The Little Stockbroker was designed and engineered by the splendidly named Granville Eastwood Bradshaw OBE, who was born in Preston, Lancashire in 1887.

This machine is a stunner, with its 64cm tall cast iron cabinet and the beautiful, deeply embossed lettering which is so typical of the era. Extensively refurbished inside and out, and of course fully operational, it has been finished in bright blue and yellow. Machines like this could be seen as the forerunners of the one armed bandit, where the introduction of a coin to the slot and a yank of the handle yields either disappointment or a payout of some kind.

On The Little Stockbroker the payout sequence is actually predetermined rather than random, so anyone with a little patience and a good memory would have had little trouble beating the odds. It’s hard to imagine these machines lasting very long in amusement halls up and down the country.

Bradshaw himself started out working with the early pioneers of flight, which led him to become an expert on aircraft stressing. He designed the 'Star Monoplane' when he was just 19 and later went on to pilot the plane himself. He then started to work on aero-engines and was the co-founder of the All-British Engine Company, before branching out into gambling machines in the 1920’s.

His greatest commercial success came from selling patents for slot machines but he lost all the money he made in further business deals involving flawed contraptions, thereby forever consigning himself to the ranks of brilliant but eccentric British inventors.

The Little Stockbroker dates from 1927, and boasts a patent application running to a yawn inducing 12 pages! Insomniacs may wish to click the link below for an exhaustive (and exhausting!) description of how Bradshaw's mechanism actually works:

Penny Machines 

Now exceedingly rare, these vintage gems are highly collectable and make a fabulous centrepiece in any games room. As part of the restoration process they are thoroughly stripped down in the workshop, repaired, rebuilt, and tested for hours. As a result they are not simply objets d’art, but are fully functional and are therefore capable of entertaining your guests just as well in the 2020’s as they once did a century ago in the roaring 1920’s! 

Our founder, Reginald Waldersmith, was far from an avid gambler, but he was extremely knowledgeable about the industry. He specialised in ‘one armed bandits’, and they were an essential part of the business that eventually became the Games Room Company. After servicing slot machines and jukeboxes on American airbases after the war, the resultant friendships Reginald made in the US armed forces allowed him to begin shipping them to the UK.

We’ve been selling slot machines since 1962, so we know a thing or two about our products! Our showroom will gladly assist you on any questions you may have before or after you purchase any Games Room Company equipment.