Introduction to Why Slot Machines Say Bar
Why do slot machines say bar on their reels? Well, to understand why this tradition came to be, we’ll have to delve into slot machine history. First of all, these gambling devices weren’t always called slot machines. Slot machines were originally referred to as a one-armed bandit, then later in Great Britain as a fruit machine.
The logo definitely looks like a BAR symbol, so it makes sense why the bar would evolve from the company making the gum dispensed by these slot machines. But historians can get a bit skeptical.
A slot machine gambling device is activated by pulling a handle or pushing a button. This can only be done after coins, tokens, cash, or casino credits has been entered. Consequently, reels with symbols begin to spin. When done spinning, the symbols shown lined up along pay lines are used to determine the payout, if any.
Reel symbols are often traditional, including stars, bars, numbers, and various pictured fruits. Fruits can include cherries, plums, oranges, lemons, and watermelons. The number seven is also very popular. And, finally, then there are bar reel symbols.
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Bar Reel Symbols
Fruit reel symbols were first used in slot machine by the Industry Novelty Company in 1909. This was quickly followed the next year by Mills Novelty Company of Chicago, recently inherited by Herbert Stephen Mills. But, with a slight addition.
Mills added the photograph of a chewing gum pack along with the fruit reel symbols. Soon after, these photographs of a chewing gum pack were replaced with a stylized bar symbol.
Slot machines have a very rich history. Within gaming device circles of the time, it was well known that Charles Augustus Fey of San Francisco refused to sell or lease the design of his first coin-operated slot machine, the Liberty Bell, which he invented around 1887.
So, how did Mills get the design from Fey? There are two theories. First, that Fey cooperated with Mills to spread the use of slot machines. After all, Fey is known as the “Father of Slots” both for his invention of the coin-operated device as well as popularizing its use.
The second theory is Mills somehow “obtained” a Liberty Bell as a result of a San Francisco saloon robbery in 1905. Less than a year later, Mills produced a new version of the Liberty Bell called either the Mills Liberty Bell or Operator Bell.
During my review of the history of early slot machines, there are also suggestions the bar symbol may have another origin story. It is generally accepted that the bar symbol is a stylized image of a chewing gum pack, as well as a company logo.
According to some historical sources, however, the company having that logo may have been the Bell-Gum Fruit company.
A Bit More History
As mentioned, slot machines have a very rich history, especially in their early days. Besides Why Do Slot Machines Say Bar, there are a few other interesting historical items of interest.
In 1916, another historic slot machine innovation created by the Mills Novelty Company was the jackpot. When a specific combination of reel symbols resulted from a bet, the slot machine would empty its coin hopper of all coins as a prize.
The Mills Novelty would later go on to produce slot machines with wooden cabinets, rather than the original cast iron construction materials.
Photos of early slot machines are online at Cyprus Casino Consultant, Casino Observer, the International Arcade Museum, and elsewhere. I especially enjoy photos of antique slot machines in my copy of Slot Machines: A Pictorial History of the First 100 Years by Marshall Fey, grandson of “the Father of Slot Machines” Charles Fey.
The Cyprus Casino Consultant website shows 4 slot machines on a waist-high counter top. They appear to have wood cabinets and are each perhaps 30 inches high by 18 inches wide. In metric, that’s about 76 centimeters by 46 centimeters.
Each slot machine is of the one-armed bandit variety, meaning they appear to are activated by first inserting a coin and then pulling a large lever on the right side of the machine. Each of these models appears to accept coins at the top, as well as dispense coins for winners at the bottom.
The Casino Observer website also shows 4 slot machines. Two of these machines are some of the first slot machines, from about 1890, while two others are more modern, ~1940s. The two older slot machines receive coins, but only the poker machine appears to not be able to dispense coins. This poker machine has typical card suits as reel symbols and a cast metal-type cabinet.
It appears to be missing its one-armed bandit lever, perhaps due to damage, or it never had a lever. One older slot machine with coin dispenser capability is clearly identified as a “Liberty Bell”. It rests on cast feet located on each corner. The reel symbols show three Liberty Bells, but its “pay table” shows card suits – not fruit or bars.
The International Arcade Museum website shows a single slot machine. It’s a very old slot machine showing the symbol of the Liberty Bell on its front next to three reels showing Liberty Bell, bar, and fruit reel symbols.
