Mechanical Memories Magazine

Strange but True
Part 3
B y Robert Rowland
Back in 1965, the Marine Pastimes arcade here in Mablethorpe housed a very large,
floor-standing electro-mechanical machine called Calypso. It was a two-sided, ten
player machine (five playing sections each side) with each section allowing you to bet
on one of five colours, which were red, green, yellow, white and blue. Each play
section had a compact five coin entry, with a small round circle of each colour above
each corresponding slot. You could bet on all five colours if you wanted.
At the start of play, large size coloured balloons would start to flash randomly,
and at the same time, a large clock with a single pointer showing the odds would start
to rotate in an anti-clockwise direction . When the balloons stopped flashing, one
would remain lit and seconds later the clock pointer would stop, showing the odds for
that win. The 12 O'clock position was the one you wanted, as it was the only position
on the clock that paid 12d; all the other payouts were 2d, 4d and 6d. As stated on the
machine 's top-flash 'one colour must win', there was no lost position. This was a good
machine for me personally, feeling up the payout trays on each of the individual
sections. I flicked the metal chute with my fingers, which nearly always resulted in
pennies dropping down that were lodged up in the chute. This did prove profitable
back in 1965.
Thi s mac hine really stood out in the centre of the arcade; it really was an
awesome sight. I do wish I could find a picture of this machine. However, the other
week I was round at my good friend David Lascelles' house and he was running
through some old cine film that he had taken back in 1962. There was a tiny five
second clip of Calypso on his film - I was truly over the moon; I really thought that
the only image of Calypso was stored in my head . The footage was taken at night, and
the machine is also surrounded by players, but I believe this five second clip is
possibly the only footage that exists. To see this exclusive clip of Calypso, get onto
Youtube and search: mmm calypso clip.
I never saw another Calypso, despite holiday trips to other seaside resorts in the
1960s. As for the only Calypso machine in Mablethorpe, it was broken up in 1971
when decimalisation came in .
In the early 1970s I was friendly with one of the mechanics in Bingoland, and he knew
I was interested in machines. One day in the arcade, he came up to me and said "I've
got four machines going cheap if you want them." I just said yes, I didn' t even ask
what they were!
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