View Charles Fey III’S profile on LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional community. Charles has 7 jobs listed on their profile. See the complete profile on LinkedIn and discover Charles. Mar 08, 2017 Charles Fey: Inventor of the Slot Machine Many online slots players are aware of the name of Charles Fey, renowned as the inventor of the slot machine. But few people know any of the details of the life of this fascinating man who had such an impact on slot machine history.

Slots machines have been the most popular games in casinos for decades. They’ve only gotten more popular thanks to technological advancements.

Today’s slots feature many winning possibilities, exciting features, fun animations, and excellent graphics. They also boast big jackpots and bonus prizes.

Slots have come a long way since Charles Fey developed the Liberty Bell slot in 1895. Fey is often credited with being the inventor of the slot machine.

In truthfulness, Fey didn’t actually invent slots. He instead used existing ideas to advance these games and make them more popular.

Where did Fey draw his inspiration from? I’m going to discuss more on the man himself along with where he got the idea for slot machines.

Who Was Charles Fey?

Charles Fey was born as “August Fey” in 1862. He’d later change his name to Charles, because he didn’t like people calling him “Gus.”

Fey grew up in the German state of Bavaria and began manufacturing farm tools as a teenager. This trade was important to Fey’s life, since it taught him mechanical skills that he’d use later on.

In 1877, Fey moved to France in hopes of finding more opportunities than Bavaria offered. He helped manufacture intercom equipment for three years in France.

In 1890, Charles moved to Great Britain and began working for a company that made nautical equipment. By the time he was 23, Fey moved to the United States and settled down in San Francisco. He’d live here for most of his remaining life, aside from a short trip to Mexico.

Charles started working for Electric Works, where he served as an engineer. Eventually, he and a coworker, Theodore Holtz, left Electric Works to start their own company.

Holtz’s and Fey’s company produced electrical equipment and telephones. Thanks to all of these mechanical-related jobs and ventures, Fey had all the experience he needed to later produce a slot machine.

Where Did Fey Get the Idea for Slot Machines?

Charles Fey didn’t learn how to invent slots based on divine intervention. Even with his immense mechanical skills, he still needed inspiration for what would become the greatest gambling machine of all time.

A Brooklyn-based company named Sittman and Pitt actually produced the first model for a slot machine. In 1891, they developed a gambling machine that features five drums and 50 card faces.

This machine was meant to be an automatic poker game. It required players to insert money, pull a lever, and send the drums spinning.

Not long after Sittman and Pitt’s invention, slots began paying out in coins. But these games weren’t necessarily slot machines in the original sense.

The first coin-paying gambling machine saw inserted coins fall onto a balance scale. Gamblers would be paid if their coin caused the scale to tip and deliver coins.

Other coin-paying games featured a display window and spinning indicator. The latter would stop on a color, number, or picture and determine prizes accordingly.

Fey Advances Slot Machines with the Liberty Bell

The groundwork for slots had been laid long before Fey came along. But he saw where gambling machines could be improved and eventually designed something totally revolutionary.

He needed to look no further than his colleague, Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Schultze, for inspiration. The latter had developed a slot that contained an automatic payout feature.

Fey went to work on his own version of the slot in 1894. He built his first machine in his San Francisco basement.

The next year, he developed the “4-11-44.” This game proved so profitable that Fey had to quit his company just to begin producing more machines.

He created the “Card Bell” in 1989. This was the first three-reel slot to deliver automatic payouts. It featured a handle that was used to spin the reels and determine prizes.

In 1899, Fey produced his greatest invention yet in the Liberty Bell slot machine. This game featured bells, horseshoes, and card suitmarks on the reels. Three bells in the payline delivered the top prize.

The Liberty Bell quickly became a hit across saloons in San Francisco. He produced and distributed more than 100 of these machines throughout San Francisco.

Fey made quite a bit of money off his invention. However, he wasn’t able to patent his Liberty Bell design due to restrictive gambling laws in San Francisco.

