Coin Slot

Coin Slot Magazine - #077 - 1981 - July [International Arcade Museum]
top people in the coin machine industry (the Mill's,
Watling's, Fey's, Caille's, Pace's, etc.) publicity shy?
Even photographs of most of them are scarce.
If anyone has any of the missing or "most wanted"
items discussed above, please report them to me. Or if
you'd like to express your views on this mystery, please
submit them to this column, as they would make a good
follow-up article.
Jack Holloway-the Coin Machine King
Continued from page 33
failure to dominate the pintable market was detrimen
tal to their agents, Samson's, but only more so. In 1934
JENNINGS ESCALATORS
Escalators - next to the jackpot they are easily the
in England a new Betting and Gaming Act was passed
most significant development in bell machine history.
which tightened the law against coin operated games
Their importance is clearly demonstrated by our class
of chance. It was a bitter body blow to Samson's, whose
success and reputation had been established upon
the three reel slot machine.
There were more difficulties on a personal level,
Jack Holloway was suffering from cancer. In 1929 in a
bid to stem the disease his right arm was amputated. It
was to give him just a few more years of life. In 1937, at
the age of 64, he died. He was akindly man who never
forgot his origins. The 'fairy story' quoted at the begin
ning of this article was indeed true. I n 1932 the World's
Fair published a picture of him distributing pennies to
the poor children of the district. He would give 2d to
each of the children who would collect at the company's
doors every Friday night because, as he used to say,
when he was a child 'nobody ever gave me anything'.
In the year following Jack's death the company lost
ification of machines as being either gooseneck or
escalator type
appearance
bells. A
radical change
accompanied
the
in cabinet
introduction
of the
escalator, from a squat flat-topped configuration to a
more stately and well-balanced vertical design. Amaz
ingly, each manufacturer approached their escalator
design and engineering from totally different stand
points, giving us such diversity as the Watling and
Pace rotary methods, the Caille vertical design, and
the Mills, Buckley and Jennings horizontal construc
tions.
Of the more popular machines, O. D. Jennings has by
far the most robust and superior design. A few of the
better points are: 1. The escalator is mounted directly
on the mechanism, eliminating alignment problems
and facilitating service. 2. The coins are advanced by
the Mills agency. It was a bitter blow. The loss of the
radial force and are not subjected to axial loads
agency in effect marked the end of an era, whose
decline had been precipitated a few years earlier by
the rise of the anti-gambling lobby on both sides of the
against their faces, thus preventing binding and wear
Atlantic.
the tabs affixed to the drive chain and no overlapping
The running of the company was taken over by
against the escalator runway face plates. 3. Positive
spacing and advancement of the coins is provided by
or partial advancement of the coins is possible. Unfor
Jack's eldest son John. Although he attempted to
tunately, the details that make this escalator better
maintain the company's former position as the premier
gambling game distributor in England (signified by the
also make it more complicated, hence the need to
winning of the agency for the Groetchen Tool and
Machine Company of Chicago in 1938) the prevailing
legal climate was against him. The company was in the
event increasingly forced to diversify in order to survive,
a factor marked by the acquisition of the International
Mutoscope agency in the same year. The company
remained in business throughout the war in spite of
the fact that its premises were twice bombed. It even
succeeded in marketing in 1940 a revamped version
of a Mills slot machine, now exceedingly rare, the
Samson Double Chute.
The post war years although initially seeming to be
com
.
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eu
bright were in fact to prove difficult. Throughout the
50's the company diversified, from the distribution of
working models, nameplate stampers, and coin oper
ated telescopes to the marketing of novelties and
games. The end result was a radical change in the
nature of the company, which is still in existence today,
and still run by members of the Holloway family. It is
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however very different to the one founded by Jack
Holloway over half a century ago.
explain its operation and adjustment.
The first step in any rebuild, of course, is disassembly.
Start by removing the escalator face plate, part num
ber V-5-17. Be certain all the screws are removed
before gently prying up the plate where it has been
pinned —usually at the top left and bottom center.
When no pins are present the plate should simply lift
off. The next step is to locate the master chain link and
remove the spring clip —small snap-ring pliers are
useful for this. If you find it necessary to destroy the
clip during removal you may purchase a #35 replace
ment master link at your local bicycle, lawn mower or
motor bike dealer. Once the chain has been removed
the remainder of the disassembly is quite straight
forward. Observe the position of all the components
before you remove them, then wash all the parts in
varsol or other solvent and allow to dry. Take special
effort to clean all dirt and fluff from the coin runways
and wire brush them where necessary to provide a
smooth surface over which the coins can roll.
Inspect the four pins extending from the top of the
left-side chainwheel (V-14-87). These pins are often
Continued on page 36
© The International Arcade Museum
July 1981
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
THE COIN SLOT-35