Mechanical Memories Magazine

on. The place to go to play slot machines was Margate ' s 'Sun Deck' (now demolished),
which was like a very wide pier. The machines I remember include: Bryan' s Bullions and
Fruit Bowls; Street' s Rifle Range; R&W Ice Hockey; Crompton ' s Tuti-Frutis and I think
it was on the Sun Deck that I first came across those weird bandits cased in blue and
yellow formica. Instead of reels, they had three valves, each with ten filaments which
when they glowed displayed the numbers 0 - 9. Even as a boy, I thought they were
bloody ugly! But my favourite machine was a driving game. This was a little bigger than
a Hockey Table. Under the top glass was a car, about the same size as a Dinky, which
was driven on a continuous belt, on which was printed the winding roadway. In addition
to the steering wheel (to steer the car, obviousely), the player could control the speed by
the three speed column change gear stick. Does anyone remember this machine?
Anyway, the years passed and I suppose it would have been the early to mid ' 70s
that I started to notice the old machines were fast disappearing. I thought it might be f
good idea to start collecting them. But I did nothing. More years passed, and I was ofte
tempted by ads. in the 'Worlds Fair' and ' Coin Slot' but still did nothing. And then in the
early ' 90s I began to come to terms with the fact that I would never own a set of
Gallopers or a Burrel Showmans' Engine, so I decided collecting slot machines would be
a more real istic option.
My first machine wasn 't actually an amusement machine; it was a wooden five-
column cigarette vender. It' s a nice little machine, which I still have and will probably
keep . I bought it in an antiques shop in Greenwich (which is no longer there; it was
demolished to make way for the tube station, for the Millenium Dome). I chatted with the
shop 's proprietor, and he said "I' ve got something that might interest you." He
disappeared out the back, and returned with a big pile of Costa' s books ' Automatic
Pleasures'. I bought one for £10, but wish I' d bought the whole lot - the rest were
probably dumped when they demolished the shop !
Anyway, a few years passed and the collection grew, and what started as an interest
became more a vocation. I first started operating machines eight years ago at 'Draper' s
museum of bygones ' (which, you guessed it, is no longer there) in Rochester. Here I had
about twenty, mainly wall machines, on the second floor. (Not an ideal site for a
Waltonian)! Later that year (1998) John Hayward announced he was selling 'Remember
When ', on Hastings Pier. I met John on the pier with a view to buying a few machines
(which I did) but ended up with the arcade! My brief time on the pier was a comp le
dissaster, but more of that another time.
Then in 2001 , John approached me and asked ifl would be interested in taking over
Mechanical Memories Museum in Brighton, as he was about ready to retire and didn't
want to see it close. With not so fond memories of Hastigs still in my mind, I declined.
However, I too didn ' t want to see it close and with my engineering business in decline, I
agreed with John the following year to run the museum from Easter. Since then I' ve
aquired other sites and am now publishing a magazine!
So, there we have the life story of a Slottie! People sometimes ask if operating
machines and earning a living from them has changed my love and enthusiasm for these
wonderful amusements from the past. Absolutely not! And would I swop all my
machines for a set of Gallopers? No, I wouldn't. But if! were to win the lottery .... .
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