Mechanical Memories Magazine

Bar One
By Robert Rowland
I have recently added to my collection of slots an electro-mechanical wall machine
called Bar One. What's interesting about this one is that it operates on 3d bits or
'discs'. I assume that my machine would probably have been operated in a club,
because although I do remember seeing these machines in various amusement arcades
back in the 1960s, they always operated on ld with the jackpot (three Bars) paying
12d. My machine pays that amount for a single Cherry, the top prize being twenty
thre'penny bits - that's five shillings, which was normally paid out in tokens.
Looking inside my machine, you can see that there is a separate coin channel that
would direct discs past a micro switch, and then directly into the cash box below. I can
see no indication that it ever paid out discs, as there are no signs that any other payout
section has been removed. So maybe these discs (which I have never seen) were
available from the bar? I really don't know. If you roll a thre 'penny bit down the disc
channel it doesn' t trip the micro switch, so these discs would have been larger. Can
anyone shed any light on the discs? If you can, please inform Jerry and he can then
pass the information onto me.
Okay, back to the machine itself. In my opinion Bar One is a nice, good-looking wall
machine. It measures twenty inches across and twenty-seven inches in height. It was
made by a small firm called Cam Automatics, who also produced the small penny
pushers like Davy Jones Locker and Aladdin's Cave, all made with similar cabinets.
The front flash of my machine displays a grid of fifteen square boxed symbols, that' s
five rows of three, made up of Cherry, Orange, Plum, Bell and Bar.
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