by Bill Howard
front aluminum casting, just as was the case with the Whirl-
winds. No cash box was provided, as the obvious theme of
the Chuck-O-Luck was to compete among different players,
not the machine itself or the "operator." The machine is sim-
ply served as a vehicle for competing players to gamble at a
cost of one cent. The interior casting that accommodates the
spin action is very similar to a much more common contem-
porary Whirlwind-type machine called Barnyard Golf.
What is puzzling to me about the Chuck-O-Luck is why,
in spi te of the quality of its construction, its classy look and
affordable $12.50 price in the midst of the Depression, it is
such a rare machine today. Though listed as a machine made
by both Keeney and Gottleib by historian Dick Bueschel,
in his trade stimulator book, no picture or example ap-
pears either in that source book or in Torn Gustweller's For
Amusement Only. Indeed, I cannot locate it in any source
book except in Ken Rubin's Drop Coin Here, see page 85.
This is only the third Chuck-O-Luck I am aware of, the first
being in the Mel Getlin collection, and the second, a football
variety, having been offered a few years back in Chicagoland
by dealer Jack Freund. The only explanation I can suggest
is that, as the Chuck-O-Luck was such an obvious gambling
machine, and no gambler gambles alone, this machine did
not appeal as an amusement machine for one cent as the
Whirlwinds did, but only to gamblers who wished to play
against one another. I do not believe such competition ma-
chines, strictly to be played by two or more people, ever did
that well in the market.
It is for this reason that I was so excited to acquire the
Dice Chuck-O-Luck, which has to be the rarest of the rare
Chuck-O-Lucks. Like the African Golf machine discussed
in my March, 2003 , C.O.C.A. magazine article and featured
on page 155 of Every Picture Tells a Story, it makes no sense
to play Dice Chuck-O-Luck by yourself. The machine is no
more than a vehicle to play dice without actually rolling dice.
In the case of African Golf, two balls are propelled into one
of six pockets showing dice sides 1-6, just as if the player
was throwing craps, in effect 5 "throws" for one cent. With
Dice Chuck-O-Luck, there are more pockets and combina-
tions within those pockets so that the craps "thrower" gets
the same effect with only one ball being propelled at a price
of 1 O "throws" for one cent. African Golf and Dice Chuck-
O-Luck both came out in 1931 in competition with one
another, and one person does not play craps by himself.
Just like African Golf, the Dicer Chuck-O-Luck is incred-
ibly politically incorrect because of its colorful and involved
graphics that are much richer than the other Chuck-O-Luck
varieties. Only one African Golf is currently in captivity, and
I would be surprised if many more Dice Chuck-O-Lucks turn
up. The graphics and rarity of the Dicer probably doubles its
value relative to the other Chuck-O-Luck varieties.
The 1930 Whirlwind spin games came upon the coin
machine market like a storm. Many manufacturers offered
countless sports, social, and other categories of formats to
the public through these countertop amusement machines.
The pioneering influence of the older and rarer Wildcat trade
stimulator on this Whirlwind phenomenon has been dis-
cussed in my book, Every Picture Tells a Story, see page 129.
The Chuck-O-Luck Machine is made better and is much
rarer, but works much like the more drab and common
Whirlwinds. Made by both Keeney and Sons of Chicago and
D. Gottleib and Co. of Chicago, Chuck-O-Luck came on the
market in 1931 and appeared on the November Cover of Au-
tomatic Age. The cabinet is made of wood, is painted red and
has no marquis. The front aluminum casting has red crackle
paint and accommodates five different play interiors: poker,
black jack, horse racing, football and dice. The only differ-
ence in the five types of Chuck-O-Lucks is the background
motif of each of the five varieties. Each version, however,
sports the tell-tale pronoucernent that the machine was legal
and should not be used for gambling. No gum ball option
was offered. Most assuredly, however, all varieties were used
as gambling devices, and, in my opinion, for gambling pur-
poses only, unlike the contemporary Whirlwind amusement
machines to be played with one player in mind.
The Chuck-O-Lucks were marketed as "five machines
for the price of one" that "requires but one minute to change
fronts" to switch to another of the five machine formats. It
was serviced and accessed via a simple lock on the lower
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