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Games of Skill became the stock in trade of the British amusement machine industry thanks to the Betting and Gaming Acts of 1853 and 1854 which legislated against gaming machines even before they were invented. Most common were the allwin, ball catching, dropcase and shooting games, but this section of the museum will represent the ingenious diversity of other designs which emerged over the years. Many were genuine tests of skill, and offered no reward, a free game or a returned coin at most. Others, which paid prizes of higher value than the original stake, employed the legend "a game of skill" somewhat liberally. Usually the skill was outweighed by a larger element of chance. It had to be really, otherwise players would quickly have honed their technique and emptied the machines.

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Slick

1 Reply

Added to Other Skills by badpenny on 01/06/20

Slick



There are three challenges: First steer the ball down a see saw towards the gap in the first switch box; then try to catch it in the fingers; and finally, push the knob to drop it over the third switch box. There are 5 balls for 1d, and achieving a score of at least 9 returns your penny. The score dial and coin return are activated electro-mechanically.


North Autos   1945
Added to Other Skills by badpenny on 01/06/20

1 comment


 

Steer-a-Ball

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Added to Other Skills by sweetmeats on 17/05/17

Steer-a-Ball



This attractive version of the game appears to be by Hawtins of Blackpool. You steer a large metal ball along a series of horizontal, increasingly perilous runs and your coin is returned if you successfully negotiate the hazards. Simple in concept and construction, these reliable games were popular with players and operators alike.



Hawtins   1930s
Added to Other Skills by sweetmeats on 17/05/17

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Super Steer-a-Ball

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Added to Other Skills by pennymachines on 19/05/17

Super Steer-a-Ball



Popular ball steering game. This is the more common version with painted wooden backboard. After insertion of a penny, a large cast carousel inside raises the ball into play when the steering wheel is rotated. Your penny is returned for completing the course.



Jay Pee   1950s
Added to Other Skills by pennymachines on 19/05/17

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Swinging Swinger

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Added to Other Skills by Nicky Hillis on 02/08/20

Swinging Swinger



I used to play this actual machine back in the mid 1970s in Barrys Amusements, Bangor N.I. and got the chance recently to purchase it along with a Ring a Bell machine. I restored the cabinet to original colour scheme.

 


Brenco   1967 (December)
Added to Other Skills by Nicky Hillis on 02/08/20

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Testo Reaction Meter

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Added to Other Skills by widget2k4 on 25/05/17

Testo Reaction Meter



When drink driving was considered unwise but legal, this simple mechanical device, sited in pubs and clubs, allowed you to gauge your inebriation.

Insert a coin, which is held by a gate at the top, and press the spring-loaded green button, which is then held in place by a rubber sucker. At this point a battery contact is made to illuminate a bulb, the previous coin played drops to the cash box and your coin drops below the gate to rest on a pin connected to the button mechanism. You then wait until the sucker loses its grip, puts out the lamp, rings a bell and releases the coin. The coin falls vertically and you have to press the red button as fast as you can. The coin is stopped dead as one side of the channel closes against it. Your reaction time is measured by how far the coin drops against a scale, indicating your stopping distance when travelling at 30 mph, with comments about your fitness to drive. If you are fast enough (within 21 feet) you get your coin back. Patent GB786414



ABA   1956
Added to Other Skills by widget2k4 on 25/05/17

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Up The Pole

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Added to Other Skills by pennymachines on 26/06/17

Up The Pole



Insert a penny to release the two balls. The object is to shoot the balls up the barber's pole landing them upon matching coloured arrows for a payout. Unusually, the mechanism is electro-mechanical, the positions of the balls being registered with electrical contacts and the payout energized by a solenoid.



