Police Benefit Casino Night or Nasty Prohibition Era Gambling Raid?

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

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.