FORUM

Johnny Burley wrote a short piece in issue 42 about his Peerless Pictures viewer, and of his memories of these machines as a boy (and what boy doesn't like looking at dirty pictures)? Johnny commented on how reliable his machine is, and as an operator, I can confirm that Peerless machines are renowned for their reliability.

Here's the picture of Johnny's very smart machine, plus an internal view which I didn't publish in the magazine, as I thought it would be too dark for b&w.

These are great machines. I've got one myself. I think if they where made in a wood cabinet more people would want one. It's a pity they look like an old filing cabinet.

There is one that appears regularly on Ebay. Bit high end on price. It looks like the front cover is missing something. It appears to be bare metal. I've never had the pleasure of seeing one in the fles. Would that be right, or would it have originally had some decoration?

Dave

These machines are made of sheet metal. What you see in the picture is what you get; no other decoration.

Never owned a viewer, but quite like the look of these and of course there is one on ebay at the mo, that I am tempted with... Trouble is, I known little about them. Anyone know if this one looks all there? I know the seller states the backflash is not original and the cast flash has a chip....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200947167549 ... 1423.l2648

Great machine, but there are two different models shown above. The second green case version for sale on eBay is the lesser of the two as only a mono viewer, i.e. single image. The first red machine here is the far more desirable as it's the stereo viewer, i.e. double images in three dimensions. Not sure why they bothered with the non-stereo model in the first place as stereo card viewers were old technology by this time? Don't think I've even know of any other non-stereo viewers now that I think about it??

Thanks Gameswat, would never have noticed this, e.i. the double images on the cards.... Love the look of these, even if not to everyone's taste... Will see how my finger resists the temptation, but really want a viewer now and either one of these or one of the British Mutoscopes appeal. Wish I had gone for the one at the Coventry auction a couple of years ago...

Cleaning up a machine for a customer I'd sold him nearly 20 years ago, time flies! Anyway, noticed an interesting range of serial numbers on it: #78 - #80 - #83. Obviously the operator had a handful of machines with sequential serial numbers and happily swapped parts around after seasonal repainting sessions!

I added descriptions to each of the serial photos to state where they were found, but they aren't showing up? So I'll add again here.
#78 - red paint, inside marquee frame, with art removed.
#78 - alloy casting, behind marquee sunburst casting.
#80 - mechanism frame lhd.
#83 - red paint, main cabinet floor front edge, seen with upper door open.
#83 - alloy casting, front door sunburst casting back.

Thanks for sharing. Funny, I cannot find a serial number on the castings mentioned on mine. The only place each of mine have them are the steel base the mechanism slides onto and the mechanism base plate, which all match: numbers 167, 173, 174 and 184, all from same arcade… I will look on the mechanism frames to see...