Antique Slot Machine History & Commentary Blog

Officer, This isn’t a slot machine!

2012-01-20T22:03:00.001-06:00

It’s a gum vending fortune teller with buttons to test your skill with a sign telling you how much will come out before you play & a note on the machine saying “no gambling allowed”!

From almost the very beginning of slot machines being used in the United States, they have had to disguise themselves as something else. In today’s world of casino’s with thousands of slot machines lined up it’s almost unbelievable that there was a time when a slot machine in a normal public place had to be disguised, at least to the strict letter of that law that is.

The image above of a very rare Watling Big Six cast iron machine is a classic early example of a machine utilizing a gum vender attachment. Watling didn’t just decide to add this vender on the side as a nice gesture to players. They did this to hopefully slip this machine into an area where a straight gambling device may have been illegal, but one that gave the player a stick of gum or roll of mint for every nickel played then made it a vending device – it just happened to payout money as well.

While most anyone could see past this technicality, when it comes to the law, this changed things and put these types of machines into a gray area of legality. From the turn of the 20^th century into the 1930’s slot machine manufactures were not only bolting on gum venders to their machines but also adding other little features that further confused law enforcement.

During the teens the Caille Brothers Company made a beautiful slot machine called the Victory Bell. One feature shown in the photo above to the left of the reels is something called a “future pay” option. Every time the handle was pulled you could look at the window and would either see the word NO or numbers, such as 4. If there was a number showing, then all you had to do was put another coin into the machine and that many coins would drop into the payout cup!

What was happening was the machine would delay any payouts until the next pull of the handle. The machine would show how many coins were coming out of the machine on that next pull. The theory was, the player walking up to the machine knew in advance if any money was coming out of the machine – hence the name “future pay”. This little feature also forced a player to put another coin into the machine to get their winnings from the previous pull – tricky idea for sure!

Most of the slot manufactures offered the future pay options for their machines in the teens and nineteen twenties. Today when a machine with the future pay option is found, in many cases the mechanical components have been removed. Operators and players alike probably became annoyed by it or the machine no longer needed the feature to operate in an area.

Mills Baseball Restored By Nations Attic.com

Mills Novelty during the late 1920’s and early 1930’s made a machine shown above called the Baseball Vender Bell. This machine really went all out to disguise itself as a baseball arcade game rather than what it was – a slot machine. This beauty was restored by Nations Attic in 2011 and is a true classic for both slot machine collectors and baseball fans.

This slot machine hid itself behind a brightly painted baseball field. A player would put a nickel in, pull the handle and wait for the baseball images on the reels to stop. Once the machine stopped, the player would look at the future pay window to see if their next play would give them any coins, they could also play a simulated game of baseball by moving the players from base to base on the play field below. The score outs and innings could also be kept track of for players wanting to complete an entire nine inning game (hope they had a lot of nickels). This machine didn’t stop there, it also vended mints. By turning the handle at the lower front right an entire roll of mints would drop into the payout tray – how nice of Mills! Not to be out done, Mills also had three buttons at the top called skill stop buttons. The player could actually stop the reels early exactly when they wanted too in an effort to use their skill to play the machine!

So, to summarize, in 1930 you walk up to this machine and drop a nickel in. You pull the handle, then test your skill with the skill stop buttons, check the future pay window to see if you won anything (in the future), then turn the vender knob for a roll of delicious mints (in reality they were nasty), then figure out what sequence of events just happened in the simulated game of baseball you are playing.

To say the least it would take an entire corporate law firm to legally figure out if this machine was a gambling device, mint vender, fortune teller, baseball game or skill device – which is exactly why Mills and other companies loaded these machines up with gimmicks during the early 1930’s!

The Watling Scale Company even put on their Treasury slot machine a little sign cast into the machine – NO GAMBLING ALLOWED ON THIS MACHINE. Just below that stern warning was a second message which we will decipher for you

“by the way, if you deposit a second coin into this gambling device before pulling the handle in hopes of winning the jackpot and bringing home a pocket full of buffalo nickels, your extra coin will be returned to you so you can gamble again”.

