Sanders Imperial trade stim. identified

[coppinpr]

I like trade stims and have just bought this one (didn't expect to get it on a "make an offer" but I did). Thing is... who made it? Not Imperial Manufacturing, as they seem to have been long gone by the time this looks to have been made (late 1930s?). Looks clean enough inside and still has the gum ball mech.

It doesn't appear in Bueschel's excellent book on stims or in his list of known machines and their makers (unless I've missed it..twice). I can't find anything on the net either. Can someone enlighten me please.

[aristomatic]

Looks similar to Sanders' '30s models.

[aristomatic]

Yep

Here you go.

[clubconsoles]

Nice find coppinpr.
Never seen one like that.
Do you still sell the mint wrappers?
Do you email them for the buyer to print out or use snail mail??
Thanks
Nigel

[coppinpr]

Thanks so much for the ID. There is a little work to do on it but mostly cosmetic (cleaning, rust removal, a light oil and the like).

Interesting that having now looked up Saunders it turns out they never put their name on any machine they ever made! How odd.

I do the wrappers either way - usually I print on strong matt paper and post out, but I can send by email if you prefer. I only need the size and the type. I have around 25 different types, my favourite is a 1940s chicken dinner flavoured choc bar.

[jra]

Hi Mr Coppin,
The machine you have is indeed made by J M Saunders but usually is called LITTLE POKER FACE.
One sold recently for $207 / £146 on ebay USA. (item number 183066855335)

JRA.

[aristomatic]

If they had put their name on them maybe we wouldn't be getting it wrong now.

[brigham]

It never occurred to me that 'Chicken Dinner' candy actually tasted of chicken.
Are you sure of that?

[coppinpr]

The machine you have is indeed made by J M Saunders but usually is called LITTLE POKER FACE.
One sold recently for $207 / £146 on ebay USA. (item number 183066855335)

Not the case, Little Poker Face was a more popular and totally different machine. It had 5 reels and used playing card (sometimes with numbers as well) reel strips, The Imperial was a less interesting (which is why it's rarer as it didn't sell well) machine with three reels using cigarette packet reel strips.

[pennymachines]

As Aristo said - it's not Saunders, but J.M. Sanders Manufacturing Co.

[coppinpr]

It never occurred to me that 'Chicken Dinner' candy actually tasted of chicken.

No, sorry, I didn't mean it to sound like that. It's just the sound of it that makes me feel queasy.
Sperry's "Chicken Dinner" candy was a master stroke of advertising ,- instead of going down the normal route of making their candy sound appetizing they did just the reverse and it worked. It was hugely successful. Their delivery trucks were particularly nice.

[coppinpr]

My "Imperial" arrived the other day and I was very impressed. First thing that struck me was the size, this machine is not much bigger than a Mills vest pocket. The mech runs very crisp and smooth (more so now I've serviced it) and the reel strips are not perfect but very very good.

I decided to totally strip down the machine, mostly because it still contained several ancient gum balls in various states of decomposition.

(people say sweets used to taste better in the old days but I didn't think much of these)

The mech itself was very clean, simple and well made and once removed from the case it didn't need taking completely apart.

Still having the gum ball mech was a real plus and this had a couple of clever features that the company had clearly learnt from other makes mistakes by the time this was made in 1939. First, the gum ball holder has a factory fitted optional chrome plate that if used divides the gum ball holder into two. The area next to the glass holds just one level of gum balls (a) making the machine look full at all times and (perhaps more importantly) (b) you didn't actually need to fill the main compartment at all. Seeing as practically no one wanted the gum balls, this may have worked quite well for the operator. Secondly, the gum ball delivery cup only resets the gum ball mech to deliver a gum ball if you first remove the ball in the cup, thus the ball in cup just sits there until the odd customer retrieves the gum ball.

Another clever idea is on the "last coin played" window. Many of these machines have the window for the operator to check that a coin was in fact played on the winning roll. He then manually moves the coin on (usually with a button or small lever). On a winning roll this machine is the same but on a loser the coin moves on automatically during the next play by sliding it forward into the coin box.

I thought I might need to repaint it as I thought it was much worse than it is but it's easily good enough to keep original. I did make a new award card as the original was very bad but I've kept the original behind the new one. Just waiting for 50 NEW gum balls to arrive and it's done.

[dutchboy]

Hi coppin pr this is a nice one, enjoy it.

[liquorbox]

Nice little machine coppinpr.