The lack of a patent allowed other companies to steal Fey’s format. Most notably, the Mills Novelty Company used the Liberty Bell template to distribute numerous slot machines across Chicago.

San Francisco eventually banned slots in 1909. Politicians and purists had grown tired of the thousands of slot machines operating within the city.

Fey and other companies started designing gambling machines that didn’t accept coins. Instead, players would pay the attendant or bartender directly to spin the reels.

These games helped keep the slot machine vibe alive in San Francisco to some degree. But they never attained quite the same popularity.

Why Does Fey Get the Credit for Inventing Slot Machines?

Charles Fey was far from the first person to think of slots. Sittman and Pitt developed the first slot machine in 1891, three years before Fey even got started.

However, the first so-called slot machines didn’t really look like what we think of as slots today. Instead, they featured rudimentary designs that involved balance scales, poker, or spinning indicators.

These types of games were necessary to advance gambling machines. However, the same designs didn’t survive for long.

Fey’s three-reel slot machines, however, did withstand the test of time. Even the symbols he used, including bells and horseshoes, hung around for a while.

Fey didn’t invent the slot machine. But he did invent the modern prototype that would be used in saloons and casinos for the next several decades. For that, he’s considered the father of modern slot machines.

Slots Have Advanced Greatly Since the Liberty Bell

The Liberty Bell was a revolutionary gambling concept when it was released in 1899. Mechanical slots like this would continue to populate bars and casinos up until the 1960s.

However, this decade would finally mark a major change in casino gaming. In 1963, Bally manufactured the first fully electromechanical slot.

Dubbed “Money Honey,” this game offered automatic payouts, a bottomless hopper, and a jackpot worth up to 500 coins.

Before Money Honey, attendants frequently had to stop games and refill hoppers. Most jackpots weren’t worth anywhere near 500 coins until this point either.

Money Honey quickly proved a success in the gambling world. Soon, many more electromechanical slots hit casinos.

But the true revolution in gaming didn’t happen until the advent of the video slot. In 1976, the Fortune Coin Company produced a slot that featured a 19-inch color screen and computer software for game functions.

This original design was housed in a cabinet. After receiving approval from Nevada gaming regulators, Fortune Coin Company’s first game was put inside Las Vegas’ Hilton Hotel.

Video slots have led the way ever since first being introduced in Las Vegas. They’ve now come to offer lots of exciting features and formats.

As of 1994, gamblers have also been able to enjoy real money slots at online casinos, too. Countless slot machines are available through smartphones, tablets, and computers.

Conclusion

Charles Fey may not be the true inventor of slot machines. However, he made the most important contributions to slots.

Before Fey, these games didn’t offer spinning reels. They instead utilized odd designs that quickly fizzled out. Drawing inspiration from the work that his partner, Schultze, did on the horseshoe slot, Fey embarked on a journey that saw him produce several slot machines.

His most notable invention came in 1899, when he created the Liberty Bell. This three-reel game featured a smooth design and payout process. The Liberty Bell was such a hit that rival companies stole the format. Before long, San Francisco was filled with replica designs due to Fey’s inability to get a patent.

Charles would continue making slot machines even after San Francisco banned them in 1909. However, he had to modify them to not accept coins.

Meanwhile, coin-operated slots later spread to Chicago and New York. They also began hitting Las Vegas casinos in the 1930s.

Today, video slot machines fill both online and land-based casinos. These games are far more technologically advanced than what Fey produced well over 100 years ago.

Nevertheless, Fey still holds a prominent place in slots history. He created the slot machine design that forms the basis of most modern-day slots.

Today’s gambling market is full of various ways of gambling and players can even be considered as spoiled for the broad choice they have. Apart from the flashy land-based casino resorts with numerous machines and tables, online operators also make sure to offer a sufficient amount of games. Still, there is one thing in common between both ways of gambling – slots. Those exciting reel-spinning machines have been around for more than a hundred years, but what makes them truly unique? Check out their story here as well as facts about Charles Fey – the father of the slot machine!

Who is Charles Fey?

