History of Bell Fruit Games

Bell-Fruit Games Ltd (BFG), known originally as Bell-Fruit Manufacturing Co. Ltd, was formed in 1963 and quickly gained a reputation as a leading designer and manufacturer of gaming machines for the U.K.

After passage of the 1951 Johnson Act, which prohibited the transportation of slot machines across state lines, except where they could legally be used in the state of destination, Watling made an unsuccessful effort to capture part of the foreign market. He finally sold his slot machine tooling to the Bell Fruit Manufacturing Company in England.

In the U.K. the Bell-Fruit Ltd. Group in the leisure division of Cope Allman, one of the offshore companies that made a major play for New Jersey slot machine sales, settled into a position of leadership in England, surrounded by a plethora of other procedures vying for the British and surrounding markets. Jorgensen in Denmark; Games Manufacturing SPRL in Belgium; Bell-Coin-Matics in Italy and numerous other start up and equally fast folding slot machine makers were scrambling for European sales just as the American producers had done in Nevada and New Jersey in the mid-to late 70s.
Back To Bell Fruit