by nvmos2 » Sat Feb 09, 2019 3:16 pm
Most, if not all of the vintage slots go by more than one name; the “official” name used by the manufacturer and one or more nicknames used by operators back in the old days and/or by collectors today. It can be confusing.
If you research available literature, you will find the following:
Mills did not call these machines Bursting Cherry; that is a nickname which probably originated by operators back in the day when the Cherry Bell was first produced due to the bright colors and central cherry, virtually bursting to draw the players. Today, Bursting Cherry is widely used (and misused) in the hobby for the cabinet style under discussion. This cabinet style was used by Mills for the three different models shown in Bob’s photo.
Mills called these models the Brown Front, Cherry Bell and Melon Bell.
They each had a different “standard” Mills color scheme, although there may be variations for special orders, etc. I believe Bob’s photo is an excellent representation of the correct 3 “standard” color schemes. Note how the Cherry Bell really stands out when they are lined up like that, and the Brown Front literally fades into the background; that's what it was designed to do.
If you check Bob’s other postings, if I remember correctly, you will find an interesting discussion on these 3 machines.
So, today, when someone says “Bursting Cherry” we all know what cabinet style he means, but not which model it is. To me, it’s a little silly to call a Brown Front a “bursting cherry”; a correctly restored one will not have bright paint/shiny castings bursting into your face; "Disappearing Cherry" would be more appropriate. Even more silly to call a Melon Bell a bursting cherry since the cherry is no longer there, replaced instead with the visible jackpot (some guys call this version the Diamond JP Front, but that hasn’t really caught on (there’s a different model called Diamond Front) and Mills never used that name).
The Brown Front and Cherry Bell are often confused. The Cherry Bell was introduced first with none of the improvements that came later with the Brown Front.
The Brown Front introduced the club handle (another often confused term, but that’s what Mills called it); which was human engineered for easy play. It also introduced the drill proof plating, an improved money cup to prevent “spooning”, and probably other improvements to the mechanism.
To keep things confusing, the early Brown Fronts did not have drill proofing and may not have the other improvements, and since the Cherry Bell continued to be produced along side the Brown Front, later model Cherry Bells will have incorporated these improvements.
If you have an early serial number from before the Brown Front came out, say about 404xxx or earlier, it most likely came from Mills as a Cherry Bell. However, since most of the production overlapped, maybe the best way to tell a Cherry Bell from a Brown Front is to find traces of the original paint. Unfortunately, some of the less careful “restorations” around stripped the castings and turned Brown Fronts into Cherry Bells because they are so striking in appearance. In fact, the Brown Front outsold the Cherry Bell and was produced longer, so there should be more of them around today.
A bright blue Cherry Bell is not a Brown Front Blue. Brown Front Blue is not a nickname; that is a little known/used name that Mills called their wartime revamps of Brown Fronts. Bueschel (RIP) wrote about this and implies they were also subdued like the Brown Front and probably painted a different shade of blue than the Cherry Bell. During the war, Mills probably revamped many machines including Cherry Bells, I don’t know if anyone can say for sure what they looked like.
I’ve gotten far too carried away here; I don’t have my reference material available, but I’m sure there is a coin slot guide that covers all the “bursting cherry” models and would be helpful in your restoration.
Last edited by
nvmos2 on Thu Feb 14, 2019 8:40 am, edited 3 times in total.