Can You Help Us Find New Treasures? We are always on the lookout for rare machines and related memorabilia from the earliest days of coin-op to recent console prototypes and rarities. Please contact us if you think you have or found something special. Additionally, please look at the International Arcade Museum Library, Inc. page. The library is actively working to build one of the leading amusement archives.
Penny Arcadia™ -- Welcome!
Penny Arcadia™, presented in conjunction with the International Arcade Museum, brings all the magic of amusement machines, their art, and history into a single event! Play hundreds of different games -- many that you can't play elsewhere. Take part in a game competition. Enter a living museum or enjoy new releases. The best part is enjoying a special atmosphere and hanging out with other enthusiasts. As life gets busy, people often forget to have fun. No one forgets fun here.
See the three earliest coin-operated arcade games ever made (each the only one known to have survived), or hundreds of other machines made between 1880 and 1930! Check out the first kiddy ride ever invented, but be careful -- this horse wasn't made in the 1950s, and it's 3/4 horsepower motor and variable motion merchanism packs quite a kick!
Play an Atari videogame Pong prototype made out of a wine barrel (Serial #1), or other famous videogames such as Computer Space (in each of the five colors made) and Asteroids Deluxe (Serial #1).
From 120 year old vending machines to modern pinball -- from the Apple IIe to the XBOX 360 -- from Castle Wolfenstein to Gears of War -- enjoy the coin-operated, console, and PC games as well as other mechanical amusement from the last nine generations of human history.
Everyone's childhood is different, but nearly everyone walks by something and yelps "Wow...I remember that!!!"
New releases serve as a contrast to the days of yesterday. Explore the latest and greatest, and exercise your competitive streak...
Visitors to the International Arcade Museum and International Arcade Museum Library have long enjoyed the ongoing Penny Arcadia exhibition and art gallery on site in addition to our online exhibition. Look at the Library page and the Visit Us page for more information.
Events in 2010 are already reserved for (mostly) existing members of select groups and non-profits.
Stay tuned, though, as we are working on something really special for 2011!
Penny Arcadia -- Special Services
Penny Arcadia promotes and supports the interests of enthusiasts, businesses, educational institutions and charities via a variety of special services.
Connected to a major museum, non-profit, or gallery? Contact us about special events and charitable fundraising assistance.
Penny Arcadia's advertising, business, marketing, and promotion services including advertising support, business news and consultations, public opinion and marketing polls and research, demographic analysis, onsite and online retail mechandise and gift sales and planning,
special event planning and support (including art gallery shows, exhibitions, flea markets, and game-playing events and competitions), the rental of coin-operated machines and videogames for corporate events and filming, shoppers guide and other content creation, and custom video and film production.
Penny Arcadia -- History
Penny Arcadia™ started out more than 39 years ago. Jon Gresham's childhood interest in amusement games stood dormant while Jon earned his living as a fire-eater and magician on the music halls, in circuses and on fairs. Even after joining the family's timber business, he still maintained his show business links by presenting sideshows during the summer. In the Spring of 1970, he was given an old coin-operated amusement machine by a showman friend. For the next ten years most of his leisure time was devoted to following leads and scouring England and abroad for machines which became progressively harder to find. Having acquired the largest private collection in England, Jon and his wife Patricia were eager to display the pick of the collection to the public in order to share their pleasure in them and also to make some room in their crowded house!
This Gresham dream soon came to life. On March 1, 1981, they purchased the Ritz Cinema, in Pocklington, England, 12 miles east of York. Penny Arcadia had its grand opening on July 17, 1982. A unique combination of an expo, museum, theater, arcade, and magic show was created under a single roof. A Penny Arcadia sign (pictured at the top of this page) was lovingly placed at the entrance and tens of thousands of visitors from around the world walked through its doors (and the sign still hangs on the wall of our gallery at at each of our events to this day). The world's first floor model arcade machine was displayed. So was Space Invaders and countless other machines made in the hundred years in between.
High Street, carnies and everyone else shared a great time. Their creation won a 'Certificate of Merit' award by the British Tourist Authority in their 'Come to Britain Competition.'
