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!