Classic Mode

C.O.C.A. Times

Issue: 2002-March - Vol 2 Num 1

only type of built-in portable and compact energy
device available. Powered by people energy, it first
became popular in late 18 th century Europe for use
in toys, automata, and music boxes. By the mid
19th century in the United States, the clockwork
motor was used for toys, fire alarms, and other com-
mercial products. Even after electricity was com-
monplace, clockwork motor drives continued to be
useful in many applications.
The integration of clockwork motors into coin-
op machines was a marvelous combination for
many reasons. Coins could easily trip the clock-
work mechanism into action. Many sales could be
performed with a single winding. The clockwork
motor was a high value-added component to the
customer. Indeed, a SEAM was especially success-
ful with the ladies, as they did not have to grope
around to operate the mechanism, thus preventing
embarrassment!
By eliminating the need for instructions, SEAMs
became simple "drop coin" machines. Information,
frequently located near the coin slot itself, was
reduced to "DROP COIN HERE," or "DROP
PENNY HERE." The Clawson Dice machine
declared "TO TELL YOUR FORTUNE, Drop ~
Nickel in the Slot." One machine, The Niagara
Gum vender, even advertised itself as a SEAM:
"AUTOMATIC,
NO ROD! NO CRANK!" For clockwork motor
machines, with a drop of the coin, they came to life
with a buzzing sound and delivered the "goods."
A special sub-category of SEAMs, including the
Buffalo Gum, Zeno Gum, Automatic Clerk, and
Pope Cigar venders, were made with glass bell jars
or glass cases providing the customer a view of the
move-ment of the gears and other working parts.
The bonus visual show added novelty entertainment
and enhanced the buying experience. Glass cases
~lso projected a sense of propriety by showing off
its fresh wares, allowing the customer to see exact-
ly what was for sale, and whether the machine was
empty or not. Unique for the time, a glass SEAM
transaction closely resembled a live human transac-
tion in a store or saloon.
plete the transaction, be it "push, pull, or tum." The
third and final step? To reliably deliver the payoff
of merchandise to the awaiting patron, be it enter-
tainment, information, or financial rewards. Each
design change that improves on these principles
increases both the clientele's satisfaction and the
owner/operator's financial success.
A study of antique mechanical machines from
the perspective of the second principle-operating
procedures-yields the discovery of a small, ele-
gant class of automatic coin-ops. Designed to make
machine "user-friendlier," they entirely eliminated
the need for instructions and the customer's physi-
cal effort. As the ultimate in convenience machines
and way ahead if its time, the patron dropped in ~
coin and the machine managed all the rest. No fuss-
ing required! This elite category can be referred to
as Stored Energy Automatic Machines. (SEAMs).
SEAMs are defined as "those machines that have
a self-operating mechanism containing an internal
motive force to drive it." The power comes from a
spring that is wound up, or pre-loaded with energy
by the owner/operator, and released automatically
by the dropped-in coin. The power is freed in a
measured amount and enough energy remains
stored in the spring for multiple sales. In all but one
case of coin-op SEAMs, this spring power is con-
verted into mechanical action through a device
known as a clockwork motor. (The exception, The
Mansfield's Automatic Clerk, utilizes power gener-
ated by spring compression.)
The clockwork motor was first used in watch
works around 1450Ao. The mechanics involve a
tempered strip of steel wound into a coil as a spring.
Its tension is released into a series of gears. The
design ratio of the gears delivers the speed and
torque necessary for a particular output. A braking
mechanism -fan, flywheel, governor or pendulum
- is often used to control the output speed. The
whole mechanical action is held in check by a
mechanical detent, effectively a start/stop switch.
In a coin-op machine, the coin trips the detent to
permit one cycle of operation.
Long before the development of electric batteries
and electric motors, the clockwork motor was the
5
There were also exposed mechanism models in
early trade stimulator SEAMs, like the exciting
Clawson Dice and Weston "Tilt Tray" machines.
Their hypnotic, automatic "action" inspired a sense
of rhythm and fair play to the gambler. Many other
trade stimulator models took advantage of the pop-
ular clockwork drive too, and are testament to the
success of this form, especially "arrow" type
"Eclipse" styles. An outstanding SEAM payout
machine, The Clawson Bee Hive, was a brilliant
mechanical device that could automatically deliver
one to forty nickels on a win. The buzz of the
clockwork motor on a payout represented the sound
of bees, while the case resembled a beehive.
Making money with honey?
The most popular use of clockwork motors in
arcade machines was in "drop card" picture
machines.
The efficiency of the card mechanisms united
with long-lasting clockworks permitted many plays
on one winding. Caille's Cail-O-Scopes, Mill's
Auto-Stereoscopes, and Rosenfields were the most
popular SEAMs. Another benefit for the operator
was the clockwork controlled time limit for each
play. Time is money, and a fixed, short amount of
time for viewing a set of cards was to the operator's
advantage. Not allowing the customer to control
the pictures' advance or sharing the pictures with
non-paying guests was a definite improvement over
earlier models. Other picture viewers, like the Mills
Quartoscope and the Caille Auto-Muto, were not
automatic stored energy machines but still
employed clockwork motors as timing devices for
the same purpose.
Clockworks were regularly used as mechanism
components in many other non-SEAMS. The Mills
Lion Lung Tester employed one to drive the "roar-
ing" contraption. In Exhibit's Grandfather Clock
strength tester it was used to ring a mechanical bell.
The Caille Simplex Electric Shocker used one to
time out the "juice" after a minute. Almost all slot
machines used clockworks to time the various
mechanical sequences from stopping spinning reels
to the payout of jackpots. Phonographs and record
players required clockworks to play the music
while controlling the playback speed. And clocks
themselves were found in several scales, music
boxes and vending machines (see Stollwerck).
In expensive and delicate coin-op disk music
boxes, such as Reginas, pre-storing the energy was
a means to prevent machine damage by not allow-
ing the customer himself to wind the spring. The
heavy-duty clockwork motor built into business-
grade SEAMs was a boon to operators. It permitted
them to place these machines in commercial loca-
tions and made it practical for the operator to fill the
machines with the latest tunes.
Early coin-op machines were seen as labor sav-
ing devices in a land short on workers. It would be
logical to think that SEAMs were not especially
suitable for "high traffic" locations such as New
York City subways, penny arcades, street corners,
and railway stations. Frequent winding of a well-
patronized machine might require many visits by an
attendant. But labor was much cheaper in earlier
years and the profits from the machines easily cov-
ered the expense of the workers. Besides, the best-
built SEAMs were able to vend a full machine's
worth of product on a single winding. The Buffalo
Gum machine contained 160 tabs of gum and a typ-
ical Pulver had 90 pieces.
A respectable part of the millions of dollars col-
lected each year, in pennies, nickels, and dimes,
from coin-op machines was taken in by stored ener-
gy automatic machines. The most successful
SEAMs ever produced were vending machines.
The champions of all were the Automatic Clerk
(more than 102,000 sold), the wood and steel Zenos
(over 150,000 sold), and especially Pulvers (much
more than 500,000 sold of all styles).
Many factors account for their great success:
1) high profits made by the owners of the machines
2) customers' satisfaction on all levels,
3) low wholesale cost to dealers,
4) operating precision,
5) marketing acumen by the manufacturers produc-
ing premium give-a-ways, and, of course,
6) the product's automatic delivery. All added up to
making the SEAM vending machines exception-
al winners.
6

Download Page 5: PDF File | Image

Download Page 6 PDF File | Image

Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).

Pro Tip: You can flip pages on the issue easily by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.