Matthewson (Automatic Sports Co.) games

[john t peterson]

Here is the complete game:

[cheeky]

Come on John. How many of these do you have....?

[john t peterson]

Alas, Cheeky, there was only one Cricket and he managed to hop away while I was arranging college funding for one of the children.

It was fun while it lasted.

J Peterson
Cricketless in America

[gameswat]

Well JP, obviously some would say you didn't deserve to own such a machine if you were willing to put it after a family member!?

[cheeky]

Alas, Cheeky, there was only one Cricket and he managed to hop away while I was arranging college funding for one of the children.

It was fun while it lasted.

J Peterson
Cricketless in America

Oh well, I am guessing you are hopping mad!

[kidston]

Thank you to all who responded both on and off-list about the cricket game. The information you provided has been invaluable, and has clarified my thinking. I already have a number of time-consuming interests (too many, according to my spouse …), so I'd be reluctant to take on another restoration task- particularly one that would be better undertaken by someone more experienced in these mechanisms.

I will be fully committed for the next several weeks, so I won't be able to do anything until late May. When I'm in a position to move, I'll post here to let everyone know what's happening.

As I mentioned previously, the game is housed in a wooden box in which it can be operated- see images. The box has what would appear to be the original brass coin slot attached- it has the number 1221 stamped into it, the same number as stamped on several parts of the game itself. Lastly, one piece of information that may not have been apparent is that the cricket game is presently located in Canberra, Australia.

[gameswat]

Interesting what turns up in OZ!?

Alas, Cheeky, there was only one Cricket and he managed to hop away while I was arranging college funding for one of the children.

Lucky for you you're such a great father JP, otherwise I'd have been excited about this as a project and probably ended up camped out on your gamesroom floor making foundry patterns for weeks. Dodged a bullet there john.

[john t peterson]

Gameswat,

You're welcome to camp out on my floor anytime! I still have an AutoTalkie that calls your name.

jp

[bob]

Topic copied from Patent research and merged - Site Admin.

Absolutely Sterling work by Sweetmeats, Gameswat and Mr Pennymachines in finding the patents for the Twist Your Grip, Try Your Grip and the Automatic Shooting Range. No wonder I could never find these patents when searching for them years ago as they were commonly stated to be Matthewson machines and that is what I searched for them as. It's great to have established who really invented and made these machines.

Other mysteries still remain to be cleared up regarding the Matthewson machines however. There is no patent for the Golf machine, most likely as Sweetmeats says, the mechanism is based on Matthewson's Football machine. However I wonder if he originally intended to design something that worked differently. Golf machines found here in Australia had a Directions plate which had no relation to the way in which the game worked (see Matthewson's incorrect Golf plate photo). Instead they all work in accordance with a later Matthewson plate and the Rowland's Golf plate which is found on the machines that have turned up in the UK. Perhaps Matthewson got the plates made in advance for what he hoped to accomplish and still used them inadvertently or perhaps he just gave the wrong instructions to the plate maker.

Little is also known about where Rowland fits into the picture. Some of this was cleared up by Bolland but his memory was astray and he also added some misconceptions to the Matthewson story. He told Jon Gresham and others that Matthewson had used a recycled aquarium as the pattern for the Yacht Race machine. I was able to scuttle this by finding the design patents for the Matthewson machines including the Yacht Race, Cricket and Football in 1988 after an incredibly tortuous search for the British design patents. These design patents are Cricket No 377195 of 1901, Mermaid Yacht Race 399522 of 1902 and wooden cased Football machine 572441 oddly taken out in 1910 when the machine was patented in 1896. One of these wooden cased Football machines exists in Australia having been brought here by a British collector some years ago.

