C.O.C.A. Times
Issue: 2006-July - Vol 7 Num 2 - Page 8
-FRENCH FAN-DANCING-TASTIC
by JOHN PETERSON
What is your learning style? Do you soak things up
picion that it would not last
like a sponge, remembering everything after a quick
long. Relying strictly upon
once-over? Or are you more like me, stumbling along
my intuition, I snapped up
in a happy fog, missing clues left and right until some-
"Poker D ' As" and in doing
one points out to you the obvious, after which you have
so, added far more wealth to
that "AHA!" moment? If you fall into my group, then
my life than just one French
you will identity with today's adventure.
counter-top roulette game,
One of the many things I enjoy about the field of coin-
as you shall see.
op is the humanity behind the machines. Sometimes,
The French coin-operated
that feature is clearly seen in the design of a game or
industry in the first several
its thematic presentation. I find this type of "human-
decades of the Twentieth
ity" more evident in games from Europe as compared
Century was very similar to
to those created in the United States. One reason for that in the United States. There were several dominant
this is our engineering prowess. After the turn of the French manufacturers who created the majority of the
century, our manufacturing expertise allowed Ameri- games. The games themselves were of very good qual-
can companies to produce thousands of high quality ity and in my opinion, highly creative in design. Two
gambling and other coin operated machines in great names that you will frequently see in French production
quantities. We proudly perfected mass production and are Pierre Bussoz and Abel Nau. Smaller manufactur-
then used it to our benefit, turning out exact copy after ers abounded for short periods of time and produced a
exact copy in all areas of endeavor. Factories by Mills, few original machines of their own or, more frequently,
Jennings, Mutoscope, Exhibit Supply and many others adapted models already on the market. The manufac-
employed hundreds of workers in their quest to produce turer of "Poker D ' As" fit between those two groups.
the best coin-op the world had seen to date.
L. Lou bet ( 1895-1979) made several popular games in-
Compare this to Great Britain where a major producer cluding a gun game, "L'eclair" that is much sought after
of games like W. E. Bryan of Bryans Automatic Works by today's sophisticated collector. He also found minor
employed workers numbering in the dozens . British historical note as the one who made the first parking
coin-op was strictly a cottage industry when compared meter, the "Taxiparc" used at Orly Airport in 1960. In
with its cousin across the Atlantic. I like that smaller addition Loubet made several roulette games, including
sized humanity of the British manufacturers. Their "Poker D ' As" that was produced starting in 1932.
standardization was loose at best. Many parts were
It is important to understand the differences between
hand-crafted to individual games, including games by the French roulette games of the time and what we think
the same name produced by the same manufacturer. of today as roulette here in the American market. The
On the other hand, if you're trying to find replacement French games were a single wheel spinner, much like a
parts for British games, this type of "humanity" can go Mills "Dewey" only being a much smaller, counter-top
a long way, sometimes too far. There is much to be said size. "Poker D ' As" is typical of these roulette games
in favor of standardization.
that were very popular and produced in the thousands.
Another part of "humanity" that I find most compel- They were the French equivalent of the American slot
ling is the uniqueness of the collectors whom I have met machine. As you can see, the player has the option of
in my search for these games that I love. Three years betting one or more of the three colors. After depositing
ago I came across a game on Ebay that offered a "buy it your coin in the color of your choice in the coin slots at
now" option. The game was a French roulette machine the top left, you turn the knob on the lower right. One
called "Poker D ' As" Photo A. My studies to that point nice feature is a "flag" which comes up in the set of
had not included any games from France and I was at secondary circles of the same color that are at the top
a loss as to how to evaluate this machine. The price right. This allows the proprietor to verify the colors
appeared reasonable to me and I had a sneaking sus- played should a dispute arise after the game is over.
8
by JOHN PETERSON
What is your learning style? Do you soak things up
picion that it would not last
like a sponge, remembering everything after a quick
long. Relying strictly upon
once-over? Or are you more like me, stumbling along
my intuition, I snapped up
in a happy fog, missing clues left and right until some-
"Poker D ' As" and in doing
one points out to you the obvious, after which you have
so, added far more wealth to
that "AHA!" moment? If you fall into my group, then
my life than just one French
you will identity with today's adventure.
counter-top roulette game,
One of the many things I enjoy about the field of coin-
as you shall see.
op is the humanity behind the machines. Sometimes,
The French coin-operated
that feature is clearly seen in the design of a game or
industry in the first several
its thematic presentation. I find this type of "human-
decades of the Twentieth
ity" more evident in games from Europe as compared
Century was very similar to
to those created in the United States. One reason for that in the United States. There were several dominant
this is our engineering prowess. After the turn of the French manufacturers who created the majority of the
century, our manufacturing expertise allowed Ameri- games. The games themselves were of very good qual-
can companies to produce thousands of high quality ity and in my opinion, highly creative in design. Two
gambling and other coin operated machines in great names that you will frequently see in French production
quantities. We proudly perfected mass production and are Pierre Bussoz and Abel Nau. Smaller manufactur-
then used it to our benefit, turning out exact copy after ers abounded for short periods of time and produced a
exact copy in all areas of endeavor. Factories by Mills, few original machines of their own or, more frequently,
Jennings, Mutoscope, Exhibit Supply and many others adapted models already on the market. The manufac-
employed hundreds of workers in their quest to produce turer of "Poker D ' As" fit between those two groups.
the best coin-op the world had seen to date.
L. Lou bet ( 1895-1979) made several popular games in-
Compare this to Great Britain where a major producer cluding a gun game, "L'eclair" that is much sought after
of games like W. E. Bryan of Bryans Automatic Works by today's sophisticated collector. He also found minor
employed workers numbering in the dozens . British historical note as the one who made the first parking
coin-op was strictly a cottage industry when compared meter, the "Taxiparc" used at Orly Airport in 1960. In
with its cousin across the Atlantic. I like that smaller addition Loubet made several roulette games, including
sized humanity of the British manufacturers. Their "Poker D ' As" that was produced starting in 1932.
standardization was loose at best. Many parts were
It is important to understand the differences between
hand-crafted to individual games, including games by the French roulette games of the time and what we think
the same name produced by the same manufacturer. of today as roulette here in the American market. The
On the other hand, if you're trying to find replacement French games were a single wheel spinner, much like a
parts for British games, this type of "humanity" can go Mills "Dewey" only being a much smaller, counter-top
a long way, sometimes too far. There is much to be said size. "Poker D ' As" is typical of these roulette games
in favor of standardization.
that were very popular and produced in the thousands.
Another part of "humanity" that I find most compel- They were the French equivalent of the American slot
ling is the uniqueness of the collectors whom I have met machine. As you can see, the player has the option of
in my search for these games that I love. Three years betting one or more of the three colors. After depositing
ago I came across a game on Ebay that offered a "buy it your coin in the color of your choice in the coin slots at
now" option. The game was a French roulette machine the top left, you turn the knob on the lower right. One
called "Poker D ' As" Photo A. My studies to that point nice feature is a "flag" which comes up in the set of
had not included any games from France and I was at secondary circles of the same color that are at the top
a loss as to how to evaluate this machine. The price right. This allows the proprietor to verify the colors
appeared reasonable to me and I had a sneaking sus- played should a dispute arise after the game is over.
8
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).