Where was the Old Ha'penny arcade?

cheeky · Post by **cheeky** » Mon May 30, 2011 10:04 pm

Desperately been trying to remember whether it was Margate or Brighton. It was open in the late 1970s and used to run on the very, very small half pennies.

Any ideas.

rockola · Post by **rockola** » Tue May 31, 2011 2:26 pm

Hastings Pier, near the end. I bought a Hightop from the guy running it.
It was on 6d: too much for 1/2p punters to pay.

trevmo · Post by **trevmo** » Tue May 31, 2011 4:16 pm

It was in Margate, on the old Sundeck, near the roundabout at the station end of the town.

My Misses used to love playing the Torpedo Run (Midway?) there.

badpenny · Post by **badpenny** » Tue May 31, 2011 4:36 pm

Seems it was near the end of Hastings Pier in Margate at the station end of the town near the roundabout.

slotalot · Post by **slotalot** » Tue May 31, 2011 4:43 pm

Just found a nice old photo of Hastings pier, about 1920s? Can just make out a row of old penny cast iron machines.

No help in your search for the 1/2p Arcade

but still a nice photo!

cheeky · Post by **cheeky** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 8:08 am

Yup, you are right. The one I was talking about was on the old sundeck in Margate. It has all come flooding back. Anyone know what happened to it or who owned it? Any photos?

slotalot · Post by **slotalot** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 9:07 am

Hi Cheeky

I have found a bit of info here that may be of interest to you

http://www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index ... pic=1397.0

13rebel · Post by **13rebel** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 3:21 pm

Any ideas as to what the machines in the Hastings pier photo were or might have been?

pennymachines · Post by **pennymachines** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 4:21 pm

From slotalot's link:

13rebel wrote:Any ideas as to what the machines in the Hastings pier photo were or might have been?

From left to right: cast iron Mutoscope, Day & Millward? Automatic Weigher, some unidentifiable wall machines, British Manufacturing Company Astrologer?, Palmers Automatic Machine Syndicate Cycle Racer, Automatic Sports Company Six Man Footballer, Automatic Sports Company Shooting Big Game, Automatic Sports Company Cricketer, another Mutoscope...
Some very classy machines.
I've got bionic eyes... or a good imagination.

13rebel · Post by **13rebel** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:43 pm

Cor PM, you must eat a lot of carrots

treefrog · Post by **treefrog** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 7:08 pm

This may be a stupid obvious question and I may have answered in this question, but these old heavy cast iron machines on piers, did they really leave these out in the salty elements all year round as I cannot imagine them moving them regularly, unless just at end of season. Of course this would also explain the rarity. Today these machines are rare and highly collectable as shown with the Automatic Sports machine in the Elephant House auction. Do you think this was once in a nice cast iron stand like these pier examples, but is now oxide dust....?

cheeky · Post by **cheeky** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:04 am

That's the one. I remember it well although I am sure it was in colour!

Slotalots link isn't working for me and it won't let me log-in. Is there any text that can be cut and paste? Thanks for all the info.

slotalot · Post by **slotalot** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:35 am

Hi Cheeky

I have just tried to get to it direct

and it looks as if the site is down at the moment

Try again later

cheeky · Post by **cheeky** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:38 am

That's great. Thank you,

pennymachines · Post by **pennymachines** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 6:23 pm

Following Slotalot's excellent sleuthing, here's someone else with memories of the Margate fairgrounds and the sea front arcades: http://thanetcoastlife.blogspot.com/200 ... chive.html

tree-frog wrote:... these old heavy cast iron machines on piers, did they really leave these out in the salty elements all year round as I cannot imagine them moving them regularly, unless just at end of season. Of course this would also explain the rarity.

Yes, many early machines were ironclad or cast iron specifically so that they would survive outdoors. They usually incorporated some kind of rooftop design to throw the rain off. Many wooden wall machines were also operated outside; these would have probably been pulled in after hours, but as you say, the large iron games probably only came in at the end of the season. I think their rarity is down to other factors, not least their value as scrap, particularly during the war effort, when inessential ironwork was recycled into weaponry.

There was some speculation about whether the wooden-cased Matthewson Footballer at the Elephant House auction had started life in a cast iron case. Nobody was in a position to say for sure. It's quite possible it was originally housed in the more elaborate cast iron which got broken, but equally plausible that a plainer wood case was a cheaper option available from the manufacturer. It was certainly early, looked like mahogany to me and there's an old photo from the 1930s of an identical wooden cased Footballer.

cheeky · Post by **cheeky** » Sat Sep 17, 2011 4:49 pm

Genius. Pure genius Mr Pennymachines!

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