Strangely enough I found a zinc version of the cast iron base of the mermaid machines in a country antique shop many years ago for sale for $A800 about 400 pounds. The owner of the shop was a Belgian man who imported container loads of antiques from France and Belgium. This would figure as to my knowledge zinc was not usually used in British coin op machines, but was used in coin op machines made in France, eg the chicken egg laying and negro vending machines, the electric shocker pig etc. When I went back to the shop I was told that a local lady had bought it to use in her bathroom??? Shortly after the shop disappeared so that I never got to speak to the owner about the zinc mermaid base's origins.

Further interesting concerns about Matthewson's machines relate to two more of his coin op machines, which, to my knowledge no copies of still exist anywhere. One is a very early one, British Patent No 19, 243 of 30th September 1893 for improvements in Coin or the like Operated Apparatus for Testing the Force of a Blow, a fascinating machine which is really a coin operated version of the well known Fairground Striker which fires the coin up to a bell. The other is a much later patent British Patent no 196,650 of April 23 1923 a relatively simple machine which he called Police. Does any trace of these machines exist beside the patents?

[tom arcade]

Topic moved & merged - Site Admin.

Hello,
I am new to the forum and hope someone can help me with a British machine that I recently purchased here in the USA. It is a golf machine made by the Automatic Sports Company. It is currently not working but hopefully it is something minor. I have several questions:

Does anyone know the proper size and composition of the golf ball ?
Does anyone have an extra back door or would be willing to take pictures of theirs or better yet make a duplicate ?
Is there any chance of locating an original stand ?
If you own one of these fantastic machines, can you take a video of it in action?
Does anyone have any photos of any Automatic Sports machines on location?
Is there any literature available on Automatic Sports - ads, etc.?
Does anyone know the original paint colors?

Sorry for all the questions, but I am hoping someone can help.
Thanks, Tom

[badpenny]

Hi Tom Arcade and welcome to the forum.

Wowsers you've certainly come knocking with a bit of a gem.
I've never seen one .....

If anyone has one it wouldn't surprise me, but they've kept it quiet, so best of luck.
I found this on YouTube, and found it quite amusing. It looks like something from a Monty Python sketch.



ETA This one sounds like yours? If so the estimate was a bit wide of the mark wasn't it?
BP

[coppinpr]

Well here is a rarity. I've never seen one either! Closest I've been is the football variation we had for sale at the last Coventry auction. Finding parts and even advice might be hard for this one
http://www.mechanicalmemoriesmagazine.c ... 4588485945

We commented on the hand knitted jerseys on the football machine, well there they are again. What a machine!

The other machines made by Automatic Sports Co. were Yacht racer, Shooting Big Game, Marksman, Cricket, and a six man version of the football game. I think the last was Big Game in 1912.

The Cricket machine

cricket machine.jpg (6.64 KiB) Viewed 3602 times

[tom arcade]

Thanks for the nice comments on the machine. It has a tremendous presence but a proper stand would make it even more of a standout. I know parts, stand, etc may be impossible to find but I have had some strange luck on some US machines so I figure it is worth asking.

Yes, the machine pictured on the you tube video is the one I bought. I had never seen the golf version before, but was aware of the football by ASC. Once I saw it available in the auction, I had a dilemma: who to ask about the machine and how much is it worth without tipping anyone off to the machine. The auction house mainly sells furniture, paintings,etc and this was the only coin operated machine they have sold. So I was hoping not many people saw it. The auction was only 4 hours from where I live but as luck would have it, I had a coin op trip scheduled - the annual COCA convention in California. I got set up for phone bidding and literally was bidding at the home of a collector who has a huge arcade in his home. I had to step outside as all the machines playing made it difficult to hear.

As far as the comment about exceeding the auctioneer estimate, I knew the machine had to be quite valuable. I did not want to ask in my initial post, but any information as to past sale prices of other machines by ASC (cricket, golf, football) would be appreciated. Any guesses as to how many survivors there are of these great machines would be welcome also?

The history of this machine is that it was found in the attic of golf country club in Michigan in the '70s. If you can believe this, no one wanted it and one woman said she would take it as her mom collected antiques. It has been with that family ever since.