American history is full of examples of enterprising entrepreneurs figuring out a way to get around goofy or strict laws to provide the public with a product or service they greatly desire. Slot machines, a true American invention, are no exception!

Jennings Little Duke With Gum Vender & Fortune Reels

Vintage Mills Novelty Posters Available

2012-01-14T18:17:00.000-06:00

Recently we turned up some really interesting old paper from the Mills Novelty Company. The engraving and art work on some of the paper were so amazing we decided to have some posters professionally printed. Two of the posters images date to 1908 and the third is from 1927.

Finding old advertising material from any of the slot machines companies from before World War 2 is quite difficult – especially in color! Over the years we have seen and found some really neat letters, catalogs and even posters from Mills Novelty, Pace, Watling, O.D. Jennings and various smaller companies. Since Mills Novelty was the largest company in the industry, their material tends to be high quality and very attractive.

Below are images of the three posters. We have made them in a small 12”X32” size and a limited amount in a large 24”x64” size. The smalls are $32.50 each or $90 for all three, which does include shipping within the US. The large posters are $67.50 each. These can also be purchased on our web site at www.nationsattic.com/antiqueslotmachineforsale.html

We are always interesting in purchasing vintage photos, letters and posters associated with the coin operated industry from before 1950. Please email me at slots@nationsattic.com or call 316-371-1828.

Mills Novelty Special Gum Vender Liberty Bell Restoration - Best of 2011

2012-01-09T20:29:00.000-06:00

Nations Attic performs quite a few restorations on antique slot machines in the course of a year. Alot of the machines are classics from the 1930’s and 1940’s. Sometimes the owners will share with us the stories behind the machine and why they are having it restored.

My personal favorite story and machine to restore this past year (2011) was a rare 1911 Mills Special Gum Vender Liberty Bell. Cast iron slot machines and trade stimulators from before World War 1 are rare. It’s always a treat to handle one and study how they were made.

Earlier in the year we had a gentleman in Oklahoma contact us about restoring this machine. The photos above show the condition it was in when it arrived in our shop. While not in horrible condition, it had been painted over with an orange paint, the mechanism was seized up and broken in 3 spots, the award frame was bolted to the lower front casting and the curved glass was missing.

While these early machines are smaller than examples from the 1930’s and 1940’s – they are heavier! Apparently the owner had been using this piece of American cast iron history as a weight in the back of his truck when it iced and snowed! While it did serve this purpose well, he decided to check with us to see if this machine had any value or not.

After checking with us about its value and restoration costs, he decided to bring to our shop in Wichita, Kansas and have it restored. He then invested in some sand bags to put in the back of his truck for weight rather than using a 100 year old slot machine, ha ha! All kidding aside, the owner is a wonderful guy with a great family story regarding the machine and reasons for having it restored.

The Mills Novelty Special Gum Vender Liberty Bell is a really great looking machine. It is one of the very first three reel slot machines made. When Mills Novelty came out with their Operator Bell & Liberty Bell machines in 1910 they knew they had a hit on their hands. So in 1911 they made a version of the Liberty Bell that vended rolls of mints. This machine originally had a mint vender attached to the left side of the cabinet. In almost every case the side vender attachment is missing, as it is in this case. This is also why the lower front of the machine appears to be a billboard for Liberty Bell Gum-Fruit 5c packages!

After taking the old paint off the castings, polishing and having them re-nickel plated all of the details came alive! The early mechanism with its simple form was actually more challenging to work on since Mills had not developed all the user friendly features that are common on 1930’s machines. With all the usual restoration details attended to, this machine will live on – just not in the back of a pick-up truck!

We have included some photos of this historic machine after restoration below. While the machine turned out looking great it was even better to present it to the owner and re-unite this piece of American history with the family!