According to our 1985 publication "Penny Arcadia - A Concise History," the collection on display was chosen on three criteria that we still follow today: (1) Machines that are historically important, (2) Machines that are particularly fine examples of ingenuity, craftsmanship, or type, and (3) Machines that were very popular which many visitors will remember.
Penny Arcadia became quickly known throughout the world, and it supported preservation of, and entertainment by, amusement machines on both sides of the Pacific.
It was particularly supported by collectors and collector organizations in the U.S. and the U.K.
By 1991, Penny Arcadia was already well known on both sides of the Atlantic and was promoting the amusement industries not only in York, England but also in Illinois in the United States.
After Jon's unexpected death in 1994, the original Penny Arcadia entertainment complex eventually shut its doors and moved to a special exposition format -- machines were placed on location for special exhibits and at a few national tourist attractions in the coming years.
In 2003 The International Arcade Museum and collector and enthusiast Greg McLemore took over the operations of Penny Arcadia.
Greg and Patricia Gresham shared the vision of keeping Penny Arcadia's brand and original collection largely intact, while adding it to Greg's already extensive collection.
Throughout 2003 and 2004, Penny Arcadia continued its special exhibit format, though open to small groups only for logistical reasons.
In July 2005, Penny Arcadia and Greg McLemore hosted a major two-day festival, show, and exposition in Los Angles in conjunction with the Coin Operated Collectors Association. Enthusiastic visitors flew in from across North America, the UK, and Australia specifically for this event and arrived at the venue via tour buses. Featured machines included the earliest known floor model coin-operated arcade machine (well over 100 years old), the earliest known kiddy ride, and lots of other historical pieces. Rounding out the event were hundreds of early coin-operated amusement machines, some antique slot machines, a few early coin-operated music machines, and several coin-operated automata.
A number of (relatively) modern coin-operated and home console videogames in a basement level rounded out the experience. The vast majority of all games were playable by the visitors -- even the museum pieces. The original Penny Arcadia sign proudly hung on the wall. A special celebration dinner and auction rounded out the weekend.
Penny Arcadia continues to have access to Mr. McLemore's collection of over 500 mostly coin-operated machines made between 1880 and 1930, accented by choice pieces made in each decade since.
After successful public exhibitions including our 2005 mega-show, McLemore looks forward to the future: "The museum is working towards developing even greater exhibitions and is evaluating the viability of opening a permanent facility that would be continuously open to the public."
Continued small events will continue through 2010. Our next large scale show is currently be planned for 2011 or 2012.
A Few Random Penny Arcadia Gems:
This Exhibit Supply 1928 Tiger dares you to pull its tale.
An early home Pong knockoff, for (economic) VIPs in the Soviet Union
A turn of the century (not Y2K century!) chocolate vending machine.
A videogame that looks like a pinball machine!
A pinball machine that looks like a videogame!
This 80+ year old grandma and her pet cat are ready to tell your fortune!
A half dozen trucks were used to prepare for our last major Los Angeles exhibition
It took a team of over a dozen staff and volunteers several days and nights to move machines...
Show Highlights:
The following are some of the highlights you can see at Penny Arcadia™.
Third Century A.D. - Roman Coin-Operated Holy Water Dispenser - The historical background of this machine was first discovered by the London Museum more than a century ago. (The original machines are believed to no longer exist).
1840's Coin-Operated Tobacco Honor Box - This crude vending machine represents the first coin-operated machine made (except for a coin-operated holy water dispenser made in the Roman Empire 16 centuries earlier!)
1882 - First Coin-Operated Floor Model Arcade Machine - Only one instance of this first ever machine has survived, and it is at Penny Arcadia™!
1882 - Second Coin-Operated Floor Model Arcade Machine - Only one instance of this machine has survived in this world, and it is also at Penny Arcadia™
1883 - Second Coin-Operated Floor Model Arcade Machine - Only one instance of this machine has survived, and again, it is to be found at Penny Arcadia™
1880s-1920s - Slot Machine, Arcade Machines, Scales, and Trade Stimulators - Come enjoy an impressive collection of early machines.
1920's - The first Kiddie Ride invented - The first coin-operated arcade kiddie ride was a coin-operated horse invented by Hahs-Groves. None were believed to have survived, until one was found in an abandoned amusement park in 2001. Within twenty years of its invention, numerous manufacturers had placed countless rides of various themes across the U.S. and beyond.
