Pennies by the Sea review

Having had time now to absorb Nick Laister's Pennies by the Sea, I must say, as the first book to cover the vintage amusement scene from the arcade operators' side of the coin box, it makes a fascinating read. We are lead through over seventy years' intricate history of several competing amusement venues in Bridlington (and those who owned and ran them), from their inception in the assembly rooms adjoining the Ship Inn in the mid 1880s; the first "pleasure palaces", cinematograph houses and theatres, to Britain's first purpose built seaside amusement arcade at Great Yarmouth in 1897. The central story is that of Joyland Amusements, following its piecemeal development and expansion as it became one of the biggest in Britain, right up to the present day. Something of the fuggy atmosphere of a crowded arcade; the noise and bustle; aromas of disinfectant, hot dogs, candyfloss and ozone, is evoked in pictures, stories and personal anecdotes from some of the key players at the sharp end of the British amusement machines industry. We are reminded of a simpler, more naive age when it was possible for an enterprising fellow to manufacture slot machines in a small shed, hand build them with the help of an uncle and deliver them to local resorts in the sidecar of a motorcycle.

A number of classic old machines can be spied in the tantalizing black and white images, mostly looking in from the Promenade or Esplanade fronts of the arcades, plus a few rather fuzzy interiors. It's sad that the insides of amusement arcades were so rarely considered worthy of a photograph. Most of our early views of machines in situ were taken on Victorian piers. The rows of wooden-cased wall machines that were more usually indoors are rarely seen.

The final chapter The Rides and Attractions, describes and pictures some of the games that were operated from Joyland Amusements. Clearly this isn't Nick Laister's area of expertise, as evidenced by a few errors that creep in - although the Laughing Sailor appeared in 1950, the same year vinyl LPs were first sold in Britain, it's 78" record would have been of shellac not vinyl, and we didn't have to wait until 1963 for automatic payouts on Fruit Machines! Nevertheless, the chapter provides a welcome "where are they now?" roundup of the games and rides that provided so many years entertainment at the Joyland arcade.

Handle with care: My copy fell apart when I was less than a third of the way through - and I wasn't particularly rough with it. It was printed in England and the pages attached by slapping a bit of cheap glue down the spine in what passes for softback binding these days.

Full tilt on the Black Country Museum Speedway

The auction catalogue for the Central England Vintage Slot Collectors' Day at Coventry on Sunday 12th November is now online here. You can order a printed copy here (required for entry). I should have more details of the Anna Carter auction by Monday.