However, it would not be long before we Brits started to show innovation, and it was
during the 1930s that we started to claim the allwin as our own. Although maintaining
the All win-De-Luxe galleried format of a straight line of seven cups, five win flanked by
two lose (a format which had become known as 'fivewin'), Frank Hawtin of Blackpool
produced a range of highly distinctive, steel-cased allwins. Among these was an
automatic, solenoid payout version. This may not have been a great success, as there are
not many survivors, and the idea was not taken up by other makers. But it does, at least,
show a desire to innovate!
But without doubt, the most prolific contributor to the allwin's evolution was
Charles Featherstone's British Manufacturing Company, of London. B.M.Co produced a
large range of allwins throughout the 1930s, and were to introduce an innovation that
would transform this genre of game into an intrinsically British machine. Probably the
most far-reaching change to the allwin's format was the 'multi-cup' playfield. The
traditional ball gallery was replaced by a number of individual cups positioned
symmetrically around the playfield, thus the more winning cups that could be crammed
in, the more appealing the machine became (although the player didn't necessarily stand
any greater chance of winning, regardless of how many winning cups there were). This
led directly to the 'giant' allwin, which from B.M.Co and later makers of the 1950s, we
saw allwins with up to twenty-four winning cups.
Like Hawtins, B.M.Co also produced allwins with automatic payout, but unlike
Hawtins simple solenoid system, B.M.Co utilised a brilliant (though maybe grossly over
engineered) mechanical system. I hope to feature this at some later date.
Catalogue illustration of Hawtins 1930s solenoid payout al/win
Page 10