1938 - Rockola's World Series Baseball - One of the greatest amusement machines ever created. It correctly counts men on bases, singles, doubles, triples, home runs, strikes and outs --- all mechanically. Rockola made it famous, but the game was actually released in 1928 by All American Baseball Co.
1940s, 1950s, 1960s - These decades were the highpoint of electro-mechnical arcade machines. Come find out why.
1948 - AT&T Touch Tone Phone - Touch tone phone switching was invented and tested within a Baltimore, MD central office in 1941. The design was put on the shelf during World War II. In 1948, touch tone phones were finally placed in the homes of 35 Pennyslvania Bell employees after the installation of the first No. 5 crossbar switch in Media, PA. This test led (slowly) to AT&T's release of the first commerical modem in 1958 and AT&T's full touch-tone roll-out in 1963. BBSs, the movie 'War Games', celular phones, and online gaming are all children of the early tests. One of the 1948 touch-tone phone prototypes can be found at Penny Arcadia™, next to a bare, unpoplated circuit board for a Novation AppleCat II modem.
1970s - Videogames, the first Coin-op Decade - Enjoy a selection of truly classic machines.
1971 - Computer Space - Earliest Commercial Coin-Op Videogame - Computer Space, brought to the world by Nolan Bushnell and Nutting, was the first commerical coin-operated videogame. There are a variety of them that can be played at Penny Arcadia™. Our holdings include the three lowest serial numbers known, including the only one manufacturered in white. We also have them in red, blue, yellow, and green (2-player). Nolan went on to found Atari, Chucky Cheese, and several other businesses including, recently, uWink.
1972 - Pong - Although Computer Space was not a great commercial success, Nolan's next game was. Leonardo DiCaprio's film company has picked up the rights to make the film, Atari
1973 - Pong In-A-Barrel - Shortly after the invention of Atari's famouse Pong game, Nolan experimented with different formats, includings this pong machine made in a wine barrel. It is prototype serial number #001.
1975 - Supper Flipper - Videogames were the hot new thing, but pinball machines were an established business. Chicago Coin blended the two with a video pinball machine in a pinball cabinet.
1976 - Death Race - Long before Grand Theft Auto, Death Race helped launch the genre of violent videogames with a relatively tame game in which the player runs over (barely) animated gremlins.
1980 - Asteroids Deluxe - Asteroids and Asteroids Deluxe were classics. Prototype Serial #1 can be found at Penny Arcadia!
1982 - Atari CX-2000 - Atari 2600 Prototype - Also known as the VAL, only a few were made in brown (the "east coast" edition) and less than a dozen in blue (the "west coast" edition). Find one of each at Penny Arcadia™.
1980s - Videogame's Golden Years - Enjoy a great selection of classic videogames. Do you remember Tempest? Centipede? Galaga? Missle Command?
1981 - Atari 2700 - Basically an Atari 2600 with wireless controllers, interference problems kept it from the marketplace.
1982 - Atari 5200 Prototype Version 1 - Slightly different than a production machine.
1982 - Atari System X - 5200 Prototype - This looks like an Atari 5200 but it says 'System X' on the top of it instead of '5200'.
1983 - Odyssey 3 U.S. Prototype - One of many machines that never made it to the marketplace.
1983 - Varkon - As the videogame market grew, pinball manufacturers struggled to catch a piece of the action. William's attempt to make a pinball machine look like videogame says it all.
1990s - Another great decade... - ...another great selection of machines.
2000 - Xbox Launch Team 2000 edition - According to Wikipedia, only 60 translucent green 'launch team' xbox systems were made. On the center of the machine are the bold words, "Great work! Bill Gates"
2000s - Latest and Greatest - Enjoy the latest and greatest console and coin-op machines.
2010s - The newest - What shall the industry bring us next?
Press Coverage
Although Penny Arcadia™ has received extensive press coverage over the last three decades, our clip file of this coverage is unfortunately incomplete.
Any help you can provide us in further documenting our history, from press coverage to documentation of your experiences, is much appreciated. Additionally, we are asking anyone that has taken photos or video at any of our Los Angeles events to please email or mail us copies for our files. Thank you in advance.
