The History of Coin Operated Rides: Rupert the Bear

Monday, June 29, 2026

Manufactured by Photo-Me, the first Rupert the Bear kiddie ride was released around 1996.

Wookey Hole Caves, May 2023

The History of Coin Operated Rides: My name is Desirée, and I am a coin operated ride historian. I loved these beautiful amusement machines as a child and became curious about the history behind them. Back in 1994, my mum took a photo of me riding my favourite giraffe ride outside the local post office. We made it our goal to collect as many pictures of different rides as possible...I ended up with well over 1600 photos taken across England in the 1990s! I would get excited when I found a new ride to add to our collection... until I realised that the brand new sparkling rides were replacing my "old friends". I knew I couldn't save the rides from being scrapped, but at least we could preserve their memory in photos. Now modern technology is allowing me to share the nostalgia with all of you who care to remember our innocent childhood days. If anybody has any information or photographs that they would like to share, please contact me! There are no examples of many of the older rides left these days, so every photograph is very precious. Thanks for reading and sharing your photos and stories - without our memories, future generations would have no idea what they're missing out on!