'Fruit machine' is a term for a device developed in Canada by Frank Robert Wake^[1] that was supposed to be able to identify gay men (derogatorily referred to as 'fruits'). The subjects were made to view pornography; the device then measured the diameter of the pupils of the eyes (pupillary response test), perspiration, and pulse for a supposed erotic response.

1. On The Buses Fruit Machine Sales
2. On The Buses Fruit Machine For Sale
3. On The Buses Fruit Machinery
4. On The Buses Fruit Machines

The 'fruit machine' was employed in Canada in the 1950s and 1960s during a campaign to eliminate all gay men from the civil service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and the military. A substantial number of workers did lose their jobs. Although funding for the 'fruit machine' project was cut off in the late 1960s, the investigations continued, and the RCMP collected files on over 9,000 'suspected' gay people.^[2]

The chair employed resembled that used by dentists. It had a pulley with a camera going towards the pupils, with a black box located in front of it that displayed pictures. The pictures ranged from the mundane to sexually explicit photos of men and women. It had previously been determined that the pupils would dilate in relation to the amount of interest in the picture per the technique termed 'the pupillary response test'.^[3]

People were first led to believe that the machine's purpose was to rate stress. After knowledge of its real purpose became widespread, few people volunteered for it.

'Fruit Machine' is the second official single released by Salford band The Ting Tings in 2007. The single was limited to a 500-copy run. The vinyl was only available for fans of The Ting Tings to buy at their live shows. Every single released had different cover art. This is because at every concert, a hundred blank seven-inch sleeves were. Classic free fruit machines at the online casinos in any emulator may look very similar to the ones that were once commonly found in land-based, regardless they are played for fun or for real money. They practically always are random and feature the same standard symbols and the 3 reels, single pay line format, but that doesn’t mean they offer the same old-fashioned play and quality.

Faulty test parameters[edit]

The accuracy and functional mechanism of the 'fruit machine' was questionable. First, the pupillary response test was based on fatally flawed assumptions: that visual stimuli would give an involuntary reaction that can be measured scientifically; that homosexuals and heterosexuals would respond to these stimuli differently; and that there were only two types of sexuality.^[4] A physiological problem with the method was that the researchers failed to take into account the varying sizes of the pupils and the differing distances between the eyes.^[3][4] Other problems that existed were that the pictures of the subjects' eyes had to be taken from an angle, as the camera would have blocked the subjects' view of the photographs if it were placed directly in front. Also, the amount of light coming from the photographs changed with each slide, causing the subjects' pupils to dilate in a way that was unrelated to their interest in the picture. Finally, the dilation of the pupils was also exceedingly difficult to measure, as the change was often smaller than one millimeter.^[3]

The idea was based on a study done by an American university professor, which measured the sizes of the subjects' pupils as they walked through the aisles of grocery stores.^[3]

In popular culture[edit]

Brian Drader's 1998 play The Fruit Machine juxtaposes the fruit machine project with a parallel storyline about contemporary homophobia.^[5]

An abandoned attempt to employ a fruit machine during the interrogation of Canadian diplomat John Watkins was shown in the 2002 TV film, Agent of Influence.

Alex Brett's novel Cold Dark Matter (2005) uses the project as a plot device.^{[citation needed]}

Sarah Fodey's 2018 documentary film The Fruit Machine profiled the effects of the project on several of the people affected by it.^[6]

See also[edit]

On The Buses Fruit Machine Sales

• Lie detector polygraph, a device to detect the physiological responses indicative of lying
• Blade Runner#Voight-Kampff machine, a fictional device to detect non-human emotional responses

Notes[edit]

1. ^'Carleton called on to apologize for gay 'testing''. Ottawa Sun. 8 April 2016.
2. ^Kinsman, Gary William; Buse, Dieter K.; Steedman, Mercedes (2000). '10'. Whose National Security?: Canadian State Surveillance and the Creation of Enemies. Canada: Between the Lines. ISBN1-896357-25-3.
3. ^ ^abcdThe RCMP Security Service. (Doubleday Canada, 1980) ISBN0-385-14682-5, chapters 10 and 11.
4. ^ ^abThe Current, CBC Radio, 9 May 2005
5. ^'Opposite eras attract in gay history story'. Vancouver Sun. 23 October 1998.
6. ^'The Fruit Machine: Why every Canadian should learn about this country's 'gay purge'. CBC Arts, May 30, 2018.

