Liberty Bell Slot Machine

1. The Liberty Bell coin-operated Slot Machine by Mills Novelty Co. (circa 1906), and it's history and background, photos, repair help, manuals, for sale and wanted lists, and census survey is brought to you by The International Arcade Museum at the Museum of the Game.
2. Slot Machine Liberty Bell, temecula ca casino pala, mallette outillage a roulette, 11.5 gram clay composite poker chips.

Mar 14, 2010 The Liberty Bell and the Liberty Belle: An Interview with Marshall Fey. 'In 1898 Fey built a machine that forever changed the face of slot machines; it was called the Card Bell. It was a three-reel, staggered stop, with an automatic payout design; a design that dominated the slot industry until the age of electronics and is still prevalent even. Liberty Bell Slot Machine Charles August Fey began inventing and manufacturing slot machines in 1894. Fey pioneered many innovations of coin operated gaming devices in his San Francisco workshop at 406 Market Street, including the original three-reel bell slot machine in 1898.

California Historical Landmarks in San Francisco

California Historical Landmark 937
Site of Liberty Bell Slot Machine
406 Market Street At Battery
Financial District
1898

Liberty Bell Slot Machine

Charles August Fey began inventing and manufacturing slot machines in 1894. Fey pioneered many innovations of coin operated gaming devices in his San Francisco workshop at 406 Market Street, including the original three-reel bell slot machine in 1898. The international popularity of the bell slot machines attests to Fey's ingenuity as an enterprising inventor whose basic design of the three reel slot machine continues to be used in mechanical gaming devices today.

California Registered Historical Landmark No. 937

Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with E Clampus Vitus

October 21, 1984.

The plaque stands inconspicuously under a tree east of the Crown-Zellerbach building at the intersection of Market and Battery Streets.

Nothing remains of Charles Fey's workshop.

To see his ingenious, beautiful, dangerous machines, you must leave San Francisco and head for Reno to the Liberty Belle Saloon and Restaurant owned by Mr. Fey's sons, Marshall and Frank, since 1958. There you will find many slot machines, including the first three-reels, the first draw poker machine and the first three-reel dollar slot.

On 31 October 2019, I received a short email from the manager of the Inspection & Enforcement Division, Bureau of Street Use & Mapping, San Francisco Department of Public Works. The email, which included copies of the images at the top of this web page, read:

Do you know the party responsible for maintenance and repair of the Liberty Bell Slot Machine located at 406 Market Street at Battery? Your assistance is much appreciated.

I replied:

California landmarks are nominated by private individuals and reviewed and approved by the State Historical Resources Commission and California State Parks. The markers and bases are funded by private individuals, not the State of California.

The slot machine marker was sponsored (a long time ago) by E Clampus Vitus, an organization that is still active and has erected many historical markers in California and Nevada. I don’t know which ECV chapter sponsored this marker, but I would guess it’s Yerba Buena #1.

ECV YB1
PO Box 25012
San Mateo, CA 94402

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If no one claims responsibility for the marker, two organizations that might be interested in maintaining it are the Nevada State Museum in Carson City or the State of Nevada Gaming Commission.

It would be a shame to lose this marker. How many people know that the slot machine was invented in San Francisco?

On Thanksgiving Day, I was in he Financial District and walked to the nearby Liberty Bell marker to see why it needed to be repaired. I was pleased to discover that the Clampers had already repaired it on November 10th and signed their work.

Top of the Marker

28 November 2019
(Click Photos to Zoom)

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The Liberty Bell was the first variation of the modern mechanical slot machine we see today, originally being referred to as a 'fruit machine' or 'one-armed bandit'. Created in 1894 by Charles Fey (1862–1944), a car mechanic from San Francisco, the Liberty Bell's popularity set the standard for the modern slot machine; its three-reel model is still used today despite great advances in slot technology over the past several decades. An original Liberty Bell slot machine is currently on display at the Liberty Belle saloon in Reno, Nevada as a historic artifact.^[1]

How it worked[edit]

Each of Liberty Bell's three reels were imprinted with a symbol of a diamond, heart, spade, horseshoe, star and a cracked Liberty Bell. Once the player deposited a nickel, he could pull the lever on the side of the machine and the reels would begin to spin, stopping on any random combination of symbols. If the same symbol appeared on all three reels a bell would ring and the player would be awarded with coins. Three Liberty Bells offered the largest payout of fifty cents (10 nickels), which was ejected by the machine.^[1]

Payouts[edit]

The payouts for the Liberty Bell were as follows:

• 2 horseshoes = 5 cents
• 2 horseshoe + 1 star = 10 cents
• 3 spades = 20 cents
• 3 diamonds = 30 cents
• 3 hearts = 40 cents
• 3 Liberty Bells = 50 cents

Popularity[edit]

In 1907, with the growing popularity and demand for the Liberty Bell, the Mills Novelty Company began manufacturing the 'Mills Liberty Bell'.^[2]

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In 1910 the company introduced a slight variation of the Liberty Bell, called the Operator Bell. Changes such as a gooseneck coin acceptor and fruit symbols to replace the traditional images became a standard for slot machines for decades to come, and over 30,000 of these machines were produced. In 1915 the company then began manufacturing a less expensive version of the Operator Bell, replacing the heavy cast iron machines with ones made out of lighter wooden cabinets.^[2]

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In the early 1930s the Mills Novelty company made additional changes to their line of slot machines. First, they designed it so that their machines were much more quieter, which eventually gave the machines the name 'silent bells'. Secondly, they created a line of themed wooden cabinets each with its own unique design, the first being Lion Head released in 1931.^[3]

It was this time in the 1930s that slot machines saw a rise of popularity in America. In the late 1940s Bugsy Siegel added slot machines to his Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, initially as a way to entertain the wives and girlfriends of high rollers. Soon the revenue generated from these machines matched those of the table games.^[3]

Mills Liberty Bell Slot Machine

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abInventors.about.com, The History of Slot Machines-Liberty Bell.
2. ^ ^abSlot Machines Payout, Slot Machine History.
3. ^ ^abSlot Tips Guide, The History of Slot Machines.

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