Coin Slot
Issue: 1974 November 003 - Page 9
THE COIN SLOT
NOVEMBER
1974
Coin Slot Magazine - #003 - 1974 - November [International Arcade Museum]
Book Review by Irv. Scott Wolf.
GAMBLING AND GAMBLING DEVICES, by John Philip Quinn
Originally published in 1912. Reprinted 1969. Hard cover.
308 pages. Available from John W. Caler Publications, 7506
Clybourn Ave, Sun Valley, Calif. 91352.
$15 postpaid.
Even if one has only a cursory interest in gambling devices,
the book Gambling And Gambling Devices will be considered an
entertainingdiversion. It is written by what I consider to be one
of the worlds greatest flim-flam men, John Philip Quinn.
The begining of the book contains a 26 page autobiography of
the author, who was born in 1846, in Randolph County, Mo., the
son of a poor farmer. Mr. Quinn explains how at the age of 14
he took his fathers horse, sold it for $75, and promptly lost the
moneyplaying three card monte. From then on he reminisces
about the next "25 years that I spent in the devilfs service as a
professional gambler." During that period of his life Mr. Quinn
was the guest of a number of county jails, his final debt to soc
iety being paid in Terra Haute, Indiana, where he was convicted
of fleecing a man out of $3,000 in a con game. Mr. Quinn claim
to have been innocent of the crime, and unjustly jailed. In any
event, he was pardoned on Nov. 9,1888, the day he found relig
ion. Or rather, the day he found that he could use religion in the
biggest con game of them all'. It appears that from that point on
he traveled the country, indeed, the world, expounding on the
evils of gamblingat various churches and other organizations,
collecting a comfortable fee for each lecture. Sort of a contin
uation of working the same street, just on the other side.
The book is very generously illustrated with gambling de
vices of all kinds, including a large amount of coin-op ones,
many of which I had never seen or heard of before. That alone
would make ownership of this book worthwhile. Among them is
an "Automatic Roulette Machine", "The Little Monte Carlo",
(Incidentally, Quinn describes the principality of Monte Carlo
in Europe as "The Devil's University"), "The Jockey", "The
Commercial", and a magnificent monster called "The Owl and
.com
m
:
u
m
e
d fro de-mus
e
d
nloa w.arca
w
o
D
w
://w
p
t
t
h
Judge Twins".
Most of the machines are described witha fair
amount of detail, such as this description of the Mill's Dewey
machine: "This machine has 6 slots... .There are 100 spaces
on an 18 inch dial. Nickel machine pays rewards from lOcents
to $2. Quarter machine pays bigger rewards. . . .It has a non
repeating device which prevents two successive wins on the
same color...." and so forth.
I would consider this book a valuable addition to any col-
ectors' library.
© The International Arcade Museum
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
Page 9
NOVEMBER
1974
Coin Slot Magazine - #003 - 1974 - November [International Arcade Museum]
Book Review by Irv. Scott Wolf.
GAMBLING AND GAMBLING DEVICES, by John Philip Quinn
Originally published in 1912. Reprinted 1969. Hard cover.
308 pages. Available from John W. Caler Publications, 7506
Clybourn Ave, Sun Valley, Calif. 91352.
$15 postpaid.
Even if one has only a cursory interest in gambling devices,
the book Gambling And Gambling Devices will be considered an
entertainingdiversion. It is written by what I consider to be one
of the worlds greatest flim-flam men, John Philip Quinn.
The begining of the book contains a 26 page autobiography of
the author, who was born in 1846, in Randolph County, Mo., the
son of a poor farmer. Mr. Quinn explains how at the age of 14
he took his fathers horse, sold it for $75, and promptly lost the
moneyplaying three card monte. From then on he reminisces
about the next "25 years that I spent in the devilfs service as a
professional gambler." During that period of his life Mr. Quinn
was the guest of a number of county jails, his final debt to soc
iety being paid in Terra Haute, Indiana, where he was convicted
of fleecing a man out of $3,000 in a con game. Mr. Quinn claim
to have been innocent of the crime, and unjustly jailed. In any
event, he was pardoned on Nov. 9,1888, the day he found relig
ion. Or rather, the day he found that he could use religion in the
biggest con game of them all'. It appears that from that point on
he traveled the country, indeed, the world, expounding on the
evils of gamblingat various churches and other organizations,
collecting a comfortable fee for each lecture. Sort of a contin
uation of working the same street, just on the other side.
The book is very generously illustrated with gambling de
vices of all kinds, including a large amount of coin-op ones,
many of which I had never seen or heard of before. That alone
would make ownership of this book worthwhile. Among them is
an "Automatic Roulette Machine", "The Little Monte Carlo",
(Incidentally, Quinn describes the principality of Monte Carlo
in Europe as "The Devil's University"), "The Jockey", "The
Commercial", and a magnificent monster called "The Owl and
.com
m
:
u
m
e
d fro de-mus
e
d
nloa w.arca
w
o
D
w
://w
p
t
t
h
Judge Twins".
Most of the machines are described witha fair
amount of detail, such as this description of the Mill's Dewey
machine: "This machine has 6 slots... .There are 100 spaces
on an 18 inch dial. Nickel machine pays rewards from lOcents
to $2. Quarter machine pays bigger rewards. . . .It has a non
repeating device which prevents two successive wins on the
same color...." and so forth.
I would consider this book a valuable addition to any col-
ectors' library.
© The International Arcade Museum
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
Page 9
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).