Slot Machine Bug Sighting!

2012-01-05T21:47:00.001-06:00

Just a few days after posting the story about the slot machine bugs, we had a Mills 7-7-7 High Top come into the shop infected with one of the little buggers! Above is a photo of the mechanism and a close-up of the bug in action!

This bug was placed on the 2^nd reel, preventing one of the jackpot bars to be landed on. This machine will still line-up three bars but the odds of hitting a jackpot are really bad now. That’s probably also why we found lots of Mercury dimes from the 1940’s still inside the machine – no one could win them back once they went into the jackpot compartment!

Bugs In My Antique Slot Machine?

2012-01-02T20:06:00.005-06:00

When I first got interested in antique slot machines I would bring them home and my wife would always say; “there better not be any bugs in that thing!”. At that time she naturally assumed that since it was old, there had to be nasty creatures living inside it. Being the good husband that I am I would dutifully take the vacuum and clean out the machine before bringing it into our home. What I didn’t know at the time was that some of those machines would still have a bug inside, but the bug wasn’t the creepy crawly kind – but a mechanical bug that was much more mischievous and sinister!

As I started working on machines and restoring them in detail I would run across a strange little device that seemingly had no purpose. It almost looked like it has clamped itself onto the reel bundle of the machine and wouldn’t let go! The first one of these strange little mechanical creatures I found was on a 1929 Mills Poinsettia machine.

Initially while testing the machine I never even noticed its presence – why would I? However after manually lining up the reels to trigger a payout on the machine I would notice the third reel would never stop on the jackpot image. Now it should be mentioned that most Mills slot machines of this era had what is called a 10 stop mechanism – meaning only half of the images you see on the reels are “live” or can actually be landed on. So, after determining which of the two jackpot symbols on the third reel is real, I still couldn’t get the machine to land on it, even when I held the reel in place!

So why in the world would Mills make a machine that wouldn’t land on the jackpot symbol? The answer is they didn’t, but other people would make a clever little device that could be installed inside the machine in seconds – eliminating those pesky jackpots from ever being hit on the machine! With about 2 cents worth of metal the machines odds of hitting a jackpot would go from 8000 to 1 to zero, and no one playing the machine knew the difference.

As I worked on more antique slot machines and then made it my full time profession in 2005 I would occasionally run across these nasty yet interesting little devices, and still do today. During that time I also ran across vintage gambling supply brochures and books. In some of these sales brochures they would openly list for sale “Percentage Devices”. Well that doesn’t sound too threating or something that sounds morally questionable does it? As it turns out those “devices” were bugs – small parts that once installed would magically not allow specific symbols on the reels to ever be landed on – how rotten!

Interestingly enough, the industry trade suppliers sold these without really trying to hide it. Granted, coin operated machine operators of the day didn’t exactly advertise to the general public how their machines worked or how easily they could be manipulated to lower the winning payouts.

During the Golden Age of slot machines (1931 – 1942) a vast majority of slots were not being used in casino’s where rules and tight scrutiny were present. Most slot machines were found in gas stations, bars, clubs and other common places men hung out at. These places didn’t have state gaming commissions checking their machines for proper payout percentages.

Sometime last year I had the pleasure of briefly talking to an elderly gentleman who operated slot machines in California in the 1940’s and 1950’s. He asked me if I knew what an Oregon Boot was? I didn’t know what he was talking about until he described to me a bug! He said the “syndicate” he was working for would use them on all their machines. The “syndicate” he worked for apparently didn’t care if they were screwing the players. I got the feeling these little “Oregon Boot’s” were a fairly minor ethical infraction compared to other stories he would go on to tell me!

So, the next time you are playing your favorite antique slot machine and notice those darn jackpot bars never lining up – you may want to remember my wife’s first rule before bringing a slot machine in the house – MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO BUGS IN THAT THING! Ha ha

What Happened To The Blog Posts in 2011!

