Back in the distant 1895, the first slot machine was created. Charles Fey was the man who created the “one-armed bandit”. Fey worked on his invention until 1907, when he and Herbert Stephen Mills, founder of the Mill Novelty Company, produced the first production model. They created the “Mills Liberty Bell.” Many people today were shocked by the design of this slot machine because it was made of cast iron and had fingers to move the legs. Later on, these intimidating fingers of many players disappeared from slot machines while the level of detail of the legs became extremely high.
The first slot machine had spinning reels like most modern slots. However, at that time they had real playing cards, with denominations ranging from jacks to kings. In addition, the machine had a bell that would ring every time a player got a win. This, of course, is not found in modern slot games, but in most cases the ringing of the bell accompanies the winning of the maximum jackpot.
Unsurprisingly, the design of the 1907 slot machine still underpins most modern slot machines. Unlike their modern counterparts, most older slot machines had no more than twenty different symbols and three reels. In addition, newer slot machines also have software that allows them to randomly display hundreds of different symbols and special bonuses.
In 1910, another slot machine based on “Liberty Bell” was released. “Operation Bell” was the name it received. This slot machine differed from its predecessor by having a special hole for coins and fruit on the reels. Later, several more versions of this slot were released, but the Fruit Mania machine was the most popular. Despite the fact that the machine weighed more than 45 kilograms, the manufacturer was able to sell about thirty thousand of these machines.
Five years later, slot machines underwent significant changes. This was due to the advent of woodworking machines, which cheapened the production of slot machines and significantly reduced their weight. In addition, slot machines were very loud. Features such as the double jackpot appeared at the same time.
However, Mills’ company decided to go even further in developing different slot machines. They created some themed slot machines and made them more colorful. In 1931, slot machines named Lion Head, War Eagle and Roman Head were released, followed by Castle Front in 1933.
Slot machines did not become very popular until thirty years after the first slot machine was created by Fey. In the 40s, slot machines at the Flamingo Hilton Hotel were introduced thanks to the efforts of Bugsy Siegel, and the establishment immediately began making significant profits. Slot machines were most popular with women who waited for their companions at the table to play cards. In the nineties slot machines reached the peak of their popularity in North America, when land-based casinos earned two-thirds of their revenue from slots.
