From the late Victorian times to the decline of the English seaside holidays in the mid 20th century, many a seaside resort or pier would have had penny arcades. Above the Rye Town Model museum is a collection of such machines, which for 1 old penny will give you a disappointingly short displays of automata!
The Rye collection contains a Haunted Grange machine, and two different Haunted Churchyard machines. Expect no more than a couple of moving tombstones or the appearance of a skeletal hand out of a tomb, a ghost across a window or if you are reall lucky a devil popping up. ( Did I say 'popping'? I meant to say labouriously striggling to rise!)
There are also a good variety of other similar machines here showing firemen, drunkards, Tutenkhamen, babies etc. But the picture of the best looking of the 3 horror related items is below.
Thursday 28th April 2011
