by Anglobritish » Thu Jul 14, 2016 7:12 am
Hi,
I read about your French model Rol-A-Top with great interest, in the early 1930's, Watling sent a container of slot machines to Marseilles in France on behalf of the Chicago mob,, they were shipped under the heading of "Farm Tools" these were opened by the French customs who refused to allow them into the country, the ship that they were on was continuing on to a port in Indo China, after setting sail, war broke out in Indo China, and the ship was forced to return to France, where the cargo was confiscated, it stayed in a warehouse until the early 1960's when it was discovered by a film company who was looking for props for a film called Borsolino, after the film was made these Watling Rol-A-Tops and some Pace machines was bought by a French slot machine dealer by the name of Bernard DeWitt, who sold them to various collectors such as my self and my friend Henri Krijnan another collector from Holland. So this is the first time I have ever seen such a label, but looking closely at your label, I see the date as 1925, Watling did not make the Rol-A-Top at that time, but it is still interesting. Watling was very strong in France in the 20's and 30's.
Freddy Bailey
The Official British Coin Machine Historian
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