Initially while testing the machine I never even noticed its presence – why would I? However after manually lining up the reels to trigger a payout on the machine I would notice the third reel would never stop on the jackpot image. It almost looked like it has clamped itself onto the reel bundle of the machine and wouldn’t let go! The first one of these strange little mechanical creatures I found was on a 1929 Mills Poinsettia machine. What I didn’t know at the time was that some of those machines would still have a bug inside, but the bug wasn’t the creepy crawly kind – but a mechanical bug that was much more mischievous and sinister!Īs I started working on machines and restoring them in detail I would run across a strange little device that seemingly had no purpose. Being the good husband that I am I would dutifully take the vacuum and clean out the machine before bringing it into our home. At that time she naturally assumed that since it was old, there had to be nasty creatures living inside it.
When I first got interested in antique slot machines I would bring them home and my wife would always say “there better not be any bugs in that thing!”.
