Mechanical one-armed bandit machine Jubilee 1960’s

The Jubilee “Penny Spin” was manufactured in Sidney, Australia by Nutt & Muddle in the early 60’s. The slot machine is in working condition, coins included.

During the 1960's these machines were imported and operated in amusement arcades throughout Europe. Brand name Jubilee made its mark with their mechanical mechanisms.

Nutt & Muddle was the first major Australian manufacturer of gaming machines. In 1936 Roy Nutt, a salesman for Starkey's Soft Drinks and president of the Commercial Travellers Club, purchased about 50 pinball machines and leased them to milk bars and cafes. Nutt formed Nutt & Muddle with his friend Sid Muddle, who made an agreement with the Streets ice cream company to secure contracts with milk bars interested in Streets ice cream and Nutt & Muddle pinballs.

In 1938 Mick Grace of Grace Bros offered Roy Nutt sixteen gaming machines which had been confiscated by police in New Caledonia. The machines were damaged but Muddle was able to repair them and lease them to a small number of clubs.

During the 2nd world war Nutt & Muddle acquired and leased further machines, including several which had been confiscated by the NSW police plus a large number of machines imported by the US Army.

In 1946 Nutt & Muddle manufactured its first 'Jubilee' machine, a copy of the Mills Chrome Bell. By this time the NSW Police was tolerating an increasing number of machines in clubs, while in 1950 Reg Ansett opened the Hayman Island resort which featured a casino. Nutt & Muddle supplied and serviced the casino's poker machines.

These first Jubilee machines were hand-made but by 1956, when poker machines were legalised in NSW clubs, Nutt & Muddle was the largest Australian manufacturer with a three-storey factory and casting foundry. The company's Jubilee machines were also the first to embody local designs rather than those of imported machines. The 1950s Jubilee machines are handsome exercises in contemporary design.

During the 1960s the US company Bally introduced the first electro-mechanical machines and promoted these aggressively in Australia. Competition in the industry was intense yet Jubilee and Aristocrat machines remained the most popular machines in Australian clubs. At this time Jubilee held about 45 per cent of the Australian market and was exporting machines to the UK.

Roy Nutt and Sid Muddle died during the early 1960s. Their sons were active in the company and floated Nutt & Muddle in 1965. The British company Cope Allman purchased a majority stake but local manufacture and the Jubilee brand name continued.

A major upgrading in styling came in 1969 with their successor, the Jubilee RIVERA Range, in which the cabinets reached for a close approximation of the Bally look. The RIVERA models were at the peak of mechanical perfection, offering for trouble free operation and cheat proof escalator Jubilee was the last successful stand for all mechanical machines.

In 1980 Aristocrat's Len Ainsworth launched a hostile takeover of Nutt & Muddle; the bid's eventual success in 1985 gave Aristocrat almost 90 per cent of the Australian market. However Ainsworth was arrested by the NSW police and charged with dishonestly conspiring to gain a monopoly of the industry. Federal regulatory authorities also investigated the takeover, which resulted in decades of inconclusive legal battles. Regardless, the Jubilee name disappeared from clubs after 1985.