1950s/1960s Carnival Digger Game

Here we have a 1950/1960 era Carnival Digger game. To be honest, this is NOT an Erie Digger as the top marquee displays, however the display is nice. This is closer to the Miami Digger produced in the era, but also not a Miami Digger. These units were actually put together for travelling carnivals, fairs and whatnot. They would normally be housed around the perimiter of a trailer, with someone inside giving change, and keeping the prizes stocked. The machines had no back to them, and thus the operator in the middle of the trailer could easily reach in and move around and keep the goodies stocked for his customers. This machine is actually a 5¢ machine, and the crane is assembled using a vintage Buddy "L" Steam shovel body, so a toy of the era. After inserting 5¢, you just turn the crank to position the crane over the item you hope to win, and the electric crane drops and "hopefully" grabs your prize. It then automatically swivels back to it's resting postion, opening it's claws and dropping your prize down the chute for you to collect. There are dozens of variations of this game dating back to the late 1800s but this one is dear to my heart as I played them with great enthusiasm as a child at the local fall fairs.