Haunted house automaton

[treefrog]

Some of you may have seen this a few weeks ago and I was tempted to buy out of curiosity, even though I am not an automata fan.

The scratch looking built haunted house from the outside appears plain, simple and homemade, obviously out of fruit boxes by the labels, but mechanism is reasonably complex and more professional,

Very unusual, sold for £120 uncontested

[pennymachines]

I imagine this was a one-off, scratch-built machine. Clever and, as far as I know, unique mechanism for a working model, using the coin's weight to tilt a series of see-saws attached to mechanical linkages to lift the various ghouls and electrical contacts to illuminate the windows. Unusual theme for a charity box, if that's what it is.

[moonriver]

I bought this. I think the reason it didnt show up well on eBay was the very long and odd description they gave. It had been donated to the charity listing it to sell. I had intended to pay more for it and they told me when I collected that they were disappointed it hadn't made more, so I made an additional donation. I like it very much and it does seem to be a donation box.
The haunted house theme is unusual and one of the scenes in the windows quite gruesome as a body drops and hangs by the neck. The movements of the 4 characters are all different , well thought out and made, and it works!

[pennymachines]

Well done on your purchase. I'm sure, even with the extra donation, it was a bargain. Does the paper on the roof give any clue as to the charity? You'll have to post a video of it working!

[john t peterson]

Fabulous piece. I love that they used a fruit shipping box as the structure. This is naive charming whimsy at its finest!

J Peterson
Haunted by whimsy in USA

[helensmith12]

Awesome find, although a bit creepy. Would be awesome if you could take a short vid of the mechanism in-action, given it's still working.

[moonriver]

I'm away on holiday in the US currently but will look at uploading a video of it working at some point.

[bns1795]

Hi all, thank you for adding me.
I originally found this automaton in a cupboard in a house clearance that I did whilst working for a charity, and I took it home and spent ages getting it working.
It originally came from a house in Rugby, Warwickshire.
Unfortunately, the lady knew very little about it, so it is a mystery.

[moonriver]

Another in the long line of projects of mine waiting to proceed. I'm sure it was a charity box, the label has been worn away long ago and is illegible, just the old 1d near the chimney indicating where to insert coin. It works properly on average once in every dozen coins put in and usually gets stuck as it relies entirely on gravity and a lot of luck for the (same) penny to slide down and tilt all the see saw devices. Equally the variations in the slightly different weights of coin makes it stop, as does friction and every other thing that can happen. When it does work it drops through so quickly that you tend to miss the figures move, as each window should light in turn as the coin progresses.

So I think it was probably retired early and stored away rather than scrap it.
In line with my collection of working models I am going to incorporate it into a cabinet and make it into a working model based on a haunted house theme. I will leave the integrity of the original piece and mechanism intact but will operate the various gruesome scenes in a different way by way of rods coming up from a set of cams below. In this way I can slow down the whole sequence so it views better. The penny will then enter through the cabinet coin slot and the cams will be motorized.

The house certainly looks great and when incorporated into a 'spooky' surrounding and landscape will look the part I think.
The goal for me is that of re-purposing the original piece so it works reliably and people can enjoy seeing and playing it in the arcade.
I like the idea of machines restored and working again for the public to play on and enjoy,rather than never seeing the light of day in private collections or storage, since it was on a primary school trip that I first saw an old penny working model machine and got hooked.

[treefrog]

Would be great to see when eventually done. Such a quirky item that I doubt the maker would believe it would still have survived to today.

[moonriver]

Yes, I'll do that and post some pics when it's done.
I also bought the Opera Singers from Australia from Simon's Salvage and had them shipped. The figures are in a very poor and fragile state and it will be a huge task to restore them, but just about to start. The cabinet thankfully is metal and all sides bolted together, so that all came apart and flat packed (minus the glass, timber and plywood left behind). The power supply and record player and cams and everything else survived and will restore.
The figures were originally made in 1952 by Len Insull Jnr for Modern Enterprises and they cased them and made them coin op.
Modern Enterprises sold out to Ruffler and Walker within a couple of years, and R&W badged them up as their own, but the figures (Laughing Sailors, Cry Baby, Sidney Knows, etc) were all high quality Insull made.

[treefrog]

Nice one Moonriver, bet that was not cheap shipping back here and in the queue of projects. At least it will hopefully live for another era of followers....

Do you operate your machines anywhere, as I definitely will be planning my road trip of arcade visits this year?

[moonriver]

If you're up in Leeds and Bradford, West Yorkshire you could visit Abbey House Museum at Kirkstall Abbey. Lovely museum with victorian cobbled street inside. I have working models there.
Or
Old Penny Arcade at Woodbank Nurseries and Garden Centre, Harden, Bingley, near Bradford.

[scorpa163]

Moonriver's small arcade at Bingley is certainly worth a visit with some superb two player machines (Cycle Race, Grand National, Footballers) as well as the usual bandits, allwins etc. Unsure how to upload photos. It's a while since I visited Abbey house museum, looks like I need to go again.
Whilst in Yorkshire, Treefrog, visit Scarborough, the best seaside town in the UK.
The Scarborough Fair collection is worth a visit, although the arcade machine area was not operational last visit two years ago, but the organ and fairground collection is very good.
There's an arcade on the seafront (Silver Dollar) which has 9 Bryans machines working on 2p.
All the best with your road trip.

[pennymachines]

Unsure how to upload photos.

How to upload & post images

[treefrog]

Thank you Moonriver and Scorpa123... Will definitely try and get there, and hopefully report back on the experience.