A more challenging problem concerned the open coin track on the face of the game,
Photo D. What you see is the proper size track for the correct coin, the old British big
penny. When I received Bajazzo, this track had been narrowed to fit a much smaller
coin. The problem was, I had no idea what that smaller coin was. Like any good idiot, I
tried a variety of coins, trying to find the one that: 1) activated the interior mechanism
that controlled the ball release, and 2) properly fit the exterior payout wheel. The closest
fit I could find was the old British halfpenny. It would release the ball and would
sometimes work with the wheel. I say 'sometimes' because sometimes, it would roll
right past the wheel and into the payout cup. You need to understand that as the coins
are fed into the game, they immediately drop into the external track where they are
trapped by the wheel, awaiting payout for a winning catch. They are the visible sign of
potential wealth available to the skilful player, the equivalent of the carnival barker who
yells out as you and your bride try and sneak by, unseen: "HEY, YOU! We can't have
the coins roll right past that payout wheel and right back to the players without a
winning catch now, can we? NO, WE CANNOT"!
I played and played with this segment without success until it finally occurred to
me; maybe the exterior coin track had been altered and I was experimenting with the
wrong size coin. I took a closer look at the payout wheel and discovered that the old ld
penny was the correct size to fit the indentations in the wheel. This drove me to look at
the coin track bars. Very close inspection revealed the lower track had been moved
upward, narrowing the distance to fit a smaller coin. Once I re-adjusted the track back to
its original position, the game came together. The ld coins were the size originally
intended to operate this venerable game. With these two rather simple adjustments, the
game was now back in business as originally intended, stealing pennies from the gullible
and the overly optimistic, me!
Now to the final issue, the one thing that kept me awake for nights prior to getting
my hands on my newest love. Is this Bajazzo completely original, including the case? In
a word, no. Photo Fis a close-up of the hinges. Clearly, the cutouts for the door and the
case show two different size hinges on the original pieces. This door and its mechanism
originally were mated to a different case. I was correct in my suspicions that this domed
case is an imposter. If there is good news, ( and there is always a bright side for the true
collector, my friends), it is that this case is also from the same period and it is also from
the same country: Germany. Whoever put these two together did an admirable job of
mating two parts that, when joined, look like they belong together like an aged husband
and wife. The colour of the wood and the grain patterns are so well suited that, absent
the telltale signs of the hinges and the dome, most collectors would never have
suspected anything amiss. My considered opinion is that this is a German 1920's Jentsch
& Meerz "Bajazzo" mated to a German allwin case, also of the same vintage. This game
was originally manufactured for export to the British market, this conclusion
supported by the coin size appropriate for the interior mechanism as well as the
exterior payout wheel.
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