What were the very first electrical slot-machines that weren't shockers?

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oneswitch500
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What were the very first electrical slot-machines that weren't shockers?

Post by oneswitch500 »

I'm interested in finding out what were the very first electrical one-button / one-switch electrical amusements.

If it does something interesting/fun on the drop of a coin.... or after a coin, by pushing or pulling or squeezing a single button (no need to move levers)... I'd love to be able to pin it down.

I've read the first Love Testers were around 1929. But I assume plenty of those automatons (things like the Guillotine and haunted house automated displays) would be earlier. I'd discount most of the shockers, as they all seem to require levers or dials to be adjusted as part of the whole experience.
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Re: What were the very first electrical slot-machines that weren't shockers?

Post by coppinpr »

I know you are, quite rightly, disallowing shockers but it has to be said this "Electric Amuser" (pre-1914) meets all your requirements, insert a coin, win the game, get a shock. No levers to adjust; battery powered.
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Re: What were the very first electrical slot-machines that weren't shockers?

Post by oneswitch500 »

Fascinating, bonkers machine. Fancy trying to win to get shocked. I'd never seen this before, thanks.

That said, would you still need to pull back a spring loaded lever to flick the ball into play? If so, it's not quite what I'm thinking of. I wonder if it's a bit early to have a solenoid to kick the ball into play, but perhaps it does.

This is the sort of thing that qualifies for what I'm looking for: https://www.oneswitch.org.uk/OS-REPOSIT ... 1-TOYS.pdf.

This all ties up with a project I'm working on to document the history of one-button electric games (and later video games too): https://oneswitch.org.uk/page/001
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Re: What were the very first electrical slot-machines that weren't shockers?

Post by arrgee »

Interesting websites oneswitch500, I see you have a link under 'Amusements' (in your second website) to "The Penny Arcade' website, which is run by one of our Forum members
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Re: What were the very first electrical slot-machines that weren't shockers?

Post by oneswitch500 »

Thanks arrgee. This site and the penny-arcade site are fantastic resources. I've become really interested in these old amusement games since discovering how close the POSM (Patient Operated Selector Mechanism) was to a Jamieson's Electrodart: https://oneswitch.org.uk/page/002, which links to a lot of stuff I've been working in for many years.
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Re: What were the very first electrical slot-machines that weren't shockers?

Post by pennymachines »

Ogden & Co's Automatic Chime Bells (1899) (PDF) looks like an early contender.
14 Penny Arcade.pdf
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Re: What were the very first electrical slot-machines that weren't shockers?

Post by wembleylion »

This from the Rock-Ola Store in America

In 1890 Louis Glass and William S Arnold modified an Edison Class M Electric Phonograph with a coin mechanism, making it the world’s first nickel in the slot phonograph. It had no speakers; patrons had to listen to the music using one of four listening tubes. The machine-made $1000 in its first six months of service.

Sadly can't seem to find a photograph
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Re: What were the very first electrical slot-machines that weren't shockers?

Post by coppinpr »


juke patent.jpeg
juke patent.jpeg (28.05 KiB) Viewed 2701 times

The Glass and Arnold patent
first jb.jpg

their later improved version
As early as 1889 when Louis Glass & William S. Arnold retro fitted an Edison Class M electric phonograph with their patented automatic coin attachment and the Juke box (although not know by that name then) was born. The machine was made by the Pacific Phonograph Co and the first machine installed for public use was in the The Palais Royale Saloon ,San Francisco at 5am EST on the 23rd November 1889.

all the above courtesy of my very own www.penny-arcade.info web site !SMARTY!
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Re: What were the very first electrical slot-machines that weren't shockers?

Post by oneswitch500 »

pennymachines wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 6:48 pm Ogden & Co's Automatic Chime Bells (1899) (PDF) looks like an early contender.
Love it. I wonder where that Automatic Chime Bells machine would have been operated. At a fun-fair? In a pub/bar?

This Rick Randall article suggests this is pre-amusement arcade: https://www.rickcrandall.net/
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Re: What were the very first electrical slot-machines that weren't shockers?

Post by oneswitch500 »

Thanks wembleylion and coppinpr. The penny-arcade.info site is an amazing resource of amusement machine creativity.

It's always incredibly hard to pin down the first of anything, but that's compellingly much earlier than Love Tester machines as electric coin-operated "one-switch" entertainment. Don't suppose you're aware of the records played?
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Re: What were the very first electrical slot-machines that weren't shockers?

Post by coppinpr »

all record players used cylinders until about 1910 , Edison had a surprisingly large catalog of recordings mostly classical vocals although there was a huge demand for voice recordings, often of well-known comedians of the time. one can be heard on youtube, it's a laugh a minute, thankfully only 2 minutes, which was the max time for an Edison at that time. Performers often rushed through the piece to make it fit into 2 mins, the recording on youtube is a classic example of this.
One thing people don't realize is that there was no way to mass-produce the "records" and performers sometimes had to continuously perform the same piece to produce a stack of recordings that could be used to produce a few duplicates each by re-recording, an expensive process, not until the 1900's and the invention of the hard wax cylinder could they be mass-produced
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Re: What were the very first electrical slot-machines that weren't shockers?

Post by pennymachines »

oneswitch500 wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:04 am I wonder where that Automatic Chime Bells machine would have been operated. At a fun-fair? In a pub/bar?

Yes, as the advert says, "wherever electric lights are used", like a saloon bar, club or hotel. Of course, amusement arcades didn't really exist in 1899.*

There's a short video about the Palais Royale Saloon wax cylinder phonograph in See it Operate! - Music Machines.

*Another hard to answer question - where/when was the first amusement arcade?
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Re: What were the very first electrical slot-machines that weren't shockers?

Post by oneswitch500 »

Not the funniest thing I've ever heard @coppinpr ... but I can imagine the wonder of people hearing a machine speak. I remember thinking talking pinball machines were incredible.
*Another hard to answer question - where/when was the first amusement arcade?
I wonder.... This is an amazing collection of photos https://penny-arcade.info/amusement-arc ... m-the-past, but would an array of machines on a pier constitute an amusement arcade? If not, would it be the 1920s? Surely earlier?
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