2011-12-29T21:12:00.001-06:00

I’m very sorry for the huge gap in blog entries. Starting in
2012 we will be posting regular stories, information, polls asking for your
opinions and updates on interesting and unusual items we come across or in the
process of restoring.

So what happened with the total lack of posts in 2011? To be
honest, we were swamped with antique slot machine restoration work – and still
are! After working on machines all day and sometimes all night, sitting down at
the computer just wasn’t high on our list of priorities. With some better scheduling
and time management I will keep the hopefully interesting posts flowing this
year.

Many people are surprised to learn that Nations Attic’s
restoration department has a 6 month backlog of work. At some points that
backlog of been a long as 9 months but with more help and experience in the
shop, that backlog will maintain at 3-6 months for a high end professional job and
what we feel is the world’s best restoration of antique slot machines in the
world.

In addition to buying, selling and restoring antique slot
machines we will also post photos and stories about other aspects of the
business. We also ask that readers please contact us with questions about
current or past articles. Feedback is always welcome as well. In addition, if
there is topic pertaining to antique slot machines and other related topics,
let us know and we will post a story or comment.

Have A Great 2012!

Don Creekmore - Nations Attic

Always Read Disclaimers On eBay……….

2010-09-08T22:24:00.003-05:00

While perusing eBay recently for antique slots I ran across a rather over priced but fine looking Mills Castle Front slot machine with side vender. Normally I wouldn’t give this listing much thought but I’m always curious to see ads on eBay that show their owners inadvertently or not.

The gallery images seemed to show two people standing beside the machine – so I clicked on the ad just see the fine folks trying to sell this piece of American history. Suffice to say the pair of women referred to as “fun girls” do not come with the machine as stated at the bottom of the ad: THE FUN GIRLS NOT INCLUDED”.

I got a real kick out of this one and thought I would share it.

Was The Naked Lady The Gangsters Choice During Prohibition?

2010-09-08T22:03:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite slot machines ever made is the Caille Superior of 1925-1931. Referred to by many as the Naked Lady, this model stands out as a true pioneer in design, function and historical significance. While many of the classic slot machines of the 1930’s are very bright and fun looking, the 1920’s machines were much more quite and functional in appearance. One of the exceptions to this rule is the Superior Operator Bell, aka The Naked Lady. It has a sophisticated look making it the type of machine that could have been found in the classist speakeasy or the shadiest of back rooms.

Made by Caille during the height of Prohibition in Detroit, MI this model was a moderate success for the company. During Prohibition (1920 to 1933) in Detroit there was a LOT of illegal activity going on. Most notable the Purple Gang ran a lot of the vice in the city, including gambling. During this time all the slot machine manufactures were located in Chicago, except for Caille. While Chicago was probably the epicenter of gangsters, speakeasy’s, slot machines, etc, Detroit was a major hub for rum running to and from Canada, allowing the Purple Gang to grow and become the primary force in the city. It’s no doubt that organized crime utilized slot machines as a profit center. While I have no proof, I’ve got to believe that when the Naked Lady came out in late 1925, every back room, speakeasy and bar had to have one of these machines in Detroit.

What made this machine special for a short period of time is its unique design. During the early and mid 1920’s slot machines were relatively mundane and appearance. Year after year the big companies such as Mills would bring out their standard 3 models – a straight operator bell, a side vender operator bell and a front mint vending machine. For the time, these models made by Mills, Watling and later Jennings & Pace were what operators expected and were satisfied with. Caille on the other hand was fighting for market share and had to be innovative in design and function. Since the late 1800’s Caille was regarded as the premier manufacturer and produced some of the most elaborate coin operated devices ever conceived. Their product was superior but Mills Novelty of Chicago took over the vast majority of sales during the early part of the 20th Century and continued to do so into the 1950’s.

