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Friday, October 20, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Antique owner gambles for gumballs on old-time slot machines
Kansan staff writer
By Dave Wakefield
Kansan staff writer
Pace's Reels, a nickel slot machine, is a far cry from today's glamming, metal and glass one-armed bandits.
Its softly polished wood cabinet stands waist-high and serves an a convenient resting place for mugs of beer. A glass panel inset in the wooden top reveals three metal knobs that allow you to change the temperature deposited behind a wood door on the cabinet's front.
When the Pace Slot Machine Company produced Pace's Reels in 1899, nickel-play machines were the standard.
The antique slot machine is one of several at Ellis' Coins and Collectibles, which recently opened at 1025A Massachusetts St.
Some of the machines in Ellis Hayden's shop of collectibles date back to the early 1900s.
Owner Ellis Hayden ran a coin shop at 19th Street and Haskell Avenue until several years ago. Now he sells antiques, coins, stamps, old records, antique glass, beer signs, circus posters and other collectibles.
Kent Githart KANSAN
BMH sbtmh two machines are hit twice. "My hobby is op-machines," he said, "I travel to climbs."
Hayden proudly pointed to a small red box about 9 inches by 9 inches.
"There is the smallest automatic slot machine ever made." he said.
The red box, a Mill's Vest Pocket, has a slide resembling those on coin-operated washing machines. After putting a coin in the slide, the player puts his forefinger around a trigger-shaped loop and uses his thumb to shove the slide into the machine. Wheels spin, and the winnings, if any, are found by opening a small compartment that resembles the coin-return slot on pay phones.
painted sign on the machine's top.
Three lemons in a row wins 18 nickels, according to a
Antique slot machines have been legal for home use in Kansas since 1979, said Gary Sturtridge, owner of the House of Stuart, 326 Delaware St., Tonganoxie.
"Today they are legal in 36 states," he said.
In Kansas, any machine built before 1950 is legal,
Sturtridge said. But in Missouri, a machine must be 30 years old to be legal.
Sturtridge said most buyers wanted a machine for their
game rooms. Prices range from about $500 for a small table-top machine to more than $10,000 for a turn-of-the-century, six-foot-tall, free-standing machine, he said.
Sturridge said he did not buy antique slot machines in Las Vegas. He buys them in Kansas.
Imagic use of slot machines used to be pretty wide-open in northeast Kansas," he said. "There were a lot of machines in the back rooms of bars or under the counters in restaurants."
Hayden stands behind his nickel slot machine.
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