Star-Dust

The World's Fair, December 19th 1953

 Star-Dust, "the coin operated galloping beauty", was one of the first ever British rides, released by Walter Streets & Co. Ltd. of Eastbourne in 1953.  The first finished model apparently went out for site testing at a department store in London shortly before Christmas that year.

The following information was taken from an issue of Billboard Magazine dating from January 23rd 1954:

London, Jan. 16 - American-type kiddie rides, which have been gaining rapidly in popularity here, should make further progress in the United Kingdom with the recent announcement that Walter Streets & Company Ltd., Eastbourne, has entered the kiddie ride field with Star-Dust, a Western-type horse.
Streets started its promotion drive with a half-page ad in The World's Fair, British outdoor and amusement publication.
The ride operates for 76 seconds, taking a sixpenny piece (about five cents).  The 54-inch long fiberglass horse operates on a three-foot by two-foot base; total weight is about 200 pounds.
Action Controlled
The ride starts slowly with the rider controlling the action.  A tug on the reins will produce a gallop.  The Western saddle is optional.

The above mentioned World's Fair advert appeared in the December 19th 1953 issue.  It states that Star-Dust originally cost £189 (or £159 without a saddle).

I have only ever seen six of these "in the flesh" (or in the fibreglass!), so to speak; one at Mablethorpe, one in Bispham, two in Canvey Island and two on Hastings Pier.  I've often wondered if Streets offered a discount for buying two units as it seems strange to buy two identical rides for your arcade!

Star-Dust seems to have been a very popular ride and often appears in old photographs and postcard pictures from the 1950s and '60s.  Walter Streets actually founded a new company, Kiddy Rides Ltd., in August 1954 specifically to deal with sales of this machine.  Despite this, Star-Dust was the only ride model ever manufactured by Streets.  Production ceased in 1960 but one of the horses remained in Streets' factory for many years as a reminder of its success.

These horses were certainly made to last.  The Bispham Star-Dust (lovingly nicknamed "Brownie" by my childhood self, based on his 1990s paintwork!) remained at Hart's Amusements until their closure in January 2024.  I have no idea what has/will happen to him now, although Charles Hart assured me he is not to be scrapped.  He was much loved by thousands of children over several generations, as proved by the comments on every post about the closure of the arcade, so I think it would be a tragedy if the new owners didn't keep him there.  The Blackpool Gazette published my story about him after the arcade's closure.

Harts Amusements, Bispham - Photograph courtesy of Martin North

Then and now - Photograph courtesy of Martin North

Harts Amusements, Bispham, August 2018

Both Hastings Pier horses and the Mablethorpe horse have come up for sale in the last few years after many years in storage/private collections.  Sadly, I have no idea where they are now, but it's amazing that they have all lasted so long!

The pair who stood outside the Casino Amusement Centre in Canvey Island would probably still be there too if fate had not intervened.  After the Casino was torn down in 1993, they moved to a arcade across the street where they were very much loved and known as "Pepper and Salt".  Tragically, a car veered off the road in January 2010, smashing into them and destroying them both.  You can see their heartwrenching last seconds captured forever on CCTV below - many thanks to the uploader and to those who provided this footage.

RIP Casino Horses Pepper and Salt.  Decades of childhood memories, shattered in a split second.  You may have been cruelly taken from us, but you will live forever in our hearts.

While the horses will obviously never be the same, "Salt" has since been restored and has made some special appearances at events in Canvey Island.  For more information and photos of the Casino Horses, check out Canvey Island Community Archive's page.