Mechanical Memories Magazine

So, what conclusions can be drawn from all this? Who built the mystery machines? And
why are they so different from other allwins? In a desperate attempt to establish a maker,
I started to consider the original Kraft theory. As I stated earlier, I had always believed
Jackpot to be a Kraft machine. There is one small detail that points toward Kraft; look at
the gallery shield on the Jackpot, and indeed, all the mystery machines. Notice the sharp,
straight edges. These are very similar to those used on machines such as Extrawin and
Time Limit. So, I needed to have a closer look at a mechanism. I've only ever owned two
Kraft machines, both of which I sold a good number of years back. In any case, one was
Time Limit, which having a solenoid payout would have been useless as a comparison,
and the other was a sweetie allwin; almost as useless as Time Limit. However, a friend
owns Extrawin and Crackerjack, so a thorough inspection was undertaken! However, I
could find nothing to link these with the mystery machines.
So there can be only one conclusion: the mystery machines are the product of an
unknown manufacturer. I cannot find any reason to believe the mystery machines are the
product of either Kraft or Parker. And before you all go rushing to your copy of Carter's
book, yes I know Jackpot, Plentywin and Double your Money are listed as Oliver Whales.
But I stand by what I said at the outset: the mystery machines are NOT Whales, although
in fairness, Whales are no less likely than Kraft or Parkers!
And just to continue the 'machine identification ' theme, who made the Ruffler and
Walker sweetie allwins? I don 't believe it was Corteen, who made the giant allwins such
as Hat Trick and the column fill machines such as Many Happy Returns. So who did?
I expect to receive a considerable amount of feedback on this subject! Let me know your
views, and maybe by the next issue we may have moved closer to discovering the maker
of the mystery machines. I should like to thank Glen Dodsworth for raising the subject in
the first place, and David Lavender for his help in answering some of my questions. The
pictures of Jackpot and the New York Mystery machine are those I received from Glen
initially. All others are courtesy David Lavender.
Reminder
Issue 4 of this magazine will be out
during the third week in July.
Issue 5 will be out during the first
week in September.
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