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In the 1880s, slot machines required an attendant to make a payout, usually tickets or tokens. Gustav
Friedrich Wilhelm Schultze's "Horseshoe Slot Machine" of 1893 was the first machine to include an automatic payout mechanism. In 1895, Fey invented a modified version of the Horseshoe that paid out
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In 1898, he designed the "Liberty Bell Slot
Machine," the most famous slot machine of its day. When three bells aligned, it paid fifty cents. Fey installed and managed his machines in saloons throughout San Francisco. Because gambling was illegal in California, Fey could not patent his device,
241:; in accordance with scientific knowledge at the time, he moved to a warmer climate (Mexico) for a few years, before returning to San Francisco for a series of creosote treatments, which were successful. He married Marie in 1889. The couple had three daughters and one son.
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cathedral and had fifteen children with
Charles' mother Maria. As a teenager, Fey worked for a farming tool manufacturer, gaining his first skills, which heavily influenced his career.
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company in 1885. Later he started his own company together with
Theodore Holtz and Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Schultze: this company worked with electrical equipment and telephones.
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After settling in San
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During this time, Fey changed his name from August to
Charles, supposedly because he did not like the nickname "Gus."
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Slot
Machines: A pictorial history of the first 100 years of the world's most popular coin-operated gaming device
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Fey traveled all over the USA and settled in San
Francisco, California where he started working at the
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399:, vol. 3, edited by Giles R. Hoyt. German Historical Institute. Last modified March 25, 2014.
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Immigrant
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to work there, and spent some time in
England too, before leaving for the
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260:. Liberty Belle Books, Reno (Nevada) 1989, ISBN 978-0-962385-20-9.
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Nevada State Museum Fey Slot Machine Virtual Exhibit
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Fey opened a slot machine workshop in 1896 or 1897.
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Charles Fey. Erfinder der Liberty Bell Slot Machine
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355:"Charles Fey – The inventor of the slot machine"
138:; September 9, 1862 – November 10, 1944) was a
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192:at age twenty-three, where his uncle lived in
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177:His father Karl worked as a sexton at the
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16:American mechanic and inventor (1862–1944)
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409:Charles Fey History and Biography
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492:20th-century American inventors
487:Immigrants to the United States
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477:People from Neu-Ulm (district)
184:In 1877, Charles Fey moved to
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310:"California Death Index"
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336:"Charles August Fey"
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448:Charles Fey
427:Charles Fey
179:Ulm Minster
124:Charles Fey
25:Charles Fey
461:Categories
280:References
194:New Jersey
128:August Fey
72:Occupation
41:1862-09-09
35:August Fey
223:Vöhringen
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412:Archived
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143:mechanic
114:Children
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360:Wink
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