Slot machines were born in San Francisco at the end of the 19th century. It was there that Charles Fey, who had immigrated to the USA from Bavaria, had the idea of developing a mechanical slot machine that was activated with a lever on the side after money had been inserted. Therefore, the machine was given the name one-armed bandit – of course also because hapless players felt robbed by the new device. The odds of winning weren’t that bad.
The slot machine began a triumphal march around the world. Today players have thousands of machines to choose from. Some of the most popular non GamStop casino slots include titles like Starburst, Mega Moolah, Book of Ra and Gonzo’s Quest. Slot machines provide the bulk of casino revenue, whether they are land-based, face-to-face casinos or online casinos. In the US they make up 70% of the average casino income.
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Who Was Charles Fey?
The father of slot machines got around a lot, and he always had one long-term goal: the New World. Charles Fey was born in 1862. A plaque on the house where he was born commemorates him. He received a similar honor in San Francisco. The inscription there, commemorating his former workshop, dates the start of work on a slot machine to 1894 and the breakthrough of Fey’s efforts to 1898.
It was a long road that took Fey there, but he pursued it steadfastly. He set out early from his native Bavaria into the world. His journey as a tinkerer and expert in electrical equipment, telephones and telegraphs took him through several countries. When he finally settled in the US, he changed his name. They called him there by the nickname “Gus”, which he didn’t like. That’s why he preferred to call himself “Charles”.
Longing Destination America
Augustinus/Gus/Charles began his successful career as a mechanic and technician in his native Bavaria at a manufacturer of agricultural equipment. Already at the age of 15 he was drawn to foreign countries. Fey actually always wanted to go to the USA.
But he still couldn’t afford his travels. So he first worked in France for a manufacturer of intercoms and as a toolmaker. After a three-year stay, he went on to Great Britain, where Fey earned the money for the long-awaited Atlantic crossing by manufacturing nautical equipment for five years.
In the USA, Fey first visited his uncle in the state of New Jersey, who had already emigrated, and then traveled on to the west coast. Fey settled in San Francisco. From there he made a detour to Mexico and then married Marie Volkmar. Four children were born of this marriage.
Why Was the First Slot Machine Called “Liberty Bell”?
In California, Frey worked for the California Electric Works Company. He then became self-employed and manufactured telephone, telegraph and electrical accessories. In his spare time he tinkered with all sorts of devices – and he was a passionate gambler. The combination of a passion for handicrafts and games led to the construction of the first one-armed bandit.
Fey called the original slot “Liberty Bell”. There is no reliable knowledge as to why he chose this name. But given his great yearning to make his fortune in the United States, it is safe to assume that for him, as for many 19th-century emigrants, the famous Liberty Bell was a powerful symbol, a promise of opportunity embodied by the US Declaration of Independence to implement a guaranteed “pursuit of happiness”.
Three Reels for Half a Dollar
So it was no wonder that Fey chose the bell as the highest paying winning symbol for his revolutionary contraption – three of them in a row represented the highest win, half a dollar. The principle of the slot has always been the same since then, even if it is now technically much more sophisticated: Rotating reels snap into paylines. The side lever is largely gone, instead you trigger a game round with buttons – or buttons that represent them when playing online.
Numerous functions have been added over the decades, such as buttons for risk games, with which one can gamble with winnings already made in order to possibly increase them. Money checkers are also integrated into modern slots, which check banknotes for authenticity. The gambling laws stipulate that no unlimited amount of money can be imported. If you put a 50 euro note in a machine, you can experience that you get a large part of the sum back as change, so that the use remains limited.
What Happened After “Liberty Bell”?
Fey was 33 years old when he made his groundbreaking invention. In addition to the Liberty Bell, she carried four other winning symbols: diamonds, spades, hearts and a horseshoe. There was only one Liberty Bell on each reel. At that time there were already mechanical games of chance, which corresponded to wheels of fortune that were set in motion by inserting money.
There was even a poker machine on offer. All of these contraptions, however, were not as useful as Fey’s simple but reliable mechanism. Other manufacturers quickly copied this, while Fey is said not to have made much money with his invention, although he constantly refined it and founded his own company for it.
The busy emigrant even came up with a pretty clever business model and didn’t sell his slots, but rented them out to casinos and saloons. The profits were shared. Fey himself attributed the fact that Fey apparently did not get anywhere to the fact that he agreed to an unfavorable merger with another company, the Mills Novelty Company from Chicago. Fey continued to develop slot machines into old age, he was an obsessed inventor.
