Bajazzo Clown wall machines

[rivierakid]

Topic moved & merged - Site Admin.

I have just picked up this clown catcher today and after a couple of hours fiddling about the machine is now fully working. As you'll see from the photos it looks totally original - it has retained it's top pediment, is full of tokens and the payout slide is fully functioning at the bottom of the machine.

The paper label appears original, is all in english and states "Made In England" (there isnt any judge/court rulings - just the playing instuructions for the game). Also you'll note the unusual spandrels that I personally haven't seen on a clown catcher before.

So my challenge for all of you sleuths out there is can you please tell me the manufacturer and likely production date of this machine??

[13rebel]

My very limited knowledge is that if it was made in England it would have been by Pessers Moody Wraith and Gurr around 1920 in which case it would have PMWG stamped on the sides, top and inside the backboard together with a serial number. As yours does not appear to have these then... over to the experts.

[gameswat]

I've had several of the same looking machines and mine were made with a fine grained European oak different from UK machines. They also have had high serial numbers in the many thousands. And the mechs are of a very high standard. I believe this is a 1912 Jentzsch and Meerz Clown. I've only seen PMWG branded on J&M machines, so I guess they were either just the importer or maybe operated them themselves as well.

[rivierakid]

Thanks for the reply. I hadn't thought about the cabinet - but you are right, it is a much finer grain than my English machines of the same age. There are no PMWG stamps on the machine and I cant find any obvious serial numbers (where should I be looking?)

One other question - the brass piston at the bottom of the mech is empty. Would this have originally contained oil/grease? And if so is there any point trying to re-charge it?

[slotalot]

Hi rivierakid The brass piston works like a bike pump in reverse, and should not be filled with anything but air, as the ball delivery arm drops back down the air should escape slowly from the bleed hole at the bottom end of the piston. If the arm is dropping too fast, it may need a new leather washer. I think the subject of replacing the washer has been covered on this forum before, but I can't find it at the moment
Nice machine by the way

[badpenny]

This copied and pasted across from a thread about a similar issue with a Jubilee bandit ........

"Dismantle it. Open the the piston up and also unscrew the bleed valve at the other end. Make sure you have a tight fitting piston, you might have to splay it out a bit, the face will be made of either leather or rubber, a drop of oil helps. Clean the bleed valve out, they get gummed up. Re-mantle it, and see how that goes."

[13rebel]

If you go to the Bajazzo Clown thread in Questions and Answers: there are 4 pages of good info including serial numbers and the damper (piston) assembly. Note also the position of the bell hammer which should strike when you win - not sure your machine has this? They are quite often on ebay: just type in "bell hammer" in clocks department or perhaps all categories. Alternatively, an old fashioned type clock shop/come restorer may have one suitable. Hope this is of some help.

[pennymachines]

I think this Clown is more likely from a British factory such as the Phoenix Works (Coin Automatic Co. of Birmingham). Several British companies made them, but Pessers, Moody, Wraith and Gurr only had a brief period of manufacturing under the PMWG name. Founded in 1914, just before the outbreak of WWI, they were wound-up by 1916, the owner having been called up for service. However, all legally made Clowns (German or otherwise) were licensed to Henry John Gerard Pessers' "Pickwick" patent of 1901.

I think the custom-made spandrels (of a design I've never seen before) in place of the thin brass fancy spandrels found on most German Clowns and wall machines, is a definite pointer. They're not identical to the equally non-standard spandrels on this Clown from the Phoenix Works catalogue, but the point is, they're not the German pressings nor the more flowery type characteristic of French Clowns.

The instruction sheet is also different from that found on most Anglicised German Clowns. Notice the decorative border which mirrors to a degree the unusual spandrels. The "Clown" lettering on the pediment in place of the German "Bajazzo" is less decisive because these were easily replaced to suit. The Clown and Problem pediments below were salvaged from a derelict Walsall engineering works with past connections to the Phoenix Works. They were both made for Coin Operating Company games.

A couple of other things to check:
What is stamped on the Clown Tokens? Of course, they may not be original to the game.
Is there a maker's insignia on the lock? It does appear to be original, so if I'm right in thinking the machine is British, it's not likely to have a German lock.

There are no PMWG stamps on the machine and I can't find any obvious serial numbers (where should I be looking?)

Just below the top of the case, as on the PMWG Clown detail below. German Clowns usually have a serial number on the right hand side.

[13rebel]

Penny machines - I read with great interest your write up on PMWG as I have a clown with this branded on both sides [as per your photo] also on the inside of the back and on the top is the serial number 3322B. The Braithwaite book [page 87] indicates the firm was live for longer than you sugest as it says their clowns were made from the 1920s. It also implies that PMWG probably didn't actually make the machines. I prefer your analysis though, as besides anything else it puts a pretty accurate date on PMWG clowns so I will bow to your superior knowledge if you can confirm. Thanks

[pennymachines]

As Braithwaite says, Pessers did go back into business again after the war, but as Pessers & Moody Ltd, not PMWG, so unless they were stamping the former company's name on the latter company's product (just to confuse us), your Clown must be pre WWI.

Braithwaite associates Pessers with three companies:
Pessers Moody & Co. Ltd. trading from 1913 - 1917? from Union Street, Reading.
Pessers, Moody, Wraith and Gurr Ltd. trading in 1914 from 148 & 150 Curtain Road, London.
Pessers & Moody Ltd. trading from 1925 from 256, Folkestone Rd., Dover.

