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I wonder if anyone can put a name to this 9 cup machine? Maybe that was its name - 9 cup?
If anyone could actually produce a photo of the top flash that would be just wonderful
as I have yet to make this.
What sort of prizes would have been given in the 1930s?
I don't really think it would have been sweets or cigarettes - maybe rings or other cheap jewellery - what do you think?
All help and suggestions gratefully received!

Hi Livinginthepast, check out Melvyn Wrights website at http://www.melright.com/slots/

He has a section on BMCo machines albeit the automatic payout variety (as I note yours is). There is also a section at the end regarding gift payout machines and a photo of a machine which is the same as yours. Unfortunately no name is given for the machine or what it used to pay out.

Nice looking machine you have there.

Why do you think it wouldn't have been cigs? Would a packet of Woodbines be too big/expensive as a prize?
Presumably the auto payout carousel gives a clue about the dimensions of the prizes originally offered.

Well... I think you could be right PennyMachines. I've had a look at the carousel and the compartments may just be big enough for a packet of 5 Wild Woodbines. How much did they cost in the 1930s I wonder?
Still need to put a name to this machine though!

Topic merged - Site Admin.

Currently have this rarely seen auto-prize paying allwin by BMCo in the workshop. I sold it 15 years ago and now the current owner wants me to service and sell on consignment. I've always been bummed I didn't have the time back then to build the missing marquee, all that was left was half a broken bracket and the other empty holes. I've now decided that the machine really needs to have it back and be complete once again. I've looked around but have only seen photos of two other examples and neither with marquees. Well, there is this attached photo on Melvyn Wrights' website but that is far too small and unlike any other BMCo marquee design I've ever seen with that flat top bar. The signage on that is modern which also makes me think it's all wrong. I've chosen to mock-up with the most common of the marquee styles, this tall undulating version, and as seen in this 1930s Bolland advert of the showroom they were used on many machines! If anybody has good reason why this should not work for this machine then please speak up now before I go ahead and make the damn thing!

Then comes a name, which every single BMCo with a marquee seems to have. Nothing listed in the Arcades book by BMCo is suitable, nor anything else I've come across in photos or adverts. So at this moment in time I've been thinking of calling the machine "The Prize Cup". Of course if definitive information comes to light at a later time it can be replaced with the real thing. Plus there needs to be a little extra written information regarding the fact it pays out prizes and not coins like almost ever other allwin, which is another reason I don't think that very short marquee frame works. Can anybody suggest a better name? Cheers, rory.

Gameswat,

"The Prize Cup" is good but how about "Easy Prize?" It still informs the punters that the winning is a prize versus money but also entices with the "easy" come-on.

J Peterson
All about easy in America

JP, what I like about "The Prize Cup" is it has a double meaning, not only describes the game but also alludes to what was given at major events, ie a valuable sterling silver cup, like the America's Cup, FA Cup, Davis cup, etc. And that seems to be in line with some of the known BMCo names, like Pin Royal on my mock up, Top Hat, Over the Hurdles, Silver Cups etc. They did like names with an upper class touch. And "The Easy Prize" doesn't quite have the same feel, but thanks for the suggestion. There's nothing worse than missing something that makes a lot more sense.

Yes, 'Easy Prize' does sound a little Oliver Whales...

I think "The Prize Cup" is favourite so far...

Just stumbled upon this topic from January 2008 (now merged above), showing the other example, before it was on Melvyn's site, and before it had a name. In fact, livinginthepast, like you, was appealing for a name! It does suggest though that the smaller wooden marquee may be correct in this case.

Thanks PM, I never found that thread though did search quite hard on BMCo machines here. Just goes to show how unwieldy this place is getting with so much great info but often very disjointed. Thanks to you and the other mods for trying to keep things in some kind of order!

That photo of the other marquee certainly looks a lot nicer in the photos here than the quite small and grainy one on Melvyn's site. The wood is a great match which helps. And the fact it was found empty of signage also suggests it was old enough to have lost that, instead of being both replaced at the same time very recently. Makes my life a lot easier as that only uses a small amount of wood compared to the large one. And when it comes down to it it's not even my machine anymore! I'm supposed to just be cleaning up for on-sale. It will bring more money of course but I'm getting a commission which won't cover my hours.

PM, just going through my hardrives for some BMCo pics to email a friend and came across this rear photo of the same style flat topped marquee frame! And obviously the real deal as even correct brackets. Posted by you, no less, back in 2013. Re: Mirror sign

Is that a frame you own, and what machine did it come from??

I am pretty sure the top marquee frame was original and used the same mounting brackets as shown. Just the top horizontal wood part was missing which I remade. Remember this was a "giant type allwin" and maybe suited the small marquee.

That was my thinking - the game would be huge with one of those tall marquees.

gameswat wrote: ↑Tue Aug 03, 2021 3:30 pm Is that a frame you own, and what machine did it come from??

Ha! I'd forgotten about that one. I'll try to dig it out tomorrow. From memory, I think I bought at the EH, unfortunately sans signage. The brackets were the main attraction, and I remember wondering why it wasn't the standard '30s BMCo. design.

It's unfortunate, but not surprising that all four surviving BMCo auto-prize allwins we've seen have lost the top signs.

Actually, there are six surviving BM Co auto-prize allwins. I have two. No top signs on either.

J Peterson
Toppping out in America

Photos please John? (you know we love photos on this site)

I will put it on my "to do" list, Arrgee. Currently, they are shrink wrapped and packed away in a remote site.

I knew I'd seen you before JP.....!

Now that I think about it, I wrote an article on "sweets" allwins which is archived in the Arena. The name of the article is "Hey Sailor! Wanna Treat?" It is at the end of the list in the Arena. The article includes two pictures of the large prize allwin, Lucky Star, including a shot of the interior mechanism. One of the two pictures is the one posted above.

J "Sweet" Peterson
USA

So that reduces it to five known examples. Is the unpictured one the same as Lucky Star?

As suspected - no signage: