The machine came in, and I'm going to post a bunch of pics and info to the Finds thread as promised - but I just had a quick look and it will be a week or more before I can get back to it, so let me post a few preliminaries here.
By way of explanation, I bought my original slot, a Word's Fair / Extraordinary, because I had enjoyed playing the old slot in a friend's basement, and came across this "barn find" that I really liked the looks of being a fan of art deco. My first machine was an early version with the double visible jackpot and two-part front, which I like better, from the mid-30s if not actually 1933/34. My mother even picked up Chicago World's Fair memorabilia for me at flea markets, to go with the machine.
And so I just have to shout - THE MECH HAS ITS ORIGINAL 1934 WORLD'S FAIR SPECIAL REEL STRIPS! They reference the World Fair (see photo), and interestingly all three reels have strips put together with several splices - I can see a date of 8-34 under one - so it must have been a special configuration, perhaps higher payout?
The mech number is about 2,500 lower than the case number (341895), so I presume they're not an original pairing.
And, yes, the mech and the case are Gold Award - all the actuator parts are there on the Gold Award dispenser, it has just apparently had its glass window painted over.
The award card, which looks to be original, lists varying payouts - a feature I haven't encountered before. I don't really have very broad experience, just a fair bit of depth on the Silents from rebuilding my first one completely and then working on a couple of others for dealers and owners.
Its eagle plate is etched stainless one (compared to the other one noted in a post above that was recently on eBay, which looks to be just paint applied on flat metal) of some age, with about 75% of the paint remaining, and no frame - but that's not original, is it, weren't they all paper with frames to begin with? Below it, it appears that there was some sort of label attached which was painted over later.
The mech has a bunch of old nickels in it, the newest being still-shiny ones from the late 1970s and then the early 1980s up through 1983, so I assume this has been mothballed for about 30 years.
Needless to say, I'm pleased as punch to have found just what I've been looking for - and have a good bit of work ahead of me, particularly on the case. I plan to restore it to the blue and silver scheme shown in the earliest Mills advertising for the machine, like I posted initially.
JP
p.s. I'm looking for the following parts, for starters:
- Handle and bolt; original finish in need of work/replating OK if not even preferable
- 5c round badge
- Reel bundle for a standard silent without gold award (SP?), reel tins could be in need of replacement (including missing); I may want to run the machine for guests to play with traditional bell-fruit reel strips and no gold award, and put the original reels away.
- Reel strips - note Gold Award symbol on the left, reference to World's Fair on the bar symbol on the right.
- More of reel strips - note how one on right has two symbols spliced in; all the reels seem to be customized like that, not just the single extra lemon or something I have seen before.
- Award card
- Eagle plate - note signs of a painted-over label in area below
Restored Mills 5c Extraordinary "barn find", long gone - now restoring 1934 5c Extraordinary Gold Award with original World's Fair reel strips
Restoring early Mills 5c Firebird (large coin view window)
About to take on a Mills 5c Vest Pocket