Penny-in-the-Slot Automata and the Working Model

This is the first comprehensive guide to those ingenious amusements which have delighted visitors to the seaside, fairground, or exhibition for over a century. The book features many of the unusual coin-operated models and tableaux built to entertain the public from the 1860s to the 1970s. The models are based on a variety of themes including haunted houses, drunkard scenes, executions, laughing clowns, sailors, puppet-shows, and miniature locomotives. There are also chapters devoted to American machines (such as fortune-tellers and vendors) and mechanical music—the precursor to the modern jukebox. With over 200 color illustrations, including many of the rarest surviving examples, plus a price guide, this unique book will be a comprehensive source of reference for automata and working-model enthusiasts and collectors.