Caille’s status in the mid 1920’s as a slot machine manufacturer was fading. By 1925 they were probably third in sales volume. With research into serial numbers of Mills and Jennings machines of the same time, it’s evident Jennings was out pacing Caille by 4 to 1 and Mills was running at 12 to 1. However, the Superior for a short time did give them a boost!

The Naked Lady utilized a classic look of heavy flowing design throughout the cast aluminum castings. The use of the woman is very reminiscent of silver and gold coinage from the period. Caille also designed a very unique “slug-proof coin detector”. Known today as the escalator, this feature to the right of the 3 reels showed the last 4 coins played in the machine. Cheating slot machines with the use of slugs was a big problem at this time. Almost all competitors machines had a small window that showed the last coin played, but not the last 4! Caille advertising for the Naked Lady even quotes an operator as saying: “Had an old style Operator’s Bell in a location and every time I made a collection there were be as many slugs as quarters. I put in a Caille Superior Operator’s Bell and there wasn’t a slug in my last two collections. The best part of it is that play increased.”

The Naked Lady was a mechanically advanced machine and looked cool as well. While I’m sure the crime world had their fair share of these machines, a majority were sold to legitimate operators around the country. In order to get around sometimes vague gambling laws in certain areas, slot machines experimented with various gimmicks that would hypothetically allow them to operate legally. One of those attempts was called a “skill stop”. The idea of the skill stop was give the player a physical button(s) on the machine so they could stop the reels manually – hence using some degree of skill to line the reels up.

The particular machine shown at the top of this column has this rather rare option on it. When a dime, in this case, is inserted into the machine and the handle is pulled, the player can then push the button in and stop all three reels immediately. Wrapped around the button is the phrase “Are You Skilful? Push Button Catch A Winner”. In theory the player could use his or her cat like skills to stop the reels just how they want. In reality this feature didn’t help the player one bit. The reels simply spin to fast and the reel window opening was too narrow to gage when the right images would come up. Mills, Jennings and Watling also used skill stops, but theirs had three buttons for each reel.

The skill stop gimmick lasted on slot machines from the 1920’s into the 1930’s. During that time numerous other ideas were tried, some with success. For Caille the skill stop feature was apparently not a big seller, therefore today making examples like this one quite hard to find and adding a premium to the value.

It was not until 1931 that Mills caught up in design and function with their “Silent” line of machines – notable the War Eagle. Caille tried to complete with the own “silent” machine called the Silent Sphinx, which was the same as the Naked Lady except it had a jackpot and was a different theme on the casting. As evident by the Silent Sphinx’s rarity today, it’s obvious it was not a sales success for Caille. As the 1930’s rolled in Caille tried a total redesign of their machines – even hiring a commercial designer to make something new and visually modern in appearance. What resulted was a line of machines similar looking to the outboard boat motors Caille also produced during the 1930’s, except in this case the slots were better suited as boat anchors. Caille was sold and stopped slot machine production in the late 1930’s. A large majority of slot machines they made are eternal classics today – including what I believe was probably the gangster’s favorite – the Naked Lady….

A 1948 Mills High Top Jewel Bell Never Looked So Good!

2010-07-18T23:39:00.000-05:00

Recently I had a customer and blog follower email me Gil Elvgren’s illustration titled “Potluck”. I’ve always loved this image for a number of reasons and thought it would be interesting to comment on it briefly. Elvgren produced countless pin-up images, with the most famous images coming from the 1940’s to the 1960’s. The one relevant to this blog is the beauty shown above. It was put into Brown & Bigelow calendars and other advertising items during 1961.

While doing a little research on the image I ran across the original black & white photo Elvgren took of model Janet Rae. I also found the photo of the slot machine used as well. Both were really cool to see and how they matched up with the finished product of Potluck. Elvgren typically always took photos of models in similar poses to use as reference for his art. Janet Rae was used as a model over 75 times during the 1950’s and 1960’s. In almost every case Elvgen brought out even more life and excitement in his illustrations from those photos, including Potluck.

