Coin Slot Magazine - #024 - 1977 - January [International Arcade Museum]
Q. I
found an old
photograph
to be a
BELL
promotional
of what appears
Mills OPERATOR'S
with
a
Pace
jackpot
front
with "Chas.
Fey Mfg.
Co."
stamped
the back.
on
Illinois
A. There's
a
bevy
of
baffling
Bells around the country, and
at
least
two
of
revamps
have
shown
these
Fey
up
at
auctions.
The machine in the
picture
is
indeed
a
Mills
OPERATOR'S BELL, actually
the last "Bullseye" or "Regu
lar"
model
sold
in
which
1931.
was being
This
dating
is confirmed by its Mills serial number of 236168, which places it
after April, 1930. The jackpot front is also indeed the same as the
Pace, except it isn't.
The two-jackpot front on this Fey machine was developed by
William F. "Billy" Schmidt of the Wisconsin Novelty Company,
in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, a close friend of Fey's. They worked
together on it in 1931. Schmidt also worked closely with Ed Pace
of Chicago, trading his machine ideas for production.
Pace Manufacturing Company produced the front in 1932 as the
twin-jackpot Pace STAR
and
Fey sold the front as the Fey
DOUBLE JACKPOT, with the Chas. Fey Manufacturing Company,
1885 Mission Street, San Francisco, doing the revamping work to
.com
m
:
u
e
om is m in us 1932.
fr date
tors. Probable revamp
Wisconsin Novelty also
d
-
e
e
d the TWIN
d
a
a
o
l
c
sold the front
as
JACKPOT,
with
manufacturing by
wn ww.ar
o
D
Pace. Revamps
://w were made to order for Wisconsin operators. All
these fronts
http look alike and only the names on the castings can help
order.
Most of Fey's revamp machines remained in the west as the
work was generally done for California, Nevada and Oregon opera
tell them apart.
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http://www.arcade-museum.com/