The Oliver Whales Story

[slotalot]

Coming Soon in the MMM.

[JC]

Yes, as some of you will know, Stuart has been researching the life of Oliver Whales for some time now - four years to be precise! The fruits of Stuart's research will be published in a 'special issue' of the magazine, planned for January issue 52. So be sure not to miss it.

If your subscription is not up to date - do it now!

[13rebel]

Through this page I would like to thank Stuart Dale for the fantastic article on Oliver Whales in the magazine. It adds extra nostalgia to owning his machines.

[speedwell]

Fabulous article thanks Stuart... I really enjoyed it. Thanks too Jerry for putting it in the mag.

[treefrog]

This was interesting, especially as I know a lot of the areas Oliver and his family had shops around Essex, obviously long before my time. On another thread on the topic of what book subject would be of interest, if one could gather enough information on British slot machine manufacturers, this would fill a book and be of huge interest. Not just the allwin makers, but all the other amusement machine companies like Cromptons, Vale and Ruffler and Walker; an A-Z of makers. Of course someone may know if something exists beyond small write-ups in general slot machine books...

[coin-op]

Paul Braithwaite's Arcades and slot machines is a concise, but surprisingly informative nod in that direction. I think that many manufacturing operations either ceased so long ago or were relatively small or short-lived that an A-Z along the lines of Stuart's article would just not be realistic. Some of Nic Costa's articles in Coin Slot and World's Fair in the 80s are well worth a read.

[slotalot]

Hi, Thanks for all the kind comment about the Oliver Whales story, both on the forum and by PM emails. As for a full book of such stories ? Well it took me four years to research Oliver Whales life, so at 58 years I don’t think I have that amount of time left, LOL. But we could all start to record whatever facts we know as collectors and send them to Jerry to publish in the Mechanical Memories Magazine. The thing we don’t want to do as collectors is to let all this history disappear without trace , and the clock is ticking, so get your pens out.

[pennymachines]

I'd like to add my voice to the chorus in thanking you for your excellent article, Stuart. Evidently, you put a great deal of research work into it. It was always something of an embarrassment that virtually nothing was known about the most prolific maker of the most popular British amusement machines. Now he has a face and an interesting personal history.

[arrgee]

The thing we don’t want to do as collectors is to let all this history disappear without trace

Couldn't agree more Stuart and from reading this forum over the years there is a lot of knowledge out there relating to coin op things/machines. So when those persons that hold this knowledge fall off their perch, that's it - no more available knowledge.

As Stuart has said, probably the best way of recording this for future generations is in MMM, this will not only help to preserve information but also greatly assist Jerry in his monthly undertaking, we all owe much more to this magazine than is said or realised.

Richard

[coppinpr]

OK then, let's make a start. Open a long term thread just to hold the info, then start asking questions: that's the best way to load the thread with info. A question on the thread will almost always likely generate info from others. We would need dates, places and products for a start and see if it grows from there.

Here is a question to start it off. Streets: all I know is they were based in Eastbourne, Sussex and made good coin op shooting galleries. I know they were still going in the early '70s but, looking at their machines they were about to go under about then. Anyone know any more?? I dare say the answer is in some book somewhere but I don't have it and perhaps many others don't, so anyone who does, let us know and I'll keep notes.