Jennings Slot Machine

Jennings & Company was a leading manufacturer of slot machines in the United States and also manufactured other coin-operated machines, including pinball machines, from 1906 to the 1980s. It was founded by Ode D. Jennings as Industry Novelty Company, Incorporated of Chicago. On the death of its founder in 1953, the company was succeeded by Jennings & Company.

Jennings Slot Machines. Jennings was founded in 1906 and became a leading manufacturer of slot machines in the United States they also manufactured other coin-operated machines, including pinball. Jennings Silver Moon. Jennings Standard Chief. Jennings Deer Scene. Jennings 1 Star Chief. Released 286 machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1912. The 4 most common machines by O. Owned by VAPS members are (in order): Buckaroo, Cocktail Hour, Red Man, and Standard Chief. The preceeding is a list of machines known to have been made by O.

History[edit]

Ode D. Jennings was born in Kentucky on September 6, 1874.^[1]

Ode D. Jennings worked for the Mills Novelty Company and ran The Spectatorium, a penny arcade, for that company at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri).^[1][2]

In 1906, Ode Jennings established Industry Novelty Company, Incorporated. Itsbusiness was the refurbishment of slot machines manufactured by Mills.^[2]

Ode Jennings acquired United Statespatent 1,403,933, granted on 17 January 1922, for an improved mechanical coin-selecting device. The improvement related to the ejection of coins that were too small.^[3]

In July 1923, O. D. Jennings & Co. had purchased out of liquidation the business of the Garbell Typewriter Corporation of Chicago, which manufactured the GAR-BELL portable typewriter, invented by Max Garbell. Despite further improvements, which were protected by patents, the machine was a failure in the market.^[4]

In 1925, Ode Jennings moved to a house at what would become known as 220 Civic Drive (originally Schaumburg Road) in the village of Schaumburg, Illinois. The house would remain his home until his death.^[1]

On November 24, 1925, Ode Jennings was granted, as inventor, United Statespatent 1,562,771 for an improved mechanical coin-control apparatus. The improved apparatus was said to be more efficient and to prevent subsequent coins jamming the apparatus while the first coin was being accepted.^[5]

Between 1935 and 1936, O. D. Jennings & Co. manufactured a payout pinball machine called the Sportsman. The device was a gambling device, more akin to a slot machine than a modern pinball table.^[6] Some of the technology in the machine was protected by United Statespatent 2,003,349, granted to inventor Clifford R. Dumble.^[7]

On November 21, 1953, aged 79, Ode Jennings died at home in Schaumburg, Illinois after 47 years at the helm of the company he had founded.^[1][2] He left everything to his wife, Jeannette Isle Jennings; they had no children; on the condition that it was denoted to his church and local hospitals on her death.^[1] On 19 March 1954 Jennings & Company was incorporated under the laws of Illinois and it purchased the assets of O. D. Jennings & Company from the estate of Ode Jennings.

On May 15, 1957 Jennings & Company was merged into Hershey Manufacturing Company of Illinois, a company that had been incorporated on April 27, 1939. Over 80% of the business of Hershey Manufacturing then comprised the manufacture and sale of slot machines through its Jennings division, although it also engaged in governmental subcontract work and the manufacture of vending machines and photoflash equipment.^[8]

By the early 1960s, there were five major manufacturers of slot machines in the United States. The table below sets out their approximate comparative percentages of sales:^[8]

By the early 1960s, the business had been acquired by American Machine and Science Company (AMSC) owned by Wallace Carroll. AMSC also acquired Bell-O-Matic Corporation, and the two companies were merged to form TJM Corporation. TJM Corporation was run by two brothers, Tony Mills and John Mills. The merged company failed to compete successfully with the electro/mechanical models produced by Bally and also suffered because Bell-O-Matic had not protected its intellectual property rights in Japan. The company ceased trading in the 1980s.^[9]

