VERY STRANGE SLOT MACHINE FOR SALE ON EBAY

[Midcoast Vintage]

THIS LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR FREDDY!
Strange, but, not bad looking machine currently being offered on ebay.
ENLIGHTEN US FREDDY!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNKNOWN-ANTIQUE ... 3cf0177be9

[Anglobritish]

Firman Jackpot.pdf

(932.6 KiB) Downloaded 715 times

Firman Jackpot.pdf

(932.6 KiB) Downloaded 715 times

Ha-Ha,
You got it, this is right up my street, because in the late 1940's, I actually went with my Dad to the factory in Nottingham, England. The machine is a Firman's version of the Mills Century as we called this model in the U.K.

When all of the conversion companies in the States were converting the Mint Venders to live jackpot models from 1929-34, Firman was converting those models to use a bigger jackpot to accommodate the English old penny that was the same size as the U.S. 50 cent coin.

Firman Engineering was an old timer that had worked with people like my father on their slot machines, Although The Mills Novelty did produce machines for The Samson Novelty Co. Ltd the official British and European distributor for Mills until 1938, (This Company is well covered in my book, as Bill Whelan will attest to, I bought the original scrapbooks belonging to the Samson Novelty Co, and I have also done a full in depth article for the Holloway family who owned the Samson Novelty Co, this article can be read at http://www.coin-opcommunity.co.uk just type in Freddy Bailey in the search box and more than 20 articles that I have wrote will appear.

Firman did the best jackpot conversion, so much so that it is understood that the Mills Novelty Co, did a very close copy of his jackpot conversion for the Black Cherry and other models in the early 1940's, the machine on Ebay, is Firman's 1936 model. I am attached the complete PDF file on his machines, ironically Bill Whelan got in touch with me early last year asking about the very same Firman's Jackpot Front. The machine in the Ebay auction is a ten stop mechanism on the old English penny, this mechanism is from the early 1920's Mills models, Firman just revamped machines.

Enjoy.

Freddy

[Midcoast Vintage]

Very enlightening!
Thank you Freddy.

[automaticpleasures]

The 1950's Firman 'Spinxette' conversion a.k.a The Egyptian Bell

The machine front was actually a genuine Mills prototype designed by Everitt Eckland in the early 1930's along with the other machines in the Silent range. It was projected for the European market, and the design prompted by the excitement caused by the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb by Carter in Egypt in the 1920's.

It never went into full-scale production. Thus even though they were 'converted' by Firman in the 50's- they were not originally designed or manufactured by him.
My source for this information is Harry Holloway son of Jack Holloway of the Samson Novelty Company- the main European distributors for the Mills Novelty Company

Nic Costa (author Automatic Pleasures)

[Anglobritish]

IMG_3871.jpg (37.07 KiB) Viewed 7746 times

firmans.jpg (27.1 KiB) Viewed 7746 times

sphinxsettia.JPG (27.83 KiB) Viewed 7746 times

Hi Nick,
Welcome to the forum, hope you are keeping well, You know I hold you in highest regard even to the point that you are more knowledgable than Dick Bueschel when it comes to European made machines, but regarding the Firman machine (check out the handle, Mills never used this type of handle) on Ebay, I must beg to differ, The machine on Ebay was made by Firman Engineering Ltd in Nottingham (My home town) I used to go to Bert Firman's with my late father in the late 1940's, in fact the Firman jackpot was made originally by him to accommodate us British traveling showmen who wanted to convert the old Mills Gooseneck models to be able to give a jackpot containing the large English Penny Coin, it is said that after The Samson Novelty Company (The Holloway family) lost the Mills Distributorship after Jack Holloway died in 1937 it was given to Solly Shefras's Coin Amusement Machine Sales Co, Ltd located at 42 Bethnal Green Road, London.to cement the new alliance Mills Novelty produced their Chrome Bell made to operate on the Old English Penny, this was also the first machine by Mills that paid out two coins on a single Cherry on the first reel. It is further said that Solly Shefras sent the large Mills Jackpot assembly to Mills, Firman had first started putting this great jackpot on the Mills 1920's models well before Mills introduced their silent models in the early 1930's.