1985 - "Penny Arcadia - A Concise History" by Jon Gresham, published by Penny Arcadia.
1991, Fall - "Coin Slot People in Geneva, Illinois - Jon Gresham / Penny Arcadia, Dick Bueschel, and Clive Baker", Page 46-60.
1992, Spring/Summer - "Vintage Amusement Magazine" - "Pocklington Paradise" ..."is the setting for what is probably England's finest collection of amusement machines."
1995 - CTC Birthday Rides - Bike riding publication recommends a visit to "Penny Arcadia" for its "collection of 'slot' and 'what the butler saw' machines."
1995, February - Pinball Player magazine - "Obituary - the sad loss of Jon Gresham, owner of the Penny Arcadia museum in York" -- We found this article reference on-line but do not have the article in our files. We would love to get a copy (and even a set of magazines for our library).
1995, October 5 - Penny Arcadia Exposition/Auction Catalog of 250 lots of surplus games, along with a history of and guide to Penny Arcadia. Along with the Auction was the Penny Arcadia Expo, advertised as "Europe's First Major Exhibition and Auction of Antique Slot Machines, Pinballs, Jukeboxes, Mechanical Music and Associated Items held at Park Hall Exhibition Centre, Nr Chorley, Lancashire on 5th October 1985." This publication can often be found on eBay.
1998 - 'International Directory of Arts 1998-1999' By K. G. Saur, 2398 pages - includes 'Penny Arcadia'
2004 - 'Schotland, Noor-Engeland' - by M. Bierens, Bredt & Ipenburg (Amsterdam) - 396 pages - Dutch Travel Guide published from 2004-2007 recommends a visit to Penny Arcadia (page 1999) even though it had already moved to Los Angeles! (book can be found online in Google Book search)
2007, July - The Bradford Magic Circle magazine - This issue contained an article about Jon Gresham and Penny Arcadia, and the "Art of Showmanship".
Outdated - Even though the Penny Arcadia exposition in York England closed a number of years ago, some websites still list the York, England location and encourage a visit!
We look forward to our next UK show.
When it is planned, information will be available both here and at www.pennyarcadia.co.uk
The International Arcade Museum and The Killer List of Videogames
The International Arcade Museum is focused on providing cutting edge educational research, outreach, and community services.
To that end, we have assembled one of the world's leading archives covering the art, entrepreneurs, inventions, and history of the
amusement, coin-operated machine, and videogame industries. As a result of our constant research efforts, we will be continuously adding to the nearly 130,000 pages of educational content already on-line.
Penny Arcadia™ handles special real-world events and more.
The International Arcade and Coin-Op Library™ is a 501c3 pubic charity providing library, archive, and research services to the community.
If you wish to use material from our web sites, please take a look at our Acceptable Use, Copyright, and Trademark Page.
Except as described on that page, any use of the information found here may not be copied or reprinted on any medium, either physical or electronic, without the express written
permission of The International Arcade Museum.
Penny Arcadia™, presented in conjunction with the International Arcade Museum, brings all the magic of amusement machines, their art, and history into a single event! Play hundreds of different games -- many that you can't play elsewhere. Take part in a game competition. Enter a living museum or enjoy new releases. The best part is enjoying a special atmosphere and hanging out with other enthusiasts. As life gets busy, people often forget to have fun. No one forgets fun here.
This Gresham dream soon came to life. On March 1, 1981, they purchased the Ritz Cinema, in Pocklington, England, 12 miles east of York. Penny Arcadia had its grand opening on July 17, 1982. A unique combination of an expo, museum, theater, arcade, and magic show was created under a single roof. A Penny Arcadia sign (pictured at the top of this page) was lovingly placed at the entrance and tens of thousands of visitors from around the world walked through its doors (and the sign still hangs on the wall of our gallery at at each of our events to this day). The world's first floor model arcade machine was displayed. So was Space Invaders and countless other machines made in the hundred years in between.
In 2003 The International Arcade Museum and collector and enthusiast Greg McLemore took over the operations of Penny Arcadia.
Greg and Patricia Gresham shared the vision of keeping Penny Arcadia's brand and original collection largely intact, while adding it to Greg's already extensive collection.
