History of Slot Machines - We look at Charles Fey's invention of the slot machine to see how this device was born and made gambling history. The World’s online gaming authority since 1995.
Introduction
The first mechanical slot machine was invented in the late 1800's by a Bavarian imiagrant named Charles Fey (1862-1944) in San Francisco. In order to understand the history of the slot machine though we need to jump back a little in time.
Poker Machines
Before Fey’s invention there were other coin-operated games of chance. The most popular one, invented by Sittman and Pitt of New York, was a 'poker machine' that was similar to a slot machine and used 5 reels with 10 poker cards on each reel. These machines were very profitable and were used in hundreds of locations (mainly in cigar stands) in the 90's (the 1890's that is). The machines paid out prizes, like a free cigar or free drinks, which were distributed manually by an attendant.
Charles Fey
When Charles began building machines, he initially built ones that were similar the popular poker machines and called them by various names, like the 'Duke' and the 'Klondike'. After building a few of them, placing them in locations, and doing very well with them, he then opened a factory in San Francisco to work on his machines full-time.
But Fey wanted to build a machine that would pay out automatically. This wasn't possible at the time due to the difficulty of calculating the vast number of winning combinations of a machine with 5 reels and 10 cards on each reel. So, in 1898, Fey designed a poker machine called the 'Card Bell' machine that retained the card symbols of the earlier poker machines but had only 3 spinning reels and only 5 symbols printed on each reel. The automatic prize-payout allowed the machine to be the first to pay out coins.
The 'Liberty Bell'
About a year later, in 1899, he created the 'Liberty Bell' machine, which added horseshoes and bells to the suit symbols on the reels. Lining up three bells would win the top prize (hence the name). Fey's design became the standard design for slot machines going forward and was so popular that all 3-reel slot machines were referred to as 'Bell Machines'.
Fey rented his machines to saloons and bars and split the profits 50/50. The demand for Liberty Bell slot machines was huge and allowed Fey to monopolize the slot machine market. Many gambling supply manufacturers wanted to buy the manufacturing and distribution rights to the Liberty Bell but Charles Fey didn't want to sell them.
But Fey could not keep up with the demand so in 1907 he partnered with Mills Novelty Company to manufacture a cast-iron machine called the 'Mills Liberty Bell'.
Unfortunately for Fey, patent laws of the time did not protect gaming devices because a Federal Judge ruled the slots could only be used for gambling and had no useful purpose. So a few years later, in 1910, the Mills Novelty Company introduced a slight variation to the Mills Liberty Bell called the 'Operator Bell'. The machines from Mills Novelty were the first to use the fruit symbols like lemons and cherries that you see on some slot machines today.
1910-1933
Part of the growth of slot machines was due the wide open nature of San Francisco during the early 1900's. The climate started to change quickly though in 1909 when San Francisco outlawed all gaming machines. Nevada did the same a year later and the state of California created a statewide ban on slot machines in 1911.
These laws did not have much of an effect on slot machine sales because slot machine manufacturers were able to find ways to alter the games to avoid getting them classified as gambling devices.
Jackpotjoy slots free slots. For example, the 'Liberty Bell Gum Fruit' model dispensed a package of gum, which allowed the machine to be classified as a vending machine. The Caille Brothers slots created machines that had a Swiss music box located in the bottom of the cabinet so the machine was classified as a musical device. Another popular strategy was to have slot machines dispense items like mints or gum in order to have them classified as vending machines.
Slot machines reached their peak sales during the Great Depression and the lawless days of prohibition, which began in 1919. They were popular in the speakeasies as well as the many respectable businesses that needed the profitable machines in order to stay in business during the tough economic times.
1933-1945
After prohibition ended the government decided to target slot machines since they were looked at as tools for organized crime. Raids began to increase as well as laws prohibiting the possession of slot machines or a sale of a slot machine to an illegal state. Despite these efforts, the popularity of slots machines was difficult to stop and slots were still able to operate in some places.
Post WWII
After World War II, governments started to become friendly to the slot machine industry because it now looked at it as a source of tax revenue.
Computer Technology
In 1963, Bally developed the first electromechanical slot machine, called Money Honey, that used electronic micro-processors to decide the outcome of the game.
The first fully-electronic slot machines were introduced in Las Vegas in 1975. They were built by the Fortune Coin Company and used simulated reels on a monitor. The electronic machines caught on slower than expected because many players did not trust the fairness of the machines. In 1978, the company that would later be known as International Game Technology bought out the Fortune Coin Company.
