flipper Gotllieb pinballs owned by Mr D.Murphy. They are arranged in chronological order and number 47 machines!



The next two are from what "claims" to be the oldest continuous penny arcade in the world. It is in Spring Lake, Rhode Island, and opened in 1929. It still has 11 one penny machines in operation and some of these have been there since 1929.
The first is a fairly modern photo of the arcade and the second is from 1942 and seems to show the same football machine.





These three are from Wonderland, Kansas City. Two show their bank of Bingo pin balls. I included these because of the interesting signs above the machines. The third is their "fortune teller corner".







This one is the Exhibit Supply show rooms and their jolly sales team (no wonder they eventually went broke).

I've been improving the Jennings section of my penny-arcade.info site,https://www.penny-arcade.info/the-jennings-collection and was delving into his early days with the Mills company. It's quite well known that one of his first important jobs there was running the Mills exhibit at the St Louis World's Fair so I dug about till I found more info on this project. I'm now wondering if this might not be the largest slot arcade ever. The massive building was part designed by Thomas Edison and was listed as "The Mills Edisonia Spectatorium" and it would seem Edison was involved in the electrical side for the building was one of the few illuminated at night (very much so it would seem). The information from the time states it contained, "hundreds of slot machines" and was the only free exhibit at the fair (I bet it made more money than those that charged entry). I can't find a photo of the inside,which is both a pity and strange as the building also housed the official photographer for the fair.

woody2 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 14, 2017 4:58 pm Wakefield 1970.jpg

What's that wide vertical machine at the center of the photograph?

Also I'm confused by the sign that says
Kit, Kat. 'dad'

What's that wide vertical machine at the center of the photograph?

It's a Cromptons drop-case wall machine. I recall there were four themes, all basically the same machine. That could be 'Sky Divers' but it's not really clear enough to tell.

Also I'm confused by the sign that says
Kit, Kat. 'dad'

Followed by 'Win a Kit Kat - probably refers to a 'Win a Kit Kat' allwin. Taking into account the way you've spelt 'centre', I guess you may not be from these shores - America or Canada perhaps? In which case you may not be familiar with Kit-Kat chocolate bars, although I should have thought that they were well known more or less world-wide.

There is something about this restaurant photo that says "only in the USA" ...but I can't put my (trigger) finger on it?
A couple of Mills Extras, and what could be an original "Melon Bell"!!

In America, you never know when you might have to shoot someone. Having the rifles on the wall of your favorite restaurant saves time from having to go out to your pickup truck to retrieve your own weapon.

J Peterson
Making America Great Again, one gun at a time

Especially in times of crisis.