Classic Mode

Coin Slot

Issue: 1975 June 009

Coin Slot Magazine - #009 - 1975 - June [International Arcade Museum]
machine confiscation and destruction as ueell as personal legal charges.
The same situation exists in California, where the Oakland Museum has a
beautiful Mills DEWEY MUSICAL on display in the State of California His
torical Section. If it is legal, or permissable, for publicly-funded museums
to display machines in states where slot ownership is illegal, why isn't it
legal for private citizens in the same states ? Even the Smithsonian Inst
itution in Washington, D. C., is apparently considering the collecting and
display of mechanical arcade and possibly gaming machines. Up until a
year or so ago the Smithsonian Institution had ignored the slot machine.
There were none in the national mechanical collection, nor was there any
thing on slot machines in the Smithsonian's Division of Mechanical and
Civil Engineering files. Thus, the first generation of American automatic
machines of the late 19th Century, and later, and the technical parents of
the computer, had been ostracized. In'April, 1973, Danny A. Morris, the
Museum Specialist, Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, in ans
wer to a letter I had written to the Museum on the subject, wrote: "We
have nothing in our files on the machines. As luck would have it, word is
flying about the Museum... concerning a group of confiscated slot machi
nes now in Florida or Louisiana. No one here seems to be interested in
the possibility of curating a collection of slot machines so we will probably
end up passing on them." But now comes word that The Smithsonian is con
sidering publication of a museum-sponsered book on arcade and gaming
machines similar to their fabulous Juke Box book. Perhaps the acceptance
of the technical and historical merits of these most American of amuse
ment devices by our National Museum of History and Technology will lift
the curtain and help make private ownership possible on a national basis.
But this takes a loug time. Meanwhile, uniquely American mechanical
treasures are being confiscated, broken up and burned by unenlightened
law officers supported by narrow-minded courts across the country.
The laws against the private ownership of slot machines — Federal, state
and local—are not only repressive; they are repressively carried out. In
every state of the Union, except Nevada, it is illegal to own, and operate,
a slot machine. Even if you ignore those laws, there are others that can
be even worse. In every state of the Union, including Nevada, a Federal
tax stamp of up to $250 must be annually affixed to a coin-operated gam
ing machine, and in some states, particularly Nevada, additional tax
levies are added. So, if you-had a forty-year-old machine on display in
your den for its beauty—no matter what state you-lived in—if you didnft
pay your tax stamps, you1 d be breaking a whole raft of laws and be up for
a multitude of fines without any prospect of getting a return on your inves
tment. The repressive part is that you would be taxed for a gambling de
vice, yet it wouldn't be used for gambling. $250 per machine per yeax *
every year is a lot of money to put out for an antique mechanical exhibit.
And now we come to the heart of the matter and the repressive acts con
ducted against antique coin-op machine collectors in the name of the law.
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ted that the state
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suffering
great personal and financial losses when their mach
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ines were confiscated
and they came under IRS scrutiny. Above all, their
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machines were taken away and many destroyed.
For one glorious moment last year, when the state of Ohio repealed
statute 2015.15 of its Legal Code, to be effective January 1, 1974 Ohio
collectors felt they were at last free to buy, sell, trade and exhibit their
Some time ago, one antique dealer carefully checked the FBI, the local
police, and the customs service before importing some classic machines.
© The International Arcade Museum
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
Coin Slot Magazine - #009 - 1975 - June [International Arcade Museum]
Even alter permission had been granted by each of these bodies, and the
machines were legally brought in through customs, they were suddenly
seized by the local police, resulting in a major financial loss for the
dealer. The legal bodies had apparantly changed their minds, or had come
up with an opposing opinion and acted without informing the dealer.
In Chicago, one enthusiast checked and rechecked both the FBI and the
Attorney General1 s office, and got a confusing series of opinions, none of
which matched. The conclusion reached was mat it was illegal to own or
display a coin-operated gaming machine in Illinois unless— and it's a big
unless—it is a "special situation", such as art and historical appreciation,
the presentation of an exhibit, or the need to have machines available for
research for the writing of a book. Most state anti-slot machine laws can
be interpreted in the same manner, and this sounds all well and good, pro
vided the authorities have an enlightened understanding of the "special
situation. " Yet past history suggests that you can hardly assume that all of
them will. The constant danger of an alternative interpretation by someone
else not familiar with or not appreciative of the "special situation" can
suddenly lead to police at your door, no matter how many people you check
ed, or even if you have permission in writing as many collectors have done
in order to protect their collections.
Certainly there are needs for laws that protect our citizens, and if the
legal bodies across the country agree that people should be protected
against exploitation through criminally controlled gambling, such laws
should be on the books. But they should be applied to the people that profit
from such illegal gambling, not the historians and collectors of antique
gambling devices. Slot and gaming machines are an important part of
Americana.
The whole history of slot machines began with the creation of portable
gambling devices for the "Sportsmen" that followed the westward-advance
of the American frontier, ultimately leading to more permanent gambling
devices in the 1890's and early 1900fs that remained in the saloons, pool
rooms and cigar stores in the booming towns and cities that grew up as
the country expanded. There had been a few foreigif arcade machines and
gambling wheels before then, but the state of the art was soon surpassed
by American mgenuity and invention, with the creation and contemporary
mass-production of counter and cabinet automatic payout machines that
' were the marvel of their age. The ultimate contribution was the classic
"One-Arm Bandit" counter-top model known so well to dedicated slot en
thusiasts, reportedly invented in 1895 by Charles A. Fey in San Francisco
to be followed by the larger mechanical and electrical consoles, uprights
and electronic bell machines of today. It is an exciting history, rich in lore
and lure, and one that will be lost forever unless tolerated and protected
through permission to allow private researchers, restorers and collectors
to "keep, own, use, purchase, exhibit, bargain for the sale or lease of"
antique coin-operated gaming machines. Yet it appears that there is now a
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up this uniquely American
The recent history of
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repressive acts under
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stories that sadden
wn them antique
w.a coin machine collectors across the country,
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and put some
in untenable positions. One collector, in Pennsyl
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vania, proudly
and illustrated a fabulous collection of early
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machines in h an article in an antique publication late in 1972, only to have
growing—yes, growing— eiiort to ignore "special situations" and to bust
the police arrive carrying the article and confiscating any and all mach
ines they could find, using the article as a check list. Even the publica
tion in which the article appeared suggested a "special situation", and
© The International Arcade Museum
http://www.arcade-museum.com/

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