The White City

[cpdretired]

This is up for auction by the Victorian Casino. I cant find it in any of my books. They call it a trade stimulator but it looks more like a slot. White City was part of the Columbian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893. What catches eye is the 50 coin entry amount. Fifty cents was a lot of money back in 1893.

The spelling of the word "favourites" also makes me wonder if this may be a home made conversion.

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBa ... 0199716213

[John T. Peterson]

"White City" is a British one reeler conversion machine made by Tom Bolland in the 1940's. The name refers to the former Olympic Stadium that became London's most famous greyhound track. The fifty cent coin slot is actually for the 1D coin, their old penny now defunct, which is the size of our fifty cent piece only a little thinner.

[cpdretired]

The nice thing about this forum is the wealth of knowledge that is available. Thanks John for the answer.

[Operator Bell]

I've just come back from the auction room and I took a close look at this lot. It's a custom case, nicely made out of what appears to be solid wood, and as John Peterson says, themed for the White City greyhound track. Inside is a strange 3 reel bell mechanism, not American. I've seen something like it before, a German Rheingold mechanism out of one of these, but don't take that as a positive ID.



There's a nice red Buckley Bones in the auction, and nearby is Lot 203, a blue Bally version that looks practically identical except for the case color and trim.

[Operator Bell]

It went for $1000. Strangely enough, I saw the machine John Peterson was talking about today (not on sale). It was practically identical with exactly the same case construction and trim, but inside was a one-reel mechanism.

[Tom Erickson]

Kilroys in Minneapolis has a British slot and the case is all wood. It sort of looks like a Mills Extraordinary. He has it all restored and it is beautiful.