GIRLS and FLEAS

Show us what you found. Make us jealous!
roger
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GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by roger »

Remember those coin-operated TELESCOPES by the seashore ???
It was a great way to check out the girls on the beach and all quite legal.

I had a similar machine in my collection. It was a coin-operated MICROSCOPE.
I have never seen another one so it must be quite rare..
The machine had a very impressive top sign featuring a FLEA magnified by 100 times.
It looked like something straight out of Jurassic Park.

Some of the things that could be viewed included, a flea, a spider, a strand of hair, lady bug,
a flower petal and a vial of sand.

Has any member seen one of these machines or ever heard of their existence ?
ROGER
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coppinpr
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by coppinpr »

I've never seen a coin-op one but this was an early and very popular street vendor amusement. Amazingly, street vendors in the very late 18 century would rent or even buy microscopes (it was that profitable) and offer the passing public the chance to see, for a price, things like blood and insects close up for the first time. It caused quite a stir when people saw the common flea (the bite of which they had all experienced) was such a fearsome-looking beast. It is said it led to a change in attitudes towards what had previously been looked on as just a nuisance.
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gameswat
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by gameswat »

Roger, sounds very interesting and would love to see it, but seems like you spent every cent on machines and could never afford a camera! until more recently? All good to say with hindsight of course, but since you were dealing in quite a few machines I'm surprised you didn't at least document the most interesting ones as they came and went? Or were the photos thrown away or lost?
roger
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by roger »

GAMESWAT has raised an interesting question as to what happened to all my coinop pictures and records.

Actually, I was very meticulous in maintaining details of every aspect of my collection. My purchases were made when very little was known about what constituted a "desirable" machine. There were very few coin-op collectors and hardly any interest in penny arcade machines.

Eventually, I moved to an "old folks home" (CCRC) and everything had to go... Just try moving from a 4000 sq.ft. home into a 1200 ft. apartment.

Once you start disposing of a collection, the records start to lose their importance.

It was only when I discovered the Pennymachine site that my interest was rekindled.

ROGER :tarah:
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arrgee
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by arrgee »

Roger wrote:It was only when I discovered the Pennymachine site that my interest was rekindled
So are you tempted to buy anything now Roger..........?
roger
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by roger »

Arrgee wants to know if I'm in the market for any new machines.

Anybody out there with a Mathewson Yacht Race for under $1000 (CASH) ??????????

ROGER :tarah: :tarah:
roger
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by roger »

I have received a few complaints that I pictured the flea but not the GIRLS.

So here goes with the risk that Mr. P might censor it. ROGER :tarah:
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john t peterson
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by john t peterson »

I'll take that hot Grandma, second from the left.

J Peterson
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brigham
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by brigham »

Fourth from left is my type.
The middle one is TERRIFYING!
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arrgee
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by arrgee »

Humm..... one gets to a certain age when they all look rather attractive (or did !)
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badpenny
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by badpenny »

Is there a discount for bulk?
roger
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by roger »

BADPENNY looking for a deal by the pound so I'll check my file and see if TWIGGY is still available.

Perhaps you don't even remember her............. ROGER :tarah:
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS...EUREKA

Post by roger »

!PUZZLED! I have become obsessed with finding my coin-operated MICROSCOPE. I never received any feedback from Forum members.

Undaunted, I emailed a leading collector of microscopes and, by a remarkable coinicidence, he had the attached pictures which gratiously, he shared with me. (No Machine).

These pictures may help you locate my former machine, for which I would be very grateful.

ROGER :tarah:
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coppinpr
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by coppinpr »

Actually a great idea at the time. I'm surprised it was not more popular. Quite a simple trouble-free design I suspect and easy to maintain(?)
pennymachines
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by pennymachines »

Was your coin-op microscope the same as that one Roger?
I've found no further information about it, but Bausch & Lomb of Rochester, New York, founded in 1853, were one of the biggest manufacturers of microscopes worldwide in the 20th century (and are now one of the largest suppliers of contact lenses).

I see Roover Brothers Co., renowned for their amazing coin-op fortune-telling automata, filed two patents in 1889 for coin-controlled microscopes: 439189 and 439190.

And there's an 1890 patent by Barton S. Molyneux for a Coin-controlled Cyclorama, A mechanism that can be used for a coin-controlled "museum" microscope: 438170
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gameswat
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by gameswat »

I think you'll have much a greater chance of information on its whereabouts by posting on a US forum Roger.

Looking at the B&L logo font and style of the case this dates well into the deco era, so late 1920s or '30s. The much earlier Caille Bros marquee, circa 1906, and used on machines such as the Mystic Wheels fortune machine certainly does not suit and looks out of place.
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john t peterson
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by john t peterson »

Spot on, Gameswat. -/00\-

J Peterson
.007 USA
pennymachines
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by pennymachines »

Returning to the subject of coin-op telescopes, here are some more British beachside beauties...
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gameswat
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by gameswat »

Mispelt PM, you obviously meant "bruties".
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gameswat
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Re: GIRLS and FLEAS

Post by gameswat »

Nobody bit on my misspelt mispelt.......sometimes I don't know why I bother with my amateur comedy career, hasn't made me cent yet....... !!SUICIDAL!!
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