top of page
Books and Ephemera
I'm forever buying books and searching out ephemera and memorabilia relating to the fairground, circus, theatre, pantomime, slot machines, conjuring....
​
On this page I hope to present a few of the oddments I've picked up over the years...
 This is a page from the Gamages "Christmas Bazaar" catalogue of 1913. Gamages was a large department store in Holborn, London, and sold an incredible range of items (this catalogue runs to 450 pages or more). It is unusual to find slot machines on sale to the general public, and particularly handy to see their prices at that time! Acknowledgement: The copy of the catalogue I have was reproduced by David and Charles in the 1970s) |  This early 1920s catalogue was reproduced by collector Brian Bates in the 1980s. Most of the machines in the catalogue had already been around before the Great War. |
|---|---|
 This page from the Phoenix catalogue shows one of many variants on the catching theme. I have a near-identical machine to this, although sadly it's lacking the "marquee" (the decorative top board). |  Again, I have a similar machine, working on halfpennies. |
 |  |
 |
bottom of page