In 1984, a Norwegian scientist named Inge Telnaes received a patent for a device titled, 'Electronic Gaming Device Utilizing a Random Number Generator for Selecting the Reel Stop Positions.' International Gaming Technology (IGT) bought the patent in 1988 and now all slot manufacturers his technology must license the patent from IGT.
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HPG ADMIN on February 27, 2013
Unlike other industries, the birth of slot machines isn’t very well documented. That lack of facts leaves some space for different versions of how the history of slot machines began and who invented these iconic casino games. Some think that first slots were created by Charles Fey. Even though it’s widely believed so, this opinion can be a little bit inaccurate.
First Machine Invented
First Slot Machines: Sittman and Pitt
According to one version, first slot machines were developed by a New York company called Sittman and Pitt in 1891. If this company really was behind this incredible gambling invention, it would be a mistake to picture first casino slots as three reeled machines.
Sittman and Pitt created five reel slots. That’s because those were poker machines and like in poker, players had to get five cards. It was similar to playing poker game, but you don’t compete against other players and just hope to collect a pair of kings or a higher combination. KK was the lowest paying combination.
There are 52 playing cards in a regular deck. Slot reels each could accommodate only 10 cards. Therefore, Sittman and Pitt’s machines were missing two cards – J and 10. That resulted in a lower payout ratio.
One of the key characteristics of those poker machines was that payouts weren’t automated. Players had to ask for a venue owner or employee to collect their winnings. It wasn’t just money they could win, but also variety of products like chewing gums, drinks, etc.
For instance, one of the first slot machines had maximum payout of 100 cigars paid to anyone collecting Royal Flush. Wager size was fixed at that time – 5 cents per spin. Those slots were usually placed in bars to attract more visitors as poker was very popular.
History of Casino Slot Machines. Charles Fey
This version doesn’t provide specific dates. It’s believed that Charles Fey created his first slot machines somewhere between 1887-1895. But many think that his invention came as a modification of Sittman and Pitt’s poker machines. If they are right, Charles Fey’s product was created in 1891-1895.
Charles Fey introduced automated payouts, and this was a big deal at that time. To make this happen, he had to make the slot as simple as possible. That was the beginning of the three reeled slots era. Along with three reels and automated payouts, he introduced a few symbols instead of fifty different cards. There were just three playing card suits (hearts, diamonds and spades), horseshoes and Liberty Bell. The latter symbol was the most valuable, and slots were named after it. Those changes made a huge impact and greatly influenced the history of slot machines.
After Charles Fey came up with simple and his innovative machines, a lot of investors rushed in and started investing in this industry. Fey failed to patent his invention and therefore others started to copy his work. As Charles Fey lived in the USA, there’s no doubt about the country of origin of the first slot machines. But naming the author is a bit tricky.
Charles worked as a mechanic and had passion for inventing. Some say that he first had the idea of creating a slot machine as early as 1887. That’s several years before Sittman and Pitt introduced their own product. However, we don’t know when this company came up with the idea, and when they started to actually started building the machine. So, there is no exact answer to the question of who is the author. But one thing is clear – Charles Fey indeed can be called Father of Slots, at least for his contribution to the development of the industry. It’s clear that his work gave the slot production a huge boost.
History of Slot Machines. First Mass Production Companies
Soon after Charles Fey started developing Liberty Bell, this industry became an attractive investment opportunity. As companies with bigger resources entered the market, it wasn’t rational to try to compete with them alone, and Charles Fey joined Mills Novelty Company Inc. Their first slot machines were called Mills Owl. Later on they launched the production of Mills Liberty Bell and then came Operator Bell featuring first fruit symbols.
In the 1930s, while still working on Mills Novelty, Charles Fey created Silent Bell. Older machines a lot of noise and Silent Bell was designed to reduce noise level. The machine also offered twice the usual maximum payout.
In 1906 one of Mills Novelty employees established Industry Novelty company. At first they specialized on fixing existing slot machines, but later launched their own production. One of their most significant contributions to the history of slot machines was figuring out how machines could recognize coin values. They also invented the mechanism that prevented coins from being stuck inside the slots if they were released too quickly.
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Many companies jumped the trend at that early days of slot machines, but most of them ceased to exist. One of the first slot machine developers that still operate today is Aristocrat. The company was established in 1953 and distributed its products globally. Its founder, Len Ainsworth, later lost control over his company and left it. He then started a new company, Ainsworth Game Technology.
When Was The Slot Machine Invented
History of Slot Machine Names
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One of the earliest names given to slots was “nickel-in-the-slot”. That’s because machines accepted only 5 cent coins. Later this long name was shortened to “slot”. At the same time, machines were called one handed bandits, and there was a good reason for that. When fruit symbols were introduced, players started calling slots “fruit machines”.