The photos tell us that Ms. Rea was originally standing in front of a light – not nearly as exciting as a slot machine. The photo also shows a nice original 1948 Mills High Top Jewel Bell – now we are talking! With the two images put together Elvgren whipped out another classic in 61’. He even drew in a fairly accurate representation of a period slot machine stand as well, not bad Gil.

If you have been following my other posts, you may be wondering the same thing as me – where in the world did Gil get that evil slot machine for his photo shoot? Didn’t he know slot machines in 1961 were highly illegal to own, especially in Florida where these images were taken? Maybe Mr. Elvgren knew one of those resourceful law enforcement officials that would “lend” him the machine to take photos of – like in my previous Twilight Zoon posting. Hopefully Janet Rea wasn’t mixed up in some illegal gambling which then gave Mr. Elvgren the inspiration for the art?

All kidding aside, I’m sure glad Gil Elvgren decided to immortalize the all American girl with a true piece of American mechanical history. His creation has hopefully inspired other beautiful women to wear super low cut outfits, use those incredibly complicated panty hose and collect their winnings in anything but a plastic cup!

Mrs. Gibbs , a 1930’s Vender Front Watling Rol-A-Top that talks just killed your husband…

2010-07-18T16:15:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite shows of all time is the classic Twilight Zone hosted by Rod Serling. While there are many episodes that are truly classic, one of my favorites is titled The Fever. While some consider it one of the more forgettable shows in the first season, I have other reasons for ranking this one in my top 5.

With my profession and passion in vintage slot machines I’m always watching for slot machines in the background of old movies and shows. Typically westerns will have some slot machines situated in a saloon and typically used as background props. Gangster movies from the 30’s and 40’s will show slots in bar scenes, etc. The classic Oceans 11 with Frank Sinatra shows lots of them in each casino! However, I don’t recall the slot machine(s) ever playing a leading role in a show, until The Twilight Zone.

The ever cool Rod Serling starts out the show by giving us a brief synopsis of what we are in for;

“Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Gibbs, three days and two nights, all expenses paid, at a Las Vegas hotel, won by virtue of Mrs. Gibbs' knack with a phrase. But unbeknownst to either Mr. or Mrs. Gibbs is the fact that there's a prize in their package neither expected nor bargained for. In just a moment, one of them will succumb to an illness worse than any virus can produce, a most inoperative, deadly, life-shattering affliction known as "The Fever".

As we find out, “The Fever” is Franklin’s sudden addiction to a slot machine after initially not wanting anything to do with them. While the premise is entertaining the show gets a little goofy towards the end. However, as a slot machine historian – looking at all the slot machines in the casino is truly fascinating and also raises questions.

While I’m not old enough to have visited Vegas in the early 1960’s my research and period photos have given me a darn good idea of what kind of machines were operating in the casinos during that time. Suffice to say, the star machine in the show (and killer), the Watling Rol-A-Top, was not at all a standard machine used then, especially by casino’s!

After stopping and starting the Twilight Zone DVD a few times I was able to identify all of the machines in the casino set. There is quite an eclectic collection of machines dating from the early 1930’s to the late 1940’s. The first machine that got my attention other than the murdering Rol-A-Top was a really rare AC Multibell. Those rarely come up for sale today and are very unique. A mix of Mills Black Cherry and Golden Falls machines can be seen lined up a few times. A Mills Extraordinary and Mills High Top machines are also in the room. Another interesting machine is a Mills jackpot revamp sitting off the side in a number of scenes. Watling Rol-A-Top’s in various forms are sprinkled in the background as well.

