Poison This Rat

[arrgee]

Saw these on the net recently. American but by whom?

Seems to operate via the knob rotating the head, object being to get the ball bearings in his mouth via the bendy tracks.

[coppinpr]

Seen these before and I think there was a Tojo one as well. They were made by the Groetchen Tool Co. There should be a small handle on the right side of the case but I can't see one on either of these photos. The date of manufacture is listed as 1940-41 which is unlikely as USA of course didn't enter the war till very late 1941. The Russian star on Hitler's cuff makes no sense at all unless the machine was made prior to June 1941 when Russia and Germany were allies but America wasn't at war.

Love the advert for war bonds on the side, just to make the player think he was losing his money in a good cause... yeah right... the operator's pocket more like.

[arrgee]

I understand these machines to be earlier than WWII Paul, the arm and cuff are not Hitler's (his jacket is brown the arm is black) so I assumed that it is therefore Stalin's arm hence the red star on the cuff.

The (more) orange looking machine made $9,975.00 on ebay a few years ago!!

I have tracked down the sale and the seller posted the following:

'One Cent Vintage WW 2 “Hitler” Skill Game "Poison This Rat" Hitler U.S. by Groetchen Tool & Mfg. Company, w/ key. The coin slides is dated May 9 1933 & May 16, 1933. Machine is complete and in great condition. Size 23 1/2" x 15 1/2" x 11". A little minor blistering on small section of wood. Please e-mail with any questions.'

1933 was the year that Hitler became Chancellor and a lot of nasty things started to happen. I am thinking that Groetchen likened Hitler to the oppressive and ruthless dictator Stalin. The war bonds lettering on the other machine was obviously added later.

[coppinpr]

I don't believe these were pre-war. Hitler and Stalin were certainly not considered monsters in 1933. The UK and USA had guarded friendly relations with both at that time. I've found three sites listing the build date, one says 1940-41 the other two 1942. Deriding world leaders who were practically unknown in isolationist USA in 1933 would make no sense. The slides being dated (never seen that before) means nothing as the slides were probably standard slides that had been made for years.

[bob]

American slides of this type were generally dated with the year that the patent for them was granted.

[arrgee]

Ah, so that explains it.

[roger]

Topic moved & merged - Site Admin.

Over sixty years ago I attended an auction when I first crossed paths with one of these Hitler coin drops.
Coin-op collecting had not yet become popular so I assumed it would sell for under $100...........
WRONG !!!!!...........It sold for $1500

hitler.jpg (20.75 KiB) Viewed 999 times

Ever since they have commanded astronomical prices unlike similar coin=drops.
One topped out at $18,000 ...........Yipes !!!
Has any member spotted one in the U.K. ??? ROGER

[pennymachines]

One topped out at $18,000 ...........Yipes !!!

Maybe bought by US supreme court judge Clarence Thomas's chum Harlon Crow. Seems he has a yen for all things Hitlerian.
It's not an especially rare (or, in my view, desirable) game. Morphy has them going for between $1,952 - 9,000.

Smash Hitler

Paul Bennet & Co. Hitler Gum Target Skill Game

[roger]

Attached is another photo of the "Rat"........ Note that it shows a side handle for a more intricate operation.
I believe that the $18,000 one had both this feature plus a top sign.
At that price the added feaure must have been a "doozy".
I'm hoping that a member has seen this machine and can explain its full operation. ROGER
Note: Picture can be viewed on internet but I am unable to post as it is not a JPG image.

[pennymachines]

Note: Picture can be viewed on internet but I am unable to post as it is not a JPG image..

Can you link to it (copy/paste the URL)?