Penny-In-The-Slot Automata and The Working Model

Author: Darren Hesketh

224 pages, over 300 colour illustrations.

The book features many of the unusual coin-operated models and tableaux built to entertain the public from the 1860's to the 1970's.

The models are based on a variety of themes including haunted houses and churchyards (made for a time when people were more superstitious), drunkard scenes (to warn against the perils of heavy drinking), executions (when capital punishment was commonplace) plus laughing clowns, sailors, puppet-shows and miniature locomotives to name but a few. 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 300 colour 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, as well as collectors of penny-in-the-slot machines, mechanical music, toys and miniatures.