The primary Rol-A-Top that somehow follows Mr. Gibbs to his room is actually quite rare. By rare I don’t mean the flashing bulb at the top that covers the escalator either – ha ha. The Rol-A-Top that figures out how to belch out “Franklin” throughout the show appears to be a $1 Vender Front. I’ve had a number of rare Rol-A-Top machines but I’m actually not aware of real $ Rol-A-Top machines. During the show Mr. Gibbs is dropping them in and he also screams at the end of the show after knocking over the machine “Give me back my dollar”. I’m guessing that this machine could have been modified by an operator before the police confiscated it. By accepting dollars, I’m sure the escalator was modified or even removed, which is possibly why the white lens was placed over the top as well. The machine could be a real half dollar and the show simply implied it was a dollar – silver halves and dollars do look similar from a distance.

Regardless if it’s a 50c or $ machine it is quite odd that a large denomination machine has the mint vending columns on it. It’s possible that this machine was modified somehow for the show or the mechanism was switched out. I’m sure the shows director or prop department did not even know the machine originally vended mints. After finding some cool software on my computer I was able to freeze a scene from the shows trailer (image above). Mr. Serling is standing in front of a similar but different Rol-A-Top. This one is also a rare 50c machine with the escalator window covered, but it is not a vender front. I also have a shot of Franklin standing in front of the Rol-A-Top above as well.

A book titled The Twilight Zone Companion by Marc Scott Zicree has a brief background history of this show, which is really fascinating. In the 1960’s, slot machines were illegal to own in California. So, the only way to get a bunch of machines was to contact the police department where a number of them were impounded. For the filming of the show the police supplied all of the machines and kept an officer on set the entire time – apparently to make sure no one appropriated one of them. This behind the scenes trivia explains why the casino set has such an assortment of different machines not likely found in a real casino! It also explains why so many slot machines are hard to find today, with the police snatching them up. See my previous blog of where some of those machines ended up after the police snached them.

I’ve had a number of Rol-A-Top’s over the years. However, the next time I find a 50c Rol-A-Top it’s going to be hard not to stick a flashing plastic lens over the escalator and a cover over the jackpot with a white box and evil smile on it. Hopefully I won’t wake up in the middle of the night with the machine somehow wobbling towards me as I fall backwards out the bedroom window.

Police Benefit Casino Night or Nasty Prohibition Era Gambling Raid?

2010-06-26T11:21:00.000-05:00

A number of years ago I found this vintage photo and hung it up on the wall of our shop. When people notice it they always ask me why a few guys with guns and note pads are standing in the middle of a bunch of old slot machines! Are they tough guys getting ready to start their own casino in the 1930’s? Could it be savvy collectors storing away these old machines to later cash in on their collectible value in the 21st Century? Or my favorite – a shot from a 1930’s movie about the dangers of gambling combined with alcohol consumption and caring a gun………
Actually this image was taken in the early 1930’s and is a police evidence photo. When law enforcement would come busting in they would take all kinds of photos of the evidence and aftermath. A lot of these photos really capture some great scenes. This particular photo I believe was taken in Chicago after a raid. As you can see it appears they found the mother load of slot machines and trade stimulators. After a raid the police, in most cases, would confiscate all the machines and later destroy them. I have a number of great shots of piles of slot machines being broken up and either burned or dumped into a lake.
As someone that deals in these antique slots for a business every day I get calls from people with rather unique back stories about the origin of their family’s slot machine. One of the more common ways a slot machine made its way home was via someone back in the day who was a cop. I’ve restored countless slot machines that are family heirlooms that were originally brought home after a police raid. Dad, uncle or grandpa was a cop and rather than distort all the “evil” slot machines, he would save one and bring it home. Of course all the kids in the family were told never to breathe a word of this at school. Family friends after diner were shown the illegal device and sworn to secrecy afterward. In many cases playing the machine on special occasions was tradition and became important parts of family memories over the years. One of the best parts of my job is getting to talk to those people and bring those very slot machines back to life. A sample of the before & after photos of some of those machines can be seen on our web site at http://www.nationsattic.com/antiqueslotmachinerestorationrepair.html
If you browse the web site a little you will notice that a number of the machines in the police photo above are models we have restored. I’ve always found it neat to look at these vintage images and see just how the machines looked when they were new. As a restorer it’s always a great tool and reference. The photo shows quite a collection of mostly Mills slot machines from the early to mid 1930’s. The Mills War Eagle, Extraordinary, Castle Front, QT, FOK and Lion Front to name a few. There are also some early turn of the century upright slot machines at the far back left of the photo as well. The smaller machines are called trade stimulators; one can clearly be seen called the Pok O Reel.
When I look at this photo I always wonder if there is a old warehouse somewhere that still has all this evidence waiting to be discovered again!

