Fun parlour in Port

Penny Parlour

Paul Makin

Journalist

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Ports Penny Parlour just for fun VIDEO Paul Makin|FAB FM

Simon Rogers is a man who travels back in time every day of his life. Simon has transformed a familiar old local building into his very own Luna Park.

The Penny Parlour, as he calls it, is a labour of love for a bloke who loves the past but is happy to live in the present and share his passion for penny arcades and carnival amusement games.

In total Simon has around 60 penny arcade machines and games from a time gone by. Things like football challenges, love meters, a boxing strength test, side show machine guns, palmistry, even a machine that for a penny, prints you out a picture of what your future wife’s going to look like. No guarantees of course.

Lots of sports are represented in the games IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM

Penny peeps

The penny peep shows are popular with visitors, if not exactly PC these days. In fact, they are very mild in these more progressive times but back in the early 1900’s they were positively scandalous. How’s that song go? In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking, but now, heaven knows, anything goes.

Simon told Newsport that to him “these are not just hunks of metal; they are works of art and should be preserved for future generations”. While we were there a Melbourne couple arrived with their young son. “We seek these places out all over the world,” said Jason Hounam. “The last place was San Francisco but this is a beautiful collection and my wife Lisa and son Charlie are having heaps of fun, I mean you go to these modern places like Time zone, which is all electronic computer video games, but this is the equivalent of Timezone in the early 1900’s so it’s fascinating” he said. Jason is a computer systems engineer and he was fascinated by one machine that’s all mechanical and yet it figures out how many balls you’ve collected and which ones win and pays you out as a player accordingly. “That’s mind blowing because there’s zero electronics in there, it’s all engineering and mechanical, how brilliant is that” he said.

Gypsy soul

Simon is a descendant of the English Romany Gipsies, so he knows a lot of show people back in the old dart and it was those travelling carnivals that drew him to the amusements they showcased to entertain and enthral the crowds. “A friends’ parents had a travelling show and at 8 years old I went to stay with them, and I could see the start of video machines coming in and pushing these classic machines out. Ultimately, they were tossed into sheds or on garbage tips and have been all but forgotten” he said. They aren’t forgotten at his Penny Parlour.

How to go back in time

To find these treasures you need to venture out to the Craiglie Industrial Estate. Turn off Beor Street into Owen Street, go past the car wash on the left until you get to Reece Plumbing and then you’ll come to what looks like a dead end but in fact it’s the start of a wonderful walk down memory lane. Yours truly is a big kid at heart so this story was right up my alley. Within minutes of arriving at the former Shire Hall that once graced Macrossan Street, I was spending a penny and playing these old-world machines and feeling like a kid again.

Penny Arcade history

Penny arcades came into existence around 1905 and were all coin operated. Naturally only a penny was needed in those days to have fun. The arcades thrived right through the 20’s, 30’s and the 40’s. The most popular were fortune-telling and peep show machines. I remember the love tester machines, some of which I played when I visited Sydney’s Luna Park as a kid. It didn’t help me find true love, just made me poorer and poorer as I kept coming back for guidance. Coin-operated shooter games and gun games followed, which brings us up to the present day where fun has gone digital and, in some cases, very violent. These days a penny won’t get you very far with a visit to a modern-day arcade requiring a Westpac loan. Simon’s innocent Penny Parlour will only set you back $15 if you’re a grown up and $8 if you’re a child, with special rates for families and pensioners. Pennies are supplied free.

Simon Rogers and his Penny Parlour here in port IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
The peep shows are tame now but back in the early 1900’s they were positively scandalous
Simon has a large collection of peep show machines IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
A boxing machine to see how fit you were IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
Checking the adventures of Felix the Cat IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
Women’s and men’s sports feature prominently IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB
A machine where you can have a picture of your future wife printed IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
The future bride IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
A love meter to see how passionate you really are IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
Jason Hounam from Melbourne seeks out these machines all over the world IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
The machine Jason says is an engineering marvel IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
Lisa Hounam with son Charlie playing the old machines IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
Old sideshow machine guns thought to be originally from Sydney’s Luna Park IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
These items are works of art says owner Simon Rogers IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
Lots of these machines feature social issues like drunkenness IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
Simon has at least 60 machines on display IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
Reading your palm for a penny IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
Football games were popular in the penny arcades IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM
Pennies are free when you visit the Parlour IMAGE Paul Makin|FAB FM

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