Not a machine, but....

[badpenny]

Whilst hoovering my way through a box of "everything in here 50p" at a collector's fair years ago I found this unidentified object.............



Now I know it's none too clear, and after much sucking of hair and tearing of teeth I have concluded that it is a plastic ruler, probably and unbreakable one at that!

Thought I'd get the joke out of the way before Stuart got in there.

As for the brass tag it reads: -

OKLA.CITY
AMUSEMENT MACH.
5¢ -266
EXP. 10 - 31 - 48

Now the questions: -
I take it's a gambling tax thingy from Oklahoma?
Is 5¢ the amount the machine played on?
Would it have been a bandit or trade stimulator?
Did the other States use this method?
Has anybody seen my glasses?
How much would the tax have amounted to in 1948?
How the hell did I manage to type "¢" when it's not on my keyboard nor is the option on this site?

[arrgee]

Actually Badpenny, (before Stuart jumps in)........if you really want to suck hair and tear teeth, I thought it was a scale or scale rule not a ruler, a ruler is usually a head of state or King/Queen.

[badpenny]

Actually Badpenny, (before Stuart jumps in)........if you really want to suck hair and tear teeth, I thought it was a scale or scale rule not a ruler, a ruler is usually a head of state or King/Queen.

Clickety Doo-Dah

[coin-op]

I've seen these before. I think back then everything from amusement machines to jukeboxes were subject to local taxes. I'd agree that the 5c relates to the play of the machine; so probably not a jukebox as they took several coin denominations.

[slotalot]

Thought I'd get the joke out of the way before Stuart got in there.

ME! as if I would

[operator bell]

5 cents will be what the machine takes, not the tax, which would have been far higher. One of my machines has a Louisiana tax stamp on it. This machine is a Buckley "Long Odds" that was operated in New Orleans. According to the first hit on Google, money in 1948-1953 was worth about 10 times what it is today (it just feels like it must be 100 times).

[dassav]

What a good looking machine! Can we have some pics of the playfield?