Brenner   Unknown date
Added to Other Skills by pennymachines on 26/06/17

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Village Blacksmith

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Added to Other Skills by sweetmeats on 26/05/17

Village Blacksmith



The forerunner of BMCo's Gretna Green Smithy game. Insert a penny which falls to the anvil, strike the anvil with the hammer to catapult the coin towards the hearth. If it lands in the furnace, it is returned. Patent GB189923815


Humphris and Forster   1899
Added to Other Skills on 26/05/17

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Winasmoke

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Added to Other Skills by duckiezoo22wp on 13/05/22

Winasmoke



This unusual metal-cased variant of the Circle-Skill game rewards the winner with a single cigarette.



Firmans   1930s
Added to Other Skills on 13/05/22

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Winaway Pool

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Added to Other Skills by pennymachines on 17/01/18

Winaway Pool



Insert one penny and turn the large handle on the right to release four balls; turn the small trigger on the left to feed each ball to the footballer, then pull back and release the large chrome lever to make him kick. The object is to fire a ball into each of the "Away" goals. Flags (mostly missing on this example) drop to indicate goals scored. Balls which under or over shoot are returned to play. The operator can choose which channels are "Away" goals by flipping the score card above, arranging three pins in the mechanism, and setting the payouts accordingly. When all "Away" goals are scored, payout is automatic.



Haworth   1939
Added to Other Skills by pennymachines on 17/01/18

Comment


 
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    • Lucky Twelve
    • Many Happy Returns
    • Master Football Game
    • Master Golf Game
    • Medicine vendor
    • Miniature Cricket
    • Monument Cigarette Box
    • Mother Shipton
    • Moving Stars
    • Music Maker
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    • Nestle’s Milk Chocolate
    • New Get Tee Zee
    • Nine Holes
    • Number Parade
    • Octopus
    • One Fruit
    • One Penny fortune teller
    • Over The Falls
    • Pascal Ambrosia Devonshire Milk Chocolate
    • Pascal Pearl Drops
    • Payramid
    • Peerless Pictures
    • Penny Points
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    • Rolling Road
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    • Rowntrees Fruit gum
    • Royal Jubilee
    • Safari
    • Safechek Gold Sovereign Changer
    • Salectric
    • Salter’s Automatic Weighing Machine
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    • Shoot!
    • Silver Arrow
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    • Spitfire
    • Steeple Chase
    • Steer-a-Ball
    • Step Up To Mike
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    • Super Steer-a-Ball
    • Sweetmeats
    • Swinging Swinger
    • Tele-Test
    • Ten Cup
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    • Testo Reaction Meter
    • The Cricket Match
    • The Major
    • The Very Latest
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    • Time Limit
    • Tip-It-In
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    • Trapper
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    • Trickler
    • Try Your Grip
    • Try Your Grip
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    • Try Your Weight
    • Tuck Shop
    • Uncle Sam’s Philosophy
    • Uneda Bagatelle Table
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    • Up The Pole
    • VAL vendors
    • Victory Ball
    • Victory Cups
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    • Waltonophone
    • When Were You Born?
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    • Whom Shall I Marry?
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    • Wills’s Woodbine Cigarettes
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    • Win a Spangles
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    • Wonder Pools
    • Woodbines
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    • Hawtins
    • Humphris and Forster
    • Jay Pee
    • Mastermatics
    • North Autos
    • OK Novelty Co.
    • Price and Castell
    • Pugh Automatics
    • Stevenson and Lovett
  • Skill games
    • Miniature Cricket
    • Testo Reaction Meter
    • Bomb Aimer
    • Climbing The Alps
    • Over The Falls
    • Lifeline
    • Diabolo?
    • Road Safety
    • Rolling Road
    • Beat The Goalie
    • Swinging Swinger
    • Up The Pole
    • Rippler
    • Bumper
    • Rockets
    • Automatic Billiard Player
    • Winasmoke
    • Winaway Pool
    • Steer-a-Ball
    • Rolling Road
    • Village Blacksmith
    • Super Steer-a-Ball
    • Master Golf Game
    • Master Football Game
    • Slick
    • Silver Arrow
    • Get Tee Zee
    • New Get Tee Zee
    • Game of Skill
    • Looping the Loop
    • Prospector
    • Irish Sweepstakes
  • Generic selectors
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