Gambling With Antique Slot Machines

2010-06-23T00:46:00.000-05:00

Thank you for checking out my first blog entry! I hope to keep this site updated consistently with new and interesting stories and information about the world of antique slot machines and other unique devices. Hopefully the content with some humor and sarcasm added in will compensate for my lack of proper writing skills and make this an informative place to visit!
So why in the world would some want to collect, much less base an entire business on finding and restoring antique slot machines? My simply answer is, because they are really cool! In addition to being cool, they are purely an American invention that in many cases over the last 100 years have been very illegal to own.
The first slot machine as we know them today was invented by Charles Fey in San Francisco, CA around 1895. Fey invented a number of coin operated devices but that first slot machine called the Liberty Bell is what started everything! At some point in future postings I will expand on some interesting stories about those first Liberty Bell machines and just how many are around today.
As those first “nickel in the slot” machines became hugely popular in San Francisco and other parts of the country, they also became the source of much criticism, corruption, theft, you name it! The slot machine would have probably flown under the radar but they were making so much money they just kept popping up everywhere and problems were inevitable.
Depending on what part of the country they were in, slot machines were welcomed with open arms, mildly tolerated or simply banned. Even areas where they were strictly a no-no, they still seemed to pop up! With the amount of money each of these machines were making, it was common practice to make sure the proper people were well “taken care of” when the issue of shutting them down came up.
Slot machines flourished during Prohibition, with the decade of the 1930’s, now called the Golden Era of slot machines. During this time slots came in all kinds of designs to attract the player. Internal engineering and external design were at their peak during this time period. All kinds of gimmicks were tried and even unique ways to conceal and quickly move slot machines were invented by the major manufactures during the 1930’s. Everyone associated with slot machines were making money at this time – except for the players.
Just as slot machines were going into the 1940’s with full force, WWII started for the US. All production of slots was stopped from late 1942 until early 1946. After the war companies like Mills Novelty, OD Jennings and Pace geared back up for production but they were in for a big surprise. Changing views on gambling were taking place and by 1951 it became illegal to transport slot machines over state lines. It was also illegal to operate or own slot machines in almost every state except for Nevada.
From the early 1950’s until the early 1980’s it was very illegal for an individual in almost every state to be in possession of a slot machines – regardless of its age. There are lots of stores and period news accounts of people with old slot machines being arrested and given serious fines and jail time during the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s. As the old mechanical slots from the 1940’s and older became more obsolete and simply antiques, laws started to change state by state in the 1980’s. Today 44 states have laws making it legal to own antique slot machines of a certain date, typically one at least 25 years old. Here in Kansas where Nations Attic is located, slot machines must have been made before 1951 to be legal to own.
So with that brief history of slot machines covered, it’s clear if you are a collector or history buff why there are so many reasons why to became fascinated with them. I have clients that enjoy the mystique of having something that was once illegal. There are people that feel it’s like going back in time playing a slot machine that is all original from the 1920’s. There are also people that see them as fun, functional antiques that they can enjoy as a hobby or investment.
My future blog entries will cover some of the unique devices that I have handled for clients in the past and currently. In addition to slot machines I will also delve into the depths of other mechanical devices I deal in as well, such as old diving helmets, non gambling coin operated devices, gas pumps, advertising, etc.