But we can see that in fact Pessers, Moody, Wraith and Gurr Ltd. were trading as early as 1913 from their court case of that year which reaffirmed ball-catching amusement machines as games of skill. And the London Gazette records a General Meeting of Pessers, Moody, Wraith & Gurr Ltd. with the liquidator on 24th July 1916.

Kennedy LJ rejecting an appeal against the original verdict in the case of Pessers, Moody, Wraith & Gurr Ltd v Catt (1913):

It seems to me that in this case there is what I may call a governing element of skill in the use of the cup which can, wherever the ball falls, skilfully used, catch that ball. Of course the degree of skill, and therefore the success, will depend to some extent upon practice, and with practice to a person with a good eye who is using the moveable bar to which the cup is attached, it would be perfectly possible, I should imagine, if he were a skilful person, to catch it every time. Therefore the test as to success or failure seems to me in this case to be one of skill and not of chance. That is the dominant element, and, being so, I think the judgment which has been pronounced below, and is in accordance with that of Eve J., was right, and that this appeal should be dismissed.

[13rebel]

So we can assume PMWG did actually manufacture clowns as opposed to just import them and then stamp them?

[13rebel]

PM - sorry to go on, but I previously stated my Clown had PMWG on the sides, when in actual fact on the right hand side it has the serial number not PMWG. As you have previously stated that German Clowns had a number on the right, can it be assumed this was German made (Jentzsch and Meerz?) and imported and distributed by PMWG?

[13rebel]

I don't get it - Braithwaite says the court case was against Pessers Moody and Co. rather than PMWG. Also if PMWG was wound up in 1916, how come in Nic Costa's book, page 204, it shows a picture of a motor car game by PMWG in 1924? This is also in Braithwaite's book under PMWG-1924.

[pennymachines]

PM - sorry to go on, but I previously stated my Clown had PMWG on the sides when in actual fact on the right hand side it has the serial number not PMWG. As you have previously stated that German Clowns had a number on the right, can it be assumed this was German made (Jentzsch and Meerz?) and imported and distributed by PMWG?

In that case, I would say this seems the more probable explanation. Maybe as part of the licencing agreement with PMWG, J & M undertook to supply Clowns to them for rebranding? Whether PMWG ever made Clowns from scratch will have to remain an open question. What we do know is that several other British (also French and American) manufacturers, like the Coin Operating Co., did. It still seems safe to assume the PMWG stamp is the sign of a pre-war machine.

I don't get it - Braithwaite says the court case was against Pessers Moody and Co. rather than PMWG.

The case is often referred to as Pessers v. Catt, for short, but the full title (as cited here, for example) was Pessers, Moody,Wraith & Gurr Ltd v Catt(1913) 77JP 429.

Also if PMWG was wound up in 1916 how come in Nic Costa's book, page 204, it shows a picture of a motor car game by PMWG in 1924? This is also in Braithwaite's book under PMWG-1924.

The PMWG liquidation notice proves this is wrong. Once these errors get into print, inevitably they are repeated. Braithwaite meticulously cites all his sources and acknowledges that he got this snippet of information from Costa's book. My guess is that the Motor Car Game was a German Clown, possibly revamped by Pessers & Moody Ltd. sometime after 1924.

This Bijou Pickwick made by PMWG around 1914 was recently sold on eBay. Although it's a multi-ball, coin return game, it bears more than a passing resemblance to the German Clown design. That raises the question: would they be manufacturing two so similar games at the same time?

[13rebel]

Thanks PM for your time and patience, it has cleared up a lot of clown issues. I find all that law and company stuff fascinating - how on earth did you manage to dig up the press cutting re the liquidation?

[13rebel]

Ah-ah, found that press cutting from London Gazette, June 1916, but there is another one from the same paper dated November 1917 with the same wording but the meeting on another date - does the plot thicken?

[rivierakid]

I think this Clown is more likely from a British factory such as the Phoenix Works (Coin Automatic Co. of Birmingham).

I think the custom-made spandrels (of a design I've never seen before) in place of the thin brass fancy spandrels found on most German Clowns and wall machines, is a definite pointer. They're not identical to the equally non-standard spandrels on this Clown from the Phoenix Works catalogue, but the point is, they're not the German pressings nor the more flowery type characteristic of French Clowns.

A couple of other things to check:
What is stamped on the Clown Tokens? Of course, they may not be original to the game.
Is there a maker's insignia on the lock? It does appear to be original, so if I'm right in thinking the machine is British, it's not likely to have a German lock.

Thanks for the really comprehensive reply - just to complete the story:
The lock looks absolutely original and is stamped T. Turner & Co. London
The machine was full of tokens (with quite a few stuck in the joint between the backboard and the cabinet) - all of the tokens have "The Clown" on them and are stamped with "8".

Thanks again and I'll keep an eye out for any other machines with the same mystery spandrels!!

[gameswat]

Hey 13rebel, what is the serial of your machine?

[13rebel]

Hi Gameswat, the serial number on my machine is 3322B

[gameswat]

Thanks, that's right in there with all my J&M serials. Originally the machines came full of tokens that were matched to this serial so that locations could check they came from their establishment. They'd be losing money if they paid out on somebody else's tokens! I've collected Clown tokens for years and so far have gotten as close as one serial number off!!!