Now that's what I call a slot machine!

[jingle]

I heard it had some kind of
Polyphon in
Or musical type of cylinder
In the bottom
Don't think it was a record tho
But do wonder how the words were
Manufactured

[badpenny]

Most likely a wax cylinder Bob.

I understand the old speak your weight machines used a record which utilised a complicated array of levers and cables to drop the needle onto the right portion of the record.
How complicated must that have been? Not to mention as robust as the gear change on a modern van!

Incidentally I read they were only a fad and quickly fell out of favour as women wouldn't use them as it broadcast their weight for all to hear.

[slotalot]

If Copperfield has got it I think it will all be done with smoke and mirrors

[gameswat]

I understand the old speak your weight machines used a record which utilised a complicated array of levers and cables to drop the needle onto the right portion of the record.

Not the 1904 talking scale I own, it's very simple. Instead of a lever moving the dial via gears as almost every scale utilises, there is just the same lever but attached to a pickup and needle, which can move freely up and down within a slot cut out of the record which sits vertically. When calibrated correctly the needle will find the correct groove to play for one revolution. There is a separate groove for every second weight from 2 lbs to 250 lbs. And the power to run each revolution is provided by the user who has to pull down a lever to re-tension a spring every play. Even though my machine had sat untouched for at least 40 or 50 years minimum, it only took a few hours of tinkering to have the mech running on a coin again. Sadly no sound though as missing the pickup.

[jonesthegarage]

The last time I got on a speak your weight machine, I dropped the coin and the machine said "one at a time please".

[operator bell]

Gameswat called it correctly. I was at that auction in 2008. The Roulette was purchased by a local dealer, so he would not have had to pay the sales tax. There's more to this story - I believe the customer that the dealer thought he had lined up didn't come through - but I forget the details now. I know the machine has been auctioned again since, and fetched a considerably lower price.

This was the star item at the auction and was being watched with a great deal of excitement and anticipation both locally and on line. Unfortunately, the internet connection to the sales room dropped a few minutes before this item came up, cutting off all the online bidders, and was restored a minute after the hammer came down. Probably just a coincidence. Move along, nothing to see here.