Slot Machine and Vending Machine
The slot machine or one-armed bandit is a gambling device that, when a coin is dropped into its slot and its handle pulled down, activates three or more horizontal reels marked with various symbols such as stars, card suits, numbers, fruit (especially plums, cherries, lemons, oranges, and watermelons), or the word jackpot. The operator receives a payoff if, when the reels come to rest, matching symbols are shown in the display windows; the amount of the payoff may range from several coins to all of the coins in the machine, depending on how the symbols line up. The slot machine pays the winner by dropping coins into a cup or trough.
The first slot machines, which appeared in the United States toward the end of the nineteenth century, were novelty devices usually found in taverns. They did not reward users with coins, but offered wagering opportunities to would-be gamblers. For example, such a machine might have two automated horses attached to its top that would race. By around 1892, paying machines had begun to appear, usually featuring a circular display window and a spinning indicator that would come to rest with its pointer on a particular number, color, or picture. In the early twentieth century, a three-reel (later expanded to five) device became standard.
One popular legend attributes the invention of the slot machine to H. S. Mills, a former Chicago newsboy who became a lemonade stand entrepreneur and equipped his operations with a device called a Kalamazoo that had a slot and three tubes. A penny inserted into the slot would, when it emerged from two of the tubes, bring two or three more pennies with it, but it would not emerge at all from the third tube. Another legendary figure in the development of the slot machine is Charles Fey of San Francisco, who rented his famous Liberty Bell machines to saloons and kept half of the profits for himself. This device was decorated with art nouveau designs and stood on lions' paw feet. Fey set up the Mills Novelty Company in 1889 to manufacture slot machines, and by 1932 the factory was producing seventy thousand per year.
During the 1920s and 1930s, the slot machine became an immensely popular entertainment, particularly at American resorts. In response to mounting disapproval from those who found gambling immoral, some slot machines disguised their payoffs by dispensing gum, candy, or music along with coins. A 1932 article in Fortune entitled "Plums, Cherries, and Murder" claimed that racketeers bought slot machines from legitimate manufacturers and then exploited them for huge profits--as much as $150 million in the United States alone. The belief that organized crime controlled slot machines led to legislation restricting their sale, transportation, and use (except in private social clubs). By 1951, slot machines were prohibited in all states except Nevada, where gambling remained legal. Over the next several decades, however, other states and countries were attracted by the possibility of revenue from the machines and began to permit their use.
Early slot machines tended toward patterns that could be divined to maximize payoffs, but manufacturers were eventually able to randomize the timing of the reels. Another problem was solved with the 1931 invention of the coin tester, which rejected slugs and bad coins. Modern versions can check the diameter, weight, and metal content of coins inserted into the slot machine. The term one-armed bandit referred not only to the machine's single handle but to the fact that owners adjusted the payoff rate according to high-and low-volume play periods (with higher payoffs allowed during the latter). By the late twentieth century, the record jackpot--on a five-reel, $1 machine--was $1 million. Despite the growing popularity of electronic machines offering poker, keno, and blackjack, gamblers' enthusiasm for the slot machine has continued unabated.
Closely related to the slot machine is the vending machine, which responds similarly to the insertion of coins in a slot. Vending machines dispense items as diverse as candy, cigarettes, hot and cold drinks, food, air travel insurance, and suntan lotion. Coin-operated washers and dryers are also examples of vending machines.
The earliest vending machine, dating to 215 B.C., dispensed holy water in a Greek temple in Egypt. In 1857, an Englishman named Denham patented a stamp vending machine; about thirty years later, R. W. Brownhill patented an effective coin-operated gas meter that allowed consumers to purchase varying amounts of gas within their own homes. The first vending machines in the United States were chewing gum dispensers installed on New York City train platforms in 1888; candy and gum machines appeared during the 1920s. Vending machines became increasingly popular with a convenience-minded public, and by the mid-1980s the industry was doing $16 billion a year in business.
One interesting and particularly famous use of the vending machine was in the automat, an eatery that featured an array of vending machines rather than the conventional kitchen and waitpersons. The first automat was opened by Horn and Hardart in Philadelphia in 1906, using German-made vending machines. Automats subsequently grew popular in New York City, where their art deco exteriors and the convenience they offered were both much appreciated by the public. The automat has, in fact, entered the lexicon of American popular culture and is remembered with nostalgia--perhaps most famously by pop artist Andy Warhol, who dreamed of establishing "Andymats." The automat was eventually overshadowed by the fast-food restaurant, and the last one (located on 42nd Street in Manhattan and operating primarily as a cafeteria during its final days) closed in 1991.
This is the complete article, containing 918 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
