Brighton Beach bonfires

[special when lit]

Years ago, I heard a story that when Britain went decimal, as all the old machines were going to be too costly to convert, all the arcade and fairground owners got together on Brighton beach and burnt all their old machines.
Did this actually happen, and has anyone got any pictures?

[badpenny]

I don't know about Brighton nor decimalisation, but I do know that in the change of law regarding gambling in the early 60s that sort of thing happened.

My Uncle in Paignton couldn't even be bothered to carry them off the pier, he and other operators just dragged them as far as the end of the pier before chucking them over the side.

There was a consortium buying up Sega bandits which of course were only a few years old and shipping them out to South Africa.

[ddstoys]

A local operator I worked for recently had a Worksop on a second and third floor of a warehouse.

His machines would come off site and back to the warehouse to be repaired etc if there was no room whatever machine was closest to the window was pushed out to make room.

He said this was a regular occurance with pinballs like Kiss , playboy and all kinds of old jukeboxes if it was still not working by the time it made it to the windo it was to far gone

[treefrog]

Let’s face it, if all the machines were saved from bonfires, rivers, scrap men etc, I suspect no one would appreciate the machines as much now, as there would be too many and would probably be scrapped anyway.

[gameswat]

I never met John Gresham but his wife Pat told that the reason he started collecting in 1970/71 was because of the wholesale destruction of machines he saw going on around him at that time. He came home one day and said to her that he was seeing his childhood history being lost and would it be alright if he brought some machines home? She said they were pushing machines over piers into the ocean, and even off cliff tops to watch them smash on the shoreline below! I looked at his early lists of machines and by 1972 he had over 100 pieces! And prices he paid then were usually between 2 and 5 pounds. I think an expensive machine was his first tin mutoscope at about 15 pounds!

[badpenny]

A local operator I worked for recently had a Worksop on a second and third floor of a warehouse.

I know Worksop, I went all the way over there once because an auction house advertised they had an upcoming event of slots.
The buggers were closed, it wasn't your mate was it?

[coppinpr]

Does anyone know of any known model of machine that has, as of right now, completely disappeared? I know unknown machines crop up from time to time, but are there any popular machines from the past that appear to have disappeared altogether?

[pennymachines]

Does anyone know of any known model of machine that has, as of right now, completely disappeared

Bryans Bumper, to name but one...

The burning of machines on the beaches took place as an act of protest against the Finance Act of 1969. Unsurprisingly, there was an element of theatre about it, with disused and broken machines excavated from cellars to fuel the fires. The ad hoc destruction of old games continued apace for many years after this (accelerated by decimalization and the success of electro-mechanicals) before their collectible value became widely recognized. The Town Broker I mentioned recently was a remnant from an old operator's stock which had been stored for many years before being destroyed only about 10 years ago. Before the last items were disposed of, the grandson of the operator discovered eBay and sold a few of the remaining cabinets and mechanisms.

From the Arena:

Sadly we were devastated by the Finance Act of 1969, which taxed the use of certain types of amusement games known as an AWP, or Amusement With Prizes machines. For example, a 20-player Derby Racer, which cost £1,765, had tax levies set at £3,000 per annum on a penny play. That amounted to tax of almost twice the purchase price of the game and what's more, it was payable on the day of operation, twelve months in advance! This threatened to bring the coin-op industry to a complete standstill. As it was, we had already invested our hard-earned money to improve premises and decor with elaborate signage and even carpets on the floor no less! We were already living on borrowed money and now it seemed as though we were living on borrowed time as well.

Needless to say there was a tremendous unrest within the industry and in order to demonstrate the level of anger to the powers that be, machines in many parts of the country were being carried down to the beaches and set on fire. Well, after much effort by our trade association and active members who lobbied their MPs, there was a rethink by Customs & Excise and the tax figure was drastically reduced to a sufferable level which we have managed to live with since.

[treefrog]

Still if the Spanish try and invade again, the locals will know where to find fuel to stoke the pyres on the beaches in future

It is always the old “what if” adage......not having things like a Bumper gives people something to talk about and “if only”.......keeps the hope going something will turn up one day

[ddstoys]

I know Worksop, I went all the way over there once because an auction house advertised they had an upcoming event of slots.
The buggers were closed, it wasn't your mate was it?

Hahaha I should proof read but nah I have machines to restore.

[special when lit]

Wish I'd never asked now. Some of these stories are really depressing!