Coin Slot Magazine - #049 - 1979 - February [International Arcade Museum]
THE MILLS BELL BOY:
TRADE STIMULATOR GUM BALL MACHINE
By R. L. Frankenberger
Slot machines are interesting to collectors for a variety of rea
their beauty and artwork, their history, their marketing and
sons:
merchandising methods, and, of course, their mechanical ingenuity.
Most collectors are concerned with getting their machines in
working order. They are not satisfied with the machine being a
piece of sculpture alone; it must also operate as it was designed to
operate.
The mechanical aspect of slot machines is truly one of genius.
As a beginning collector, with no manuals or hints from collectors'
magazines to guide me, I was often amazed at the complexity of
these machines.
There appeared to be no logic to them.
Never
would I master such confusion of levers, springs, wheels, and slides.
I
would commonly sit in front of the mechanism, literally for
hours, trying to work out a mental image of the mechanical train
of sequence.
Simply put-l
mechanism worked
was trying to figure out how the
without actually taking it apart.
I tried to
understand why a spring was placed here instead of there or why
it should be a weak or strong spring.
We all have replaced springs or increased/decreased its tension
assuming that the machine would "work better."
However, it
seems that the men at the Mills factory knew what they were
doing.
What real genius.
In an attempt to improve their design, I
always managed to mess it up, confirming the factory's intelligence.
I often wonder if these men were trained or educated engineers,
designers, and draftsmen. The elegant simplicity of design clearly
illustrates a love for machinery and its efficient and long-term
operation.
day.
It is unlike the designed obsolescence of products to
The fact that so many of these machines survived in such
.com
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my respect.
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ow a long
w prelude, I would like to share with
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:
appreciations
regarding
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t
ht
great
numbers after so many years of constant abusive use is
testimony to their marvelous efficiency of design. Those men have
acquired.
131
you some
I recently
It is the Mills Bell Boy trade stimulator. Serial number
is stamped on the metal and wood pieces of the case.
No
numbers are on the mechanism. It looks like a three-quarter size
three-reel slot machine. It is actually a large gum ball dispenser/
trade
stimulator
that Museum
was paid off by the bartender.
©
The International
Arcade
http://www.arcade-museum.com/