Slots History

Ever since they were first invented, slot machines have been popular because of their handsome payouts and because they allow you to play at your own pace. Their popularity spread throughout the United States in the 1930s, and in the late 1940s slot machines appeared at the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas. Their invention, however, dates back to the 19th century. Prototypes of mechanical slot machines existed in the 1870s, but the first proper slot machine was built in 1895 in a San Francisco basement. Credit for the invention of the three-reel slot machine is typically given to Charles August Fey (1862-1944), a German inventor and entrepreneur who moved to the United States in 1885. Fey's first commercial model, the Liberty Bell, was placed at different locations in San Francisco and did so well that Fey walked away from his electrical supply company and concentrated on perfecting and manufacturing slot machines instead. In 1896 Fey opened a slot machine factory that was subsequently destroyed in the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. In 1901 Fey designed and manufactured the first mechanical poker slot machine, the precursor of today's electronic poker games. Charles Fey truly deserves the credit of being the father of the slot machine.