figures from the royal court depicted on face cards, and even birds. In the faces of these vintage contraptions, you can find the figures of Dutch Boys (as with this 1930 Jennings model). In 1933, the Watling Gold Seal dispensed Lifesavers (which had been brought to market 20 years prior). the 'Penny Skill Flip' (made in 1927 by Pace out of Chicago, Illinois), or the 'Bonus Horsehead' (Mills, 1937), for which you had to spell out the word 'BONUS' in order to win. Like pinball machines and even modern digital slots, these amusements actually required a bit of skill to play and more than just luck to win, whether it was the 1929 Mills Baseball Vendor. There were 40 different styles of the Watling Rol-A-Top alone-not just the 'coin front' from 1035 or the 'cherry front' from 1936. There was so much art to creating these little jackpot gadgets. Now, I don't feel the need to own a 1949 Jennings Sun Chief Super Deluxe or a 1936 Jennings Four Star Chief Prosperity-but knowing they exist (and what they look like) has changed my view of casinos and gambling. It was a collection of antique slot machines. Like anywhere else we go, we made the best of it by exploring whatever Don Laughlin's eponymous town had to offer.Īnd in his Riverside Casino (the river being the Colorado), I found something I never knew I needed in my life until the moment I laid eyes on it. I only ended up there as part of a group of friends on a weekend getaway to take a tour of an old ranch in Searchlight (photo essay coming soon).Ĭhoices for overnight accommodations near there are limited-so, instead of staying at the state line at one of the casinos in Primm or in Needles along Route 66, we ended up in the poor man's Reno. I might never have found myself in Laughlin, Nevada on my own.

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