Penny Arcade (Colonnade)
| Other Name(s) | Arcade |
|---|---|
| Type | Arcade Skill-based Games |
| Park Section | Colonnade |
| Built | 1904 |
| Opened | 1904 |
| Closed | 1921 (Colonnade removed) |
| Number of Stories | 1 |
At least two Penny Arcades existed at the park. The first was installed in the Colonnade across from the Theater around 1904[1] and a second along the Midway in 1909. Penny Arcades were attractions with coin-operated devices, including kinetoscopes, mutoscopes, fortune-telling machinery, slot machines, love tester machines, and skill-based games such as skeeball, box-ball, and shooter games.[2]
The term "Arcade" was also used to describe the Colonnade as a whole.
In 1918, the Penny Arcade was run by a Mr. Watson.[3]
The average trolley park arcade in 1906 had about 15 mutoscopes and 18 phonographs along the walls, with a perfume machine, a stick candy dispenser, a gum dispenser, a scale, a punching bag, a "test your strength" hand gripper and lifter games, a mechanical fortune teller, a postcard machine, an engraving machine, other games around the room.[4] A cashier was generally front and center with view machines and gum dispensers near them. Many featured a piano with snacks and card dispensers nearby. The cashiers were able to provide pennies in change for the machines. A size of the building suggested in 1906 was 40 feet square with free-flowing air.[5]
See Also
References
- ↑ Catalog of Title Entries of Books Etc. Catalog of Title Entries First Quarter 1905. Entry 10801.
- ↑ "Penny Arcade." Wikipedia.org.
- ↑ Wanted advertisement. Chillicothe Gazette (Chillicothe, Ohio). May 27, 1918. Accessed through Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Wilk, Stephen R. Lost Wonderland: The Brief and Brilliant Life of Boston's Million Dollar Amusement Park. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2020. Pages 67-69.
- ↑ "The Construction and Operation of Penny Arcades for Service in Railway Parks." The Street Railway Journal. March 24, 1906. Vol. 27. No. 12. Pages 470-471. Accessed through the Internet Archive.