History Charles Fey- Slot Machine Inventor

Charles Fey is the father of one of the greatest inventions of all time: the slot machine. A Bavarian immigrant named Charles Fey began inventing and manufacturing slot machines in 1894 from his workshop in San Francisco. Fey pioneered many innovations of coin operated gaming devices, including Fey's slot machine, called the "Liberty Bell," had three spinning reels, with diamonds, hearts, spades, and one Liberty Bell painted around each reel. If the player got three bells in a row, he hit the jackpot, receiving fifty cents or ten nickels.

The Liberty Bell which became extremely popular in the late 1800's. It became so popular that California soon banned mechanical gambling devices and Fey was forced to sell his slot machines elsewhere. During that period, a number of politicians made a big show of being photographed destroying slot machines. However, Nevada re-introduced gambling in the 1930s, and the "one-armed bandit" became a mainstay of the Las Vegas casino.

Before Fey's invention, there were other mechanical games of chance, such as Sittman and Pitt's poker machine that offered the player a chance to win free cigars or drinks when a winning poker combination was formed. These early machines were known as trade stimulators since the player traded in goods or products instead of receiving money for his winning hand. Fey's machine, however, was the first post-trade stimulator - it paid out in real coins. Back To Fey