# Episode 65 - Fortune Tellers

**Source:** For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2015-05-15  
**Duration:** 14m 23s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-65-fortune-tellers

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## Analysis

Nick Baldridge explores the history and mechanics of fortune teller arcade machines, covering full-size, mid-size, and tabletop variants from the early 1900s onward. He discusses various types including card dispensers, mannequin-based machines like Zoltan, mystery writing styles, and wax cylinder players. The episode focuses on restoration techniques, preservation challenges for aging audio systems, and how collectors can maintain these machines using modern technology like Raspberry Pi and SD cards.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Mills made a full-size Gypsy Fortune Teller in 1908 that spoke fortunes using wax cylinders — _Nick Baldridge, host, directly stated as historical fact_
- [HIGH] Zoltan fortune tellers from the 1960s used telephone receivers to deliver fortunes via cassette-based audio system — _Nick Baldridge describing Zoltan machine specifications and design_
- [MEDIUM] Online preservation sites exist that allow downloading fortune teller audio files for restoration purposes — _Nick Baldridge mentions 'a site online that preserves some of these fortune tellers fortunes' without naming it_
- [HIGH] Fortune teller machines are mechanically simple and relatively easy to restore electrically, though cosmetic restoration is more challenging — _Nick Baldridge's technical assessment based on machine design principles_
- [HIGH] Wax cylinders in fortune tellers wear out quickly due to needle-based playback similar to phonographs — _Nick Baldridge explaining phonograph-style degradation mechanism_
- [HIGH] Most common fortune teller design used a stack of cards dispensed by the machine into a tray — _Nick Baldridge describing standard fortune teller mechanism_
- [MEDIUM] Modern reproductions of Zoltar from the movie Big cost thousands of dollars — _Nick Baldridge's market observation, non-specific pricing_
- [HIGH] Original fortune teller machines over 50 years old are unlikely to have surviving original audio equipment in working condition — _Nick Baldridge's assessment based on storage and age factors_

### Notable Quotes

> "You may be thinking of the mannequin fortune teller from the movie Big, but that's Zoltar. Now, he used a similar looking mannequin, but not the same."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~15:00
> _Clarifies common confusion between Zoltar (movie) and Zoltan (arcade machine), showing deep knowledge of the subject_

> "Wax cylinders will wear out fairly quickly because they're just made of wax. And they have a needle going across them like on a record or phonograph."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~32:00
> _Technical explanation of preservation challenge for audio-based fortune tellers_

> "I certainly wouldn't mind adding one to my collection especially a Zoltan. I think that that particular cabinet is so beautiful it would be a great addition to any collection."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~26:00
> _Reveals host's personal collecting interests and aesthetic appreciation for fortune teller machines_

> "These machines are not unfixable. They're fairly simple inside."
> — **Nick Baldridge**, ~22:00
> _Key message for collectors considering restoration, addressing mechanical complexity fears_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Nick Baldridge | person | Host of For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast, episode 65 speaker, arcade machine expert and collector |
| Mills | company | Manufacturer of fortune teller machines, made the Gypsy Fortune Teller in 1908 |
| Gypsy Fortune Teller | game | Full-size fortune teller made by Mills in 1908, used wax cylinder audio system to speak fortunes |
| Zoltan | game | 1960s fortune teller machine with telephone receiver interface, cassette-based audio, ornate wooden cabinet with glass box containing mannequin head and hands |
| Zoltar | game | Fortune teller mannequin from the movie Big, often confused with the Zoltan arcade machine |
| Twilight Zone | product | TV episode featuring a tabletop fortune teller machine with dial-activated card dispensing |
| Big | product | Movie featuring the Zoltar fortune teller mannequin, source of modern reproductions costing thousands of dollars |
| Raspberry Pi | product | Single-board computer mentioned as solution for restoring audio playback in fortune teller machines via SD card |
| For Amusement Only | organization | EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast hosted by Nick Baldridge, focuses on electromechanical and bingo pinball machines |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Fortune teller arcade machine history and types, Mechanical restoration and preservation techniques, Audio playback systems in vintage machines (wax cylinders, cassettes)
- **Secondary:** Collector acquisition and cabinet aesthetics, Modern technology solutions for vintage machine maintenance, EM arcade machine collecting

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Nick Baldridge expresses genuine enthusiasm for fortune teller machines, particularly Zoltan. He approaches restoration accessibility optimistically while acknowledging challenges. Tone is educational and encouraging toward collectors. Only mild criticism regarding cultural sensitivity of some designs.

