Coin Slot Magazine - #039 - 1978 - April[International Arcade Museum]
and justifies the mechanical existence that now takes over.
It is, in
short, the clock.
The clock is a simple geared mechanism in an antique slot machine
that allows the large wheels with fruit symbols to stop in a never
varying order:
left, center, right . . . one, tow, three, click, click.
However, it was the random turning that determined the pay out
that concerned the non-collector's interest. The clock collector ob
serves that the swiftness of the spinning wheels is regulated as well as
the order of their stopping. He sees the long, sturdy arms reaching
up from the clock bar to stop with ratchets, the wheels' silent move
ment. The ratchets release the slide with a menacing clash of metal
and springs. Jackpot? or lemons? Only the clock can determine if
random order is Lady Luck.
What a shame these machines are now illegal in many states. Such
a beautiful combination of art, craftsmanship, and mechanical inno
vation to be lost because of antique laws. A noted authority on an
tique slots reports that these preressive laws are enforced on occasion
and that a collection of antique machines is in constant jeoprady
unless the laws are changed to allow collectors a special status.
Asa matter of comparison, automobiles and guns are used illegally.
However, the owners of John Dilinger's car or Hitler's pistol, for
example, are not considered criminals. Television presents its nightly
lessons in the manufacture of all kinds of bombs and infernal ma
chines using the common alarm clock or stately hall clock as the in
struments of destruction and terror, yet clock collections are not
seized and put to the hammer. What a heartbreak it would be to see
your Howards, double dials, repeaters, and high grades smashed by
over zealous law enforcement agents into a useless tangle of springs
and wheels.
If you want to own a piece of this mechanical history, you had
better st^rt now or they will truly belong to a history where no ex
amples remain of a part of America's mechanical genius and legisla
tive folly.
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