Born in Bavaria in 1862, August Fey was the youngest of 16 children, not expecting that he’ll make his mark on history in a very unorthodox way. With so many brothers and sisters around him, it’s not surprising that August had to start working at an early age, helping out with the support of his family. Speaking of his name, he changed it to Charles once he came in the USA because he didn’t like to be called “Gus”, but we’ll present his American period in more detail below.

To better understand how this man came into the US and invented the blueprint form the modern-day slot games, we need to discuss a very unusual motive behind his decision. In essence, Charles Fey had a fear of being taken into the German army. Furthermore, he had a tense relationship with his father, which was also another reason for his leaving to France where he worked as an instrument maker. Later on, he traveled to the United Kingdom, where he settled for a while, but at the age of 23, he successfully moved to the United States.

Settling in San Francisco and the Charles Fey Slot Machine

Initially, Charles planned to go to New Jersey, where his uncle was living, but before that, he went to San Francisco, where he started working for Electrical Works. Having experience with mechanics and electric devices, the Bavarian emigrant had a lot of experience in the field. Later on, he left the company to create with a partner of his, Theodore Holtz, to start manufacturing telephone and telegraph equipment. His personal life was also going very well as he married Marie Volkmar after being in Mexico for a while due to his battle with tuberculosis.

As you can see, Charles Fey was well aware of how certain devices were working and unsurprisingly had a passion for inventing. Therefore, the Charles Fey first slot machine wasn’t a fluke and soon became very popular across saloons and bars. Its name was the Liberty Bell slot and at the time, regulations weren’t on the side of Mr. Fey, thus preventing him from patenting his invention. A few years after the introduction of this innovative game, the state of California outlawed the Liberty Bell slot, which wasn’t a major factor for Charles anymore – he already had huge demand from other states and his business was booming. But what was the reason for that?

The Charles Fey Liberty Bell Slot – Why Was it So Successful?

Shortly after the introduction of the Liberty Bell slot machine, Charles Fey opened up the Slot Machine Factory in 1896. This was because of the high interest from players and the unique appearance of this “one-arm bandit,” which had three reels spinning and one pay line. It operated with coins and the paytable of it seemed to be quite generous at the time:

Charles Fey 1981

• 3 Liberty Bells – 50 cents
• 3 Hearts – 40 cents
• 3 Diamonds – 30 cents
• 3 Spades – 20 cents
• 2 Horseshoes + 1 Star – 10 cents
• 2 Horseshoes – 5 cents

From the paytable, you can see where this slot machine got its name from and in terms of odds, hitting the top prize was set at 1/1000. Although these payouts might not seem even partially close to the big 13 million-dollar slot jackpot in Canada, the innovation was something everybody was looking with amazement. There were already coin machines operating, , but none of them looked like the Liberty Bell, thus inspiring player curiosity to the next levels. Apart from that, scammers would start using wooden coins to grab prizes unfairly. Fortunately for transparent gambling (as much as it could be secured at the time), Charles Fey was able to install a system in the slot machine which could make a difference between wooden and regular coins.

The Future of the Liberty Bell Slot Machine

Charles Fey Liberty Bell

With the introduction of such a revolutionary technology, other companies were also aiming at grabbing a piece of the pie. One of them, Herbert Mills manufacturing, started to produce its very own version of the Liberty Bell slot in the early 1900s. Even mobsters wanted to expand in gambling as Bugsy Siegel started putting slot machines in the 1940s as a way for wives and girlfriends of high-rollers to pass the time at his Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.

The relatives of Charles Fey also took good care of his legacy. The inventor of the innovative three-reel slot had a son who moved to Reno and his children opened up a Liberty Bell Saloon, which displayed the classic one-arm bandit their grandfather had once built. Unfortunately, the bar closed in 1995, but the Charles Fey Liberty Bell machine still can be seen at the Reno museum. When it comes to present , there are numerous slot companies such as industry leader Microgaming which have an extensive slot selection. However, if it wasn’t for Charles Fey and his inspiration for the industry, this wouldn’t have been possible!