Coin Slot Magazine - #024 - 1977 - January [International Arcade Museum]
TRADE STIMULATORS
by
LARRY LUBLINER
No one knows for sure the who, what,
or where of the first trade stimulator.
It
could
have
originated
and
been
introduced from Europe or perhaps \t
was an American innovation.
Where-
ever it originated, the trade stimulator
was probably introduced to the coun
ter
tops
of
America
in
the
early
1880's.
By my own definition, a trade stimulator is a gambling device which
sits on top of a counter or stands on the floor of a business establish
ment.
It is used as a selling aid for various products such as cigars,
candy, gum, cigarettes, peanuts.
or as a pure gambling device,
which in turn keeps patrons in a saloon for a longer period of time,
buying drinks and spending money .... But either way, it is an
income producing machine for the location.
Early trade stimulators were generally non-automatic payout, but a
gradual transition occurred as designers gained expertise and tuned in
to the desires of the people who played their machines.
iron,
token
payout, one
The cast
reeler was probably the brain child of
.com
m
:
u
m Charles
as a model.
It is possible
use Fey developed his classic
fro that
m
d
-
e
e
three reel, Liberty a Bell
ad machine from these cast iron, one
lo d .a slot
rc machine
n fact,
w
reelers, and o in
Fey's
is the father of our modern
D
ww not let me mislead
w
/
/
gambling devices.
Do
you into believing that
:
http
someone who was using an early non-automatic payout machine
because machines were becoming automatic payout that the trade
stimulator declined
in
popularity.
© The International Arcade Museum
10
In fact, the trade stimulator
http://www.arcade-museum.com/