Bell Boy trade stimulator

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Bell Boy trade stimulator

Postby RameGoom » Tue Jan 22, 2013 9:48 pm

Image
The only trade stimulator in my gameroom.
Slowly building a knowledge base on E2000 series Bally machines and J400 Jennings. Started with the antique Mills and Jennings. Getting there...
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Re: Bell Boy trade stimulator

Postby andydotp » Wed Jan 23, 2013 2:29 am

That's stunning RameGoom.. =D>
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Re: Bell Boy trade stimulator

Postby nvmos2 » Fri Jan 25, 2013 9:00 am

You already know I covet this machine; you didn't have to rub it in with a better picture.

If you're only going to have one trade stimulator, this is a great one to have.
It's not one of the real common ones and it appears to be in excellent shape.
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Re: Bell Boy trade stimulator

Postby RameGoom » Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:15 am

It's just hard to believe, back in the day, that someone would put a machine like this in an establishment, patrons would play for a penny, and they would get a gumball! How on earth did anyone make any money on this thing? I'd bet the route owner would split the take with the bar or restaurant, and the end of the month, they'd make, what, $2.00 each, after factoring in the cost of the gumballs?? and all in pennies.....!

Now subtract out the cost of the machine.

Just strange all that effort went into making those trade stimulators, with little in return.
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Re: Bell Boy trade stimulator

Postby WS65711 » Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:20 pm

RameGoom wrote:It's just hard to believe, back in the day, that someone would put a machine like this in an establishment, patrons would play for a penny, and they would get a gumball! How on earth did anyone make any money on this thing? I'd bet the route owner would split the take with the bar or restaurant, and the end of the month, they'd make, what, $2.00 each, after factoring in the cost of the gumballs?? and all in pennies.....!

Now subtract out the cost of the machine.

Just strange all that effort went into making those trade stimulators, with little in return.


A bit off topic.... When I was in first or second grade, we had a coke machine at my school. Kids could stand in line to buy a drink at lunchtime. I remember the parents being TOTALLY outraged when the price of the drinks went up a penny . . . to 6 cents. Times were different then :-"
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Re: Bell Boy trade stimulator

Postby buzzojoe » Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:52 pm

I've got some old advertisements for VERY desirable peanut "gumball" machines where you got the machine for free if you bought like 25 lbs of peanuts for $3.00. Of course this was back at the turn of the last century (1900). Regarding the trade stimulators, guys wouldn't just play them once and get a gumball. Most of them were made so that you had to "take" the gumball so it' didn't release a gumball every time it was played unless someone took the last one. Guys' didn't sit around in bars in 1930 with piles of gumballs all over the bar. They sat and played the machine for hours just like people do with slots now, in the hopes of winning the cash prizes, drinks, or cigars that the establishment would give out for a winning combination on the reels. and since they didn't take the gumballs it was pretty good profit for the operator and the establishment! I remember talking with old operators who used to have to go in every few days and EMPTY the pennies out of trade stimulators in certain bars because they were so full that the pennies inside jammed up the mechanism!
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Re: Bell Boy trade stimulator

Postby RameGoom » Fri Jan 25, 2013 3:53 pm

buzzojoe wrote:I've got some old advertisements for VERY desirable peanut "gumball" machines where you got the machine for free if you bought like 25 lbs of peanuts for $3.00. Of course this was back at the turn of the last century (1900). Regarding the trade stimulators, guys wouldn't just play them once and get a gumball. Most of them were made so that you had to "take" the gumball so it' didn't release a gumball every time it was played unless someone took the last one. Guys' didn't sit around in bars in 1930 with piles of gumballs all over the bar. They sat and played the machine for hours just like people do with slots now, in the hopes of winning the cash prizes, drinks, or cigars that the establishment would give out for a winning combination on the reels. and since they didn't take the gumballs it was pretty good profit for the operator and the establishment! I remember talking with old operators who used to have to go in every few days and EMPTY the pennies out of trade stimulators in certain bars because they were so full that the pennies inside jammed up the mechanism!


That makes sense. It's all about side bets. This Bell Boy has a set of reels on the top that you select, with three numbers, before you pull the lever (if you try to move the numbers after you play the coin, there's a red bar that drops down as an indicator) Also, if you don't pull the gumball lever after your play, you don't get the prize. So, right, the gumball is not important.

I suppose you'd bet the house that your numbers would match the spinning reels, and that's the hook. The theme of the machine is so ridiculous, but thinking about it, the side betting would be the reason for that machine. Inside, there's a little escapement mechanism that puts a coin in a separate chamber every five coins played. That must be the route manager's take, where the rest of the coins go into the regular coin box.

So, THAT'S how they skirted the gambling laws huh?
Slowly building a knowledge base on E2000 series Bally machines and J400 Jennings. Started with the antique Mills and Jennings. Getting there...
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Re: Bell Boy trade stimulator

Postby RameGoom » Thu Sep 04, 2014 8:17 pm

Just discovered an interesting fact about this Bell Boy trade stimulator. I always thought it was a penny machine - but oddly, there was no reference to it being a penny machine anywhere on it.

As it turns out, the coin slot will accept not only pennies, but nickels, dimes and quarters. And the machine will play normally on any of these coins.

Why would anyone want to play anything but a penny??

Here's why. It was a stealth multi-stakes gambling machine and people would play to match a set of 3 numbers ("the winning numbers of the day") determined by the establishment it was placed in. So, the bartender would post the 3 numbers and, if you played a penny and matched those numbers, you'd win a drink on that match; a nickel might get you 6 drinks, dime might get 15 and a quarter might get you 40 drinks (just guessing on this).

When you played a coin and spun the reels, the coin would immediately drop into a hidden pocket inside the machine. This pocket is located directly behind a visible penny pressed into a steel bracket, displayed behind a glass window on the side of the machine. To see the coin you just played, you'd have to press a button in the back of the machine, which would swing the bracketed penny out of the way to reveal the contents of that hidden pocket. However, the next coin you would play would empty that pocket and fill it with the current coin in play.

So, say you match the posted numbers on a quarter you just played. You'd get the bartender before the next play, have him push the button and look in the hidden pocket to prove it was in fact a quarter you inserted. Then you'd collect on the wager.

Very cleverly veiled as a trade stimulator slash gumball machine. Talk about gray area design, operating around the gambling laws. What a concept!
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