Streets TELEFORTUNE

[timbo]

Can anybody help me with information on a fortune teller I have purchased? It's a TELEFORTUNE - long wooden cased, using a Bakelite telephone with a 78rpm record player but no manufacturer's mark. The front claims a master of arts from Christ's College, Cambridge. Will tell you about HEALTH*MONEY*LOVE

Any information will be gratefully received.

Thanks,
Timbo.

[pennymachines]

Hello Timbo and welcome.

Interesting find. It was made by Streets Automatic Machine Company Ltd. of London, Eastbourne in the early 1950s. There's a picture of one in the Arena that failed to make its reserve in the First Southern Counties Slot Sale. Their large size means they're more of a vintage arcade than collector's piece, but they certainly have lots of character and would be bound to attract some attention in a public venue.

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Do you have a picture of it you can post?

[timbo]

Thanks for the information and link - took a bit of messing to get all set up but got to see it today. It's a lot wider than my machine but very similar to look at I guess?? I will post pics as soon as I get my computer sorted out.... and my bluetooth starts working again - not too long, I hope.

[timbo]

Not the best of pics but it's the best I can do until I sort my PC out............

[coin-op]

Looks a lot like my broadband connection... except it's bigger, so this must be the deluxe version.

[pennymachines]

Thanks for posting the picture. Very nice machine, Timbo - all the better for being more compact. Every home should have one.

I had suspected the red plastic bubble over the dialer was a later addition, but apparently not, because yours is just the same as the one in the auction.

Is it working? I assume it uses an 8-track, not a record, or is there a small Cambridge graduate hiding inside?

[timbo]

Hi,
Yes it's fully working, it runs on an old 78 record player and I'm fortunate enough to have acquired 3 records with the machine.
There is a small amount of damage;

1. A bulb burn to the main wording above the phone - you can just make it out on the pic.
2. One of the indicator knobs (on the left) has lost its point.


Otherwise in lovely condition and very much loved

This machine was owned and run by the late Terry Paul Baylis of Rhyl's Ocean Beach Fairground, where it worked up until I acquired it from Mr Baylis's daughter some 5 or 6 years ago.

No signs of getting broadband as yet but the Forecast is good..........

As for the graduate, the voice is an absolute gem........... 100% 1950s Posh BBC broadcast.

[daveslot]

Hi, I used to have 2 of these. Interestingly, the big red light is from the back of a Morris Minor. You may also recognise the dials - they are headlamp surrounds and a tax disc holder! They also used a Dansette record player slightly modified so it would only play one track from the record.

[bryansjim]

What a brilliant way of getting rid of a Morris Minor!

[ojstreets]

I'm not sure I can tell you much, 16 years later! But the machine was made by my father, Harry Streets (jr). He did indeed have an MA from Cambridge if not a very distinguished one. I don't know how many of them he sold but he had one on the Pier at Worthing, which he ran, pretty much up until he sold it in 2001. It was very strange hearing your (very young!) father telling you your fortune on a crackly old record.

I don't know, but I 'm pretty sure the record player would just move to a random track regardless of what you actually put in the dial. But I may be doing him a disservice.

The spiel on the front of the cabinet is pure Harry Streets senior, his father. I can hear him saying that you must put Christ's College Cambridge MA etc - people will be impressed (as he was.)

His uncle, Walter Streets, was the main machine man. He made such classics as Wheel 'em in, where the pennies would come clattering down the glass front to tell everybody that you'd just won.

My father died on Boxing Day 2022 and I was looking for a photo of the Telefortune machine when I ended up here. I don't suppose for a minute anyone will read this but I was thrilled to see it here and people talking about it.

[bryans fan]

Fascinating.
Thank you for sharing your memories.

[pennymachines]

I don't suppose for a minute anyone will read this but I was thrilled to see it here and people talking about it.

My sincere condolences to you and your family.
More people than you might think will read your post, and many (like me) will be delighted to hear such inside info from a direct descendant. Love the Christ's College story and I'm intrigued to know it's your father's voice on the records.

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I think the Telefortune is one of the quirkiest fortune tellers and the Wheel 'Em In is an all time favourite for its wonderful play appeal. Sadly, very few have survived, especially on the old penny. There's a very brief glimpse of one in the recently posted Barry Amusements video.

I compiled a brief account of Streets' machine production in the Arena. If you want access to it, just let me know.


A holidaymaker listening to her fortune being read by the Telefortune machine

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British musician Terry Hall (1959–2022) consults Telefortune: The Colourfield 'Thinking of You'

Embed from Getty Images
Arthur Askey Learns His Fate. English actor and comedian, Arthur Askey (1900-1982) pictured listening to a fortune telling machine in an amusement arcade at Southsea in England in 1963. (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

[13rebel]

ojstreets - Thank you so much for posting such endearing memories. I am sure that any other information on the subject will be gratefully received by many of us.

[badpenny]

ojstreets ... you will discover that many more over the next few years will stumble across your posts here and comment on them. It's typical of the casual and gentle way this forum works.
I sometimes think, for the sake of easy retrieval, we might put the posts from iconic families together in their own category.

BP

[daleman]

Walter Streets wrote his biography. Does any surviving member of the Streets family know what became of it?