Help identifying my new project machine

[andyp]

Hi, I just joined this forum as I have finally got around to starting the clean up and restoration of this machine.

Having looked at many pictures on this site I think it's probably an Oliver Whales, but I couldn't spot anything that looked exactly like it. Does anyone know anything about this one?

My father acquired it the early 1970s from a friend who used to have an arcade, and although my brothers and I played it when we were kids, it has following a house move, subsequently been left unloved sitting next to a washing machine in my mother's house for nearly 40 years. The case literally fell apart as I picked it up. It is all complete though and the mechanism has freed up with a bit of cleaning and oiling.

The case is probably past saving (it's a lot worse than it looks) but I'm going to try anyway.

Does anyone know the approximate age of the machine, or if the backflash is original? It seems rather plain. Any info or tips would be appreciated as I am a novice when it comes to these machines.

[dirk55]

Hi Andyp,
Welcome to the forum. Check out the selecta cup, I don't have one myself, here is a photo i
found using Google. Good luck with your project, and make room for some more.
Regards Derek

[pennymachines]

Andy.
It is an early 1940s Oliver Whales allwin. The rounded molding around the cabinet's inner edges is a distinctive feature of these. It would certainly be good if you can maintain as much original material as possible. The coloured acetates look correct.
Compare: Oliver Whales Playball - 'a game of skill'

[andyp]

Thanks for the welcoming responses.

I've been doing a bit of local research and I now believe the machine came from Hoser's Tea Garden in Cliftonville (now long gone). Hoser's first opened in 1932 and I believe it finally closed some time in the 1990s. I'm guessing they probably bought the machine new, and retired it around the time of decimalization in 1971. My parents were friends of Harold and Marlene Hoser (aka actress Juliette Kaplan) who were running the place at that time. I know they had a number of machines, and they told my dad he could pick one and have it. I've not yet found any old photos of the place but I'm hoping something will turn up.

I found the number 110 stamped into the side of the case. Presumably this is a serial number?

There is an obvious similarity with the Selecta cup, and also some similarities with the Victory Ball https://pennymachines.co.uk/museum/victory-ball/ and the 22 cup https://pennymachines.co.uk/museum/22-cup/ I guess they were all made from a selection of the same parts.

Parts of the case, and particularly the door are in very poor condition. I will be retaining as much of the original as I can but some parts are so rotten as to have no strength at all. I can tell this is going to take some time to do properly.