It’s hard to believe that when you spin a slot at an online casino, you are in fact playing a game whose origins date back to 1895. Modern slots at http://freeslotsites.com/ make it difficult to comprehend that they have such humble beginnings. It is thought that Bavarian-born American inventor Charles August Fey introduced the first mechanical slot machine to the public. At the time he was working as a mechanic in San Francisco and in his spare time he was busy designing the first coin slot machine in his basement. Fey introduced the 4-11-44 to a local saloon and the machine proved successful enough for Fey to quit his job and concentrate on creating further models of his slot game.
Slots Prove Popular With The Public
The success of his early efforts meant that Fey opened his own factory to produce more slot machines. Fey built the Card Bell that used a lever to trigger the spins on the 3-reels. The Card Bell contained playing card symbols and payouts would follow Poker hands that formed on the reels. His next slot the Liberty Bell was his most popular creation. This consisted of 5 symbols that included horseshoes, diamonds, spades, hearts, and of course the bell. It was another 3-reels game that was operated by a lever. Three Liberty Bells in a row was the top pay out of 10 nickels on this machine. Unfortunately for Charles Fey, his failure to buy the patent for these machines meant that other inventors could follow suit and attempt to create their own slot machine. Another setback was the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that was though to have destroyed nearly all of the 100 Liberty Bell slot machines that he had built. However, the Mills Novelty Company were quick to copy Fey’s designs once production returned.
Production On The Move
By the time gambling was banned in San Francisco in 1909, it was thought that over 3000 slot machines were in circulation in the city. To get around the law changes Fey and others built machines that dispensed sweets and other noncash prizes. These became known as vending machines. Eventually, the majority of slot manufacturing relocated to Chicago. Fruits became popular symbols on the reels during the gambling ban and this gave birth to the fruit machine. The Industry Novelty Company employed these tactics in 1909 and they were quickly copied by the Mills Novelty Company who added the bar symbol to their slots. When gambling was no longer outlawed slot machine creators returned to their gambling roots and The Mills Novelty Company eventually invented the concept of the jackpot in 1916.
The 1920s and Beyond
Slot production thrived during the 1920’s and the 1930s. However, in some places organized criminals controlled the distribution of these machines. After the war slots were readily available to play, as governments needed the tax revenue to rebuild their war torn economies. Eventually, slots inventors came up with the first electrical slot, video slot, linked slots and the first virtual video slot that appeared in 1996.
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