I knew all of the Holloway family and especially Harry, who retired from Samson Novelty in 1972 he then joined Stan Condor a close friend of the Holloway family and also a large operator who owned Stannite Automatics, Harry worked at Stannite up until his death in 1986, in fact Harry died in the Royal Free (Masonic) Hospital, the same hospital that my late father died in, in 1990. Samson Novelty Co, was named after the Samson Masonic Lodge in London. I have the original Scrapbooks that were kept by Harry Holloway, that was his hobby collecting Samson Novelty advertisements.

Regarding the machine on Ebay being introduced by Mills as the Egyption, Firman made several models with the Egytion theme going back once again to the gooseneck models.

Nic, send me your information, I will call you.

Best Regards.

Freddy Bailey

[rtmccurdy]

Wonderful information as always! In my humble opinion the castings on the red/orange machine with King Tut influence are absolutely stunning! (Certainly preferable to the myriad golden nuggets and dolls that currently flood the market!)

[SLOT DYNASTY]

Wonderful information as always! In my humble opinion the castings on the red/orange machine with King Tut influence are absolutely stunning! (Certainly preferable to the myriad golden nuggets and dolls that currently flood the market!)

DITTO the "Golden Magget", a.k.a. Nugget statement 100 times over!

[automaticpleasures]

Hi Freddy, you're doing great work with your research- and it was actually you that got me back into looking at the coin machine history again! We could do with more people like you.

What you say about the machines in relation to Firman is absolutely correct, where I beg to differ is the design and initial origin of the original Egyptian Bell which is undoubtedly with Mills and Ekland in the early to mid 1930s- the fact that what has survived are later modifications/ recasts does not countermand this. The design is reeking of 1930's Art Deco- not late 40's or 1950's functionalism. It is one of my most favoured slot machine designs. Firman also derived his contribution at a time when there were severe trade restrictions in the UK- you could only produce something new if the bulk was for export- the only way round this in a market that demanded novelty, was to get pre existing old pieces and refurbish them and market them as something new. Freddie Bolland did that with the Automatic Sports Company's surviving machines- but nobody would dream of saying he was the original manufacturer and that they were made in the 1950's and not the turn of the century. Likewise Firman got hold of a machine/machines and revamped them/ recast them using whatever materials he had to hand- hence the discrepancies between models- as you know they were all doing it at the time!

I'm currently researching for a new book on coin machines but one which covers primarily the period 1883-1893 and what I am discovering is amazing- it will surprise everybody on both sides of the Atlantic and overturn a number of myths. It will hopefully be out by the end of the year courtesy of D'Aleman Publishing.

As an aside, how many people know that Herbert Steven Mills spent a year in prison for pedalling pornographic images!

You've got my contact details Freddie- look forward to hearing from you again- keep up the good work

Nic

[Midcoast Vintage]

please let us know here on the forum when & where the book will be available here in the states.

[nvmos2]

Nic/Freddy:

Very interesting; but a little confusing. Let me see if I got this right;

In "Automatic Pleasures" (1988), there is a photo of the "Egyptian Bell"; "maker uncertain."
Since 1988, we've learned that the machine was made by Firman, although its design origin and prototype maker is a matter in dispute,
and is called either the Egyptian Bell or Sphinxette (not Spinxette?).
Are these nicknames? What did Firman call the machine in his advertisements?
It appears they were built around a Mills mechanism with the Firman JP added and to accommodate the large English coins.
The red Sphinxette pictured above shows 5 cent US denomination; Were they exported to the US by Firman?

Firman also (started out?) revamped Mills Poinsettia machines for English coinage with just the lower front Sphinx casting and added the Firman JP, retaining the Poinsettia upper casting.
Such a revamp is nicknamed the Sphinxsettia; any literature as to what Firman called it?

The strange machine on ebay that started this thread is an entirely different design, although Nic seems to refer to it as the "Egyptian Bell" as well.
Freddy calls it the Firman/Mills Century or the "Skyscraper" (in his PDF article above)."
Anything in the literature as to what Firman called it?
It does not look Egyptian to me; I'd call it Art Deco Overdone.
Is this machine clearly a Firman design, or is that in dispute also?
Was this machine also exported to the US in US coinage?
The machine on eBay is the same machine pictured in Freddy's PDF article; how did it get from the article to eBay in New York?
It has 2 vertical windows left and right of the JP; was this machine also a mint vender?

Can you clarify what years these machines were produced?

Look forward to obtaining both of your books.
Thanks