C.O.C.A. Times

For many collectors the floor machines represent the zenith of their collecting career. These two beauties would be welcome in any collection.
The Caille PUCK, shown on the left, was adapted from the Mills OWL, probably the most copied slot machine of all time. PUCKs were
manufactured between 1898 and 1901, first by the Illinois Machine Company and then by Caille-Schiemer. The OWL had a five slot coin head,
but the PUCK could take six coins, and is, in fact, the oldest six slot machine made. The name is derived from the Puck Weekly, a popular humor
magazine, and probably was calculated to encourage people to think it was fun to play. Most PUCKs have heads that are cracked or missing,
thanks to the practice of hitting a head with a sledge hammer to put the machine out of commission. The PUCK in the Harrah's collection is
complete and in beautiful condition. The 1905 Caille FORTY-FIVE featured a form of mechanical roulette. It was a beautiful machine with
lots of cast metal on it. It was probably named as it was because there were 45 possible stopping positions on the wheel although some insist
that the popular Colt .45 "six-gun" was capitalized upon.
himself had given it.
Another thing Harper would con-
sider grabbing on his mad escape from
the imaginary fire is the original carv-
ing of the Great Seal of the State of
California.
6
Britt says that the seal was found in
a bank vault in San Francisco in 1932.
Nobody knows how it got there. And