In 1963, after the death of Jeannette Isle Jennings, the Jennings family house and surrounding lands were donated to the village of Schaumburg, Illinois and were used as the village hall until 1971. A gift of US$500,000 was denoted to the Northwestern Memorial Hospital of Chicago in November 1963 (then called the Passavant Memorial Hospital) and used to fund part of the construction of the Ode D. Jennings Pavilion, which opened in May 1966.^[1]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abcdefRichard Bueschel (1995). 'How Could O. D. Jennings Be Forgotten?'. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
2. ^ ^abcRichard Bueschel (1992-06-15). Jennings Slot Machines 1906-1990: Illustrated Historical, Maintenance and Repair Guide to Jennings Mechanical and Electromechanical 3-Reel Bell Machines.
3. ^'US Patent 1,403,933'. United States Patent and Trademark Office. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-09-02.
4. ^Will Davis (March 2006). 'The Victor Portable'(PDF). ETCetera Journal of the Early Typewriter Collectors' Association.
5. ^'US Patent 1,562,771'. United States Patent and Trademark Office. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-09-02.
6. ^Lynne and Michael Sands (October 2003). 'The Sands Mechanical Museum: Sportsman Restoration'. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
7. ^'US Patent 2,003,349'. United States Patent and Trademark Office. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-09-02.
8. ^ ^abUnited States. Congress. House. Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (1962). Gambling Devices. U.S. Govt. Print. Off. p. 124.
9. ^Feddy Bailey, quoted at 'Mécanique électrifiée ??'. Flippers-jukeboxes.net. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2006-08-30.

External links[edit]

• Garbell Typewriter photos & factory garbell.com

Ode D.Jennings Company

1874-1953 Logo

Ode Jennings was born in Kentucky in 1874. In his late 20's he went to work for the Mills Novelty Co where his natural engineering ability soon made him an expert on coin-operated machines. So much so he was given the task of running the Mills Spectatorium at the 1904 World Fair in St Louis . This was a massive building, partly designed by Thomas Edison , and featured (what was said at the time to be ) hundreds of Mills slot machines, it was the only free attraction at the worlds fair but probably made more money than any other. The building was brightly lit at night (Edison's contribution) and attracted a huge number of visitors.

The Mills Spectatorium at the 1904 worlds Fair,St Louis

Two years later in 1906 he left Mills(seemingly on good terms) and founded the Industry Novelty Co Inc whose business was refurbishing Mills machines.

By 1923 the company was called O.D.Jennings & Co and was doing very well despite a misguided attempt to revive the Garbell Typewriter Corp which he had bought out of liquidation, the attempt was a total disaster. In the same year, he was granted a US patent for an improved coin selecting device which could discard coins that were too small. In 1925 he invented and was granted a patent for an anti coin jamming device

In 1925 Ode bought a large house/farm in Schaumburg Illinois and like another country boy turned factory owner, Henry Ford, spent the rest of his life escaping from the factory whenever possible to be a part-time gentleman farmer breeding cattle and horses

By 1936 the company, was, like Mills, making a large range of slot machines in different styles, including a very unusual payout pin table called the Sportsman. This was more like a slot machine that a pin table

Ode Jennings died on 29th November 1953 at the age of 79 having personally run the company for 47 years. Having no children he left everything in trust to his wife on the proviso that it passed to the town and hospital on her death but she seems to have got round that as far as the company was concerned by setting up Jennings and Co in 1954 which purchased the assets of O.D.Jennings and Co from the estate of Ode Jennings.

Jennings and Co were merged with theHershey Manufacturing Co in 1957 although 80% of Hershey's production was Jennings machines. By the early '60s Jennings was the top producer of slot machines in the US with 45% of total sales.

By the mid '60s with laws in the US cutting slot sales to a fraction American Machine and Science Co acquired the failing Jennings Co along with Bell-o-matic (the remains of the Mills Slot division) and merged them to become TJM Corp run by Tony and John Mills but a failure to come to grips with the new electromechanical slot machines Bally had grabbed the market with plus the failure of Mills to protect their business rights in Japan caused the company to close in the 1980s

Ode Jennings wife Jeannette died in 1963 and, as proposed in Ode's will, left the house and lands to the town and donated $500,000 to the local hospital for the building of the O.D.Jennings wing which opened in 1966.

A selection Of Jennings Machines

Most slot machine collectors want at least one Jennings machine in their collection. The early models are always interesting and the later ones are often considered THE classic mechanical slot machine. The Indian Chief figurehead is instantly recognisable even to those not involved in the history of slots. They were always well made with great build quality and the designs have stood the test of time. Here are just a few of Jenning's amazing machines.

