Cupid’s Post & Telegraph Office
With its combination of Cupid's Telegraph and the Matrimonial Camera, this very early example of the genre fuses two 'magical' technologies of the age. Advances in telegraphy and photography brought them into widespread use by the late 19th century, which would appear to be the date of this machine, judging by the studio cameras depicted. |
James Fuller 1890s
Auto Sales
Rare location photograph of rotunda console vendor offering a wide range of differently priced confectionery. |
BAC 1930s
Boomerang
Insert a penny in the slot on the top right hand side to release a ball bearing into play. The aim is to shoot the ball into one of the winning cups on the playfield. If successful 2, 4 or 6 coins can be won. The playfield departs radically from the ubiquitous spiral track. The eccentric layout results in fast play as the ball ricochets between the runners. In keeping with the game's theme, skillful control is rewarded with a returned ball for repeat plays. |
Wondermatics 1950s
Autofruit
Early version of this electro-mechanical continuous-running betting game. Bet on which symbol will come up next by placing a penny in one or more of the slots. Top prize is a Shilling on the bell. |
Jamieson Automatics 1960s
Mother Shipton
Very early card-vending fortune-teller by Meurice & Co. (who manufactured fortune cards for other makers), possibly made as a one-off. No documentation or other examples of this game have been found. The Argyle Automatic badge is believed to have been added at a later date. Books attributed to the cave-dwelling 16th century soothsayer of Knaresborough, Mother Shipton (Ursula Southeil), contained rhyming couplets similar to the machine's slogan: DROP IN YOUR PENNIES I WILL TELL YOU TRUE WHAT FORTUNE HAS IN STORE FOR YOU |
Meurice & Co. 1900s
Wrigleys
The red Wrigley gum vendor is from around the 1940s, and accepted 2 old pennies for a packet of gum. Very few of these have survived. |
NAM 1940s
Beech-Nut Chewing Gum
Beechnut vendors were a common sight in the 1950s and '60s often sited around newsagents. You received a packet of gum for an old penny and a free one on every 4th penny used. The position of an arrow on the handle would indicate when the next free packet was due. |
Automatic Chewing Sweet Sales Ltd 1950s
Fleet Air Arm
This appears to be the most common of several small war-themed allwins produced by BMCo either during World War Two or the immediate post-war period. Others were Bomber Command, Dawn Patrol and D Day. The ball must be dropped into the central gap between the two 'lose' cups, whereupon a bell rings, a coin is automatically delivered to the player and the ball returns for another shot. The target light, top left, is illuminated to show that the machine is 'on'. Originally it would appear these were powered by battery although surviving examples work from the mains supply via a transformer. |
BMCo 1940s
Bomber Command
This was one of several small war-themed allwins produced by BMCo either during World War Two or the immediate post-war period. Others were Fleet Air Arm, Dawn Patrol, and D Day. The ball must be dropped into the central gap between the two 'lose' cups, whereupon a bell rings, a coin is automatically delivered to the player and the ball returns for another shot. The target light, top left, is illuminated to show that the machine is 'on'. Originally it would appear these were powered by battery although surviving examples work from the mains supply via a transformer. |
BMCo 1940s
Dawn Patrol
This appears to be the rarest of several small war-themed allwins produced by BMCo either during World War Two or the immediate post-war period. Others were Fleet Air Arm, Bomber Command, and D Day. The ball must be dropped into the central gap between the two 'lose' cups, whereupon a bell rings, a coin is automatically delivered to the player and the ball returns for another shot. The target light, top left, is illuminated to show that the machine is 'on'. Originally it would appear these were powered by battery although surviving examples work from the mains supply via a transformer. |
BMCo 1940s
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