by John Peterson
I am often struck by the dissimilarities between the
gaming machines produced in the United States and
those of Great Britain during the the hey day of gam-
bling starting at the tum of the 20th Century and con-
tinuing into the 1950's.
American gambling machines were like the Kar-
dashian girls today. Good looking and rich , they didn't
have to work for your attention. Gorgeous by birth,
they intuitively recognized that developing a person-
alty was just a waste of time. People flocked to them to
bask in their beauty and behold their capricious reward
of gold and glitter to the chosen few who garnered their
individual attention with no more effort than the flick
of a wrist and the spin of a few reels. No need for
brains here; beauty rules!
British machines were the girl next door. Common
in appearance and impecunious in reward, they had to
work harder to attract the attention of their target au-
dience. Unable to rely upon the promise of unstated
but implied treats, they appealed to the male population
with a combination of charm, challenge and whimsy.
Today's game, Bomb Dropper by Handan-Ni is an ex-
cellent example.
Produced starting at the end of World War I in 1918
'
the makers capitalized on the war theme hardly before
the soldiers had hung up their rucksacks and rifles .
Photo A is the playfield. The game is simple. Upon
deposit of the 1D large British penny, three steel balls
are released to the holding position seen in Photo B.
One at a time, the balls are released to shooting posi-
tion and propelled onto the movable ledge at the top of
the playfield, Photo C, by means of the large knob at
the bottom of the door, right side. This ledge is a tilt
surface, controlled by the small knob on the left side
of the door. The ball rolls back and forth on the ledge
until it is is manually retracted by the player using the
small knob on the right side of the door.
The object of the game is to drop the (cannon) ball
onto the top of each of the three cannons, one at a time.
If the drop is successful, the cannon barrel collapses
down in a visible sign of defeat. If all three cannons
are defeated during one round of play, the player is re-
warded with the return of his penny. To receive your
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