For a more complete list click the green button at the top of the page

1920 5c Play 1925 25c Counter model

Dutch Boy Century

4 star Chief One star chief

Dixie Belle Dixie Belle

Century 'Bull Durham' Triple Jackpot

Peacock 'The Witch/Black cat'

Quality Mint Vendor Silver Club

BronzeChief Fortune teller gum Ball Vendor

The 'Little Duke'

The 'Little Duke' was an attempt at something new and did have considerable success. The totally new mech bares no resemblance to the standard Bandit mechs of the day and the machine is much sort after today

The Little duke inside the little Duke

'Little Duke' Patent 1933

Being totally new in design considerable effort was put into educating potential customers as to the Little Duke

Jennings produced a surprising number of different 'Golf Ball Vendors' The console on the left allowed the player to select which type of ball he wanted

Puritan Girl Trade Stim Triplex Chief

Fortune teller gum ball vendor Penny Play

Rockaway The Favorite

Club Consoles

Jennings were always keen on console style machines, this was most likely due to there large upper-class market in clubs.These machines represent some of the most luxurious machines ever made

Cigarola Club console

Plain Case Club Console The Long Shot

Deluxe Club Console 'Prospector' Console

The low level 'Silver Moon' console was another unusual style that had some success

This silver moon boasts a rather ugly raised totalisator and gum vendor !!

The silver moon simply mounted the standard chief mech in a low case and the result was read from the top

Jennings Slot Machine Pictures

The 1946 Challenger Console allowed the player to play 1 or 2 coins at different odds

Victory Chief Target Drop

Jennings made a big thing of this feature so perhaps they were the first to come up with it.

In 1939 Mills introduced the single cherry payout for the first time, Jennings had followed suit by 1941,

The Silver club (shown above) was one of the first to pay on a single cherry

Silver Chief Early silver chief

The 'Modern Vendor'

The very advanced but not very pretty 'Modern Vendor' which used some electronic parts was made in 1940 for use in states that didn't allow gambling but wasn't in production for very long.

The Sportsman Jennings always produced good quality

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In 1948/9 Jennings looked to produce the first of a range of machines that were

to become their most iconic and recognisable machines, Based on the

slightly earlier, more rounded design these had straighter crisper lines and

although many different variations followed they all retained the same basic look and shape.

The first was the 'solid front'

A Selection of the Classic later machines

Governor Tic-Tac-Toe

1946 Standard Chief 1947 Chinese Front

Prospector(Monte Carlo) Buckaroo 4 reeler

For me at least, its hard to find any make of slot machine that looks as good as the Jennings Standard

Prospector and its console-mounted brother. If you were told you couldn't win I would still play it

Constellation ( Nevada Club ) Sun Chief(closed front,ribbed)

Jennings Slot Machine Prospector

Governor (light up front) Sun Chief (light up front)

Thanks to Paul Olsen for allowing us to use these two photos of his 'Buckaroos' the one on the left is labelled as a 'Midget Buckaroo'

Tikki Aku Aku Limited edition specially made for the Stardust Polynesian lounge in Las Vegas, by Slim Ewing at Ewing Enterprises. The machine pictured here has been very carefully restored to its original condition by the owner, Larry Zeidman, a leading collector and casino machine expert in the USA. and we thank him for letting us use the photos and providing the information on the machine. The Handle is the right 'ear' of the head

The Last Of the Jennings machines

The Galaxy

Some Galaxy's had UV tubes and florescent

reel strips which worked quite well

Craigslist Jennings Slot Machines

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The 400 Series (sometimes fitted with 'the Skill Stop' buttons) & 'The Olympic(?)'

in production in 1980

These 400's were found packed like this 30 years after they were made, they appear to have been well used before storage

Jennings Slot Machine Company

(this photo and that of some of the 400/700* series courtesy of the owner of the machines John Spina)

The 400 /700 series was a valid attempt at a circuit board controlled hopper payout machine to meet the new market dominated by Bally but was unreliable and too late on the scene and marks the end of the line for Jennings named machines

700 series 400J

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This 400j and the 700 next to it clearly saw service in the big Vegas hotels

Operators Instruction Sheet (1960's)

company flyers