In this guest post, University of Brighton student Olivia Terry discusses a clairvoyant exhibit in Brighton Museum, and how it records the history of the English seaside resort.
Tucked behind the entrance door of the Images of Brighton Gallery in Brighton Museum is a fortune-teller machine. The nearby caption titles this exhibit as 'The Gipsy Fortune-Teller Slot Machine' which once resided on the Palace Pier and dates from the early 1930s. Trapped in a tall yellow and blue box is a one-eyed woman, decked out in gaudy jewelry seemingly busy writing fortunes with a quill. On the outside, the fortune-teller invites her audience to place a penny in the appropriate gender slot, and there are knobs that can be adjusted to select the viewer's birth month. Towards the base of the box, a fortune was supposed to shoot out of a red aperture with golden cursive writing stating 'tickets here' above it.
Machines like this were once a big part of the British seaside resort holiday culture. People would come from all over to take part in the fun that was seaside amusement parks and indulge in the thrills it had to offer. However, during the 1950s, amusement parks reached their peak in popularity when people started finding newer ways to entertain themselves such as visiting cinemas, concert halls and live shows, and the massive cost of the Second World War weighed heavily on the funding for amusement parks. Anya Chapman states ‘the decline in demand led to the closure of many attractions, tourist infrastructure and accommodation from the 1970s onwards,' so novelty machines like the 'Gipsy Fortune-Teller Slot Machine' would often become decrepit due to lack of upkeep.
Despite the near extinction of old amusement park games, there has been a rise in so-called ‘old penny' arcades. These celebrate the nostalgia of antique slot machines similar to the Gipsy and now more than 20 reside in towns in Britain, the majority of them in seaside towns. Brighton has one fifty yards from Brighton Pier called 'Mechanical Memories Museum', and it contains machines ranging from the 1900s to the 1960s, including a fortune-teller, similar to this one in Brighton Museum. It is through old arcade games that we may understand Brighton's rich history of being a town known for its many amusements, fun, and cheap thrills.
Olivia Terry, student on BA (Hons) Fashion and Dress History, University of Brighton
With 22 full sized working models on display and various penny games, the museum situated in Rye Heritage Centre is the largest public display of old pier working models in the country. The machines are permanently located in the museum, however they are also available to hire for events, film, and tv. Brighton Tourism; Brighton Accommodation; Brighton Bed and Breakfast; Brighton Holiday Rentals; Brighton Holiday Packages; Brighton Flights. You still know that museum as The National Museum of Penny Slot Machines. The Brighton location kept changing names over time. Visit the Penny Slot Machine Museum. If you fancy breaking up your stroll along the seafront, then look out for the vintage carousel. Just behind the carousel you'll find an unassuming little museum, filled with penny slot machines.
Bibliography
Chapman, Anya, ' 'The ‘Heritagisation' of the British Seaside Resort: The Rise of the ‘Old Penny Arcade,'' Journal of Heritage Tourism (2011) : (n.p) Taylor and Francis Online. Web. 17 Oct 2018.
'Mechanical Memories Museum.' Steam Heritage, Steam Heritage Publishing Ltd. (n.d) Web. 17 Oct 2018. https://www.steamheritage.co.uk
Letterhead for the National Museum of Slot Machines (John Hayward) [image info]
1983: Brighton Council permit for The Slot Machine Museum, Brighton Pier [image info]
8:00 PM to 10:00 PM UB40 at Paradise Casino. Tweet: UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. Tickets and RSVP information for UB40's upcoming concert at Paradise casino in Winterhaven on Nov 18, 2020. Friday, August 30th, 2019. Paradise casino.
The National Museum of Penny Slot Machines was founded in 1979 by John Hayward and Clive Baker by pooling their collections, and was initially located on the old Birnbeck Pier at Weston-Super-Mare.
Low visitor numbers prompted the museum to moves to the move popular Brighton Pier, where it was housed in the Pierhead's Theatre.
The Penny Slot Museum is the brainchild of John Hayward, a former art student who now devotes himself to running it full-time, and Clive Baker, who currently works in the planning department of a local council.
— , -, Coin Slot Machine magazine 8:6, February 1983
Penny Slot Machine Museum Brighton Beach
- 4Links
Brighton
The museum remained on the Pier until the Theatre building was demolished in the 1980s as part of the Pier's redevelopment programme, and in 1986 the museum moved to the seafront, becoming The Old Penny Palace.
Two national museums?