This is probably a “Liberty Bell” by Charles Fey, but must be a slightly later version due to it having obvious fruit and bar reel symbols. It also has a cast metal-type cabinet and the distinctive “feet” of a Liberty Bell. It also has a small tray for coins, suggesting it has automatic payouts.
Charles Fey manufactured about 100 Liberty Bell slot machines for distribution in and around San Francisco. However, there are few of them remaining in existence. The scarcity of Fey’s Liberty Bell is a direct result of a natural disaster occurring shortly after their manufacture: the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.
Summary of Why Slot Machines Say Bar
Starting in 1907, Bell Fruit Gum slot machines were manufactured by Industry Novelty Co. They were followed by the Mills Novelty Company in 1910.
The reels on these slot machines included cherry, melon, orange, apple, and bar symbols with non-cash payouts in the form of fruit-flavored gum, allowing machine owners to avoid prosecution under the anti-gambling laws of that time.
The cherry and bar symbols became traditional to slot machines, and are still commonly used today. The bar symbol was a company logo, originally a photo of a chewing gum pack before being stylized as a bar.
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By Jon H. Friedl, Jr. Ph.D., President
Jon Friedl, LLC
Free online Bar Bar Black Sheep slot machine game (shortly BBBS) is developed by the Microgaming company featuring 5 reels and 15 paylines. The machine is farm-themed with cartoon-like icons and background where you can see pasture landscape with cattle all over the place. All of the icons are inspired by farming products, mostly fruit and vegetables. This slot is similar to Bridesmaids.
The overall visual tranquility of this game is enhanced with smooth background country music. The name of this slot is a wordplay on the British nursery rhyme called ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep,’ which tunes can be heard during one of the bonus features.
Gameplay & Privileges
In Bar Bar Blacksheep slot game you can’t change the number of paylines, you can only bet on all 15 of them. You can change the value of your bet; the minimum stake is 0.15, and the maximum is 300 coins. The slot has Auto Play option where you can select the number of spins you want to place your wager on. You can select 10, 25, 50 or 100 rounds or you can customize it yourself.
Player’s credits are displayed in the Win box. In this box, you can also see your win history. There is an Options menu that allows you to change the in-game graphics, sounds and switch the spinning speed of reels. In stats menu, you can see how many spins you have played and your top 3 highest wins.
Symbols & Card Types
In BBBS you can find two types of cards:
- Regular Symbols: there are 9 of them, and they are inspired by farm products and facilities like watermelons, apples, oranges, corns, eggplants, cattle and barn houses. Black sheep icon is the most valuable regular icon. The combination of 5 black sheep will get you 20000 coins on the maximum bet.
- Special Symbols: like in most games of this type there are 2 types of special symbols – Wild and Scatter.
Wild has the BBBS logo on it and it can substitute all other cards except the Scatter one. It is the most valuable symbol, the sequence of 5 Wild cards will earn you 40000 credits on the maximum wager.
Scatter card looks like a bag of flour that has a ‘free spins’ written on it. Scatter symbol can trigger the Free rounds bonus.
Bonus Features
Free Spins. To activate this feature at least 3 flour bags need to be landed anywhere on the reels, this combination will award you with 10 Free spins. The combination of four Scatters will get you 15, and sequence of 5 Scatter cards will get you 20 rounds. All awards during this bonus are multiplied three times. Additional rounds can be re-triggered during the bonus game.
Bar Bar Bar Slot Machine Games
BBBS Combination. This bonus will be activated if the combo of 2 ‘bar’ icons and 1 black sheep card land in consecutive order on paylines 1, 2, or 3 – the straight lines, and if the first ‘bar’ card is landed on one of the first three reels. It is important to remember that Wild cards can’t provide triggering this bonus. This sequence forms a new mini slot that spins and rewards you with a random value which is multiplied by your starting bet. The highest multiplication value is x999.
Gold Bars Slot Machine Game
Who Can Play BBBS?
Bar Bar Bar Slot Machine Image
You can play Bar Bar Black Sheep free slot, and many other slot machines on Slotozilla online casino, and so are all visitors. If you would like to try your luck and play for real money, you would have to complete a brief registration process. Slotozilla free app is available for Android and iOS mobile devices in Play Store, and it requires Flash Player.