Sources[edit]

• Gary Kinsman et al.,Whose National Security?: Canadian State Surveillance and the Creation of Enemies, (Between the Lines, Canada, 2000) ISBN1-896357-25-3,chapter 10.
• John Sawatsky. Men in the Shadows: The RCMP Security Service. (Doubleday Canada, 1980) ISBN0-385-14682-5, chapters 10 and 11.
• CBC Radio 1 The Current, 9 May 2005
• Gary Kinsman, 'Character Weakness' and 'Fruit Machines': Towards an Analysis of the Anti-Homosexual Security Campaign in the Canadian Civil Service,' Labour/Le Travail, 35 (Spring 1995).

External links[edit]

• Fruit Machine - radio interview. CBC Radio 1 The Current, 9 May 2005 (begins at 2:25 into clip)

On The Buses, 1969

On The Buses was a hugely successful sitcom that was initially rejected by the BBC, who did not see any great comedy potential in the idea, despite the writers having had previous success for the BBC with The Rag Trade and Meet The Wife.

The idea was offered to Frank Muir, then head of Entertainment for London Weekend Television. He loved the idea and commissioned the series that would run for six seasons and seventy four episodes.

Unlike many television programs of the time all seventy four episodes still exist in the archives, enjoying regular repeats on digital channel ITV3.

Summary

The series followed two threads: the antics of Stan Butler a bus driver with the Luxton And District Bus Company, his conductor Jack and the Inspector Cyril ‘Blakey’ Blake. It also followed Stan’s less than ideal home life. Living with his Mother, frumpy Sister Olive and her lazy Husband Arthur.

In the later years Arthur left, Stan left to make buses in the North as the money was better than driving them in the South. Olive got a job with the bus company and forced out of his lodgings Inspector Blake became the Butlers’ new lodger.

On The Buses Fruit Machine For Sale

Clips

On The Buses Fruit Machinery

Cast

Stan Butler – Reg Varney
JackHarper – Bob Grant
Inspector Blake – Stephen Lewis
Mum – Cicely Courtneidge (series one)
Mum – Doris Hare (from series two)
Olive – Anna Karen
Arthur – Michael Robbins

Details

Channel: ITV
Written By: Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney
Original Transmission Dates: 28th February 1969 – 6th May 1973

Spin Offs

Don’t Drink the water 13 episodes over two series 1974 – 1975. This featured Blakey retiring to Spain with his Sister played by Pat Coombs. There were also three Film adaptations were produced by Hammer Films. These were: On The Buses – 1971, Mutiny On The Buses – 1972 and Holiday On The Buses – 1973.

Extras

There was a stage play On The Buses based on the series of which we assume featured all or at least some of the original cast. After touring Australia in 1988 rumours began circulating that a revival show Back On The Buses, featuring the original cast, was to be made. Despite an appearance on Wogan in 1990 by Reg Varney and the publicity, the series was never made and scripts were never written.

Today the series enjoys regular repeats on ITV3, check your TV guide as it comes and goes.

Merchandising

On The Buses Fruit Machines

A board game On The Buses from toymaker Denys Fisher was available around the time the series was on air. A book “On The Buses The Complete Story” written by Craig Walker published by Apex Publishing Ltd October 2009.

In October 2011 Network DVD released a Box Set entitled On The Buses – The Complete Omnibus. This mammoth set is a must for fans of the series as it contains contains all seven series – a total of 74 shows – plus the three feature film spin-offs On The Buses, Mutiny On The Buses and Holiday On The Buses. Also included is the complete series of Don’t Drink the Water – a spin-off sitcom featuring Blakey in Spain – plus exclusive special features, including archive news footage and Reg Varney’s TV play The Best Pair of Legs in the Business.