FORUM

Pete B took the two pictures (bottom) of the Modern Enterprises Laughing Sailor in the recent Cameo Fine Art Auction.

A Heath Robinson concoction of levers, cams, springs, coat-hangers and string shake his frame, make and break the power and raise and lower the arm of a Dansette record player.

Unfortunately the record itself was missing. Apparently the auctioneer said they're not difficult to find! I don't remember seeing any at HMV.


The Laughing Sailor, a machine which became synonymous with Joyland, standing adjacent to the Promenade entrance. Photograph: Nick Laister (Pennies By The Sea)

Yes, Heath Robinson would have been proud of this - particularly the wiring. Many machines up to the 1960s were potentially lethal. I've come across many machines where the main mechanism is permanently connected to Neutral (which isn't quite as bad as Live - but almost).
However, it's not quite as bad as it looks. The main mechanism is very well designed. I operate two of these machines, and they're both very reliable. For those who have never seen a Laughing sailer mech., here's how it works:
Study the picture posted by pennymachines and you'll see there are three cam levers. The sailor is built around a large spring. The cam lever on the left pulls him to the left, and the lever on the right pulls him to the right. The centre cam lever makes him chuckle. You can see in the picture that the centre cam wheel has teeth - this gives the chuckling effect.
As for the string holding up the arm of the record player, this is not part of the mechanism. It's probably there just to keep the arm clear of the turntable. The movement of the arm would have been controlled by the record player's own mechanism.
And as for the auctioneer's claim that the records are not difficult to come by, we should be getting used to these claims now........it's called Ebay!