The Perfect Muscle Developer © 1920 Mills Novelty Co.
A classic arcade machine manufactured by Mills during the early part of the 20th century featuring an elaborate top casting with the trademark Mills owl cast in at the center. Framed within is a wonderful tin dial featuring a man flexing his muscles in the center. Machines of this nature encouraged competition between the young males, always testing to see who was stronger. Oftentimes, multiple coins were played by the same person and these machines were true money makers with simple mechanics. Usually found in arcades and other locations like bars, carnivals, general stores, etc. A porcelain plaque on the front details the operation of the machine with the coin to be played. This could be altered from 1 cent to 5 cents by an adjustment to the coin mechanism.
The Perfect Muscle Developer used heavy iron in its plunger and platform where the competitor stood while the rest of the device’s wooden exterior was embellished with decorative motifs and an elaborate image of the trademark Mills Novelty owl icon. The most important and prominent feature of nearly every strength tester, however, was its display. Displays measured effort numerically, providing an unambiguous, quantifiable, and comparable assessment of performance. They were also typically the largest part of the machine, making the readout visible to not just the user, but onlookers as well; a reflection of the social environment these devices inhabited. The competitive nature of these devices was explicit as the display of the Perfect Muscle Developer featured phrases like “Not so Good. Use me More” for a low score of 100 and “Great Stuff BIG BOY!” for a high score of 900, giving the competitor feedback on their performance even if not competing in front of a crowd. In addition, the machine continued to display the attempt’s score until a new coin was inserted, providing motivation to the next challenger to leave a higher score.
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