New Polyphon Supply shocker identified

[pennymachines]

OK - so using our Archives/Patent search I've found the New Polyphon Supply Company's 1902 patent GB190207860

This is clearly our machine. Helpfully, it even shows a nice little shaped pediment on top, not unlike the EH example. New Polyphon were located at 2 Newman Street, London, but more significantly, co-patentee Karl Schmidt (Mechanic) had an address at 86 Fairbridge Road, Upper Holloway, London, N., less than one and a half miles from Harper's.

Another shocker on page 150 of Automatic Pleasures is the not entirely dissimilar circa 1905 Electron, also by New Polyphon Supply.

[13rebel]

[JC]

This is all wonderful, but not helping me much....... I was the under bidder and I wish I'd bid a little bit higher.

[john t peterson]

I am pleased by not shocked by this erudite investigation. Well done, Chaps.

J Peterson
in America

[treefrog]

Nice one Mr Pm...... Little Black Country boy

[dickywink]

Excuse my Investigative behaviour ....
But is the one posted by Paul and the one posted by PM from EH action exactly the same machine but with a bit of timber added on top?

It seems to me that the wood grains and markings are exactly the same.

PM.jpg (26.49 KiB) Viewed 5523 times

paul.jpg (26.76 KiB) Viewed 5523 times

Evenin' All,
Detective Inspector Dicky Wink

[pennymachines]

Well spotted. Was the pediment your handiwork, Paul? It certainly looks the part.

[paul]

Hi all.
The coin entry I made, also the cashbox door. The top pediment was with the machine. The pictures were taken as I was assembling and waxing the cabinet. The machine was bought in Shropshire a few years ago in original condition. That's all I know of it.

[pennymachines]

Ah, thanks. Mystery solved. I see from the light mark, and screw holes on the wood around it, that the coin slot was originally the same shape as the ebay example.

[joerg_gm]

OK Gameswat, so it seems more likely it's British.
Unfortunately Nic doesn't state where his image of the Electric Volta was from, so we can only guess that the original source included the D. Harper & Co. attribution. Paul Braithwaite cites this page of Nic's book as his source. I assume Paul had some reason to believe Harper was probably only a distributor as Nic did not say so.

Hi.
This machine was produced by "E.G.Lochmann & Co., Leipzig" around 1899-1902 as "Volta". In the year 1903 Lochmann's company went bankrupt and was re-founded as „Jentzsch & Meerz". They continued to build Volta-shockers (Volta 2 - 1904, Volta 3 - 1927, ...):

Both companies, Lochmann and Jentzsch & Meerz, produced a lot of machines for export.

Here is a German-version of the NPSC-shocker also labeled as "Volta"

[pennymachines]

Here is a German-version of the NPSC-shocker also labeled as "Volta"

The New Polyphon Supply Co. was founded by two Germans.