Coin Slot Magazine - #016 - 1976 - March [International Arcade Museum]
THE CURRENT SCENE/
by
Sob
Musical uprights- probably the best combination of sight and sound in a
gambling machine. And probably the most sought-after in todayfs market 1
During the 20-year period (1895-1915) in which most of the uprights were
produced, cylinder music boxes (or in the case of the rare Watling Musical
Uno, a Regina disc music box) were offered as an extra-cost option as a means
of getting around local gambling laws. Since a player received a tune every
time he played the machine, the contention was that he received value for his
money. Any money that "happened" to come out was a "dividend" and was to
be played back into the machine.
Mills, Caille and Watling, along with several of the smaller manufactu
rers such as Victor and Berger, offered music as an option in most of their
uprights. The Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments by Q. David
Bowers has pictures of several of the old musical uprights.
Although many machines were sold with music, it is exceedingly rare to
find one today that is complete and in working condition. The reasons are that-
Many local gambling laws were revised to eliminate the
musical loophole.
Many of the music boxes malfunctioned or became inoperative.
As a result, many operators simply pulled out the music boxes and dis
carded them. It is not uncommon to find an upright in a musical cabinet but
missing the musical works. Today, the value of an upright containing the or
iginal music is typically worth significantly more than the same machine with
out the music.
"Aha 1", you say. "Why can!t I simply buy a cylinder music box and
hook it up in my upright ? " you can, of course, but your machine won't be
worth that much more.
It won!t be original. Collectors of uprights are usually quite
insistent on having original material in their machines.
Most of the cylinder music boxes in the uprights contained
light American tunes (such as "Hot Time in the Old Town
Tonight"). It is difficult to find a music box with these kinds
com
.
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of tunes.
© The International Arcade Museum
http://www.arcade-museum.com/