Slots have come a long way since Charles Fey created the first one in his auto shop in 1895. Since then, those “One Armed Bandits,” as they are commonly called, have captivated our eyes, our minds, and most certainly, our wallets. What is it that draws us to these machines of fortune and failure? At first, slots were big clunky devices made out of cast-iron. They were so big and heavy, Fey couldn’t make them fast enough....

Charles Fey invented the first slot machine in 1895. In 1907, Fey teamed up with the Mills Novelty Company and then manufactured the Mills Liberty Bell. The Liberty Bell featured a cast iron case, with a classic Liberty Bell cast into the front of the machine. The machine originally had cast iron feet with toes. In later models the toes were eliminated and replaced with ornate scrolled feet. The machine’s reel strips depicted playing...

In 1895, the first slot machine was created by inventor Charles Fey.A decade or so later, Fey and the Mills Novelty Company came together to create the famous machine, the Mills Novelty Bell (the basic version of today’s slot machines). The Mills Novelty Bell was equipped with a cast iron case and a classic Liberty Bell which rung when someone hit a winning combination (as modern machines do today). The machines reel strips portrayed the...

1891 and against the backdrop of the town of Brooklyn, in the recently-booming east coast New York City, Sittman and Pitt had just developed the gaming machine that in the years to come would be considered THE precursor to the modern slot machine. Based on poker, possibly to cash-in on the popularity of the game, the machine contained five drums carrying a total of fifty cards and like it’s namesake in the table-sitting world, it proved...