### Signals

- **[restoration_signal]** Discussion of using Raspberry Pi and SD cards to restore audio playback on vintage fortune teller machines with failing cassette or wax cylinder systems (confidence: high) — Nick describes using 'a Raspberry Pi or something of that nature' with SD cards to replace original audio playback, mentions online preservation sites for downloading fortune files
- **[restoration_signal]** Challenges and approaches to cosmetic restoration including sewing replacement clothing and sourcing mannequin parts (confidence: high) — Nick discusses improvising cosmetic repairs, sewing clothes for mannequins, replacing sculpted hands and heads with actual mannequin parts
- **[collector_signal]** Market observations about fortune teller machine availability and pricing, noting modern Zoltar reproductions from Big cost thousands while original machines can be found cheaper if non-functional (confidence: medium) — Nick mentions modern repros cost 'thousands and thousands of dollars' but originals could be cheaper if broken
- **[market_signal]** Suggests broken/non-working fortune teller machines as affordable entry points for collectors since mechanical restoration is straightforward (confidence: high) — Nick advises collectors can find machines for less if 'not working for whatever reason' and emphasizes electrical systems are simple to repair
- **[historical_signal]** Traces fortune teller machine design evolution from full-size (1908 Mills) through mid-size and tabletop variants to 1960s Zoltan (confidence: high) — Episode structured chronologically from early Mills wax cylinder machines through various design types to Zoltan in the 60s
- **[design_innovation]** Zoltan's use of telephone receiver as interface for delivering audio fortunes represents unusual human-machine interaction design for arcade machines (confidence: high) — Nick emphasizes Zoltan's unique telephone receiver interface as distinguishing feature compared to other fortune tellers

