The History of the Wall Machine
Part One - Drop Case Machines
In this series of articles, I shall be tracing the history and development of that broad
genre of games - the Wall Machine, named as such simply because they were
intended to be fixed to the walls of the establishments in which they were operated.
Unique to Europe, wall machines were un- known in America, and as we progressed
through the twentieth century (particually after WWII, they were to become
intrinsically British. Part one looks at the most basic gaming machine: Drop Case.
In 1687, Sir Issac Newton published his 'Principia Mathematica' and among o
wonderous revelations determined that what goes up, must surely come down . Thus, 1r
Issac provided us with the most basic of mechanisms for a slot machine: gravity! In it's
most basic form , the drop case game could be found at fairgrounds, long before the
advent of gaming machines. It consisted of a vertical playfield with a row of numbered
columns at the bottom. The player would purchase a number of marbles from the
showman and insert them, one by one, at the top. As the marbles dropped, they
encountered a matrix of pins, thus deflecting them into the various numbered columns.
The final score would determine whether or not a prize was awarded.
By substituting the marbles with the player's coin, you get instant slot machine! It's
likely that very basic drop case machines like this existed in this country (probably
1880s ), although I can find no record or information pertaining to such a device. In any
case, they would have been short lived, as operating such a simple machine requiring the
constant presence of an attendant (to award prizes) would hardly have advanced the cause
of the automatics industry! Simple drop case games were common in America though,
right up to the I 940s, and were operated as counter-top ' Trade Stimulaters'. More about
trade stimulaters another time.
So, back to this country. Clearly, some form of automatic payout was required and
this was achieved by Frank Urry's 1892 patent for the ' Tivoli '. The importance of this
patent cannot be underestimated. Although there would be numerous wall machine ga s
to follow, far more advanced and complex, the drop case machine would remai
British arcades for over eight decades. It was to be a benchmark for all future machine
design, particually with respect to British gaming law.
The Tivoli was designed with a vertical playfield, with the coin entry positioned to
one side about mid way between top and bottom. When a coin was inserted it would
come to rest on a spring-loaded plunger. With the aid of an external trigger, the player
would then fire his coin to the top of the play-field, when (as Newton predicted) the coin
would fall. An arrangement of pins sub-divided the playfield into columns. If the coin
took the central route, it would trigger a release mechanism and reward the player with a
' good cigar'. The player also had two chances of having his coin returned; otherwise his
coin was lost. A really simple game? At first sight yes, but in addition to the automatic
payout and the coin return, there are two impo1tant points that are all too often missed.
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