Product Description

There have been several books about slot machines, but never a
book about amusement arcades. Pennies by the Sea by Nick Laister is the
first book on this fascinating subject. It tells the story of what was
Britain's largest amusement arcade - Bridlington's Joyland Amusements.

It is a rags to riches tale of how a glove seller from Sheffield market
turned a collection of buildings on Bridlington seafront into a fabulous
entertainment complex with slot machines, fairground rides and amazing
sideshows.

Written by a leading authority on the coastal amusement and tourism
industry, this authoritative and comprehensively researched book explores
how an enterprising family, the Browns, turned Joyland (now The Forum) from
a small amusement arcade in a former seafront shop into a palace of fun
that is now widely known across Yorkshire and beyond.

It also explores life in this most extraordinary of worlds, based on
interviews with people who worked at Joyland and other arcades in
Bridlington from the 1930s to the present day.

Enter a wonderful world of long days, colourful lights and enormous
innovation, an insight into a way of life that once existed at seaside
resorts up and down the country but has now largely disappeared.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #155297 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

From the Publisher
The phenomenon of the seaside amusement arcade is investigated
for the first time in the new book, `Pennies by the Sea: The Life and Times
of Joyland Amusements, Bridlington' by Nick Laister. The book is based
around the history of what was one of Britain's largest arcades, Joyland
Amusements in the popular East Yorkshire seaside resort of Bridlington.

Author Nick Laister says: "Joyland has not only an important place in
Bridlington's history, as its biggest and most visited commercial tourist
attraction, it also has a prominent place in national amusement history. It
is a fascinating story that has never before been told."

This book is the story of the Brown family's amusement empire, which
expanded to include other attractions in the town. It tells of how they
turned a small arcade in a former seafront shop to a palace of fun that is
now widely known across Yorkshire and beyond.

Nick Laister explains that the book is more than just the story of an
amusement arcade: "As far as I am aware, this is the first ever book about
life in this most extraordinary of worlds, based on interviews with people
who worked in Joyland and other arcades in the town from the 1930s to the
present day. It is a fascinating insight into a way of life that once
existed at seaside resorts up and down the country but has now largely
disappeared. It should also therefore be of interest to social historians,
as well as those who are fascinated by fairgrounds, amusement parks,
arcades, slot machines and seaside holidays."

From the Author
Although there have been several books about slot machines,
particularly antique ones, there has never been a book about the arcades in
which the slot machines operated. Life in this most amazing of worlds was
truly fascinating and I wanted to immerse myself in it to ensure I ended up
with the definitive book on the subject. I thought the best way of giving a
true insight into this way of life, and avoiding it being a cut-and-paste
potted history of arcades, would be to focus in on one very special seaside
amusement arcade: Joyland Amusements at Bridlington. Joyland is one of the
oldest amusement complexes in the UK, starting life in the 1930s, and it is
still going strong today (although almost unrecognisable from its original
form) as the Forum. In its heyday, it was the largest privately-owned
amusement arcade in the UK and featured a sizeable funfair.

In terms of amusements in Bridlington, Joyland is very important. It wasn't
the first amusement arcade in the town centre. That was Premier Amusements,
also still going strong. It wasn't even the first arcade on Bridlington's
seafront Esplanade - that was Bay View. But it quickly grew to become
Bridlington's most-visited tourist attraction, and because of its size and
range of attractions, it is an ideal subject. And what makes it really
special to me is that as a child I was one of its visitors!

Joyland started life in the early 1930s as 'Luna Park'. The name 'Joyland'
wasn't used until 1936, but the story of how Luna Park became Joyland is a
fascinating tale of ambition and egos, as the growth in amusement arcades
in Bridlington and most other seaside resorts was just extraordinarily
rapid in the run-up to the Second World War. It is almost true to say that
amusement arcades completely changed the face of the town in less than a
decade, and this is representative of what happened at other resorts in the
same period. I can't think of another example of something that quite
frankly must have seemed at the time as nothing more than a passing fad
having such far-reaching consequences for the way in which a town
develops.

This will be the first book on the subject, and I think it would have been
a missed opportunity not to tell the full story of amusements in
Bridlington. So that is what the book does. It is centred on Joyland, but
it tells you all about the growth of amusements in the town as a whole, and
puts it in its UK-wide context. The full background, in other words.

I have been helped by many of the town's amusement caterers, past and
present. The Brown family, who owned Joyland from the 1930s, have been a
great help with the book. The present owners, the Noble family, have also
helped.

