Jennings Slot Machine
| Industry | slot machines, pinball and vending machines |
|---|---|
| Fate | Merger |
| Founded | 1906 (as Industry Novelty Company, Inc.) |
| Defunct | 1980s |
| Headquarters | Chicago |
| Ode D. Jennings (founder) |
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.
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History[edit]
Ode D. Jennings was born in Kentucky on September 6, 1874.[1]
By the early '60s Jennings was the top producer of slot machines in the US with 45% of total sales.
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]
| Manufacturer | Location | Share of market |
|---|---|---|
| Jennings & Co., a division of Hershey Manufacturing Co. | Chicago | 40% |
| Mills Bell-O-Matic Corp. | Chicago and Reno | 35% |
| Ace Manufacturing Co. | Maryland | 15% |
| Buckley Manufacturing Co. | Maryland | 5% |
| Las Vegas Coin Machine Co. | Las Vegas | 5% |
| 100% |
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]
- ^ abcdefRichard Bueschel (1995). 'How Could O. D. Jennings Be Forgotten?'. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
- ^ 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.
- ^'US Patent 1,403,933'. United States Patent and Trademark Office. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-09-02.
- ^Will Davis (March 2006). 'The Victor Portable'(PDF). ETCetera Journal of the Early Typewriter Collectors' Association.
- ^'US Patent 1,562,771'. United States Patent and Trademark Office. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-09-02.
- ^Lynne and Michael Sands (October 2003). 'The Sands Mechanical Museum: Sportsman Restoration'. Retrieved 2006-09-03.
- ^'US Patent 2,003,349'. United States Patent and Trademark Office. Archived from the original on 2006-12-20. Retrieved 2006-09-02.
- ^ abUnited States. Congress. House. Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (1962). Gambling Devices. U.S. Govt. Print. Off. p. 124.
- ^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
The history of the legendary slots manufacturer Jennings & Company can be traced back to the company’s founding in 1906 in Chicago, Illinois. Originally called the Industry Novelty Company, Inc. by its owner, Ode D. Jennings, the firm’s humble beginnings could never have indicated the ultimate success that would eventually come its way. This success was due in part to the dedication of Ode Jenning and also thanks to the significant increase in the number of arcades and casino in the U.S. that took place throughout the twentieth century.
Jennings & Company’s History
When Ode Jennings was thirty years old, he went to work for the Mills Novelty Company, a popular maker of jukeboxes, vending machines and slot games in the early 1900’s that would later become Bell-O-Matic, a well-known slots manufacturer. He got to know the machines especially well during his time managing the company’s Spectatorium penny arcade that served as the company’s contribution to the World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904.
Jennings established the Industry Novelty Company as a service that would refurbish old slot machines that had been produced by his former employer. He didn’t stop at simply repairing old machines, however. The industrious new entrepreneur also created and received a U.S. patent for inventing a device that helped the machines to better sort out coins, thereby reducing the number that were unnecessarily rejected for being too small. Another patent followed shortly after for a coin-control system that prevented coins jamming in the machines as often as they previously had.
By the time that Ode Jennings died in 1953, he had been at the helm of his company for 47 years. Shortly after he passed away, his widow established Jennings & Company, which consumed the old Industry Novelty Company Inc. and was then sold a couple of years later to the Hershey Manufacturing Company. In the early part of the 1960’s, Jennings & Company, operating under Hershey Manufacturing, was dominating American arcades and casinos with a forty percent share of the market.
The company was once again sold in the 1960’s, this time to the American Machine and Science Company, which also bought up the descendant of Ode Jenning’s old employer and one of Jennings & Company’s main rivals, Bell-O-Matic. The companies were joined together and slated to be run by two brothers, Tony and John Mills, who renamed the new venture the TJM Corporation. Due to a lack of ability to compete with the newer firms that were using more modern technology, as well as a failure to protect foreign rights, the company floundered and finally went out of business in 1990, ending Jennings & Company’s near one-hundred year run in the industry.
Jennings & Company’s Early Titles
One of the most famous and favored games that was produced by Jennings & Company was the Sportsman, which was technically a pinball game but that offered a payout, making it much more similar to a slot machine than to anything that we would consider a pinball machine today. There was a full line of Sportsman games, with the Sportsman Deluxe of 1937 one of the company’s biggest hits.
Governor Bell and Dutch Boy were some of the earliest true slot machines that the company manufactured and sold. Both were distributed in the 1920’s and these large, metal machines bear little resemblance to modern games, with basic ornamental details and housing a simple three-reel game that’s controlled by a side-arm lever.
In the 1930’s, the business was better established in the slots field and, besides their popular Sportsman lineup, they also put out other well-known titles such as Jackpot Front Vendor, Chief Jackpot Bell and Dixie Belle Bell.
The Duchess Double-Jack Vendor and One Star Chief are also good examples of Jennings & Company’s work during this time period. More color was incorporated into the games’ designs in order to catch the eye faster and keep the attention of the average player for a longer period of time.
By the time the 1940’s rolled around, Ode Jennings had become an old hand at producing top-quality games that the public loved to play. The Challenger slot was a more complicated game than what was normally being introduced at that time. Meanwhile, the display for Silver Chief was a showpiece, with a periscope prize-counter attached. The 1946 Standard Chief, however, was a sleek and shiny model with a futuristic appeal.
Jennings & Company’s Prime Years
The 1950’s and 60’s were unquestionably the heyday of Jennings & Company, when they were putting out some of the most unique and attractive games that players had ever seen. These machines were works of art, designed to appeal to the eye and to tweak the curiosity of as many passing gamblers as possible. The Sweepstake Chief is an early prime example of this period for the company, with vivid colors and architectural details. By the time its sequel, Chiefs, was produced in 1955, the design was incorporating modern graphic techniques into the weighty machines of the past decade. When the company introduced Indiana, a game that was marketed in 1967, their games had evolved to feature a much more modern look, but one that would still serve to draw players from across the room.
Jennings Slot Machine Identification
The 1970’s and 80’s saw the company producing machines that were fairly standard fair within the industry, a contributing factor to their downfall. Their 400 Series and 700 Series from 1973 and 1980 respectively, were widely regarded to be ho-hum designs in an age when slot machine technology was beginning to offer a plethora of imaginative design options.
Jennings Slot Machine Pictures
When the company officially ended in 1990, it marked the end of an era for those within the slots manufacturing industry. The many firms who market games today owe a debt of gratitude to Ode D. Jennings and his inventive nature, which helped to further the overall development of slot machines immeasurably for almost a full century. With that in mind, the place of Jennings & Company is firmly cemented in the history of slot machine manufacturing.