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## Transcript

 The End What's that sound? It's 4 Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to 4 Amusement Only, this is Nicholas Baldridge. Have you ever wanted to know the future? Well, a staple of EM machines in arcades The the the the one thing they had in common is that they take your money and they give you a card which would tell you your fortune there's one exception which will get to towards the end but uh... aside from that that's pretty much how they went there were tabletop fortune tellers uh... as made famous of course in the Uh... Twilight Zone episode with the rogue tabletop fortune teller where you twist a dial and it pops a card out um... then there were the full-size fortune tellers and the mid-size fortune tellers. So the full-size fortune teller would be something like the gypsy fortune teller made by Mills in nineteen oh eight Now this one actually spoke your fortune by use of wax cylinder and there were a few that used this type of design but by far the most common was for there to be a stack of cards in a dispenser that the machine would flip into a little tray at the bottom. Now the interesting thing about fortune tellers as machines is that typically they weren't the simple love tester style Uh... where you uh... grab a handle or something of that nature and pull or just squeeze and light bulbs light up. They actually moved and did things. You got a little bit of entertainment for your money. And I'm gonna go ahead and um... pre-apologize if anybody's offended. A lot of fortune tellers are not the most culturally sensitive things that have ever been made. Outeduc Knapp Card Outdoor Outdoor OCR maneuural thanks to Ar Sherman for these captions, favorite sony focusone, Retro Pl genomeGodade Knapp foto referendum in los Universe penetration Aside from those type there was also my favorite kind which were the mystery writing style of Fortune Teller And what these were, were small upright arcade displays and inside there would be a pin suspended in such a way that it appeared when a motor turned ● On Netflix is on deck, and full-text. •лек or click pars forkrä avanz Ministry. • hebben wir That 이유 das Railing sakott Akmann Räume luxurykäutig Nä agent ab Có ifat dat betänt ● anderen ● uh Artin Int 혹시 I can training partners Gamer withcht top oflic atauіч uncontanz, uot muitos nag cinco aktien vibranč productivityy oraz rema. rote Maje, But aside from that, there's really nothing that can really go wrong. 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Now Zoltan would not move itself It would only have a crystal ball that lit up And what interesting about Zoltan is it was made in the 60s and you used a telephone receiver in order to receive your Fortune So you would push your astrological symbol crystal ball would light up and Zoltan would talk he would tell you you know what what kind of fortune you might expect essentially this one was Zoltan's head a crystal ball and his hands crammed into a uh... Very small glass box which is was suspended on a wooden stand now the box itself and the wooden stand were very intricately carved very beautiful and attractive cabinet uh... a lot of the mannequin fortune tellers are very interesting uh... from a cabinet perspective Some of them not so much so they may have these uh... very detailed mannequins inside but on the outside they're just a flat color uh... or a single hand-painted attract sign uh... not really the most beautiful of machines but they are quite cool the ones that speak I would imagine would be the hardest to maintain in their original form like our friend Zoltan uses a cartridge based cassette system in order to speak the fortunes. And over time that's going to wear down and out especially if it's been stored in a non-climate controlled environment for many many years and You know now these things are over fifty years old so the chance that the original equipment will have survived is fairly slim so uh... there is a site online that preserves some of these fortune tellers fortunes and allows you to download and then you could Put it on a SD card attached to a Raspberry Pi or something of that nature in order to play back your intended sounds. Wiring this up would probably be fairly trivial. When the machine speaks, it's going to apply voltage at a particular rate, not voltage, it'll apply current at a particular rate to One or more sets of wires so you can get your read on for that and then use the computer to do the rest. You would step this down or up or something of that nature in order to get it to the appropriate input. Regardless, these machines are not unfixable. They're fairly simple inside. So should you run across one and you feel the need to add that to your collection, I would say that they would be a pretty easy fix. Cosmetically you going to have more problems If the mannequin is no available uh or the clothing which it should have is not available then you're gonna have to improvise but uh... it's not impossible certainly to do that kind of restoration it's uh... would just be time-consuming to sew your own clothes for the mannequin inside a fortune teller machine And other items like these sculpted hands and heads might have to be replaced with actual mannequin parts. But that would be better than having a missing or rotted away hand or face. That would be pretty rough. Fortune tellers are pretty neat and they came in all different shapes and sizes. I certainly wouldn't mind adding one to my collection especially a Zoltan. I think that that particular cabinet is so beautiful it would be a great addition to any collection. There are modern repros of the Zoltar from the movie Big. Those cost thousands and thousands of dollars. Dependinging on where you might find one of these, you could get them for less, especially if they're not working for whatever reason. The biggest thing to check is whatever applies power to the motor and the motor itself. If all that's working, then you should be in good shape. That's not the case though, now that I think about it, if you've got one of those ones that uses the wax cylinder player. Now those have a finite life anyway. So I mentioned the cartridge based tape systems wearing out well. Wax cylinders will wear out fairly quickly because they're just made of wax. And they have a needle going across them like on a record or phonograph. So what you should do to preserve those if you can't find the files online is to record what you've got and you may have to Spend quite a bit of time tweaking what you're able to record in your audio software before you're able to get a clean reading on it. And you probably want to leave some scratchiness in there because that would be there straight from the factory. You know, wax cylinders not built to last. So, that's my thoughts on fortune tellers. Thanks for listening. My name again is Nicholas Baldridge. You can reach me at foremusementonlypodcast at gmail.com and you can listen to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, via RSS, on Facebook or on our website which is foremusementonly.libsyn.com. Thanks again for listening and I'll talk to you next time.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 7ef7342f-f38a-48fd-9805-fef803eda990*