I have been helped by people from every era, from the 1930s right up to the
present day. They have some interesting stories to tell, believe me! From
its 70 year history, I have uncovered numerous funny, sad, dramatic, even
tragic stories, and they are all in the book. And as the book has been
carefully pieced together from a series of interviews over a period of
eight years, most of what you will read has never been in print before.
This book is a genuine first.

A number of museums have sprung up in the last few years celebrating this
amusement arcade heritage. An excellent museum about Bridlington's resort
past, called 'Beside the Seaside', is located right in the town centre.
This was a significant investment for the town, and includes a section on
amusement arcades. There is another new museum, called 'Old Penny
Memories', which is packed full of old amusement machines, some of which
are from Joyland itself. The owner of this museum, Chris Parcell, has also
helped with the book. There was until recently another museum of vintage
amusement machines in the town. Unfortunately, it recently closed down, but
its owner, Ian Dixon, gave me a tour and, again, provided me with a wealth
of information on amusement arcades in the town. So this will be the first
book of its kind about this important aspect of Bridlington's history, and
I do hope it will reflect the very real sense of pride that the people of
Bridlington have about their amusement heritage.

The book is aimed firstly at local people who have an interest in
Bridlington's history. It is also aimed at those who are interested in
amusement arcades and fairgrounds, and that is a surprisingly large group
of people, with several clubs and societies on the subject. In addition to
that, I think it should also be of interest to those who have holidayed in
Bridlington and have fond memories of Joyland; it is a very nostalgic book.
It was certainly nostalgic for me to write.

I think Joyland had real atmosphere, almost a sense of magic, something
that you rarely find in amusement arcades and amusement parks these days. I
hope that I have recreated some of that atmosphere in the book. So many
people have come forward with their memories, and that is what brings the
book alive. I think it is clear that Joyland played a major part in a lot
of people's lives.

From the Inside Flap
Joyland not only has an important place in Bridlington's
history, as its biggest and most visited commercial tourist attraction, it
also has a prominent place in the history of seaside amusements. It was an
early example of a seaside amusement arcade, quickly becoming the largest
in the country, its development showing how - through innovation and sheer
determination - `amusement caterers' (as showmen and proprietors of seaside
amusement arcades are often known) overcame everything from fires to strong
local objection to change the face of seaside resorts within little more
than a decade. Joyland still survives to this day (although not in name),
but it is a world away from the Joyland of the first half of the 20th
Century.

Joyland may be an amusement arcade, but it has never been solely about slot
machines. The complex also included fairground rides, bingos, cafes, zoos,
more than one fun house and, in more recent years, has featured a cinema,
ten pin bowling and various bars and restaurants.

Perhaps more important than the development of the buildings is the impact
Joyland has had on the lives of the millions of people who visited
Bridlington over the years. Many adults today remember spending long hours
in the arcade and it is amazing how many people have told me they met their
partners in Joyland, usually standing by the jukebox!

Joyland was not the first amusement arcade in the town, but once it started
growing, its expansion seemed unstoppable. Despite the fact that amusements
were first brought to the site by an engineer from Brighouse, the Joyland
that would dominate Bridlington's sea front for almost 60 years was
primarily developed by the Brown family, who expanded the thriving arcade
by acquiring properties and bringing them into the complex. This was part
of Joyland's charm, the fact that it was a mixture of different buildings
from different eras, being more accident than design; even an old cinema
auditorium was used in the late 1970s.

This book is the story of the Brown family's amusement empire, which
expanded to include other attractions in the town. It tells of how they
turned a small arcade in a former seafront shop to a palace of fun that is
now widely known across Yorkshire and beyond. But it is more than just the
story of an amusement arcade. It is also the first ever book about life in
this most extraordinary of worlds, based on interviews with people who
worked in Joyland and other arcades in the town from the 1930s to the
present day. It should also therefore be of interest to social historians,
as well as those who are fascinated by fairgrounds, amusement parks,
arcades, slot machines and seaside holidays.

Amusement arcades are rarely in the spotlight. Local authorities invariably
go to great lengths to ensure they do not appear in brochures and
Bridlington was no exception. Finding good photographic material for this
book was therefore extremely difficult, and became an eight-year search.
But, as I hope you will agree, this book includes some fantastic images
that give something of the flavour of life in this remarkable place.

Customer Reviews

History by the Sea....
I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in our national seaside heritage - Laister writes with compelling authority to produce a book that is hugely informative and all in all a very good read. 10/10.