Looking closer at the football machine, I see that the marquee states that your coin is returned when a goal is scored. The golf machine marquee states that the coin is returned when a ball goes in hole 3. I tried some steel balls and put in hole 3, but do not know how the coin would be returned. I see the coin return slot, but do not know how this would mechanically happen. Perhaps someone with a football machine could shed some light on this.\n Thanks in advance for any help and information on this machine.

Tom.

[gameswat]

Tom, once this was advertised online the whole world knew it was up for auction. I wasn't looking or in the market but was told well beforehand through the collector network. I mentioned to a local friend who decided to bid just in case it went reasonably due to the missing base and other issues, but quickly doubled his max. And a terrible exchange rate right now for Aussies to buy overseas. The big issue is re-casting that hollow base, which is a lot of work for an expert in foundry pattern making.

The original marquees for these machines were much smaller and ornate to match the cases. The tall cast marquees on both the Football and Golf machines with figures either side were much later additions, presumably by Rowland when he took over operating the machines in the 1920s or '30s. They always seem to contain the Rowland enamel instruction plates. I find the style of those marquee and lettering very modern when compared to the rest of the Victorian case.

[john t peterson]

Tom,

Welcome to the best site going for assistance on that great golf machine. I've not seen one before but the style of the game (shooting a ball into a hole and getting a coin back in reward) is identical to the "Cricket" by the same manufacturer. As a member of COCA, you have access to many knowledgeable members in the US. One in particular, an advanced collector in Pasadena, California (maybe you saw his collection?) has one or more of the Cricket games. He's quite approachable and if willing, could help you with the issues of the size of the balls necessary for play as well as the mechanism.

Good luck and keep us apprised!

And welcome aboard.

John Peterson
Fellow American collector of British whimsy

[bob]

I beg to differ with my compatriot Rory/Gameswat. Whilst the tall marquees for the Matthewson Football machines are a later addition, possibly by Rowlandson, I believe that the Golf machine had the tall marquee from the very start.
This is rather difficult to prove conclusively as there is no separate patent for the Golf machine as it is based on the football patent.However, I have never come across a Golf machine that did not have the tall marquee, either here in Australia or elsewhere. Similarly in my quite large collection of postcards showing coin op machines on location on British piers etc., all the Golf machines have the tall marquees in the very early 1900's, alongside the Matthewson Football machines with their smaller marquees.
I agree that the tall Football marquee does not have the style and charm of the original marquees but feel that Golf marquee does have some of the style and care that the original marquees on the Football machines have. There is also a tall marquee for the six man footballer that I have only ever seen one illustration of which does attempt a bit more style.
Interestingly the Golf marquee has two figures which I have also thought were based on the appearance of Matthewson himself and look very early 1900's in appearance and fashion unlike the tall Football marquees.
I will also attach an advertisement by Arnold and Sons for Matthewson Sports machines which comes from a Bolland scrapbook that John Gresham had. Braithwaite lists the Arnold machines as having appeared in 1922. I have never come across the Cricket or Football machines illustrated here which appear to be in wooden cabinets with different marquees again. Interestingly the Golf machine unlike the other two is in its original form with the tall marquee.
Has any reader here ever sighted any of these "Arnold/Matthewson" machines or found reference to them anywhere else?

[gameswat]

Great info Bob! I agree the Golf has a much more integrated marquee and the other Football marquees you show in the old photo and advert are a better fit than the very modern looking example. But in phone conversation you stated a much later production date for the Golf than in most if not all the books, making it well and truly not a Victorian machine with a date of 1912 or so? Strange they didn't maker a unique golf themed case to match the game? I can believe a date like that for the Golf marquee but the Victorian frilly cases were looking dated even by then so could it be these Golf machines were revamped cases from an over-supply of Football machines? The same way they recycled Mermaid Yacht Race cases into pistol games? I've always found the pistols on top of a naked woman to be a strange mix for sure! The castle style bases they made for shooting games were a much better fit.