Confusingly, at around the same time, the NMPSM also seems to have moved to Southport, so we're guessing that the John and Clive may have separated their collections, with John staying in Brighton (and Clive moving to Southport?). The Southport 'fork' seems to have retained the name 'The National Museum of Penny Slot Machines', while the Brighton 'fork' appears to have experimented with a range of different names.
Penny Slot Machine Museum Brighton England
Despite the near extinction of old amusement park games, there has been a rise in so-called ‘old penny' arcades. These celebrate the nostalgia of antique slot machines similar to the Gipsy and now more than 20 reside in towns in Britain, the majority of them in seaside towns. Brighton has one fifty yards from Brighton Pier called 'Mechanical Memories Museum', and it contains machines ranging from the 1900s to the 1960s, including a fortune-teller, similar to this one in Brighton Museum. It is through old arcade games that we may understand Brighton's rich history of being a town known for its many amusements, fun, and cheap thrills.
Olivia Terry, student on BA (Hons) Fashion and Dress History, University of Brighton
With 22 full sized working models on display and various penny games, the museum situated in Rye Heritage Centre is the largest public display of old pier working models in the country. The machines are permanently located in the museum, however they are also available to hire for events, film, and tv. Brighton Tourism; Brighton Accommodation; Brighton Bed and Breakfast; Brighton Holiday Rentals; Brighton Holiday Packages; Brighton Flights. You still know that museum as The National Museum of Penny Slot Machines. The Brighton location kept changing names over time. Visit the Penny Slot Machine Museum. If you fancy breaking up your stroll along the seafront, then look out for the vintage carousel. Just behind the carousel you'll find an unassuming little museum, filled with penny slot machines.
Bibliography
Chapman, Anya, ' 'The ‘Heritagisation' of the British Seaside Resort: The Rise of the ‘Old Penny Arcade,'' Journal of Heritage Tourism (2011) : (n.p) Taylor and Francis Online. Web. 17 Oct 2018.
'Mechanical Memories Museum.' Steam Heritage, Steam Heritage Publishing Ltd. (n.d) Web. 17 Oct 2018. https://www.steamheritage.co.uk
Letterhead for the National Museum of Slot Machines (John Hayward) [image info]
1983: Brighton Council permit for The Slot Machine Museum, Brighton Pier [image info]
8:00 PM to 10:00 PM UB40 at Paradise Casino. Tweet: UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. Tickets and RSVP information for UB40's upcoming concert at Paradise casino in Winterhaven on Nov 18, 2020. Friday, August 30th, 2019. Paradise casino.
The National Museum of Penny Slot Machines was founded in 1979 by John Hayward and Clive Baker by pooling their collections, and was initially located on the old Birnbeck Pier at Weston-Super-Mare.
Low visitor numbers prompted the museum to moves to the move popular Brighton Pier, where it was housed in the Pierhead's Theatre.
The Penny Slot Museum is the brainchild of John Hayward, a former art student who now devotes himself to running it full-time, and Clive Baker, who currently works in the planning department of a local council.
— , -, Coin Slot Machine magazine 8:6, February 1983
Penny Slot Machine Museum Brighton Beach
- 4Links
Brighton
The museum remained on the Pier until the Theatre building was demolished in the 1980s as part of the Pier's redevelopment programme, and in 1986 the museum moved to the seafront, becoming The Old Penny Palace.
Two national museums?
Confusingly, at around the same time, the NMPSM also seems to have moved to Southport, so we're guessing that the John and Clive may have separated their collections, with John staying in Brighton (and Clive moving to Southport?). The Southport 'fork' seems to have retained the name 'The National Museum of Penny Slot Machines', while the Brighton 'fork' appears to have experimented with a range of different names.
Penny Slot Machine Museum Brighton England
Southport
The Southport Pier installation eventually came to number 100 machines, but was then split up when a different company took over the concession for the space, with different batches of machines going to South Sea in Portsmouth, Milestones Museum in Basingstoke, and thirty-five machines going to North Pier in Blackpool.
The new Southport concessionaires then installed their own (rather smaller) collection of penny slot machines on the site.
Links
Penny Slot Machine Museum Brighton Uk
weston-super-mare and brighton:
southport:
- Southport Pier's National Museum of Penny Slot Machines (lancashirelife.co.uk) – published: 26 May 2011 | updated: 28 February 2013
- 'Country's biggest penny slot machine collection leaves Southport home', by Natasha Young (champnews.com) – 22 May 2012
- Warning - Penny Arcade Museum of Slot Machines now tiny (tripadvisor.co.uk) – ~2012