Coin Slot

Coin Slot Magazine - #087 - 1982 - May[International Arcade Museum]
News
from the
British Isles
bution rights for the Electric Travelling Crane made by
and
Beyond!
the International Mutoscope Corporation of New York,
one of the pioneers of the genre. All in all, 1933 was to
prove a golden year for the Streets brothers, almost
everything they touched seemed to turn to gold.
By January of the following year they had launched
out into another area, shooting machines, with the
marketing of the Sportsman made by J.P. Seeburg of
Chicago. In 1935, Streets became the first British
company to manufacture a multiplayer crane, the
Treasure Island, a 2-player. This was soon followed by
the huge Octopus, suitable for up to 12 players. Once
again, these machines proved very popular. The Streets,
now reversing their role, were becoming wholesale
exporters to places as far afield as Europe and Africa.
In 1937 the company changed address once again,
moving their centre of operations to the City Road in
Islington, where they were to remain until the outbreak
of war. The pintable boom of the early 30's had
established the company as a force to be reckoned
with. Astute handling of the company's affairs, and
timely decisions relating to product diversification
enabled the Streets to prosper. By the start of 1939 the
business had expanded to include the production of
such staple items as ice cream freezers. Additionally,
they had also become major site operators following
the acquisition of the Butlins concession in the mid
1930's. Indeed, such was the Streets' standing in the
industry that in 1939 Walter Streets was elected
chairman of the Amusement Caterers Association.
The outbreak of war did not immediately precipitate
a closedown. As late as April 1940 the company, back
again in Tottenham Court Road, was advertising the
Scuttle-em pintable. It was-to prove their final fling
before enemy bombs forced them to close. The two
brothers Walter and William now moved down to
llfracombe, where they operated the Jolly Spot arcade;
their brother Harry in the meantime firmly entrenched
himself in Worthing as an arcade owner and site
operator.
The end of the war in 1945 saw an amicable split in
the fraternal partnership. Will Streets left England to
set up a new venture first in South Africa, and then the
United States. In the meantime Walter, having ridden
out the years of post war depression in the amusement
industry, moved to Eastbourne where he established a
.com
m
:
u
from -muse
d
e
e
new manufacturing
known
as Walter Streets
ad enterprise
ad he
o Once
l
c
r
n
and Company.
again
was to find himself
a
.
w
o
ww
setting D
a lead that
others would inevitably have to
/w his
/
:
p
t
follow. Through
brother William he had kept in
ht
close touch with the latest developments in America
Walter had always been a firm believer in the principle
that 'whenever America sneezed, England caught
cold.' Late in 1953 he embarked upon the manufacture
© The International Arcade Museum
May, 1982
Continued on page 43
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
THE COIN SLOT—39